The Class Battles Part 1

"It sure is taking Chio a long time." Brett said, tapping his foot on the grass beneath him.

"Do you think Lawrence will actually come?" Livi asked.

"There's no real telling with Lawrence. But if Chio’s the one bringing him, I think she'll somehow find a way to convince him to come."

Brett and Livi were standing amongst a crowd of students all wearing the same gray t-shirt and red athletic shorts provided to them by the school. They were all divided into their respective classes, both A and B, and gathered on the green grass at the center of the school's soccer field, waiting patiently for the class battles to finally begin. Spectators filled the bleachers surrounding the large field. Most of them being towns folk, or residents from the neighboring towns. A small sum of the bleachers disappeared behind the swarm of onlookers as they took their seats and prepared their drinks and snacks. The sun had fully come out and the second event of the month was now upon them.

"It's been a while since I've last seen you." one of the students from class B said, approaching the spot Brett and Livi were standing at. He was tall and walked with confidence. His hair was a shade of dark brown and his long bangs swayed back and forth like a pendulum clock with each step he took. "Isn't that right, Brett?"

“Oh Mac is that you? It really has been a long time hasn’t it. I barely noticed that it was you.” Brett responded.

Livi tugged on his gym sleeve. “I didn’t know you used to be friends with someone like Mac.” she whispered.

“Ah, it’s kind of a long story, but yeah, we used to get along pretty well.” he said, without breaking eye contact with the former friend standing in front of him.

“We got along really well.” Mac spoke, overhearing the small girl in front of him speak. He crossed his arms and swiftly tossed his bangs out from in front of his face. “With the two of us together we could break past any wall that stood in front of us. We were an unstoppable duo that couldn’t be rivaled.”

“Ah, those sure were the good old days. I can’t believe it was so long ago, it almost feels like it was just last week.” Brett said.

“It was good. We were good.”

Livi wasn’t sure what the relationship between the two was, But she could tell that Mac wasn’t here to just simply catch up on lost time; he had other motives for talking to Brett. Motives that Livi didn’t assume were good.

“Everything was going well until you up and quit on us Brett.” Mac said.

“Ah well you know, some things just come up and what not. Life is always constantly changing as they say.” Brett responded, rubbing the back of his head and politely smiling.

“Don’t give me that Brett. You were one of the best out there, you lead us to more victories than our small school could ever hope for. So don’t just stand there smiling and say things just come up.” Mac quickly dropped the friendly chit chat.

“Now come on Mac, we had our fun but we both knew it couldn’t always last.”

“The team thought it could. We all thought it could. Each and everyone of us worked our tails off day and night knowing that we for once in our life stood a chance.” A scowl started to form behind Mac’s bangs. “Yet in the peak of our season, when all of our spirits were high, you didn’t show up to practice. The next day the coach told us you quit, that you weren't playing soccer anymore. Most of the team won’t talk to you about it because they used to look up to you, but I am your equal. So know that I speak on their behalf when I say this: Class B will destroy you in the class battles. That is final.” he spoke, drawing out each word with steel in his voice.

“Mac, it’s supposed to be a fun event for the school. Let's just all try to have fun, okay?” Brett said, trying to keep the atmosphere light and welcoming.

“Your competitive edge is gone, Brett. It’s been a whole year hasn’t it? You’re most definitely rusty now, and you’ve gained weight too.” Mac observed.

“It’s called strength training! Why can’t you people understand that?!” Brett screamed in embarrassment.

Mac slipped his hands in his pockets and turned around. “All that time you spent slacking off and resting, I have been pushing myself past my physical limit. I will show you how badly you have fallen.'' Mac turned to his class and paused. “Mark my words, Brett.”

Brett watched as Mac drifted away. His eyes were fixated on him, and his eyebrows were slightly furrowed.

“Uh, Brett what was that about?” Livi asked not knowing if now was a good time to ask or not.

