"Where is Angel?!" Sakura demanded for the hundredth time that evening. She continually threatened me with things that were of little to no importance.

Well, that was a lie. She threatened me by saying she could rig my chances of getting into my dream university. Or any university for that matter. But every time she did, I bit the inside of my cheek to snap myself out of my anger.

"You're really fucking annoying, you know that?" Sakura snarled.

I didn't understand the obsession these girls had towards Angel. It was obvious that he didn't reciprocate their feelings, so why did they continue to harass him to such extents?

"Answer these questions for me," I finally spoke, "do you think you could win Angel back by assaulting him? By making him feel uncomfortable? Does it make you feel better about yourself? Do you feel like the bigger person when you do?"

Her face morphed from anger to offense and then back to anger. I got closer to her and bellowed, "Does it make you feel big? Does it?"

She pushed me back and yelled, "Get the FUCK away from me!"

I stepped back and furrowed my eyebrows at her. Sakura chuckled in amusement.

Confused, I asked, "Why are you laughing?"

"Did he tell you what we did when we were together?"

I frowned.

"We would fuck all the time. And he liked it."

My stomach lurched. I placed my hand over my ears and closed my eyes. There was no way I was going to listen to her foul mouth.

She intentionally raised her voice, "And you wanna know what the best part is?! He let me do whatever I wanted to him! That's just how I like them–submissive and obedient."

I tried to walk towards the other side of the room, away from her, because I could still hear everything she said. I should have left a long time ago but I didn't know how to resolve this horrendous situation.

Then Sakura ran up to me and yelled in my face, "I even touched him while he slept! That was the only time he went against me! But I made sure he never did ever again!"

"Be quiet! Be QUIET!" I yelled. I couldn't take it anymore, it was becoming too much to bear.

She grabbed my wrist and made me look at her. "If you want me to stop, then you'll give me his address," she snarled through gritted teeth.

But I shook my head in response, tears welled up in my eyes and I started to shake. This felt like torture and wouldn't end. I shook off her grip and ran straight for the doors.

As I hovered my hand over the handle, Sakura yelled out, "There's no use in running away! My bodyguards are standing outside. You're not allowed to leave until you give me the information I want."

How could they enable this? They must know that she should be in jail, right?

"Are you ready to give up?" She mocked with a disrespectful smile.

I turned around and walked towards her as I wiped away my tears. "No," I murmured.

Her smile faded and she stepped away from me, leaning against one of the many columns in the room.

I knew she was only doing all of this to torment me. Sakura could easily find out where Angel lived by using her sources. She wanted to watch me suffer. However, what she didn't know was that she could do anything to me and I wouldn't budge.

She let out a long and exaggerated sigh. "I'm starting to get bored. But you know, I have one final trick up my sleeve. I wonder what would happen if your family lost their, oh I don't, house? If your parents lost their jobs? You might not care what happens to you, but I know your family will have a much more interesting reaction to losing everything."

My world became small at that moment. My father's face appeared in my mind, and then my little sister's. Sakura would take everything away from my family just to make me tell her where Angel was.

Suddenly, everything blurred. Anger washed over me and I clenched my fists so hard that my knuckles turned white. My nails pierced into my skin and a warm liquid poured out of my hands. All I could see in front of me was Sakura's revolting smile. The world fell away and rage started to consume me.

My leg felt heavy as I picked it up, but before I could take my first step, I felt something cold cup one of my fists.

I blinked. Turning to see what it was, I found Iris staring at me with concern. Was I hallucinating?

She gave me a small smile and shook her head, almost as if she had read my mind. Then I felt someone grip my shoulder, making me quickly turn to see who it was.

Tulip emerged from behind me and smiled warmly. Poppy stood beside her too and she nodded to greet me. It felt like my guardian angels had arrived.

Tulip glowered at Sakura and thundered, "You are a terrible person."

Sakura scoffed. "Where the hell did you three come from? Oh whatever, it doesn't matter–the Power Puff Girls are here to save the day! Ah, I'm so scared," she jeered.

"Oh, you should be scared," Tulip retorted. She held out her phone and gave her a sinister smile. "I've recorded the entire conversation you just had with Camellia."

Sakura's smile quickly fell into a face of horror. She whimpered, "Guards!" And two men in black suits came bolting in.

They came straight for us and we all took a step back. "Hold it right there, freaks!" Tulip quickly said. "Lay a finger on me or any of my friends and I'll press send! Everyone in school will get this, including the headmistress. Then everyone will know what a monster you are and you'll be out of a job for the rest of your life."

Sakura's face contorted and she was out of things to say. Iris took my hand and whispered, "Let's get out of here," and pulled me away. However, I didn't want to leave just yet. I had one final thing to say to her.

I stopped at the doorway and turned around to get a good look at her before exiting. She was now sniveling on the ground, her hair a wild mess.

Her eyes shot up at me and screamed, "I'll make you pay for this! All of you!"

Then it all made sense–the reason why she was the way she was. I remembered that, from birth, Sakura was never able to have a normal life. She had always been in the eyes of the world, as we watched every little thing she did. This didn't make what she did okay, however.

"I feel bad for you," I said in almost a whisper, "I hope you get the help you need." As I left the ballroom, I heard a blood-curdling scream, almost as if someone had harmed her.

I wanted to forget everything that had just occurred and ran towards my friends, who had been waiting for me under a large oak tree.

Tulip was the first to hug me.

"Camellia, I'm so sorry for the way I've been acting. I was sad but also kind of hurt at the same time. I wasn't exactly sure why I was feeling that way, but I just was. It doesn't excuse what I did. You were going through a lot and I wasn't even there for you. I hope that someday you'll forgive me," Tulip lamented. Her eyes were full of pain and I could tell she was being honest.

I hugged her back. "I hope we can still be friends," I told her. She squeezed me tight in response. Then Iris and Poppy joined in and at that moment, I felt safe.

°°°

The four of us headed towards the direction of the headmistress's office. On the way there, they explained to me how they knew I was in the ballroom.

"I'm still trying to figure out how you got in," I said still processing what had just happened a few moments ago.

"You'll never believe this but," Iris started, "it was Magnolia who told us you were in trouble."

I came to a sudden halt. "Magnolia?"

They all nodded. My mind was trying to come to terms with the fact that Magnolia actually... helped me.

"Look, there she goes now!" Tulip yelled as she pointed behind us. We all turned in unison and I watched as Magnolia walked towards the garden with a suitcase in her hands. She no longer wore her maid outfit, instead, she sported a gray blazer with a white collared shirt and black trousers. She looked like she was going somewhere.

Then, as if on cue, Magnolia turned to look at me. Her face was as expressionless as ever. She gave a slight bow of her head and I waved goodbye to her. And just like that, she disappeared into the distance.

I never truly understood her–whether she disliked me or not–but there was a part of me that felt as though Magnolia genuinely cared for Angel and at some point, even for me.

"Magnolia also showed us the doors that led to the ballroom's basement," Poppy said suddenly, breaking my train of thought.

"The ballroom has a basement?"

"Yup. That's where they keep all the chairs and tables and stuff," Tulip added. "She was actually the one who told us to record the conversation between you and Sakura and to come out when the time was right. Although, I almost came out to punch the light out of her a few times."

Iris chuckled nervously. "Yeah, I had to hold her down."

To be honest, I would miss Magnolia as well. But it felt like a new chapter in my life was beginning and I was keen to believe that everything starting from this point onward, would be okay.

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