Chapter 5 Man whore

Jivu's POV

I took a slow breath and let it out.

I had to be in Class X. My brother had been in that same class. Even though he had no criminal record, his threat assessment was high and his ability risk evaluations too, so he had been placed there. And he had been happy about it. Then one day he just never came back home.

I looked at the paper in my hands, my fist clenching until it crumpled under my grip.

"No. I can stay in Class X."

"Okay then. Good luck. You will need it, with the class initiation." He went back to his papers, scribbling things, and I stood.

I walked out with a heavy heart, knowing they were going to laugh at me. I had failed with the principal.

My steps felt twice as heavy climbing back up the stairs, the earlier aggression cooled and slow.

I had to face the class initiation now. It was my reality. Nobody could pull me out of that.

I opened the door.

The class was chaotic as expected. Students shouted across the room, some sitting on desks instead of chairs, others asleep as though this were their bedroom rather than a classroom.

In one corner, the Gentleman was calmly drinking tea as if he were attending afternoon etiquette lessons.

The twins sat across from each other playing cards.

At the whiteboard, someone had written in enormous letters:

EDUCATION CREATES LEADERS. CHAOS CREATES LEGENDS.

I stared at it. I had been inside Apple High for less than an hour and I already wanted to leave.

I walked up to the Gentleman, who was drinking his tea and looking out the window.

"I'll do it," I announced.

He stopped the cup halfway to his mouth and placed it back down on the saucer.

He smiled, then turned to the class. "Unexpectedly, and as strange as it may seem, la belle has accepted the challenge."

The class erupted into a wave of cheers and claps.

"Let's go!"

"This is gonna be fun!"

I was already regretting it.

I am doing all of this for Ruin. That is why I have to take this.

We walked out of the class, the rest following behind us as I stayed close behind the Gentleman. We took one flight of stairs down to the next floor and then he stopped, which caused the whole crowd to stop with him. The talk reduced to whispers.

He turned to me and pointed to the first door. "That is the Class A lobby. Right now they are not in their classes, most of them are waiting in the lobby, just sitting there doing nothing." He turned his rod over in a fast, practised motion then sighed, the kind of sigh of someone explaining something simple for the hundredth time. "All you have to do is enter, slap one of them or punch them, and then walk out. Or run."

I clenched my hands. This is sick.

"But since the class X's uniform is different they will notice me," I said. "They will know I am from Class X the second I walk in."

The whole school wore navy blue uniforms with white stripes. Class X wore black with red.

"Yes they will," the Gentleman said with a small smile. "That is part of the challenge."

The class behind us made a low sound, somewhere between a laugh and an exhale.

I stared at him. "Is there another way to do this initiation?"

He tilted his head, considering. Then he smiled wider, which was somehow worse than the first one.

"Yes, you can punch the principal instead."

Someone in the crowd behind us choked on a laugh.

"That is worse," I said flatly.

"Considerably," he agreed.

I turned back to the door. Why should I punch some random student who never wronged me? I had no answer for that. But the alternative was worse and the one after that would probably be worse still.

"Fine," I said. "I will do it."

"Wonderful." He gestured to the door.

I took the first heavy step toward it.

"Hold on." He turned to the crowd and clicked his fingers. "Stalker, come."

The boy who disappeared materialised from nowhere beside him.

"You know what to do," the Gentleman said.

Stalker nodded and walked towards me, then disappeared at my side. His voice came low, close to my ear even though I could not see him.

"Don't worry I won't hurt you, I am just going to record you doing the task. To prove you did it."

I held back a sneer. Whatever.

I continued to the door. Reaching it I took a deep breath and pushed it open.

The room was a lounge, with numerous sofas arranged in wide semicircles. The atmosphere was fresh and clean, flora set along the walls and tucked into the corners, the whole place carrying the kind of quiet comfort that had no business being inside a school.

I stepped in, my footsteps silent against the pristine floor, eyes scanning the room for an easy target.

Some girls were huddled together laughing, probably gossiping. Others were studying on another set of sofas. I skipped the studying ones, they seemed harmless.

Then my eyes caught a target.

A boy leaning back into his sofa like he owned it, arms spread wide across the headrest, a girl on either side pressed close to him as if he were Apollo himself gracing an academic institution with his presence.

I smiled to myself. A man whore. This one deserves a beating.

I walked towards him, earning stares from each row I passed, heads turning to follow me all the way until I stopped in front of him, pulled my hand back and punched him clean across the face.

The whole room went silent.

Then a second later the whispers rose in waves, climbing over each other.

No way.

Why did she do that?

What is she even thinking?

Who even is she?

She is from Class X. Look at the uniform.

Not class X again!

She has a death wish.