===== Chapter 27 [ Part 3 ] =====

Chewed bottom lips. An unfocused gaze. A shaken figure. Just as lunchtime sets in, Julia finally decides to let go of her remaining small composure as she stumbles herself out of the room, leaving in a restless manner. Her two friends were quick to follow after her.

Even when there was a distinct tension between the three of them— even when all three of them hadn't bothered to start a conversation to each other since that happened— they couldn't just pretend that everything's okay because it obviously isn't.

While Julia's ahead of them, she can probably feel her friends going after her as she suddenly quickens her steps, turning to one corner and another as if deliberately trying to lost them. However, Kathy and Janella's eyes were strictly trained on her back, never letting her out of their sight, so that doesn't work.

They accelerate their pace instead to the point that they were able to minimize the distance between them. They were nearer now, near enough to grab her and make her stop.

Without giving them a chance to expect anything ahead, Julia suddenly steps into restroom and tries to close their door on their faces. Janella's reflex was fast to act though; she pushes the door with a force that was stronger than Julia's initial exertion.

It takes the brown haired girl aback, making her stumble a little backwards by the impact. She looks at them with a frazzled expression, like a deer caught in headlights, but it was only for a few seconds as her expression eventually smoothened its features into a calm one, like an invisible switch had just been pressed.

She straightens her poise.

As if choosing to see her friends as air, Julia doesn't greet them and proceed to walk straight towards the sink and pull a lipstick out of her purse.

She then does a retouch, still never ever acknowledging her friends beside her, who are just both standing beside her— gazing at her.

Janella and Kathy then turns to look at each other, communicating through gazes. As if they finally decided in their minds that it is time to stop her bullshit, they snatch her lipstick away from her grip, accidentally causing a stain on Julia's lips.

"Hey! Give that back!" she angrily snaps at them, glaring, despising how they ruined her look just now.

"Give that back! Give that back!"

Julia tries to retrieve her stuff from Janella's grip, but her other friend Kathy prevents that from happening as she firnly holds her in place.

"No!" Janella coldly refuses as she conceals the lipstick from her gaze through keeping it behind her. "I will not give this back to you unless we have a proper discussion with what happened earlier!"

Julia scowls at her. "That's it?! You have to do that just for the sake of talking?!" She takes a glimpse of herself on the mirror, frowning at the wine-red stain in the side of her lips. "Then you could have waited for me to finish doing my retouch," she grumbles.

"You're annoying me, Julia," Janella confesses.

"Us. You're annoying us. You are intentionally trying to annoy us by ignoring us when you are the one who did something wrong in the first place," Kathy corrects her other friend, sighing.

Julia angeily bites her lips before lifting her hand and suddenly aggressively wiping the stain off, which is really just a useless move as the mess only gets worse.

"I can't help it," Julia breathlessly exclaims as she begins to get infuriated again from the memories of you shamelessly flirting with all those men whenever you want to.

"I fucking can't help it," Julia cries out as tears start to seep out from her greyish eyes— remembering her dear Gerald glaring at her for what she has done earlier.

"I— I just love him so much, but why... why..." Julia looks at her friends with a broken expression. "why does he care so much for her?! I don't understand. I have done so much for him, yet he chose to push me aside" she exclaims in bitterness.

Kathy and Janella grant her a look of sympathy.

"Julia... We're your friends; we truly care about you, but I think it's time that we stop disturbing (Y/N)," Janella gently persuades, placing a hand on her back as she attempts to soothe her from the emotional pain.

"It's not like she is targeting Gerald anymore, right? And I don't think he likes her just like you thought him to be? Y— you saw him with some other girl, right?"

"Right. I saw Gerald with Peach earlier." Kathy hastily nods in agreement, hoping that her friend would grasp what she was trying to imply. It is to subtly point out that Gerald and (Y/N) are nothing special to each other. There is no use harrassing the girl.

"It's just Gerald toying with girls as usual—" Kathy lets out an ouch when Janella intentionally bumps her in the arm. She is about to whine out what her friend did when her words finally dawns on her.

Their friend— Julia— is so deeply in love with Gerald that she does not really care anymore of his playboy tendencies. But even so, it still hurts to be reminded that she is just nothing towards him. If only he didn't throw her away, then she wouldn't have cared about (Y/N). But he did that just for the sake to hang out with you.

You who does not even fit the beauty standards at all. You, who does not have anything special about you. You, who is just so fucking average. This is just so annoying. This just hurts her pride and causes her more anger.

"He cares about her," Julia murmurs, tired.

"If he didn't, then why would he cast me and Bea away. Why would he go hang out with that girl at times? Why would he protect that girl from me?"

"Julia..."

Janella and Kathy gave her looks of pity.

"I know that this is painful for you, but you need to let this go. You know what would happen if you continue distur—"

One of the cubicles happens to open, instantly stopping the serious discussion for a moment. All three girls got taken aback by the glare the brown haired girl is giving them.

"..."

Before they could even process what's happening, the student then roughly pushes Janella to the side in order to leave the restroom.

"Huh?"

Janella, Kathy, and Julia gaze at each other, wondering what's up with the female earlier. Still proceeding with their discussion after that sudden strange moment, Janella and Kathy eventually managed to make Julia swear that she would stop— or swear that she would at least try to control her feelings around (Y/N) and Gerald.

Even so, upon leaving the cubicle, it's a little bit late for Julia to make that oath as a specific blonde haired man is waiting for them right outside the door.

Casually leaning onto the wall, he has his arms crossed. Black shoes— impatiently tapping on the recently-polished floor.

At the sight of him, the three girls froze.

Dante grins, but it's not to say that he is very happy by what they did to you earlier. In fact, he's pissed— very pissed. He does not even wait as he does the thing that Chaos should have done to them earlier.

Striding towards them, he violently pulls Julia's brown hair until she is kneeling before him. Janella and Kathy gasps and tries to help her, but they're instantly stopped by Dante's glower.

"Well, well, well— did I not tell you before not to place your filthy hands on her?" he questions them, smirking, just before he lets another forceful tug again.