"How can she think about going to school when she can't even talk or open her dirty mouth? A mute person must attend a school where all the students are mute too," said Sandra, one of Aera's classmates, while they were in the comfort room fixing their makeup. "They will communicate with each other properly because they have the same problem. Unlike here, we are the ones who need to adjust to her. It is not even our fault that she is mute. It is her fault in the first place. So why do we need to suffer just to understand her? What a dumb." she added, mocking Aera.
Sandra's friends laugh at what she has said. They find it fun and, at some point, they know what Sandra was talking about.
"How will she communicate in the future when she graduates? Can she even talk properly to her boss in the future? Who would like to do that?" asked Coleen, Sandra's friend. "I do not think they will hire someone like her in the first place. If I were her, I would not bother studying and just stay at home. Or if she really wants to go out, she needs to speak first or have herself a check up if she is still able to talk." she added.
"Well... will she graduate?" Ysa added to cause them a laugh loudly inside the comfort room.
They stopped laughing when they saw the center of their topic, Aera, coming out of the cubicle.
Sandra went in front of her. "Oh, you are here. Sorry you heard us talking about you. You should have been deaf too, so that you would not have heard us talking about you. I am really, really sorry about that. My bad." Said Sandra, laughing at Aera. "We really waited for you to come out. You are not just a mute, but a deaf person too," she added.
When Sandra saw Aera entering the comfort room, she quickly asked her friends to go to the comfort room as well. She wanted to make fun of Aera's disability. That is what she was planning every day to make Aera suffer and make her stop attending the school.
Aera walked fast to get out of the comfort room, hoping her classmates would not follow her.
"Hey, let's talk for a minute-oops! You can't talk anyway." Coleen mocked them as they all followed Aera outside.
The other students who were standing near the comfort room did not know how to react. They do not know if they will laugh or pity Aera because she is being bullied again.
Yes, again. Like what is happening always, whether it is inside or outside of the classroom. There is no way Sandra and her friends would not bully her.
Aera was always the center of discrimination at their school. They always made fun of Aera for not being able to talk back to them. Sandra, together with her friends, is the one who always wants to bully her. Although Aera still receives some negative comments about her if she is outside, she chose not to care about it and continued what she was doing.
Entertaining them won't do her any good. So instead of facing them, she decided to just stay silent and act like she had not heard anything from them.
That is how she can survive outside.
Ignore the people who say something bad and move on.
What would happen if she fought them? She will only get hurt in the end, and that is not good for her.
All of the students around her did not dare go up against Sandra and her friends. They are afraid that they might be the next victim if they dare to help Aera. The students only look at Aera with a sad face, turning their heads away as if they do not see what's happening at all.
No one wants to experience what Aera was experiencing today. Who would love to be bullied, right? They all just want to live quietly and avoid being targeted by the likes of Sandra and her friends.
"What a waste, she's pretty." one of the students commented, whispering to her own friend who is watching secretly while Sandra makes fun of Aera.
This scene is not new to them anymore. Every day, they will see Aera being bullied.
There is no school that does not have these kinds of students. One of these is rich people who look down on poor people. Make them their school slaves, answer their assignments, make projects for them, and many more things that we can list. And some of them were just students who like attention and need something.
"You do not have to pity her," a man said, suddenly joining the conversation. "Talking is not the only way to communicate." he added to the student.
They were shocked after seeing the man beside them. They did not imagine that this person would come near to them like that. Talking to them as if he was part of the group since he was also sitting and looking at Aera's place.
He stood up, wiping the dirt away from his pants, and approached Aera. "Come with me, you are getting their attention too much. It's sad to see that no one tried to help you. They are all cowards for being scared and acting like they did not see anything. They are turning a blind eye. That's what I pity the most, the people who bully others and the people who only watch." he added, before pulling Aera away from the crowd.
He did not bother waiting to see what Aera would do; he just pulled her out of the people's gaze and brought her to a place where there were a few students only.
"I guess we can sit here," he said as he sat on the bench. "Sit, they would not bother to follow us anymore. I can assure you that one." He added and tapped the vacant seat beside him, telling Aera to sit down already.
Aera nodded and slowly sat beside him, leaving a small gap between them. She got her notepad on her bad and write.
