"Father!" I shriek and freeze. His lips are moving, but I can only hear the throbbing thunder of my heartbeat pulsating beneath my ears.

"Zelda?" He says again, louder and even more annoyed this time.

"S...Sorry! What did you say?"

"Whom are you talking to?"

"No one."

"I can see that."

Then why are you asking? I wish I had the guts to say that.

"I heard you were crying on campus today."

"What?" How does he know about that? He wasn't even on campus.

"People witnessed your meltdown and informed me. Are you struggling in your classes?"

He almost sounds empathetic. Didn't he hear my unintentional confession just now? He's so calm, too calm. It's freaking me out. He looks disappointed, but that's just how he always looks at me, so that doesn't tell me much. There's no way he didn't hear me mentioning the pier and the hoodie. Or biology. How long has he been standing there and how much did he hear? Why is he so calm?

"Zelda!" He repeats impatient.

"Father..." If I don't say it now, another chance might come too late. "Getting a 100 on every assignment is impossible!" I burst and breathe heavily.

"Then drop biology."

"No," I shake my head, searching his eyes for the empathy they were holding seconds ago. Where has it gone?

"No?"

"I won't drop biology."

"Then you better study hard." He turns away from me. "The food is getting cold."

"You can't make me drop biology," I say bravely.

"You're still 17. You're my responsibility. If I want you to drop biology, then you will drop biology."

I want to challenge him, contradict him, but the moment I open my mouth, he glares at me and robs my breath with a subtle threat.

"Don't test me, Zelda. Now go eat dinner."

With legs as heavy and liquid as the chemical element mercury, I drag my feet downstairs to the dining room. Impa is already seated, pretending to have starved while waiting for me. I'd love to play along and toss a pea at her overdone corpse, but I feel stiff, unable to say anything. I sit down opposite her and stare at the plate in front of me. I think I lost my appetite.

"Something wrong?" Impa asks, apparently revived.

"No."

I don't say much during dinner. I'm sunken into thought. I've had enough of Father controlling my life. He made that 100 rule deliberately, knowing that I would fail. But you just wait.

✤ ✤ ✤

On Monday morning, my alarm wakes me at 5 AM. Usually I'd be able to sleep until 7 AM, but I have to ride with Father today, and he leaves extra early every day. Yesterday, I stayed home since I don't have my car, and got some future assignments done on my laptop. Although I prefer working at the library, I was productive and managed to get ahead in a couple of my courses. Let's just hope I didn't get any answers wrong... I worry most about subjective grading.

Father and I barely exchange as much as three sentences during our shared drive to campus. At least he doesn't seem to know about the pier or the hoodie--wait... oh no... I search my book bag in a heartbeat, but I already know that what I'm searching for isn't here. I slap my forehead, remembering that Link's hoodie is still hidden in the corner of my closet.

"Did you leave something at the house?" Father asks and pulls into the reserved parking spot on campus.

"No," I lie.

I didn't want to lie, but it's not like he's going to find out about the hoodie. Our ways part here and I head to the library. I'm way too early, so I might as well get some more work done. The day goes by extremely slowly and I really have to force my eyes to stay open during my politics class. But the last course is surely the worst of them all... Physical Education.

I change into my gym clothes and leave the locker room to head to my course. I'm early, but the coach is already here and the first thing I do is ask for a course syllabus.

"I don't have a copy right now, but I can hand you one on Wednesday," he tells me.

"Thank you, I just want to make sure that I get an A. I'm not the most athletic person," I admit, trying to stand with a strong posture.

"Don't worry about your grade. Unless you don't show up or refuse to participate, you have a guaranteed A. I'm not strict like that," he smiles and I feel relief cooling my body. He seems like a really fair and lighthearted teacher, unlike my other professors. However, he's also far less professional than most teachers I've had.

I see Link entering the gym, heading straight toward the equipment room. I only see his back, but I recognize him instantly. I thank the coach again and head to the equipment room, where I see Link by the ball cart in the dark. I want to get this over quickly before Malice or someone else finds us all alone again.

"Link?" I say and watch his shoulders grow stiff. He has his back turned toward me, his head is lowered and his fists clenched by his sides. He doesn't respond at all and seems even more quiet than usual.

"I forgot your hoodie at home. I'll give it to you in English tomorrow morning."

I hope he doesn't take this as an invitation to sit next to me again. If he does, I'll sit somewhere else, though I really like my seat in the front.

"Did you hear me?" I ask, feeling more and more uneasy. I know I told him to stay away, but he doesn't have to ignore me when I'm talking to him.

