"Poor Ash... Now, what am I going to do with our project? He is my pair for the presentation tomorrow. Guys, take me with you if you'll visit him in the hospital please?" the small girl stated. She gave the group a questioning look and waited for any of them to respond.

"Yeah, we will visit him later, after class. Just come with us. But, it's better if you'll find a different partner. He will not be here tomorrow," another boy from the same group quickly suggested.

"I almost forgot about the presentation tomorrow! You can join our group. Ash had it bad. It may take a month for him to heal. Tsk!"

"Shhh, tone it down, man!" the one with messy hair stated. His eyes shifted in Stephen's direction.

With this signal, his friends quickly understood that their conversation may be overheard by Stephen and they may offend him. All of his friends nodded at him. They sat straight and directed their eyes to their teacher.

"Then, I'll go back to my seat," the small girl awkwardly said and went to the middle row.

While these students focused their attention on the discussion of their teacher, Ash Martinez was also placed in the ambulance. His mother requested for him to be placed on a stretcher so that he could lie down comfortably. But, he insisted on just sitting.

'Tssk!!! Ahhh! F*****ck! It's so painful! Argh!' the boy mentally whimpered trying not to move his arm. He could only grit his teeth to conceal the extreme pain that he felt.

He wanted to cry so bad. But because his mother already arrived at school, he forced himself to endure. If his mother would see him crying, the issue of his injury would grow big.

Alas! It was fine if the one who caused his injury was another student. Ash would be very happy if his family would deal with all his problems in school.

Unfortunately, it was a fellow student who had crushed all the exemptions that existed. This fellow student had a privilege that they could not understand.

'I just want to play one on one with their assassin! Damn! I did not know that this is the result of my request. What a stroke of bad luck did I step today that I actually forgot about Stephen's connection to that squad!' he reasoned on his head. For him, it was just a pure reflex when he grabbed Sofia's arm.

It was not his intention to hurt Sofia. But, he could not also justify the reason why his body reacted to such a reflex.

'If only Stephen was expelled, then, I would not face this humiliation and pain! That man is really a problem that is hard to take! I'm doomed!' Ash continued to lament his situation in his head.

He remembered that almost all students were ecstatic before when the rumors about Stephen's expulsion were leaked in their forums. Heck, there were even other students who were willing to throw a party because of it.

It's not that the students disliked Stephen. In fact, most girls' population fantasized about him being their boyfriend. He had his own fans in school. But the male population just felt that Stephen was dangerous and brings nothing but bad influence to the students in school. Hence, they wanted him removed from their school.

When the headmaster of the school announced that Stephen won't be suspended nor expelled, they instantly assumed that he had special privileges. It was something that they must not provoke.

Such assumptions were actually created by all the senior students. They thought that Stephen may be involved in a powerful fraternity outside the school. And the faculty member of their school does not want to anger those frat leaders.

But the reality was far from their wild assumptions. If they would probably find out the reason why Stephen was not expelled, they would surely kowtow to Sofia and treat her like an elder!

"So, Ash... how do you feel with your arms as of this moment?" an attendant who accompanied him inside the ambulance inquired about his condition. This man is just about in his mid-twenties and was wearing a uniform of interns.

"It's sh*t! I don't know of the proper term but its really painful! I heard my bone cracked when I fell," Ash responded.

"Hmmn... This tablet will ease the pain in your arm," the attendant handed a medicine. Without hesitation, Ash quickly took the medicine and a bottle of water.

"How did you fall on the bench? I don't see any bruises on your skin that are caused by an impact on the ground. You have no scratches either," the attendant asked in a respectful tone.

Ash glared at the attendant and his face instantly turned sour upon hearing the question. "How else would someone fall on a bench?"

"Well, maybe you can just describe what happened earlier so I can write it in my initial assessment on you," the attendant stated not minding the sharp gaze of the boy that was directed at him.

"It's pretty simple. I slipped on the bench and next thing I knew, I'm on the ground and my arm is in pain," Ash responded in a tone that lacked interest.

The attendant stared at him. He wanted to tell the boy how ridiculous this description was. But, for the sake of professionalism, he just slightly tilted his head and did not speak anymore.

~

Meanwhile, Mrs. Martinez, the mother of Ash, went to the guidance office to confront the school about what had happened to his son.

"Ms. Trice, can you explain to me why my son had injured his arm?" Mrs. Martinez instantly demanded right after she entered the guidance office.

"Please have a seat, Mrs. Martinez. I'm sorry for what happened to your son, but, according to him, he accidentally fell. I don't know what kind of explanation you want from my office," Irene calmly responded. She clasped her hand thinking how the boy may have faced his karma directly.

Mrs. Martinez moved forward and slammed her palm on the desk. "Look, this is stupid! How could my son got that injury if he just fell out from a bench? It's stupid!"

"Please calm down. I am not a doctor of medicine, Mrs. Martinez. I am a doctor of psychology. So I can't explain why your son injured his arm after falling on the bench," Irene stated. She then took her eyeglasses and leaned her shoulder comfortably.

"I don't care!" Mrs. Martinez expressed loudly.

"The doctors in the hospital will surely give you an accurate explanation," Irene stated.

"I don't know if you are a fool or what, Ms. Trice! I"m telling you, that's not what happened and if you don't address this incident, I'll make sure you'll pay for it!" the mother of Ash was fuming. She also refused to take a seat and continued to point her index finger to the guidance counselor who sat on the opposite chair.

"Pay for it? What do you mean, Mrs. Martinez?" Irene furrowed her eyebrows upon hearing the threats from the student's mother.

She had dealt with so many angry people in her office. Some were students, others were faculty members, and then there were also parents or guardians. She was already immune to hearing nasty ranting like what the mother of Ash was doing in front of her.

"Bah! I know that my son would not break his arm just by falling on a bench! It's stupid! There is a foul play here!" Mrs. Martinez insisted.

"Mrs. Martinez, your son is not stupid. He is already 19 too. If he says that the cause of his injury was an accident, we can do nothing about it," Irene calmly explained. She even reminded the woman of the age of her son for her to reflect on her action.

"Useless! If there is nothing that you can do, then you are unqualified to work here!" Mrs. Martinez yelled and grabbed the wooden plate on the desk. In a blink of an eye, the object flew across the room as the woman threw it away.

The guidance counselor stood from her seat and her face flushed with annoyance and irritation. Seeing that the wooden plate containing her name was split in a half, her mind turned dark.

After all the favor that she had given to Ash Martinez, she could not believe that his mother would actually act haughtily in her office.

"This is not about my qualification as a guidance counselor of this school, Mrs. Martinez. Since your son is not willing to speak this matter to his own mother, I think this is about your qualification as the mother of your son," Irene stated. Ha! There was no way she would let the bad attitude pass. Now that their subject of discussion was about qualification, she easily defended her reputation by using the mother and son relationship.

Mrs. Martinez glared at Irene with full of disbelief. Then, she stormed out of the office and shut the door with force.

"This woman does not know how to express proper gratitude! I obviously covered her son for so many things but what I get was an insult!" Irene clenched her fist angrily while staring at the door of her office. She then picked the pieces of wood on the floor and blankly stared at her scribbled name on it.