Dean Morton : The Paupers' Guardian Angel

005 - The Evil Emotions

She is Tiana Whitley, the queen of the cheerleader squad. She has quite an aura for stardom with so many followers. And she has the talent in becoming the source of gossip amongst ladies, more than her abilities as the cheering squad.

  

Dean can only clench his fists. Those fists keep shaking as he is struggling to hide his anger. Soon after the class is over, he immediately rushes to catch up to that girl to set the score with her.

  

“Tiana Whitley!” He calls out loudly with so much dignity.

  

Of course that one move attracts the attention of so many other students. Tiana has such popularity, and the way Dean calls her, by mentioning her complete name, makes them anticipate something interesting.

  

Tiana turns back, and then smiles by deliberately putting on a smug face. “I didn’t know you had the nerve to call me this way? What is it now? Trying to express your feelings in front of everyone?”

  

Due to the mounting anger, Dean sends a huge swing intending to slap her face.

  

“Kyaa!!!”

  

That girl screams in shock, but nothing happens yet. She opens her eyes, and finds that Dean is holding himself, despite how mad his face is.

  

“I demand an apology!” he exclaims.

  

“An apology?”

  

“You've gone too far with your cheap jokes and gossip. Apologize now! To me, and also to Monica.”

  

Tiana glances around, noticing all the eyes are locked on her and Dean. She still feels the fear from Dean’s previous act when he almost slapped her. But then she collects her courage and argues back.

  

“Never! Apologizing to a pervert will only tarnish my reputation. I refuse to show weakness in front of a dirty and despicable human like you.”

  

Not every student in that hallway knows the situation or the cause of that skirmish. But due to Tiana’s reputation as an idol, they just assume that Dean is the antagonist here.

  

“Nothing happened between me and Monica. You need to apologize for what you just said!” Dean insists.

  

“Prove it!” the girl taunts.

  

“What?”

  

“Prove it that you have no feelings for her!”

  

“What the? You are the one who accused me of doing some dirty stuff. You should be the one who is obliged to prove your accusation.”

  

“Why should I? Either you did or not, it has nothing to do with me.”

  

“If you know it has nothing to do with you, then you should have just shut that fucking mouth of yours!”

  

“Shut your trap, you dirty pervert!” Tiana suddenly spits at Dean's face. "You smells so bad like a dirty cunt! I bet you haven't had a shower after what you did with her last night!”

  

Suddenly, a man swings his hand from behind Dean's head. And somehow, Dean feels something strange in him, and the hairs on the back of his neck are up. He gets a goose bump, but he is not quite aware what is coming to him.

  

BAM!!!

  

A man slaps his left ear from behind, and pins his head to the locker on the wall. He is Theo Robinson, the basketball team captain, a big and muscular dude with 1,90 m height. And he happens to be Tiana's boyfriend.

  

“How dare you flirt with my girlfriend?” he intimidates Dean with his heavy and low voice, as he pushes Dean’s head even harder.

  

Yet, Dean is still able to talk back while degrading Tiana. “Don’t get me wrong. I have no interest in a girl with a shallow mind like her.”

  

“What did you say?”

  

That big dude pulls Dean, and then slams him to the other locker on the other side of the hallway. Soon after Dean bounces back due to the momentum, Theo sends a front kick on his abdomen.

  

Dean is buckled and holds his belly by reflex, as a reaction to the pain after getting kicked. But then he feels something strange. It’s not as painful as he expected.

  

“What the? What’s wrong with me?” he mumbles.

  

“Hm?” That guy Theo shows his curiosity by drawing his face closer to Dean’s face. “What’s wrong with you? This is what’s wrong with you!”

  

He tries to knock Dean down by slamming both hands on Dean’s back. But it’s not enough to knock Dean down, so he simply repeats the same thing.

  

“How dare you still not down yet! Perks like you should know your place, and never talk back to me!”

  

He then slams Dean’s back for the third time. Only then does he make Dean fall hitting the floor. After that, he continues the beating by kicking Dean over and over.

  

Dean just curls up while covering his head. With this condition, he shouldn’t be able to see what that man’s doing to him. However, he gets a clear image in his head for every kick that man delivers.

  

A few of Theo’s friends also join the wagon, and kick Dean’s back together. Dean can clearly feel all the hatred and evil emotions from everyone around him. The feelings are so strong to the point he can picture it in his head, like there are some evil shadows bullying him, with their mad laughs.

  

He is so scared and confused with all that oddities. The evil emotions are so intense, making him so pressured by it.

  

“Go away! Go away from me! Go away!”

  

He mumbles the same things a few times. And that mumbling is then closed by a loud and terrifying cry due to his fear.

  

“Go away, you demons!”

  

Everyone is shut silent. Theo and his friends suddenly stop from their assault, feeling intimidated by something they don’t understand.

  

“What was that?”

  

Theo shakes his mind, and then puts on an act as if nothing has happened. He then kicks Dean’s head once more before taking his leave.

  

“You freak! Don’t ever show your face in front of me and my girlfriend anymore!”

  

He puts his arm around Tiana's shoulder, and takes all his friends away.

  

And Dean, he no longer feels the intense evil emotions that he has been feeling before. The image of demons inside his head disappears. He becomes a bit calmer and then uncovers his head.

  

He gets up, still looking so fine, not showing any hints of wound or pain. Everyone is still puzzled by their confusion with Dean’s oddity. Not just them, even Dean himself is also confused with his own condition.

  

Feeling not comfortable with all the eyes around him, he walks away, intending to look for Monica.

  

“What’s wrong with me?” he mumbles with a pale face.

  

Dean still has another class after this. But he keeps looking for Monica. He knows Monica has a fragile heart, and he is sure Tiana’s words must have broken her feelings.

  

He keeps searching to every corner of the campus, even goes so far to the furthest faculty from the one where he studies. He checks on every class, opening rooms after rooms, but he still can’t find her.

  

Until at some point, he gets into some peculiar room…

  

“Monica!”

  

He opens the door while calling Monica’s name. But there are only two girls in that weird room. They look quite cute, with big glasses, and both of them hold thick books in their chests, which makes them look just like how genuine nerds look.

  

The room itself is quite dark, with all the windows closed by the curtains. And there are only candles illuminating that room which is full of weird symbols and sigils.

  

“How did he get in here?” mumbles one of the girls, the one with a chubby face and shoulder-length straight hair with a silky brown color.

  

“Um, Sara! Did you put the sigil on the door before?” asks the other one, a thin-faced girl with cute dimples, and slightly long, wavy golden hair, with one loose braid on the left side.

  

“I did! But I don’t know how he is able to open the door,” replies that chubby girl named Sara.