cravin | ten

- 11

The lead of her pencil snapped against the paper she was writing on. Snapped under the force Meiqi put on it the minute she felt two unwanted little fingers twirling strands of her hair between the digits. If they weren't in a dead silent classroom with a teacher sitting at the desk then maybe she would have lost her temper, despite knowing what might come to her immediately after. He wasn't one for keeping displays of affection restricted to private locations.

She closed her eyes, loosened her grip on the pencil and breathed out a silent sigh. She didn't plan on getting on his bad side today, he seemed to be in a good mood; not as if she cared for why, it probably wasn't anything good that made him happy. He wasn't one for gaining happiness from good.

She opened her eyes and turned to face him, a painfully forced smile tattooed to her lips. "Can you kindly not do that? I'm trying to get my work done.", she spoke in a quiet voice, not wanting to alert anyone. He gave her a smirk and untwirled the strands from his fingers, tucking them behind her ear then taking her chin between his fingers and turning her head to admire her face at different angles.

Seeing as she had gotten no response, she opened her mouth to speak again only to be silenced by his long index finger being pressed against her lips and a sinister hushing sound to accompany it, "Shh, no talking. Girls aren't supposed to talk."

She fought back a scoff of disdain, just how ridiculous and rude could this man get? He treated her like a plaything and told her she 'isn't supposed to talk'? He belonged in a cramp, dark and grimy trashcan and if she was capable of it, she would have thrown him into one already. But alas, if you play with fire you get burnt. And he was a roaring forest fire that would grow bigger if she so much as blew at it. So for now, she wouldn't blow. For now, she would have to keep her cool.

"But Ten-", a small hushed groan interrupted her because of his grip on her chin moving to her face and grasping it harshly. His face neared hers and he looked at her with threatening eyes, "What the fuck did I just say?" He definitely didn't sound as jolly or pleased as he was a mere minute ago.

She gulped before averting her eyes from his, she couldn't respond to his question because that would be going against his order of wanting her to be quiet. That question was more of a trap, to see if she would dare to go against him again. But she wouldn't, or better yet, she couldn't. He threw her face harshly to the side, turning to face the front and leaning back comfortably in his seat, anger still plastered to his features but seemed to simmer down the less he looked at her.

She let out a shaky breath that she wasn't even aware she was holding. She felt so exhausted. She had been tense ever since the incident from this morning.

Meiqi walked down the hallway in full confidence, finally- finally! She would gain some leverage in this sick little game of his! Finally, she had a chance to turn the tables on him, maybe even get him out of her life forever! The answer to all her problems lay in the office of her vice principle.

She stopped at the door of his office, a bright and charming smile on her face. She opened the door, bursting in and beaming with happiness. Only to be met with a sight that she least expected, a sight that she hadn't even considered enough to even dread it. The light at the end of the tunnel seemed to dim with every wisp of smoke that rose into the air from the butt of his cigarette.

The sight in front of her, that drained her of any hope that was left, was the mastermind behind her troubles himself; Ten. And what was he doing? He sat in the leather chair behind the desk, leaning back with his hands behind his head and his feet on the desk, aimlessly moving to some unheard tune.

She held in a distraught whimper and instead opted to quietly leave, his eyes were closed so maybe he didn't even know she was in here. She bit her lip and slowly began to back out of the office, hand on the doorknob moistening with sweat.