“Ah don’t worry about it.” Brett said, pushing it aside. “What we need to worry about right now is where Chio and Lawrence are at. The event is going to start any second now and if they aren't here, they will probably be counted absent and held back from participating. I’m sure Chio would hate that.”

Just as Brett finished up, Chio burst through the soccer’s fence gate on Livi’s bike. The tires dug into the grass as she sped off towards the crowd of students gathered in the middle of the field..

“We made it in time!” Chio yelled with sweat rolling down her face from the extreme amount of peddling.

“Just barely! You almost killed us countless times on the way up here!” Lawrence screamed standing on the back pegs of the bike and holding onto Chio’s drenched shoulders as she continued to furiously pedal through the field.

Chio turned her head towards Lawrence. “Well if it hadn’t taken you ages to find your gym clothes we wouldn’t have had to rush over here!”

“Y-you idiot, look where you’re going!” Lawrence said, pushing on her cheek to turn her head back forward.

“H-hey don’t shake the bike!” Chio shouted.

Chio lost control of the bike’s handle and both of them were thrown off, launching them a few feet into the air before coming to a hard landing, and rolling right at the feet of their classmates. The bike bounced twice then slowly slid to a stop.

“Man, they sure know how to make an entrance.” Brett said, seeing the two of them lying face down in the grass.

“I told her to be careful with my bike.” Livi grumbled, face palming with disappointment.

Chio hastily picked her head up from the ground. “Lawrence, I thought we were dead!”

“I’ve been thinking that this whole time!” he screamed before standing up and dusting off his shorts.

Lawrence’s and Chio’s classmates all rushed over to them laughing about the absurd entrance. Some even pat Chio on the back and told her good job for getting Lawrence to come. Maple, however, didn’t go. She stood still as the class passed by her towards the two. She bit one of her blue painted nails, and made a face of anger. “Why the heck is Lawrence here?” she mumbled to herself.

Once the bike was removed and everyone had calmed down, both of the classes once again formed into their two groups and waited on the soccer field for further instructions.

“I hope everyone has had a pleasant morning, and are excited for this year's class battle, in honor of the Completion of the Year tradition!” the principal said, while standing on a small podium in front of the students and spectators. He was a tall middle aged man who didn’t have many unique features besides his well trimmed beard. “All of these fine students have overcome many obstacles, not only this year but all of their years throughout high school. They have furthered their education and overall well being while attending this wonderful school, and are now on the verge of entering the world of adults! I hope that each and every one of them will be able to make a remarkable name for themselves and lead lives filled with success and joy! I thank you all for attending this special event and encouraging all of our students here today. This is not only about the students who stand in front of us, but you, the parents and the town that helped them blossom into the fine people they are now. With that said, let us all have an outstanding Completion of the year celebration!”

The crowd of people in the stadium stood up and gave a loud round of applause. The principal stepped down from the podium and welcomed Lawrence’s homeroom teacher up to the mic.

“Uh, good morning to you all. I am Mr. Robert, the homeroom teacher for this year's class A. I will be reading off the rules of the class battles today.” He spoke with a more monotone voice than the principal, and instead of looking at the crowd he read off a piece of paper as he rubbed his five o’clock shadow.

“I feel like I am in class right now.” Brett joked.

“I should have brought my pillow for this.” Livi said joining along.

“For this year there will be three different events taking place to determine the winning class.” Mr. Robert said into the mic. “To determine the overall class winner we will have each class divide up into multiple groups of two. The groups will all participate in the events but will all be competing against each other.”

A few mumbles could be heard amongst the students, confused at how this system would work.

“Depending on how each group does during the events, they will be placed into a ranking from first place downwards, with each group being ranked. Although, only the top ten groups at the end of the three events will be counted towards the overall victor of the class battles.”

“This year is going to be a challenge.” Brett said with an uneasy grin on his face.

“Each group in the top ten will be worth one point for their respective class, and the group in first place will be counted as two points. Once all the events of the class battle are over, the top ten groups will be added up and the winner of the class battles will be announced.”

