Vol.4 Rewrite, Chapter XX — Winning Unwanted Prizes

The wind howled wildly, making the shut windows rattle in a way that made it sound like they were in the verge of breaking while the rain poured with thunderous intensity. I couldn’t remember the last time the weather had been this bad, or if it had ever, and I was thinking to myself that school should just have been cancelled. Abby and I came by bus, and with things going like this, her dad would later have to pick us up on a boat.

Abby on the other hand didn’t seem too bothered as we watched the rest of the class play volleyball, her head leaning on my shoulder. Our teacher decided that we’d have class inside, and as a result, we had to share the gym with another class, having only one side of the court to use. That meant that what was a normal class, became a “tournament” so that everyone could participate.

Abby—and Mathilda too, was attentively watching the current team playing with a level of scrutiny that I hadn’t seen with other teams.

“We absolutely cannot lose to that team,” Abby told me when I asked her what was that about when that particular match ended.

“Yup! Those are our rivals!” Mathilda added with a fire in her voice.

“…Ok…”

It was better not to dwell on it, unless I wanted to be dragged into whatever game or fantasy those two were living in at the moment.

Another set of teams got into the field, one of them being the team Stephen and Mathew were in along with two girls. They were faced with another team with the same composition, but even so, the match was very lopsided. Stephen was understandable, he was athletic after all, but Mathew got me a bit by surprise because, even though he and Stephen went to the gym together, he always came off as a guy who sits on his ass all of his free time, playing video games. As it turns out, he’s perfectly capable of keeping up with Stephen, the two being the main reason their team won with an advantage of eight points. It was also impressive how glued Mathilda’s eyes were to each and every movement done by Stephen. It was borderline unsettling when the girls in his team cheered him scoring, and I hoped that I didn’t make the same figure when it was me observing Abby getting cheered on by others.

“Our turn now,” Abby told me, tapping my knee before getting up.

“Let’s show them who’s boss!” Mathilda said, helping Abby getting me on my feet.

Our team was only girls, the fourth element being a classmate I vaguely remembered. She belonged to the group who often chatted with Mathilda and sometimes Abby too. She always seemed to understand that I wanted to be left alone as our interactions, I think, were just her greeting me—and by that, I mean the group I was in with Abby and Mathilda, and carrying on with their conversation and leaving me on the sidelines.

Suffice it to say, I didn’t really know her, but a look at her face told me everything I needed to know: she had been influenced by the competitive spirit of those two, leaving me as the only member in the team who didn’t care either way if we won or not.

On the other side of the net was another team of only girls, the one Abby and Mathilda had observed like hawks watching bunnies, them also looking very fiery. One of them in particular glared at us like she wanted to obliterate our team.

Aren’t they all getting way too into this?

It felt more like a battlefield than a school PE class.

They served first, starting the match.

Our teams were more or less balanced. Abby and Mathilda were doing great while me and the other girl mostly played support. Volleyball is perhaps the sport I’m best at, so I was managing not to fumble at least. Hell, I was even able to score three times!

I was also getting into the spirit too as Abby’s enthusiasm is always very contagious.

The match was tied, our team needing to score just one more point to win the game when Abby passed me the ball.

“Violet, go!” she cheered.

I jumped into the air, feeling like it was the highest I had ever jumped before, time seemingly slowing down and speeding up at the same time.

I moved my eyes to the opposing team’s filed, locking eyes with that girl who had been glaring at us the whole match.

Then, my hand made contact with the ball with all the strength I had put behind it. The ball flew straight into their side… and squarely in the face of that girl.

There was a sickening wet crack, and some red flew out of her face, the ball bouncing from her and hitting the net, granting us victory, but at a terrible cost.

The girl fell to the floor, wailing about her nose, as she rolled on the floor.

I covered my wide-open mouth in horror.

“I’m so sorry!” I cried out, moving under the net to go to her. “I didn’t mean to!”

“Liar!” she spat, her lower half of the face covered in red. I froze under such accusation. “You clearly did that on purpose!”

“No! I didn’t! I—”

“I saw you aiming at my face before you—”

“Calm down, you two!” our teacher ordered. “Isolda, take Vanessa to the infirmary! And you Violet, go get a mop!”

I kept looking back and forth between the teacher, that girl Vanessa as she was guided by her friend, and Abby, my mind a complete jumble.

“Teacher, I swear, I didn’t mean to!” I told him. “It’s true that I was looking at her face when I hit the ball, but—”

“Miss Violet, I know,” he told me, trying to sound calm. “It was an accident. Now, please, go get the mop so class can continue, ok?”

