"W-Why are you d-doing this to me?" eight-year-old Persy asked, sobbing and gasping for air as tears pour down her cheeks continuously. She fisted the ends of her sleeves and used them to wipe away her tears, but she wouldn't stop crying.

Johnson stood before her, his arms folded over his chest like he couldn't care less that he just made a girl cry.

"Why? What did I do to you?" he asked, widening his eyes in a taunting gesture.

"My paper... You ruined m-my p-paper..."

"It was an accident."

"N-no! It isn't... I saw y-you!"

Persy wanted to scream murder at this boy in front if her, but the intensity of her sobs made it impossible for her to do that.

Johnson grunted with a roll of his eyes. "Oh my God Persy you're being a crybaby!" He picked up her paper from the ground. It was all wet and sloppy, and the writings in it are smudged and unreadable. "Plus, it's just a piece if paper. One ruined paper won't kill you," he added with a shrug, gesturing to the paper for emphasis.

Persy broke into even louder sobs and cries. Her shoulders were heaving sharply and her heart feels like it's being stomped on. It hurt so much.

"I worked o-on it for d-days," what she hoped was a scream came out as a pitiful mumble.

"Well, you deserve it. You deserve the misery, Persy. You deserve to suffer too, like you made me suffer," his eyes were unsympathetic and heartless as he say those words.

Persy choked through her tears, not understanding what Johnson meant. "I n-never did a-anything to you!"

Johnson dropped her paper to the floor and stomped on it twice before throwing her a glare. "So you say."

...

Persy shook her head violently enough that the girl sitting beside her caught her shoulders and squeezed tight on them.

"Hey! You! Stop that! Do you wanna die?! Huh!?" the girl hissed at her frantically.

Persy stopped shaking her head and looked the girl in the eyes, though she felt like her brain will explode at any given time there and then. "What?"

"Stop shaking your head like that! Are you nuts? I thought your neck might snap and I'll have to watch your head tumble to the floor! You scared me!" the girl hissed again, a little louder this time.

The teacher in charge scolded them both from up front. "Ms. Dawson and Ms. Jackson, you shouldn't disrupt the class, it isn't right. I think you both know that."

Everyone turned to look at them. Johnson, who sat in the front row, turned as well and caught Persy's gaze. Johnson smiled, but Persy had already looked away, making him frown a little. He thought she would at least return the smile. After all, she knew how sorry he really is, didn't she?

But to Persy, it's just that it didn't feel good to meet his eyes after having that painful flashback.

The girl let go of Persy's shoulders and smiled weakly at the teacher. "Sorry," she muttered, and the class went back to normal.

"What's your name? Thanks for saving my life~"Persy wrote on a slip of paper and slid it to her seatmate's desk.

The paper came back after a few seconds.

"Lettie~Lol whatever..."

Persy gave Lettie a look. Her hair is long and black, and her skin is a naturally light brown. Her eyes looked small from underneath her thick glasses, and she's very skinny.

"I'm Persy. Let's be friends?"

"Persy?:o...Sure though let's go eat lunch together:)!"

And just like that. Persy made a new friend in Redfield High. At last.

...

Brendon frowned and gestured behind Persy, who is sitting across from him and Dallon on the table.

"Who's that? Why are they coming towards here?" he asked.

Persy turned to look where he's pointing at, and saw Lettie approaching their table, pulling along with her a boy who looks younger but very much like her—black hair and tanned skin.

"Hi Persy!" Lettie greeted with a huge grin on her face as she come to them and told the boy to sit down beside Persy. His cheeks were red as tomato and Persy can't help but smile just looking at him. He's probably a freshman, and he looks cute blushing like that.

"Hi Lettie!" Persy greeted back.

Lettie took the other seat beside him and placed her tray on the table. She looked at the two redheads across the table, two seniors who are frowning deep enough for her to assume that they're probably not happy to have other people or, more precisely, other boy joining their table.