“Livi, let's make sure to get first place!” Chio said extremely excited.

Livi could only release a nervous laugh, praying she wouldn’t have to do much work.

“I will now announce the first game the students will be participating in.” Mr. Robert said. He flipped one of his pages over as the students and crowd waited in anticipation. “It will be…a class headband war!”

Small gasps emerged from the students and town.

“What's a headband war? Is it fun! It has to be fun right!” Chio said, pulling on Lawrence’s collar and shaking him.

“J-ust listen.” he said.

“I will now explain how the headband war will work. Each group of two will be assigned a colored headband to each student. White headbands will go to class A, and black headbands will go to class B. Every group will be placed a set distance away from each other around the soccer field. Once the game starts, the groups will have ten minutes to snatch the other groups headbands off. Once a group has acquired another headband, they must place it upon one of their heads to count it as a point. As for the group that had their headband stolen, they are still in the game. Once the full ten minutes are up. Each group will have all the headbands that they are currently wearing counted and then ranked accordingly. The twist of this game is however, each member of the group will have one of their hands tied to the other. Limiting movement and forcing them to work together.”

“This is getting me fired up!” Brett said. “We’re going for gold Lawrence!”

The opening announcements came to a close and the students all paired up and spread out amongst the soccer field.The teachers went to each pair of students and bound their left hands together with strong white cloths. Then, they handed out headbands according to their classes. Mac and one of his soccer buddies, Lane. We’re partnered up and looked the most ready out of class B. Naturally Maple and Zoe were partners. A few yards away, Chio and her partner, Livi, were having some issues. Livi's short stature meant that her hand was hanging almost above her head. Chio felt bad but she couldn't help how much taller she was than Livi.

“Are you sure it’s a good idea to team up with me, Brett? Even though I don't want to, I am most definitely going to hold you back.” Lawrence said, raising up the hand that was strapped to Brett.

Brett simply puffed his chest out and raised his head. “I wouldn’t underestimate my skill in sports Lawrence. Whatever you lack, I will make up for. And together-.” he turned and faced Lawrence. “-we will come out on top!”

The crowd all had their popcorn and drinks out and ready. The wind was blowing just enough to make the ends of the headbands slowly wave around. The students were all focused and ready. Once the gym teacher gave a mighty blow of his whistle, the large timer resting just outside of the field would start and the class battles would begin.

A wave of silence moved through the air as the students all fixed their eyes onto their first targets, and then, the blow of a whistle rang out. They were off.

“W-woah, Chio slow down!” Livi said barely able to keep herself from being dragged around by her partner.

Chio disregarded Livi’s plea for help and advanced towards a cluster of white and black headbands. Her and Livi both mixed in with the large group, and after many bumps and attempted grabs from the pile of students, they emerged from the crowd on the other side.

“Chio, your headband is gone.” Livi disappointingly said.

“No issue, I managed to get four more.” Chio raised her right hand and held up four black headbands that used to belong to students of class B.

“Y-you managed to get that many!” Livi said, amazed.

Chio threw the four headbands onto her partner's head and pulled them down snugly.

“You aren't going to wear them?” Livi asked.

Chio put her hand behind her head and nervously smiled. “Uh, I just have a feeling you should be the ones to carry the headbands, hehe”

Chio’s feeling was right. As the game progressed the two of them managed to get more headbands without them ever losing one of their own. The reason for this was quite simple. Most people were used to reaching up, or straight out in front of them to snatch away their opponents headband. So when they encountered Chio’s group, they were not used to reaching so low, and before they could become accustomed to the height difference, Chio had stolen their headband and made off with it.

