BEST SERVED COLD: THE ULTIMATE REVENGE SYSTEM

Used To That Shame?

Sabito could call out for help… he could—

Jasper's fingers pressed harder against his jaw, just enough to make his decision for him. Not enough to choke, or leave a mark, but enough to leave a warning, a promise that if he makes as much as an attempt to call for help, he'll regret it.

“Think it's a teacher?” Ethan.

“Maybe, maybe not.” Mike said, and then he finally pushed off the lockers and stretched lazily. “If it is, then, he'd be real lucky, huh?”

But Sabito didn't think so, because the footsteps stopped.

A shadow stretched across the floor, just around the corner. Someone was there. Right there.

Sabito clenched his fists, which attracted another low, gruttal warning. “Go ahead,” Jasper whispered, a slow mocking drawl. “Call for help. See what happens.”

“Nah…” Ethan chuckled under his breath. “Bet he won't. He's too much of a coward.”

Those words struck Sabito like a thunderbolt. It was like a bucket of ice cold water had been emptied on his head, dripping down and soaking into his spines and making it rigid.

Shame. Anger. Helplessness. A profuse amount of them filled him.

But there was hope. He needn't call for help. That person whoever it was would see them and fight for him.

And then—

The person rounded the corner!

What?! A student?!

No, no, no… this is bad.

Sabito's heart plummeted and then, it dropped even lower when Jasper released his grip.

What was he planning now? He had gotten so accustomed to them grabbing his uniform, that releasing him now made him feel even more uncomfortable.

Ethan shook his head. “Damn. So no one even cares about you, huh?”

Jasper patted his cheek, almost affectionately when the blaring sound of the school bell rang. “See you after school, mutt.”

And just like that, they were gone!

Sabito released the breath he didn't know he had been holding, before taking turns to breath in and out. That was close. At least, unlike the other times when he would cough out blood when they punched him, he wasn't hurt today, and that was all that counts, right?

He stood up from his kneeling position and dejectedly started walking towards the classroom, with his head lowered and shoulders tensed.

“Hey! Sabito!” The moment he stepped inside, Mr Hampton, their science lecturer called him out. His tone was neither harsh nor soft.

Sabito's tensed shoulders tensed up even more. How could he not know why he was calling him? He knew.

“Come over,” Mr Hampton ordered, “and stand right here.” He pointed to the space beside the white teaching board hung on the wall.

Sabito, who was now holding his breath, started walking to the front of the classroom slowly.

He had barely reached there when the voice of Mr Hampton turned into something hard.

“Hey, be quick and don't waste my time! Unlike you with no purpose, I have precious things to do with my time, or,” he paused, his gaze sweeping across the students all seated. “Don't you all have better things to do too?”

The collective answer of a “yes” was like tiny needles to Sabito's heart and his foolish ego. No, it's not right to say he had any left.

“Do you know why you're standing here?” Mr Hampton asked with a mocking tone.

“And don't you dare shake your head when I'm talking to you! I have ears and I expect you to talk!” He bellowed when Sabito shook his head at his question.

“Maybe the cat got his tongue as always…” a student mocked from across the class.

“Or maybe he'll bite his tongue if he says something…”

A round of laughter erupted in the classroom, each sound a piercing jab to Sabito's entire life form. He just wished the earth would open up and swallow him whole.

“It's…” he started, but his voice was low, barely above a whisper. “It's because of my grades.” He finally said, lowering his head even more in absolute shame.

Shame. Yes, a profuse amount of it filled him to his very core.

He couldn't stand up for himself, couldn't even ace his tests or aced his grades, he was just infuriatingly useless and so, doesn't blame Mr Hampton. Not him, and definitely not the other lecturers who see him as useless.

Other students aces theirs, so it wasn't the lecturers, but him. They knew their profession like they did the palm of their hand. It was just him, who couldn't comprehend. Who was as dull as a donkey.

But even the donkeys can never be forced to drink from the river, right?

Sabito internally gave a condescending chuckle. Even a donkey was better than he was.

“Good that you know,” Mr Hampton's harsh voice brought him out of his reverie. “And do you know what happens if you don't pass this semester's exams?”

Sabito's throat suddenly felt dry. He hadn't spoken yet, but his mouth was dry and his tongue was heavy. He could feel Mr Hampton's gaze pinning him in place, piercing and expectant, waiting for an answer he already knew.

His fingers twitched at the sides. His shoulders curled in, as if trying to make himself smaller.

Mr Hampton's fingers drummed impatiently against his desk. “Well?”

Sabito swallowed, forcing the words past the boulder of a lump that had long formed in his throat. His voice came out quieter than before, hoarse and thin. “I…I'll fail.”

A scoff followed. Mocking and unimpressed.

“Fail?” Mr Hampton leaned forward, his piercing eyes narrowing behind his glasses. “You make it sound so simple. But do you know what failing means, Sabito?”

Sabito's hands clenched into fists, nails digging into his palms. He lowered his gaze, staring hard at the floor like some savoir.

“It means,” Mr Hampton continued, his tone like cold steel, “that you'll repeat the year. That you'll fall even further behind your peers. That they would all move forward and you? You'll be stuck, floundering in the same place, making the same mistakes—over and over again.”

Like stones, the words struck him, heavy and inescapable. He knew this, and yet, hearing it spoken so plainly—so ruthlessly—made the shame crawl under his skin like an infection.

Mr Hampton exhaled sharply, raising his chin and concedensingly looking down at him. “Or maybe you're used to that shameful feeling, hmm?