Chapter 3: 2. Bullying

"Terrible monsters are monsters that injure their victims without even touching them and that monster is me."

- Laura Chintya Bella

***

"What are you doing, huh?"

Laura looked at Nabila and Mawar who were standing in the corner of the toilet with Nabila's hand holding a bucket filled with half dirty water. It looked like the other half of the water had been splashed on someone sitting cross-legged on the toilet floor in a drenched uniform.

"Here, Ra. I'm really upset with Susan, who took Nabila and I to the teacher because we were late for school and missed the ceremony." Mawar pushed Susan's head so hard it hit the wall.

"That's right, Ra. You and Vikram are often late too, right? You must be annoyed if someone tells you to the teacher." Nabila joined in provoking Laura to let them bully Susan as they pleased.

Actually, Nabila was a little afraid of Laura because she often heard the news that Laura bullied someone to the point of traumatizing that person. However, until now Nabila never knew about the truth of the news and who were the victims of her bullying.

"Upset, huh? Yes, I'm upset." Laura walked to the sink to wash her hands and wash her face which was a little dusty from the ceremony that took place this morning.

"That's right, what did I say, Ra. Don't worry, I'll take care of a girl like this. You don't have to step in to bully her." Nabila with a burning spirit, again pouring dirty water on Susan making Susan curl up hugging her knees while sobbing. Not wanting to lose to Nabila, Mawar grabbed Susan's long hair and laughed out loud seeing Susan's suffering.

Tsk, so noisy.

Laura snorted, her eyes darting over to Susan who was crying as she tried to free her hair from Mawar's hand. Laura rolled her eyes lazily, her feet stepped closer to those who were busy with their activities.

"Stop." Laura's words made Nabila and Mawar stop their activities.

"Wow, it looks like Susan is going to run out today because Laura has bothered to step in to get rid of you, haha." Mawar looked cynically at Susan who looked scared to see Laura who seemed to want to bully her.

Laura crouched down in front of Susan. She brought her mouth to Susan's ear and whispered. "Are you afraid of being bullied?"

Susan was silent without answering Laura's question. With a trembling body and tears flowing profusely, is it not enough to prove how much Susan is afraid of being bullied by Nabila and Mawar.

"Hm, you're scared, aren't you. Why should you be afraid? Why don't you get angry when you're bullied?"

Uh?

Susan's head turned and their gazes finally collided. Susan gave Laura a confused look. It wasn't like Laura was going to bully her. "Angry?" Susan spoke softly but Laura could still hear them because they were so close.

"Yeah, angry! Why do you have to be afraid of them? You can also do whatever you want including bullying them back."

Susan fell silent again with a worried face. Her eyes darted here and there seemed to be thinking. Nabila and Mawar who were standing behind Laura looked at each other because they didn't know what Laura was talking about with Susan.

Laura tilted her head, a smirk appearing on her face. "Want me to help?"

Susan looked back at Laura with a surprised look. "H-help... bully?"

"Hmm." Laura nodded her head. "Just go out and look for Vikram."

"V-Vikram?" Susan was getting more and more confused by Laura's words.

Laura stood up with a drastically changed expression. Her eyes glared at Susan. "Quick! Don't ask too many questions!"

Susan got up with difficulty and ran leaving Laura with Nabila and Mawar. "Lho, why just let it go, Ra?"

Mawar gripped Laura's arm, her face showing anger at Laura's expressionless expression. Nabila glared at Mawar for her actions that could make Laura angry. "Hey, don't bother her, Mawar. We can bully Susan anytime. Don't mess with Laura."

Nabila tried to pull Mawar away from Laura, but Mawar tightened her grip on Laura's arm. "Are you afraid of Laura? Tch, I can get rid of a girl like her anytime. How dare she let go of our prey."

Mawar became more and more intense, she began to grab Laura's hair which looked black from the outside, but green from the inside. Well, her black hair is just for camouflage so the teachers at her school don't make a lot of noise telling Laura not to dye her hair because she's still a student.

"Mawar! Let's just go!"

Mawar pushed away Nabila's hand, who tried to stop her grabbing action. "I don't want to! If you don't want to come along, just watch it!"

Instead of feeling pain, Laura smiled. The smile that made Nabila feel even more scared plus Mawar didn't want to stop her actions.

"I was..." Laura glanced sharply at Mawar. "I'll let you go if you want to follow Nabila's words. But, it looks like you dragged her too because of your mistake."

"What do you want to do with me and Nabila?!" Mawar looked at Laura as if she was not afraid of what Laura would do.

"If it's like this, I will not let go until the end."

***

Susan ran towards the social studies school building where one of them was Laura's class. Susan entered class XI IPS 2 which Susan knew that was the class that was occupied by Vikram and Laura. They are indeed very famous and talked about by the same school because they are always together wherever they go.

"V-Vikram..." Susan caught her breath without noticing that her uniform was soaking wet and something was clearly printed on the underside of her uniform.

Vikram, who was sitting alone waiting for Laura in the corner of the classroom, seemed surprised to see the arrival of a girl he didn't know with that appearance. Vikram turned his blushing face away, his hands unbuttoned his uniform immediately.

"W-what are you doing here?" Vikram threw his uniform at Susan. "W-wear my uniform. Your uniform is wet like that."

Susan grabbed Vikram's uniform then looked down at her own uniform. Her face reddened, she quickly put on Vikram's uniform so her body wouldn't be exposed. "Th-that, Laura told me to look for you."

Vikram turned to Susan. "So where is Laura?"

"In the toilet with Nabila and Mawar who have bullied me."

Brack!

"Damn!" Vikram pounded the table hard and then stood up with a worried look on his face.

Vikram was about to run but Susan pulled his hand away. "What are you doing? What will happen to Laura?"

Vikram pushed Susan's hand away and ran followed by a confused Susan. "I'm not worried about Laura."

Susan turned to Vikram whose face this time showed fear. "What I'm worried about is Nabila and Mawar. They could be in trouble because of what Laura did."

"What is Laura going to do with Nabila and Mawar? She's already helped me by getting me out of them."

"You don't know anything about Laura." Vikram's face looked frustrated and Susan couldn't help but worry. Looks like Vikram is serious about saying it. "She's a Monster."

"Monsters that torture their victims without even touching them or even asking someone for help. Everything he does alone."

They arrived at the toilet with the door closed. Vikram and Susan could clearly hear the screams coming from inside. Vikram opened the toilet door violently, his eyes wide in disbelief. Susan even covered her mouth because she was surprised to see Nabila and Mawar's condition while Laura stood watching what Nabila and Mawar were doing.

"LAURA! WHAT ARE YOU DOING THIS TIME?!"