Maple and Zoe were not as profitable as them however, but they sure were making progress. Each of their heads had at least three of four bands wrapped around them. Although the group with the most was plainly obvious, and a large sum of the crowd had their eyes glued to them. With close to ten headbands on each of their heads, Mac and Lane from class B were quickly picking up their classes slack. They were completely dominating any group that got near them. Their eyes would focus on a target. They would quickly advance and,using their experience in teamwork from the plenty of years playing together, outplay the opponent and snatch off their headband in only a few measly seconds. Then just as quickly, they would focus onto another target and repeat.

“Lane, now!” Mac shouted as he had just quickly rotated him behind a group of class A students.

Lane perfectly snatched off their members last remaining headband and slung it onto his own head, barely fitting when doing so.

“Let's back off for now and position ourselves in a more comfortable spot.” Mac instructed, viewing the chaotic field.

“What for Mac, we shouldn’t stop now, we’re on a roll!” Lane insisted.

“No, we’re backing off, we are already in the lead and I don’t want us to lose our points due to a preventable mistake. Plus,” He intensely scanned the field once again. “Our toughest opponent hasn’t shown themselves yet.”

“I-I’m getting worn out Chio…I can’t keep up with you anymore.” Livi painted, throwing her free arm onto her knee and leaning down.

“Sorry Livi.” Chio said, knowing she had gotten carried away. She pointed her finger at Livi's head and started to count. “Ten, eleven, twelve…we have twelve headbands! that should be good enough for now.”

“That’s plenty enough!” Livi exclaimed. “Let’s just play defense until the time runs out. Please, I'm begging you!”

Chio let out a small laugh and leaned in. “Isn’t this fun Livi!”

“We have totally different versions of fun Chio…” Livi said, leaning against her for a breather. She lifted up her head and noticed Chio was staring off into the distance. “Is something wrong?”

“Ah, I was just wondering where Lawrence is, I haven’t seen him this whole time…I hope he’s having fun.” Chio spoke softly.

“HERE WE GO LAWRENCE, NOW!” Brett screamed, deafening most of the people around him.

“This is really embarrassing Brett!” Lawrence yelled as he reached towards someone with three headbands around their head and pulled them off. He quickly pushed them down onto Brett’s head along with the others that they had gotten. Just by looking at the stash of bands anyone could tell it was more than definitely within the double digits range and it was a miracle they were staying on.

“What the heck are those two doing…” Livi said aghast at what she was seeing.

“Yeah! Good job Lawrence, you get them!” Chio yelled, pumping her free arm in the air.

In the middle of the soccer field for all to see, as a sight no one in their right mind would believe. Resting in Brett’s arms, just like a princess that had been reunited with her prince, was none other than Lawrence.

“I want this to be over…” Lawrence mumbled, red in the face.

“Just hold out a little bit longer Lawrence, if we keep this up we can definitely secure first!” Brett encouraged, easily carrying Lawrence in his arms.

“I wouldn’t be so quick to assume that Brett.” Mac said, walking out in front of him, instigating a challenge. “You sure do have an obtuse way of competing, don’t you.”

“I didn’t agree to this just so you know!” Lawrence wailed.

“Mac, you and Lane have outdone yourself. You weren't kidding when you said class B was going to beat us, you guys are putting up a good fight.” Brett responded with a friendly smile.

“Are you starting to get a feeling of what defeat is Brett? That's what your former teammates felt like game after game after you abandoned us.” Mac growled with a face of determination and competitiveness.

Brett dug his back foot into the ground for support. “Sorry Mac, but I don’t plan on letting my class down. Let’s have a good battle.” He bent his back knee and lowered his body along with Lawrence. “HERE WE GO LAWRENCE!”

With the force of a bear, Brett pushed off of the ground and quickly closed the distance between the two groups even while carrying another person. He expanded his arms and swung Lawrence towards the surprised Lane. Lawrence's hand just barely grazed his hair before Mac shoved his partner out of the way of danger.

“Don’t zone out on me now Lane! This is our chance to finally get payback!” Mac yelled, leveling himself and furrowing his brows at the mighty Brett that stood before him.