“Babe,” Abby called out in a low, soft voice, tugging at my sleeve.

That was all I could do now, clean up the mess I accidently created. I’d later apologise to her again, in private. Maybe then she’d believe me when I say that I didn’t mean to hit her.

That had been my plan, but what actually happened was, Vanessa skipped school for the rest of the day, and at the end of it, I was called to Miss Maple’s office. She had only called for me, but Abby and Mathilda tagged along while the boys said they’d wait for us. It was clear as day why I had been called, and there was nothing they’d likely be able to do to help, but knowing they all had my back helped me feel better.

“I only called for Violet,” Miss Maple said after I had knocked and walked inside her office and she saw that I had brought people with me. Her office was a small space with just a window. It was mostly kept neat, but there was a pile of papers at one corner of the desk that looked like they’d topple over if someone just looked at them funny.

“Sorry to intrude, Miss Maple, but Violet and I are like a set,” Abby told her in response before I could say anything. “I was there too, and Violet will be telling me everything about it later anyway.”

“And I was there too, so I can also give my part of the tale,” Mathilda added. “I also know something that might become very relevant in a moment.”

Our homeroom teacher arched an eyebrow as she looked at us. Finally, she allowed them to stay by pointing out that one of us would have to be left standing. That someone turned to be Mathilda as she told Abby to take the seat next to mine.

“Miss Maple, I swear, I didn’t hit her on purpose,” I began as I sat down. “It was an accident! I admit, I did look at her face when I was about to hit the ball, but it wasn’t so the ball would hit her!”

“I believe you,” Miss Maple said with a sigh. “When Vanessa said that it was on purpose, I went ahead and asked your PE teacher if he believed that. He assured me that you wouldn’t be able to hit a barn even if you tried.”

It was a relief that people believed me, but that coming from my unathleticism still felt deeply insulting.

That aside, however, raised an important question that Abby voiced.

“In that case, what are we doing here?” she asked.

Our teacher reclined into her chair and rotated it side to side before speaking up.

“For starters, her parents want the school to do something about it, so the headmaster put me in charge of dealing with this situation. Something about trying to solve this without getting Abby’s father involved.”

Yeah, I could see the headmaster starting to sweat profusely when he was told that the incident involved me and Abby. William really is someone who others don’t want to get crossed.

“Meanwhile,” Miss Maple continued. “I’m just trying to figure out why is it that Vanessa is so insistent that you have something against her, Miss Violet.”

“W-Wha—? I didn’t even know her name until today!” I argued back.

She stopped rotating her chair and frowned as she gave me a dubious side-eye. She wasn’t believing me that I didn’t know the name of a classmate six months in the school year. Luckily…

“I know it sounds dubious, but she’s telling the truth,” Abby said.

“Yeah, besides me, Abby, Mathew, Stephen, and the teachers,” Mathilda said, using her fingers to count how many people that amounted to. “She doesn’t know the names of anyone else in school.”

“Yup, unless you are somehow important or relevant to her, Violet doesn’t really remember names. Not even faces.”

The frown our teacher had turned into arches. “You’re really not kidding,” she said, sounding more like a question than a statement as she realised it.

“All I want is for people to leave me be,” I said, turning violently red and looking down, my voice turning into a mumble. “I know I should be more sociable, but… as long as I have Abby, my family, and just a couple or so more friends… I really don’t care about meeting people. It’s such a pain in the neck, and it leaves me feeling completely drained for the rest of the day, even if it’s just one person...”

“I had to almost brute-force my way into her heart,” Abby chirped, bumping shoulders with me. “This girl really is hopelessly asocial. Mathilda here could say the same thing.”

“Well, going through all that cold attitude was part of the fun, and is part of her charm too,” Mathilda giggled, tapping my shoulder.

Thank goodness I had these two with me, otherwise, I don’t think I could ever prove that I wasn’t lying when I said that I didn’t even know Vanessa’s name until today. I remembered that Mathilda and Abby had brought up that name before, but that was it. I wouldn’t even be able to describe what Vanessa looked like if asked. Other than half her face was red, that is. And that she might have dark eyes and hair.

“That still doesn’t answer why she’s convinced you have something against her,” our teacher said, letting out another sigh.

“I might be able to answer that,” Mathilda announced. “You see, Vanessa thinks that Violet stole the guy she’s interested in.”

“Huh!?” I gasped, almost snapping my neck with how violently I turned my head to look at her. “Why would she even think that!?”

