Since I was young, I found joy in doing requests from others. I was happy to see others in high spirits after I did something for them. When my father noticed this, he said these words to me.

“It’s not a bad thing to help others. But don’t do it too much that you’ll regret it after meeting bad people. So when the time comes...”

When I heard that as a child, I couldn’t understand it. I can’t even remember it in full now.

Last Monday, before I left the school’s premises, I saw a frail-looking girl in tears. She was being dragged on the arm by a tall girl. There were also two girls following the tall girl, smiling evilly. After I saw that, I followed them. They brought the girl behind the school building where students rarely go.

“I told you to bring me what I want, right? But why did you try to hide from us these past few days?” the tall girl asked the frail-looking girl as she grabbed her by the collar.

The frail-looking girl shook in a terrified expression and covered her head.

“I’m very sorry! Please spare me!” she trembled with tears all over her face.

Because of how she acted, both the two girls behind the tall girl laughed out loud.

“How lame,” the first one reacted.

“Get her, boss!” the second one shouted.

Unable to hold it any longer, I stepped forward to stop them.

“Please stop that!” I shouted with a determined expression.

“What is this? Someone pretending to be wonder woman or something?” the tall girl reacted and the two girls behind her snickered.

“Can’t you see that she wants you to stop?” I continued as I tried my best to not show any fear.

“Is she someone you know?” the tall girl asked me.

“No, I don’t,” I immediately responded.

“So you want to pretend like a hero!” the tall girl said and laughed.

I don’t want to pretend like a hero or even become one. In fact, I hate to stand out. What I want is to save the girl from these delinquents.

“I’ll do anything so please let her go,” I followed without a change in expression.

“Hohhh~” the tall girl reacted with an amused face. “Then, are you saying that you’re fine replacing this boring girl and become our new errand girl?”

“That’s...” I whispered with a hesitant look.

‘Just because you can do it doesn’t mean you have to do it.’

I remembered those words that Prince said to me earlier that morning.

“But is it okay to not do anything in a situation like this? Sorry Prince... but I have to do this,” I thought to myself and looked at the tall girl with a more determined expression.

“If you promised that, we will never bother this girl anymore,” the tall girl continued and smiled evilly.

“Then... I... promise. Let her go already,” I replied with a hint of sadness in my eyes.

“Then, it’s a deal!” the tall girl shouted and let go of the frail girl’s collar. After that, she ran away as fast as she could.

“Welcome to our group, wonder girl,” the tall girl said and laughed out loud. “My name is Anjie. You can call me Boss.”

“Dory,” the other girl introduced with a grin.

“And I’m Mel,” the last one followed with a smirk.

“You don’t have to introduce yourself. We will only call you ‘wonder girl’ from now on,” Anjie said and looked at her two friends.

“Right,” both Dory and Mel agreed and chuckled.

“Anyway, give us your number. We’ll call you every time we need something, so show up every time we want to see you.”

“Okay,” I replied to Anjie while I looked down. I then brought out my cell phone.

On Tuesday, I received a message from the delinquents. It said to meet up with them at the abandoned school building. It was before lunch and I wasn’t expecting it. I was planning to meet up with Prince but because of that, it won’t happen anymore.

“Maybe it’s karma for not following his advice,” I whispered in a dejected tone. Then, I looked at the lunch I made for the two of us, wrapped around in a cloth. “Guess we can’t eat it now.”

I then informed Prince that I can’t eat lunch with him for the day through a message. After that, I stood up and called for Hanna and Trishia.

“What? You want us to have this for lunch?” Hanna asked, astonished.

“Yes. I’ve got something urgent to do now so I can’t eat those anymore,” I said with a forced smile.

After that, I ran away from the classroom and went to the old school building. Inside one room there, I saw the three delinquents. They were talking to each other while seated on old wooden chairs.

“Perfect timing, wonder girl. Hurry and buy us lunch,” Anjie ordered me with a smile. “Mine will be two chicken sandwiches.”

“Mine will be chocolate bread and vanilla bread,” Mel followed.

“I’m fine with only one cheeseburger,” Dory added.

“As for our drinks, you can decide what to buy. Aren’t we three nice?” Anjie continued, and the three of them snorted.

“Okay...” I agreed with a sad expression.

After I remembered their needs, I went to the cafeteria and bought everything. Then, I returned to their room, and they ate their bread in joy. Meanwhile, I only watched them eat while seated on one of the old chairs near them with no appetite.