Mac led the charge and Lane followed. Mac quickly went up to grab the headbands struggling to stay atop Brett’s head, but fainted downwards at the last second having Lane take his place. Lane's hands closed in on Brett but was stopped by Lawrence’s grip.

“Tsk.” Lane let out.

Mac pulled Lane away and positioned them for their next attack.

“Hahaha! Where did that come from Lawrence!” Brett asked, surprised by Lawrence’s defensiveness.

“I’m not about to lose after being held like this the entire match!” Lawrence yelled. “We’re winning this Brett!”

“You took the words right out of my mouth pal!”

Brett once again forcefully pushed off and sprinted towards Mac and Lane. Both of them once again barely dodging out of the way and engaging in their own attack. The two groups athletically went back and forth, attacking and dodging, attacking and dodging. Neither one of them budged even slightly. As the timer eventually closed down to the twenty second mark, most of the students were completely exhausted and not attempting to collect any more headbands. Instead, the majority of them were focused on the extreme battle being held at the center of the field. Everyone's eyes were constantly following the two groups movements, amazed at how they were still going at it, and wondering who would come out on top in the end.

“Brett! This is it! I’m getting payback for all those years!” Mac yelled.

Mac and Lane quickly started dashing around Brett and Lawrence, every now and then they would faint a grab and quickly returned back to dashing, completely throwing off Brett and making him constantly spin around.

“IT'S OVER BRETT!” Mac screamed as he had managed to completely get behind Brett. Like a bullet he shot his hand up into the air and slipped half of his hand underneath the stash of headbands resting on his head. Brett dug deep from within his gut, and let out a mighty roar. Instantly, the headbands were free from Mac’s grasp.

“H-HOW!” Mac exclaimed in complete confusion.

With all of his might Brett had jumped high into the air avoiding Mac, with Lawrence still in hand. The crowd stood up in amazement as Brett continued to rise above the ground he once stood on.

“I TOLD YOU ALREADY!” Brett yelled. “IT'S CALLED STRENGTH TRAINING!”

Brett quickly shifted Lawrence above Mac’s head and right before the timer hit zero, Lawrence had grabbed a handful of headbands and swifty transferred them from his hand to his head.

The crowd screamed with excitement along with the rest of Class A.

“Heck yeah! We did it Lawrence!” Brett said, putting him down. “H-hey man, are you okay?”

Right as Lawrence touched the ground for the first time in ten whole minutes, he quickly dropped to his knees and with his free hand clutching his shirt. “I-I’m fine, just with all the spinning and moving around I got short winded.” he took a few deep breaths and then stood back up. He picked up the hand that was once latched onto his shirt, balled it into a fist and held it in front of Brett. “Good work man.”

Brett softly smiled and pushed his first against Lawrence’s. “You too man, you too.”

After the intense match, all of the students were gathered up and had only the headbands that were attached to their heads counted. Everyone waited patiently as the points were added up, hoping their class would be in the lead. Then, after minutes that felt like stretched out hours, the results were up.

Class A burst into cheer, seeing six out of the ten spots on the board were filled by them. Although the main reason they were bursting with joy was because Brett and Lawrence’s names were sitting at the top of the board in first place, just above Mac and Lane. Brett and Lawrence’s classmates all surrounded them, handing out high fives and words of praise.

“Livi look!” Chio yelled pointing at the board. “We placed in the top ten!”

Livi took another glance at the ranking and saw hers and Chio’s name resting at number seven. “Huh, you’re right.” she said, feeling a slight wave of excitement she wouldn’t have gotten from taking a nap.

Chio threw herself around Livi’s neck in joy. “Let’s place higher in the second game too!”

After the celebrations were over there was a small break until the next event. Most of the students gathered inside of the school's cafeteria to cool off and to replenish the fuel that they had just lost.

“Brett, are you sure that’s all you’re going to eat?” Lawrence asked, sitting down in front of him and staring at his close to empty plate.

