ExtraOrdinary: An unOrdinary Fanfic

Chapter 17: The Blue-Haired Fool

"You disgusting, tyrannical, sorry excuse for a human being!"

Seraphina's words, dripping with venom and cutting through the air like knives.

She slaps Arlo's face, hard but not hard enough to leave a mark on his skin.

It was enough. The damage was done.

Tears welled from her eyes and coursed down her cheeks, leaving salty trails behind her unusually pale complexion as she desperately tried to wipe them with the back of her hand.

"You don't understand anything."

She turns around, her hair extensions whipping through the air with indignation as she leaves without looking back.

Arlo stood there, silent, as he watched her walk away. He opened his mouth and closed it again. There were no words for him to speak.

None of them chased after her.

***

Olivia trudged down Wallik Hall, clutching her binders against her chest as she thought back to what Remi told her the day before.

She lost her ability, her friend lied to her about being powerless, and amidst all these unresolved issues, disappeared without a trace. And she still gets attacked constantly at school...

Olivia sighed. She couldn't help but feel an unsuppressed empathy for Seraphina. She didn't deserve to be treated this way. Nobody did. A lot had to change. It wasn't just the school system, but simply the way people acted towards one another was an issue.

Over the past few days, Olivia had to stop at least two bullying incidents a day. The sheer number of these occurrences was concerning enough. Not to mention Olivia's crummy reputation among the students.

"Wow, look at the new transfer."

"Ugh, did you hear? She just goes around defending low-tiers on her free blocks."

"Seriously? Who cares about the low-ranks, anyway?"

"You shouldn't get on her bad side, though. I heard she's really powerful."

"Yeah, powerful enough to be a Royal, apparently."

"And she spends her time doing this stuff? Wow, she's a whole different thing altogether."

"Shh, here she comes."

Olivia tried hard to ignore the whispers surrounding her. Did none of them realize how unfair their system was? How could they not even bat an eye at the cruel and unjust treatment that low-rankers had to put up with? Simply that fact that these people couldn't even feel a tinge of sympathy for them was a huge red flag.

Olivia thought back to her newspaper article. It obviously won't solve everything, but it's definitely a start. Over time, more and more people will start to open up to these issues.

It suddenly occurred to her that everyone in the hallway was holding the school newspaper in their hands, muttering under their breaths. On the front of the page were the words "Wellston's Hierarchy, From the Eyes of a Low-Tier". Olivia's eyes lit up. This was her article! Isen made it the top story! Beaming, she made her way through the crowd.

That's when she heard what the students were murmuring about.

"Don't tell me that transfer actually wrote that article."

"Seriously, who the hell cares about those low-tiers?"

"I wonder what Isen was thinking, letting this crappy article get published."

"Hey, watch your mouth! She's right there!"

The whispers subsided as Olivia felt everyone's eyes boring into her head, their expressions filled with scorn and dislike.

Shit.

Olivia kept her head down as she tried to make her way through the crowd of students. Who knew my article would get this kind of reaction? she thought as she pushed past them, desperately trying to get out of the suffocating atmosphere of the school hallway.

Are things at Wellston really this hopeless? Even with an article like that in the school newspaper, these people still won't realize the issue here!

How can these people be so short sighted?

So blind to the problems happening around them?!

Olivia opened her locker and stuffed her backpack inside quite roughly, grabbing her math notebooks as she set off for the calculus classroom.

She kept her eyes on the ground as she speed-walked to her classroom, trying to get there as fast as possible. That's when she suddenly felt her foot hit something. Next thing she knew, her knees buckled underneath her and she felt herself collapsing onto the ground, her books scattering all over the floor.

"Ouch," Olivia winced, touching her now bruised knee. Somebody had tripped her! Who did that?

"Hey, transfer! It's been a while, huh? Remember me?" came a voice from behind her. Sure enough, it was the blue-haired fool who attacked her on the first day. Zeke.

Olivia glared at him. "You again? What the hell is your problem? I'm going to be late for my class!"

Zeke smirked. "Yeah, see if I care. Look, I heard about that little article you published in the school paper."

"Good!" Olivia spat. "It's about time you all realized how unfair this system is toward the low-tiers. Have you ever given a second thought about all the pain that is brought upon them? Has it--"

Zeke's face twisted. "Oh, shut the hell up, you pretentious little b*tch! Nobody gives a sh*t about the low-ranks!"

Olivia continued, her voice cracking. "Has it ever occurred to you that they have to toil through every single day, afraid of being beat up and attacked by imbeciles, imbeciles like you?!"

"Why, you little~! Maybe this will teach you to keep your f*cking mouth shut!" Zeke raised his fist. "Weaklings like you should really know your place!" he snarled as he activated his ability and lunged at Olivia.

This idiot... is he really going to start a fight with me here?!

"Just leave me alone!" Olivia yelled as she activated her ability and created a shockwave, knocking Zeke into a wall. "I have a class to get to, so cut it out!" She quickly picked her things up and limped down the hallway.

I need to get outta here before things get too out of hand.

"YOU'RE GOING TO PAY FOR THAT!!" came Zeke's voice. "GET BACK HERE!"

Olivia flinched as she staggered desperately down the hallway.

What the hell did I just get myself into?!

A/N

Yo wassup! School is starting next week for me, and I'm honestly really nervous. I'm excited to see my friends and all, but since I'm an incoming freshman, school's going to be in a whole different building with a whole new environment, so it's kinda overwhelming ;-;

Once school starts, I MAY OR MAY NOT have to change up the update schedule for this fic. Currently, I update every Friday, but I'm not sure if I'll be able to keep going with this exact deadline. I might need to give myself a bit more flexibility. I'll let you guys know if I do decide to make any changes~!

- A (sorta) nervous taco <33