Chapter 8 The Person I Love

F*ck! My friends were beaten up! Without the slightest hesitation, I ran toward the direction which the sun was setting. “It’s below the hill near the west. Remember to come and look for Jovie!” shouted the girl while reminding me. Picking up speed, I heard the rustling wind. My friends… We were all bullied by others. Only those who were bullied could fully understand how it felt to be bullied. In this world, the four of us were the best of friends. We had promised one another to work hard together and fight for a better life just so we would no longer be bullied. The relationship was one of my most sincere relationships, especially with that special person! After running for about ten minutes, I finally saw the little hill mentioned. As I drew closer, I heard someone talking. Instead of rushing toward the sound, I slowly climbed up the hill to get a grasp on the situation. Right below the hill, there was a group of people—they were Class Three students from our school. Our school consisted of twelve classes, and Class Three was known as the most terrible of all. Back when the school was assigning classes, students with the lowest grades were assigned to this class, so most of them were considered as a group of hoodlums. With their dyed hair and outfits like hooligan, they had captured a wild rabbit somewhere while having fun skinning it. F*ck! No doubt, they were indeed hoodlums for bringing a switchblade to a school trip. Once they were done skinning the rabbit, they threw it to a fatty. That fatty was one of my besties—John Black. As John was overall on the plump side, he was often bullied by others for his size. At this moment, he was attempting to drill wood to make fire. “F*ck!” cursed one of the hooligans while giving John one strong kick. “It’s been half an hour already, can you get it done?” Howling in pain, John explained, “I’ve never tried this before, and I’m trying my best already!” Scanning around from up the hill, I didn’t see anyone else but him. Just then, I saw somewhere not far that a girl was hiding behind a bush, observing the situation here. Feeling my heart skip a beat, I knew that was the person who I had been looking for—Naomi Hale. She was the only girl in our group of four, also known as the half-faced beauty. Half of her face was indeed beautiful, but she had a birthmark on the other half of her face, thus was often mocked by it. Due to her low self-esteem, Naomi would use her hair to cover one side of her face, hence the nickname. Mean classmates would poke fun at her by shoveling her hair back from her face, even calling her a monster. Humiliated, Naomi would shed tears every day. In the end, she joined our group. Naomi and I shared a good relationship, even a little ambiguous. When she was feeling down, I would hug her. At times when I was feeling upset, she would hug me instead. We even promised one another—if we couldn’t find a partner in the future, we would get together. For this reason alone, how could I possibly allow anything bad to happen to her? Hiding behind the tall bush, Naomi dared not come out. Slowly walking down the hill, I snuck up to her from behind. With that, I pounced on her suddenly, covering her mouth at the same time. Completely freaked out, Naomi almost let out a shriek, but fortunately, I had covered her mouth. Turning around to gaze at me, Naomi’s eyes welled up instantly, embracing me tightly as her body trembled. Embracing her in return, I whispered softly in her ears, “It’s OK. I’m here now.” “I thought you died…” Her voice quavered, her body still shaking with fear. “I missed you so much, and I was so worried. I love you.” A spot in my heart was touched. This was the first time Naomi ever confessed to me. Our relationship was close, but it wasn’t that direct. Her kiss tasted as sweet as honeycomb. The half side of her face was pretty, but to me, she was overall pretty. As she was kissing me, she sobbed. “I was afraid I couldn’t wait until the day, so I planned to tell you earlier. I love you so much, and I’ve been keeping this inside of me. Initially, I wanted to confess to you during this trip, but thank heavens, I get to meet you once again.” “Naomi...” Kissing her in return, I said softly, “Let’s go to a safer place.” Leading her up the hill, I figured it would be more convenient to observe Class Three from up here. Passing her a bottle of water, Naomi drank a few mouthfuls to quench her thirst. After her drink, she hugged and snuggled up to me tightly. “Let me kiss you a while longer. I was so scared that I would die before I could express my love for you.” “Naomi…” “I deliberately bought this floral pattern dress so that I can wear it on the day I confessed to you. Because I remember in one of your favorite songs, the lyrics goes something like this… I will marry you, the girl in a floral pattern dress…” I was deeply moved. I knew Naomi wasn’t as confident and beautiful as Rosalie, and neither was she as gentle as Jovie, but she loved me deeply and had always been by my side. Wearing the floral pattern dress, she looked simply adorable. Boldly snuggling up to me, Naomi drew herself so close toward me, as though she wanted to stick with me forever. Just then, John had finally started a fire. Kicking John aside, the hoodlums gathered around the fire and began to grill the rabbit meat. Begging to have a bite of the meat, John was probably starving by now. However, one of the hooligans jeered, “Have a bite? Fat chance! It’s a good chance for you to go on a diet. You should be thankful to us!” That was outrageous! Seeing that, I got hungry myself, as I had not eaten anything since yesterday. Ugh, I’m so hungry. “When they caught John just now, they did mention that since he was so fat, they could eat him up if there was no food around. I’m worried. What if they aren’t joking?” said Naomi. Nodding my head, I replied, “Under desperate circumstances, they really might.” “Have you thought of a way to save him? These people have gone too far. Not only did they steal our hideout in the cave, but they even beat up John. In order to save me, John asked me to make a run for it.” “Cave? Do you mean they will spend the night there?” “Most likely!” “We’d better get going first…” I said. “Seeing them eating makes me starve, and I’m starting to see stars now. We need to get ourselves prepared and protected. Only then can we save John. By nightfall, you can bring me to the cave, and we’ll find a chance to save John.” “Alright.” Retreating from the hill, both of us furtively left. Seeing that they were enjoying the grilled meat, I was so hungry to a point, I just felt like grabbing a bunch of grass to munch on it. Similarly, Naomi was starving, too. Holding on to my hands, she barely had the energy to walk. As soon as we got to the beach, I saw Rosalie and Melody lying motionless on the sand. When I asked them, Rosalie said, “I’m so hungry, I can’t lift a finger… Why did you bring Two Face here?” Hearing that, Naomi self-consciously hung her head down. Furious, I snapped, “Keep your dirty mouth shut!” Initially, I thought ‘half-faced beauty’ was a very rude name already, but hell no! Rosalie called her a Two Face! She is indeed the worst! In an upset manner, Rosalie complained, “You didn’t get anything for us to eat, yet you’ve brought another person to eat up our share. Jonathan, I know where we can get food, but I can’t get it. Can you help?” Upon hearing there was food, my spirits brightened. “Where is it?” She said, “Our food… is eating Dante now.”