“Ah, I don’t want to overfill my stomach until after the 5k. Can’t be having the runs mid run if you know what I mean.” He joked.

“I think I just lost my appetite.” Livi said, placing her fork down. “Also, you stink Brett.”

“Sorry, sorry. Next time I will try to not carry the class as hard.”

Livi let out a “tsk” sound and didn’t respond.

“You quite literally did carry the class Brett.” Mac said, approaching their table and intentionally staring down Lawrence. “I wouldn’t relax just yet, there are still two more games and we are only one place behind you.” He gave off a wicked smirk. “And I honestly doubt you can beat us again with this dead weight as your partner.”

After Mac’s insults had passed, he walked to his own table and ate with his class.

“Don’t worry about him Lawrence, he’s just really competitive.” Brett said.

“I think that's the first time I have ever met a sore loser.” Lawrence said with a straight face.

Brett burst into laughter. “Of course that wouldn’t phase you Lawrence! Chio would have gotten a crack out of that!”

“Speaking of Chio, where is she? I thought she would be the most excited out of us to start celebrating.” Lawrence said.

“Ah, I think she went into the bathroom a while ago.” Livi informed.

“Oh Lawrence, I forgot to ask.” Brett said. “How exactly did Chio get you to come?”

Lawrence let out a long sigh. “Apparently the reason she’s been avoiding us is so I could have more time to study and she could convince me to come to the class battles. It was honestly a pain in the butt seeing her at my door, but I couldn’t exactly say no after all that. She’s a weird one, I'll tell you that.”

Chio threw her hands under the warm water and rubbed them back and forth, removing the sweat and grim from the headband war. The bathroom was somewhat packed with students coming in and out constantly, so Chio was trying to rush the process to allow someone else to clean themselves. She turned the water off and reached for a paper towel to dry her hands. Chio grabbed a sheet but the other side had a hand latching onto it.

“Ah sorry, you can have that one.” Chio apologized, releasing her side of the towel.

The other person didn’t respond, and Chio knew why. The person standing next to her, wiping their hands, was Maple.

Chio reached for the paper towels again, this time being the only one to grab a sheet. She finally wiped off her hands and threw it away. The bathroom was loud with people coming in and out,making this small bathroom sound like a mall on opening day. Even with all this noise, Chio’s ears fell silent to it all. The only thing she could hear was the girl standing right next to her with an unsettling face, Maple.

“Why the heck is Lawrence here?” she said.

Chio wasn’t quick to respond. She took her time in doing so. Trying to make sure she said the right thing, and to not make Maple mad. “He probably just felt like burning off some calories.” She laughed nervously.

“Cut the bull crap Chio.” Maple remarked.

Maple was leaning over the sink with both of her hands holding on to the sides and her head looking down into the drain. Her eyes were blocked by the orange hair that fell in front of it, almost touching the white of the sink.

“I-is it bad that he is here?” Chio said in a soft tone.

“You really are an arrogant little prick aren't you. What are you trying to do? Play little Miss heroine?” Maple snarled.

Chio was scared, she didn’t understand what brought on this conversation, or why Maple was so aggravated that Lawrence was here. She realized this wasn’t just random bullying like it has been; for some reason Maple was mad, as if she actually had a reason to be mad, and Chio was frightened to understand why.

“Excuse me, if you aren't washing your hands anymore could you move?” a girl behind Chio asked.

“A-ah yeah, s-sorry.” Chio said moving out of the way and walking past Maple with her head down. But she wasn't able to make it far. She wasn’t even able to take a single step forward. Maple had grabbed her by the collar. She yanked her back slamming her into the girl that Chio had just given her spot to. Maple turned her sink on and forced her thumb into the spout, spraying water all over Chio and slightly on those around her.

“Why the heck are you acting like you haven't done anything!” she screamed.

The bathroom that was once circus-like quickly fell more silent than a funeral. The only thing that could be heard was the slight noise outside and Chio’s small amounts of panting.