“Well, you see, she’s crushing hard over Stepehen, and—”

“Stephen!?” I cried out again.

“—And she tried confessing to him last year, but he turned her down because he was interested in you.”

“What?!”

“And to top it off, when she went to talk with you about it, apparently, you acted all superior about it too.”

“Huuuh!?”

“Miss Violet, control yourself!” Miss Maple ordered with a sharp bark.

“S-sorry,” I whimpered.

“I tried telling you about it when we had our first sleepover together, but since you didn’t even know who she was, I decided to just let it be.”

“So, to sum it up,” Abby said, taking my hand and talking to Miss Maple. “She has a crush on Stephen, confessed, got turned down, went to talk with Violet but Violet treated her coldly like she did to everyone else last year because she completely sucked at socialising, Vanessa misunderstood that as Violet acting superior, and now she has a grudge over Violet.”

“Oh! And that Violet bumped into her at the start of the school year on purpose too,” Mathilda added.

So, I was being hated for stuff that were—mostly, not my fault!? What kind of stupid logic is that!? I didn’t even liked Stephen like that! Never would!

“…Haah, bloody teenage girls,” Miss Maple groaned as she looked to be trying to fuse with her chair, her soul seemingly leaving her body. “I knew I’d have to deal with stuff like this sooner or later, but right in my first year as a homeroom teacher? Haah…”

And even though I was partially responsible for it, I fully agreed with how our teacher was feeling. Not only was Vanessa’s hatred misplaced, it was also spewing outside and causing trouble to others. Suddenly, having smacked her face with the ball, remembering it didn’t make me feel as bad as before, but that was a side of my personality I didn’t like one bit, so I told that feeling to scram.

I also wouldn’t stoop to Vanessa’s level, even though I also have a hard time letting grudges go. And understanding that made me realise that no amount of apologising would convince her that I meant it. Not right now, at least.

“What are we going to do?” Abby asked, having taken her phone out. Her dad had just arrived and sent her a text telling her about it.

“Nothing,” Miss Maple said. “I’ll say to her parents that it was all just a big misunderstanding between you girls and that I let you off with a warning. In my opinion, that’s a personal matter between you girls, so it’s not my place to get involved. However…”

She let the silence linger, it speaking volumes.

“Violet and I, as well as the rest of the gang, will be in our best behaviour, like always, and not cause you Miss any trouble,” Abby said, having gone through much worse to let herself be intimidated by the silence. “Like Violet said, she only wants to be left alone, and so do I.”

Miss Maple nodded approvingly, her face softening up considerably. Still, it was clear that cogs were still griding in her head about something.

“…Sorry, but I need to ask, but… are you two dating?”

I blushed and let out a squeak that was supposed to be a “yes”, while Abby let out a bubbly giggle as she swayed in her seat.

“Yup! Officially for about seven month now!” she chirped.

“I see,” Miss Maple mumbled under her breath, looking slightly away. “That might be relevant when the field trip comes up…”

The fieldtrip? Why?

Oh! So that we aren’t left alone in a room as a couple.

Which means that we might have to sleep in separate rooms. I’d be ok with a third person, but… that’d have to be Mathilda, and since she’s our friend, she could “go for a walk” that’d take an hour or so.

Yeah, not happening.

Another pain in the neck loomed over the horizon.

Abby pulled out her phone again, having received another text. She used it as our cue to leave the office and head back, me and her apologising to Miss Maple again for all the headache we caused. She gave us half a smile as she waved us away, telling us to simply behave and to let her go back to her other duties.

The boys met us soon after and immediately asked how things went, Mathilda telling them all about with as we made our way outside, except for the detail that Vanessa is still crushing over Stephen.

“Still, it was a wonderful smash,” Mathilda said, giving me an elbow bump.

She showed me the video someone had sent her of Abby passing me the ball, and me bending my knees before catapulting myself in the air and hitting the ball.

“Score!” she cheered as she froze the frame of the ball hitting Vanessa and zoomed into it. I felt like I shouldn’t laugh, but seeing the ball and face squished together like one was consuming the other got a chuckle out of me.

“I have to agree with Mathilda, that was the best performance you ever gave, babe,” Abby said with a chuckle, having also watched the video. “It’s just a shame that things turned out this way.”

Yeah, it was, and as we got outside, the wind almost blowing us out of our socks, and the rain mercilessly smacking us since it was impossible to open an umbrella, I wondered, while holding Abby close, what I could do and how our lives would be from now on, but only time could tell.