Chapter 2
I stood there frozen, my heart pounding wildly. The stub of my cigarette was already on the ground.
The only sounds on the rooftop were Ryan's wails and Jake's frantic yelling.
I watched Adeline disappear, and one thought hit me hard.
This girl was no pushover. Not even close.
She was a wolf. The kind that tore people apart.
*****
The next day, Ryan didn't show up at school.
Jake did, though. He showed up with a shiny bald head and a few burn marks on his neck.
He told the teacher Ryan was recovering at home, saying he'd burned himself with boiling water by accident.
The whole class was buzzing. Everyone was talking about how unlucky Ryan was.
Joanna was crying pitifully, acting like the world was ending. Everyone was giving her those pitying looks.
No one even suspected Adeline.
She just sat there with her head down, invisible, same as always.
It was hard to believe she was the same person from the rooftop yesterday. That cold, ruthless avenger felt like a figment of my imagination.
But I knew what I saw.
I was on edge all day. My eyes kept drifting to her without me even realizing it.
She seemed to notice. She just didn't acknowledge it.
The second the bell rang, she grabbed her bag and bolted. First one out the door.
I didn't even think. I just followed her.
I wasn't trying to rat her out or threaten her. I just wanted to know who she really was.
I watched her disappear down a shabby lane. She twisted and turned through it until she finally stopped in front of a beat-up apartment building.
The stairwell was crammed with junk. Dim lighting. Black mold streaked down the walls.
She climbed to the third floor, fished out her keys, and unlocked an old iron door with paint peeling off. Then she slipped inside.
I hesitated for a second, then followed her. I stopped right outside her door.
The door wasn't fully closed. It was left cracked open.
I heard a voice from inside.
A woman's shrill voice was shouting curses. "Useless girl, where have you been? You finally show up now? No dinner, no cleaning. What's the point of keeping you around?"
Then came a sharp smack. Probably the sound of a slap.
"I'm talking to you! Cat got your tongue? Just like your good-for-nothing father!" the woman kept yelling.
I peeked through the crack in the door.
There was a middle-aged woman, flabby with cheap curls, jabbing her finger right in Adeline's face and going off on her.
Adeline kept her head down, just taking it, not saying a word.
There was a bright red handprint on her face.
The mark from Ryan's slap yesterday was still there, overlapping with this new one.
My heart sank.
Turns out, keeping her head down at school, playing the good girl at home—it was all a mask.
She kept all her fangs and claws hidden away.
Only when she was cornered did she let them out. And then she went straight for the kill.
I quietly slipped out, leaned against the wall in the stairwell, and lit up a cigarette.
As the smoke curled around me, I could almost see those icy eyes from the rooftop yesterday.
It hit me then. Burning Ryan's hair was the least he deserved.
Honestly, he got off easy.
*****
The next few days were calm.
Ryan still hadn't shown up. Jake was jumpy as a rabbit. He'd steer clear whenever Adeline was around.
Joanna kept acting like she ran the class, but she left Adeline alone.
The whole classroom felt off.
I started trying to talk to Adeline.
"I'm stuck on this problem. Can you help me out?" I asked, sliding my workbook over to her.
She froze for a moment, then looked up. For the first time, her eyes behind those glasses really looked at me.
There was suspicion in them, like she was sizing me up.
"Why should I help you?" Her voice was icy, almost chilling.
"Because we're deskmates," I replied, flashing what I hoped was a friendly smile.
She stared at me for a few seconds, then, without another word, picked up her pen and started writing out the steps on a piece of scratch paper.
Her handwriting was elegant, and her explanations were crystal clear.
She wasn't bad at school at all. Her bad grades were just another disguise.
Things between us started to move forward. Just a little. All thanks to that math problem.
She still kept to herself, but she didn't treat me like I was invisible anymore.
Sometimes, I'd share my breakfast with her.
Sometimes, I'd bring up random topics just to get a reaction.
Most of the time, she stayed quiet, but she never shut me out.
I knew she was like a wounded hedgehog, prickly and wary of anyone who tried to get close.
I wasn't in a rush. I just kept things neither too close nor too distant, keeping that weird in-between deskmate vibe going.
*****
Then, a week later, Ryan finally showed up.
He was bald now. He wore a baseball cap pulled low, trying to hide the burns.
But the venom in his eyes was impossible to miss.
The moment he walked into the classroom, his eyes locked onto Adeline.
Adeline stiffened for a split second, so quick one'd miss it if they blinked. Then she went right back to acting like nothing had happened.
I knew it. Shit was about to hit the fan.