“You really piss me off, you know that? You act like you’re such a good girl, like you’re one of those princesses they show on TV. Acting all high and mighty helping the weak and lending a hand to those in need.” Maple bit down on her lip. “You insanely piss me off!”

“M-maple hold on I don’t know what you’re talking about right now-” Chio said with wide eyes.

“I TOLD YOU TO CUT THE BULL CRAP DIDN”T I!” Maple shouted. Forcing the whole bathroom to shrink in fear. “You don’t get to decide what Lawrence can and can’t do. Forcing him to come to this class battle, making him join in the events. You saw him out there! He can’t do this kind of stuff! He is physically unable to! Do you hear me! Chio!”

“Take it back…” Chio was scared, and crying just ever so slightly. But her face was prepped with anger. “Take what you said about Lawrence back!”

“It’s the truth, Chio! He can't do what everyone else can! He’s too weak!” Maple roared.

“LAWRENCE ISN’T WEAK!” Chio yelled back, becoming aggressive.

“YOU BASTARD, HE HAS ASTHMA, CAN YOU EVEN COMPREHEND WHAT THAT IS?” Maple lashed out.

“THAT DOESN'T MEAN HE HAS TO SIT BACK AND ACCEPT IT! HE CAN STILL DO FUN THINGS LIKE THE REST OF US-”

Chio was slapped across the face. A hard slap. A powerful one. It quieted the already silent room and Chio too.

“Shut up Chio.” Maple muttered. “Just shut your mouth. Like you know anything about Lawrence.”

Chio’s will to fight was lost. She placed her hand on her cheek and focused her eyes away from Maple, towards the ground.

“Lawrence isn’t able to do things like the rest of us. That doesn’t mean it’s a bad thing. It’s fine, it’s not like he has to join us in gym class or play with us after school. He can’t help it. So it’s fine.” Maple clenched her fist, almost as if she was going to hit Chio once again, but resisted the urge. “But you…you're a selfish brat that can’t even think for others! You just do what you want and only what you want! Making him suffer during gym class!” Maple got up and in Chio’s face. “DO YOU NOT EVEN UNDERSTAND WHY HE SITS IN THE GYM BY HIMSELF!”

Chio flinched in fear.

“Tsk.” Maple said, backing off. “I was the one that asked the teachers if Lawrence could be excused from the class battle, but of course you had to make everything about yourself and bring him here”

Chio looked up for the first time after the slap, she was surprised, scared, and confused.

“He needed time to rest, and he wouldn’t have any fun at the class battles with his asthma anyways. Plus, he has been overworking himself since you have been constantly keeping him from studying.”

Chio’s eyes grew wide, and Maple very much noticed it.

“Wait…Wait, wait, wait. Chio…don’t tell me you didn’t even know why Lawrence was studying so much…”

“D-doesn't he just like studyi-” Chio received another slap from Maple.

“You’re telling me you have been forcing him to do stupid things his body can’t handle without knowing anything about him!” Maple ground her teeth. “Of course he doesn’t just study for fun! He is trying to get into medical school, you idiot!”

All the things Maple said started to become clear to Chio. The more she thought about it, the more it made sense. Had she really been pushing Lawrence far more than he could handle? Was she completely ruining his chances to get into medical school? Medical school…why did she never ask him what he wanted to do after they graduate…no, why did she never ask anything about him? All of those questions swarmed Chio’s mind, brutally attacking her. In the end, Maple was right. Chio has only been hurting him, everything Maple has said, was completely true.

“You. Piss. Me. Off.” Maple said. “Lawrence has been working his butt off to get into this school and you didn’t even bother to ask? You just made him your little play thing and forced him to do whatever you wanted. Making him suffer in pain…not even giving him a chance to breathe. You’re…disgusting.” She threw the paper towel she used to dry her hands at Chio and stormed out of the bathroom.

Chio, was completely broken.