Chapter 57
On Monday, as Quinlyn arrived at school, Romilly approached her, saying, “I just heard that Maurice wants to stop your tuition. When the administration wouldn’t agree, he tried to get you expelled”
paying
She continued, “Luckily, your brother took care of your enrollment paperwork. He noted that you are on your own, so you aren’t legally tied to the Anderson family. That saved you this time.”
to
After what happened at the dinner party, Romilly looked at Quinlyn with warmth, “Do you want me to talk to your family?”
Quinlyn shook her head and replied honestly. Tm not their real daughter, and I’m not part of the Anderson family”
Romilly was surprised. “After Maurice knew about that, he hit you?”
Recalling how things went down at the restaurant, she quickly shifted gears. “Would you like to transfer to a different class? It could get awkward with Harriet, considering your history with her.”
Romilly genuinely wanted to help, and Quinlyn didn’t feel uncomfortable at all. But since Mandy was still in Class 1, she decided to stay put.
As Quinlyn lett the office and walked back to class, she noticed her classmates looking at her strangely
Harriet, sitting smugly in the front row with her arms crossed, sneered. “Impostors will always be cast aside. Just look at her, trying to fit in with the elite, but she’s still just a little thug”
Everyone in the room knew she was talking about Quinlyn. In the past, some classmates would have defended her, but after seeing how she acted at the party last week, even the bravest ten–year–olds were too scared to speak up.
Even if some students felt bold, their parents had warned them to steer clear of Quinlyn. Quinlyn scanned the classroom, chose silence, and returned to her desk, just focusing on the lesson.
When they saw she wasn’t bothered by Harriet’s taunts, their interest faded, and they fell quiet. But when lunch was over, Quinlyn came out of the restroom and was met with more hostility.
“Why are you still here? You should just go back where you came from.” Harriet huffed, her face twisted in anger.
Quinlyn didn’t feel like engaging and walked past her. Harriet shouted, grinding her teeth in rage, “You don’t belong here. I’m going to make sure you get expelled.”
But Quinlyn didn’t look back. School was a place for learning, so not having friends didn’t matter much to her; she thought it was silly to worry about what Harriet thought–until, during class, she opened her desk to find trash inside.
At first, it was just a few crumpled papers, and when she found the restroom door stuck, she thought it was an accident. But discovering the stall door jammed shut with a mop made her realize: maybe she was being bullied.
Mandy had told her that some kids form cliques to pick on others, calling it school bullying.
Quinlyn was amazed by how creative city kids could be, even naming fights based on where they happened. But she decided to stay cautious until she figured out who was behind it
When she returned to class and saw her chair covered in glue, she took a moment to think before heading to the restroom to wash it off.
It seemed like her calmness encouraged the bullies, as over the next two days, pranks escalated. Some students even watched, making it clear they enjoyed seeing Quinlyn suffer under their games.
But Quinlyn kept her cool. She felt these kids weren’t the real ringleaders.
1/3
Wed, 19 Mar
Chapter 57
On the afternoon of the third day, while she was about to come out of the restroom, she caught some girls tall
“Are we really going to pour water on her Shouldn’t we tone it down a bit? She helped us before one girl questioned Quinlyn pressed herself against the wall to listen, recognizing the voices of her classmates.
90%
Another girl chimed in “That was ages ago. Since school started, we’ve had her back, but she tricked us. She isn’t part of the Anderson family, and now Harriet won’t even talk to me”
“Yeah. Harriet said if we do this right, she’ll recommend us to the professor for a test. We could all go to university together”
“But
“No burs. Just get inside.”
Before the girl could say anything else, she was pushed inside, colliding with Quinlyn, who quickly held up a hand to silence her.
Quinlyn’s dark eyes narrowed as she said, “Don’t say a word, or I’ll make sure you get beaten as well”
The girl shook in fear, utterly frozen by Quinlyn’s calm yet eerie stare. A minute later, she bolted from the restroom, panic in her voice as she exclaimed to the others, “Something happened to Quinlyn. I’m not sure if I was too rough”
The others were surprised, but soon rushed into the restroom, seeing a shoe at the stall’s entrance and instinctively hurrying
toward it
But as they got closer, they found the stall empty. Just then, Quinlyn quietly appeared behind them and, in a swift move. kicked them inside with a series of firm pushes.
Before they could react, she swiftly closed the door and propped it shut with a mop. Turning to the girl who had joined her scheme, she commanded, “Pour the water.
The girl, intimidated by Quinlyn’s fierce attitude, quickly ran to get the dirty water she had planned to use against Quinlyn. She started dumping bucket after bucket into the stall.
“Stop!”
“It stinks!”
The girls inside were yelling and crying for help, desperate to be saved.
Unfortunately, because they had ensured that no one would come to help Quinlyn, now there was no one to save them. No. matter how loudly they cried, they were stuck in the stall with filthy water for a full minute.
After the girl who was pouring water set down the last bucket, she felt like her arms might fall off, dripping with sweat.
“You can go now.” Quinlyn glanced at her and assured, “Our scores are even now,”
The girl was reluctant but had been dragged into the situation anyway. Quinlyn had no desire to punish her too harshly Once the girl left. Quinlyn opened the stall door.
With a splat, several soaked and messy girls stumbled out, panicking.
When they realized that Quinlyn was behind it all, their earlier boldness returned, and they shouted angrily. “You’re going to pay for this, Quinlyn. You can’t bully us!”
