Part 3Bite Back

Armed with my new weapon, I resumed the hunt.

I circled the playground but didn't see the little coward.

He was loud when he was insulting people. He was happy when he was spreading rumors. But when it came time to take a beating, he ran faster than a stray dog.

He shouldn't be running. He should be standing there like a man to take his punishment.

I sneered and turned toward the academic building's restrooms.

Sure enough, in the first-floor boys' bathroom, I caught Brad lurking.

His face was black and blue, his hair was a bird's nest, and his shirt buttons were ripped off. He looked like a beggar.

Seeing me, he actually shrieked and tried to dive into a stall, looking like he planned to hide there until the end of time.

I slammed the racket against the bathroom door and shouted inside:

"Any guys in there, finish up and get out! I'm settling a debt with Brad."

"If you don't want to be collateral damage, leave now! Don't say I didn't warn you!"

"I'm counting to twenty!"

I counted down. Once I was sure the innocent bystanders had fled, I rolled up my sleeves and charged.

I saw Brad scrambling to climb out the window, stepping on a mop bucket.

I didn't think. I sprinted over, grabbed his pants, and yanked him back.

Mr. Lee and a crowd of administrators burst in just in time to see me dragging Brad by the waistband, trying to pull him off the windowsill.

Brad was wailing, covering his exposed boxers, begging me to spare him.

Spare him? Who spared my mother?

I used all my strength, planted my foot against the wall, and yanked him down to the wet tile floor.

Before the teachers could reach us, I grabbed his collar and slapped him again. "Why didn't you think about this when you were typing those lies?"

"Insulting me wasn't enough? You had to go after my mom? I'll teach you to talk about my mom!"

I kicked. I swung the racket. The strings turned his face into a waffle.

Three teachers tried to hold me back. I threw my shoes at him. I grabbed a wet floor sign and threw that too.

I was uncontrollable. The Dean of Students finally had to call my original homeroom teacher, Mrs. Davis, who was on maternity leave, to talk me down.

Hearing Mrs. Davis's gentle voice on the phone, the adrenaline finally crashed.

"Mrs. Davis... when are you coming back? Brad and the others are bullying us. The nicknames weren't enough, now they're going after my family."

"No one helps us. No one cares about how the girls feel. Mr. Lee doesn't care, he only cares about the boys..."

"No one helps me... no one..."

I broke down, sitting on the dirty bathroom floor, sobbing my heart out.

It hadn't been like this before. When Mrs. Davis was here, Brad never dared to go this far.

Mrs. Davis started crying on the other end of the line. She promised to come back as soon as she could. Before hanging up, she yelled through the phone for Mr. Lee to "Wait right there."

The teachers stood awkwardly. Mr. Lee looked pale.

Facing the Dean's angry glare, Mr. Lee couldn't say a word.

When the investigation revealed Brad was the source of the rumors, I had texted Mr. Lee for help.

His reply?

[Tell your mom not to wear such flashy dresses.] [If she wore normal clothes, none of this would happen.]

So it was my mom's fault?

That text was the spark that burned my rationality to ash. It was why I hunted Brad down without mercy. Because the system had failed me.

And I didn't want my mom to know. I was too ashamed.

"Dean."

I wiped the hair from my face, staring dead at Brad in the crowd.

"Expel me. Suspend me. I don't care. But Brad goes down with me!"