Link slowly turns around. The light from the gym only faintly reaches us, but the parts of his face that aren't hidden in the shadows shock me. I gasp as my eyes take in his busted lip and the blue spots on his cheekbone and his left eyebrow. Did he get into a fight? Should I say something? He can probably see the shock in my eyes, but I don't want to invade his privacy by asking what happened. Link looks bothered but he keeps to himself. All he does is nod, then his eyes leave mine and he walks out of the equipment room.

I bring the cart out with me, assuming we're playing volleyball again. More students have assembled and class is about to begin. I find Malice and Bellum standing behind Link in the small crowd. In the light, his bruises are even more striking. He must be in so much pain, I wonder who would do that to him. And why.

"Good afternoon, everyone," the coach greets the class. "This week is the last week of volleyball, next week we'll move on to basketball. Grab a partner and warm up by passing the ball back and forth."

I hate when we have to make groups ourselves, especially when I don't know anyone in this class other than Link and Malice. Link looks annoyed having to choose from the many girls that are fighting over him. I approach the only girl that's not after Link. She looks as lost as me, with her head bowed and her shoulders rolled.

"Hey, I don't have a partner to warm up with," I say and she looks startled.

"Oh," her soft voice says quietly.

"Would you like to partner up?"

"Uh, sure." 

I smile and she gives me a small smile in return. She probably already knows who I am, but my manners force me to introduce myself anyway. "Thanks. I don't know anyone in this class yet. I'm Zelda, by the way."

"Paya," she says bashfully.

As we toss the ball to each other, her eyes keep escaping to find Link at the other end of the gym. I pass her the ball but she isn't paying attention.

"Paya, watch out!" I try to warn her. Luckily, the ball misses her.

"I'm sorry," she apologizes in a low voice. "Link looks so gallant."

"Gallant?" I repeat and follow her gaze. I could argue that but what's the use?

"He scored three goals yesterday."

"I didn't even know there was a game yesterday," I shrug.

"They won 4:1," she continues her shy rave. "I don't know why, but my heart won't stop beating a mile a minute."

I give up on tossing her the ball. I'm just standing next to her now, hoping that the coach won't mind us talking instead of moving.

"Did the ball hit his face or something?" I ask, making sure no one can hear out conversation. 

"No, he had those ill-fated marks before the game even started. I was surprised he played so well despite his injuries. At one point he was substituted by another guy, but he wasn't nearly as good as Link."

"Do you know what happened?"

She shakes her head and picks up the volleyball. I look over at Link, whose pain is visible on his face. His hand is holding his rips but no one else seems to notice his agony. Link catches me looking at him but I quickly look away and pretend to be warming up with Paya. Link got those bruises sometimes after our last conversation at the pier on Saturday and the soccer game on Sunday. My eyes wander over to Malice and Bellum. Could it have been her? She does practice martial arts, but what reason would she have to punch Link? Knowing her, she'd go after Mipha or any other girl standing between her and Link first.

Class goes by much faster than I expected. I still can't stop wondering about Link's face. It's not that I care what happens to him, but I just can't avoid looking at him, and every time I do, I imagine what could have caused those horrible wounds. I may not be very fond of Link, but I don't want him to suffer.

I open my locker and put my gym shoes inside. Just as I finish changing, Malice and the other girls arrive at the locker rooms. As much as I try, I won't be able to avoid them every time we have PE. But today I can. I close my locker and walk towards the exit without making eye contact with Malice.

"What's the hurry?" Malice blocks the way. I glare at her.

"Step aside, Malice," I hiss.

"What's your problem?" She asks with a serious mien. She's kidding, right?

"What's my problem? You're the one blocking the way."

She steps aside and smirks at me. "How's your dress?"

Ruined... Not that you care. With each time Malice talks to me, it becomes more difficult to control my temper. I have a list of words I'd like to call her, but I'm better than that. I walk out of the locker room, knowing that I'm stronger than her. I don't have to fight her, people like her dig their own graves.

I step into the empty hallway and decide to head in the opposite direction I came from. If I'm correct, this will lead me directly to the track. I want to see if Urbosa is there, just to say hi. At the end of the hallway is a glass door, beyond it I see the back of the bleachers. Just as I reach the handle, someone else swings the door open from the other side. I know this guy, what was his name again?

"Move," he growls as I'm blocking his path unintentionally. He's wearing a jersey and a chest guard, and in his hand he's carrying a beautiful compound bow. His left forearm is badly bruised, giving his skin a colorful cloud in the shades of purple and blue.

"Revali, was it?" I ask, unsure. His sharp eyes shoot at me like an arrow.

"Yes, now move!"

As he enters the hallway, I remember his vigorous hatred toward Link and the fact that they are part of the same fraternity. I look back at Revali's bruised arm, that's when it hits me. It's him. His arm is bruised, just like Link's face. Revali must be the one who got into a fight with Link.