"Lettie," Persy began—patiently, Lettie could tell, "these are my brothers—well, stepbrothers. This is Brendon, and that's Dallon. Guys, this is Lettie, and this is..." Persy trailed off, realizing that Lettie hadn't yet introduced the boy she's brought with her.

Lettie took the hint and shuffled in her seat excitedly. "Oh, nice to meet you! This is my younger brother, Julien. He's a freshman and he doesn't have a lot of friends. Say hi to them Julien."

Julien blushed even more and Persy had to stop herself from frowning. Lettie is putting her own brother in an awkward situation without even knowing it. Maybe she's just trying to help...

Seeing Julien like that, so shy and quiet, Persy felt like he's her own little brother that she needs to comfort like an older sister.

Dallon sighed. "Lettie, it's Lettie right? You shouldn't embarrass your brother like that by treating him like a baby."

Persy raised an eyebrow. She knew too well that Dallon is actually grinning inside his head right then. "You're embarrassing him even more."

She took it to herself to make him feel less awkward with them, and she thought that draping an arm around his shoulders will do the trick so she did just that. He tensed under her touch.

"Hey Julien, it's okay. No need to feel awkward around us okay? We're very friendly people," she said, looking pointedly at her stepbrothers as she add the last part.

Julien nodded.

"Okay," he mumbled.

Oh God does he think we're bullying him? I hope not... Persy thought silently.

"Persy, did you talk with Johnson earlier?" Dallon asked out of topic once they all began eating their lunch.

Persy removed her arm from Julien's shoulder and scooped a spoonful of mush-like-macaroni into her mouth. "Nope. Should I?"

Lettie reacted. "Johnson? That jerk?"

The brothers finally saw a friend in her when she twisted her face in annoyance at the mention of Johnson's name. They found common interest between them. "Yeah, that jerk," Brendon found himself agreeing. "Look, there he is."

The five of them followed Brendon'S gaze, and sure enough they found him, Johnson, sitting with his friends just a couple of tables away.

He saw them looking at him too, and he turned to say something to Wesley.

"Oh, he's the real bully. All my friends are kinda scared of him," Julien said.

Persy gave him a blank look, her mood change startling him a little. "Scared?"

"Well, a little. They said he's not one to mess with. I guess all upperclassman aren't supposed to be messed with anyway." Julien shrugged.

"Oh..."

Persy chewed on her bottom lip. She knew coming back here will cause a lot of trouble for her. Just her second day and already so many confusing thoughts are running round her head. She didn't know what to think. People she already left a long time ago are once again making their way back into her life. Johnson, Britt...

Brendon abruptly stood up from his seat, making the four of them look up at him, and he rounded the table, taking us tray with him until he's standing behind Julien.

"Get up," he told the freshman, who looked at Persy with worry. Even Lettie had her eyebrows furrowed by then.

"What are you—?" Lettie asked.

"Let's exchange seats, kid," he said, firmer this time, and Julien jumped up and hurried to the seat beside Dallon.

"Brendon what was that for!" Persy glared at her step brother, who simply took the seat beside her and slipped his hand through hers, intertwining their fingers together.

"Nothing, I just can't help it." Brendon muttered with a grin.

"Sorry Julien. My brother could be a jerk too sometimes..."

Julien smiled, the first smile he showed the whole time he's with them."I understand, my sister too, most of the times. I think everyone is..."

Lettie threw a piece of bean at him. "Shut up!"

...

A/N: Sorry guys! I've been gone for two months but here it is now. Next chapter will be longer:) Swear!●ω●

Meanwhile, I've reread this whole thing and noticed for the first time how much it lacks emotions. I've been describing actions the whole time and hadn't put much emotions in the story. It's like reading a newspaper(though a newspaper seems to evoke a lot more emotions from people than this story does...)! I'm not very proud of that so I'll probably be busy editing for the next few days. But I'll post the next chapter as soon as I can!:)

Thanks for reading and please leave a review! Tell me what you think.（◐ω◑ )