"Nah, don't worry. Since it is my second fault, I have to help you no matter what." he answered, after reading the word 'Thank you' on her notepad.
"You know me already, right? King Leus, your classmate," he said, introducing himself. "If they try to bully you again, just fight them face-to-face, do not run away from them. They will bully you again next time. If you even have to pull their hair, then do it. Do not hesitate." King added, giving Aera a sermon.
"If I was you, I would quickly pull their hair until I couldn't pull anything else anymore. Do not allow them to belittle you. You are also a student like them. Why are they acting as if they are almighty, making fun of you and hurting you physically and mentally? It is making me mad since you are just letting them in and do not fight back. Are you this kind? Being kind is not good. To survive in this kind of hell, you have to be strong. They need to know that they can't hurt you in any way." He continued, still enraged at the girls who had previously bullied her.
"What are you writing?" He asked when he saw Aera writing on her pad again. "Why am I talking to you?" He added, reading what Aera had written. "Isn't it obvious? Am I not allowed to talk to you or are they threatening you to not talk to me?"
Aera quickly sways her hands, wanting to explain her side, but she could not bring herself to do it.
King sighed. "Is it because I talked to you last time, right? I heard my name last time. They are taking it too much." he asked, and Aera answered him with a nod. "Do not listen to them. Are they my parents? Telling you not to come near me, oh come on. My parents do not even care who my friends are, but they were telling people to stay away from me. I have my own freedom! You are my classmate. I can talk to anyone I want to. Do not dare to prevent me from making friends; I do not live because of them. They should have lived according to their own." he added, complaining.
"Now you are smiling. It's been a while since I saw you smile. I never saw you after the last time I talked to you. Being famous is not too great at all." He complained again.
Well, King Leus is one of the famous students on the campus. They like King Leus and want to know what is going on in his life, whether they are students or not.
Aera showed her pad to him.
'Are you befriending me?'
"You do not want to be friends with me? I can treat my friends," he boasted. "I am also one call away," he added, but was not able to get a reply from her. "I have many good friends that you can be your friend as well... uuh you are supposed to answer me right now." King said, disappointedly, and that made Aera smile back.
"So there is one thing I am sure about, and that is that I can make you smile, so you should accept-oh? It's my pleasure to be your friend. I thought you don't like me, since you are kind of avoiding me." he commented, after reading what Aera had written.
'I am happy to be your friend'
"You are not comfortable talking to a handsome man like me?" King boasted himself again.
"I am not that comfortable talking to anyone. I hope you understand me." said King, as he read the note from Aera's notebook. "Nah, don't worry." He said, assuring Aera that he would not harm her. "I am a good man who also loves to cook."
"I hear you are from Saint Angel Orphanage. Where did you meet Sandra, right?" Aera was shocked to hear it from King. "I happened to overhear your conversation with Sandra a few days ago. I thought it was my fault that they were bullying you, but yeah, I learned that there is more than that. So, here I am befriending you." he continued.
King Leus Concepcion, as he is known, is because of his father, who is a famous chef all over the Philippines. He is also known for his love of cooking and for following his father's journey.
We cannot deny the handsomeness of King, making the other students like him. Who would not love a man who is handsome and cooks good food, right?
He is also an athlete at the university. How talented the man is!
"I am a little bit famous, please bear with my fans and my handsomeness." he added, boasting himself again.
There is one thing that all of the students know, and they are sure about it.
It was King Leus's pride to be proud of how handsome he was. He would not deny it and would brag about it as much as he could.
'You are right, they might be killing me in their minds right now'
King looked around his surroundings.
"Okay, I already asked her to be my friend. Never make up nonsense stories that aren't true at all. Do not try to bully her again!" He yelled, warning the other students. "I will sue you as her friend!" He added, before looking back at Aera, who was smiling at her. "I guess I am good when it comes to making friends."
After talking for half an hour, introducing and sharing information about themselves, they went back together to their room.
"Can I look at your certificate of registration?" While they were walking in the corridor, King asked
Aera nodded and opened her bag to get her COR. She handed it to King after confirming she had got the right paper.
King smiled after seeing Aera's certificate of registration.
"You know, although I know that we are always in the same room. It is so stupid of me to ask for your COR just to see that it is really the same." he shared as he handed back the COR to Aera. "We really got the same schedule. This is so fun." he added.