“Anyway, you’ll skip your afternoon classes like us starting today,” Anjie informed me.

“Huh?” I reacted, astounded.

“You heard that right. It’s boring anyway,” Dory followed with a grin.

“Boss, let’s play that new mobile game again,” Mel suggested in excitement.

“Nice idea, Mel. Hey, wonder girl, do you play mobile games?” Anjie asked me.

“No, I don’t,” I responded in a gloomy look.

“Then, install this game. We need another party member, so hurry!” Anjie ordered.

“Okay,” I replied and brought out my cell phone.

Then on Wednesday, they messaged me to come again to the usual room. With that, I once again messaged Prince that I won’t be able to eat lunch with him again. Because of it, he sent me a message. He asked me if there is something wrong.

“I can’t rely on him anymore,” I whispered in sadness and sent him a message to convey that there was nothing to worry about. “I miss him...”

After that, I went to Anjie and the others and they ordered me once again to buy their lunch. I went to the cafeteria and bought their requests. Then, I skipped the afternoon class as they wanted.

“Are you fine to continue this kind of life?” I asked the three of them as they play mobile games.

“Huh?” Anjie reacted in sudden irritation and put down her phone. “What do you mean?”

Because of our exchange, Mel and Dory looked at us, worried.

“Won’t you regret being like this later in life?” I whispered with sad eyes as I looked down. Anjie then stood up and grabbed my collar. Her force lifted me from my seat.

“You’ve got one big mouth for a lackey,” Anjie muttered, pissed.

But I only looked at her with depressed eyes.

“Now, now. No need to be that pissed, boss. Our wonder girl doesn’t understand our ways yet,” Dory said and placed a hand on both of us.

“That’s right boss,” Mel added.

After Anjie heard the opinions of the two, she let go of me and sat down once again.

“Now, hurry and play with us too, wonder girl,” Mel said with a smile.

“Okay,” I answered, still downhearted.

‘What am I even doing?’ That question was the only thing on my mind that whole afternoon.

Later that day, my phone rang out of nowhere. When I saw the screen, I immediately became shocked.

“Prince...” I whispered, my eyes wider than normal.

“What’s up, wonder girl? Aren’t you gonna answer that?” Anjie asked in curiosity.

“Sorry, I’ll go out for a bit,” I responded and ran outside the room. But before I pressed the answer button, I hesitated. “I can’t.”

Instead, I waited for the call to finish and replied, ‘Sorry, I can’t answer phone calls right now. Is something wrong?’

Then, I immediately received, ‘Why are you skipping classes? Did somebody request you to do that?’

“He... discovered it...” I whispered and tears fell from my eyes. So I immediately wiped my cheekbones alternately with my wrists. But my tears didn’t stop. “*Sniff*... I have to reply.”

As I shed tears, I typed the words, ‘I have a reason. I don’t want to involve you in my problems anymore. I can do this on my own, so please trust me.’ I then sent it to him.

“I want to talk to him... I want to... but... I’m afraid. I’m afraid that he’ll hate me,” I thought, and after a few seconds, he once again called me.

I only cried there as I watch my phone’s screen, unable to bring myself to either answer or end his calls. After a while, Mel went outside the room and saw me wept.

“Wonder girl is crying...” she whispered and ran back to the room. Then, she brought the two out and all three of them circled around me.

“Hey, what’s wrong?” Anjie asked, worried. “Hey did you make her cry?”

“I didn’t!” Mel exclaimed.

“Want to go home early?” Dory asked me, also concerned.

But I only sobbed there as I tried my best to stop it.

“Go home early today. Dory, bring wonder girl to the bus stop,” Anjie said to me.

“S-sure,” Dory responded and grabbed my arm lightly.

After that, I rode the bus, and the tears subsided along the way. When I arrived home, I immediately saw Amilia with a worried face.

“Are you okay, Cindy?”

“Uhmm... can I rest for a bit before doing some chores?” I asked with a forced smile.

“You can. Or rather... you should rest for the day,” Amilia suggested and gave me a gentle smile.

“I can’t do that. I’ll be back after resting for a bit,” I answered in a weak state and went towards my room. After I closed the door, I collapsed on my bed and let out a deep sigh.

‘This situation I’m in is because of my actions. That is why I can’t get him involved anymore. That’s what I believed. But now, I realized it. I’m only afraid that he’ll hate me. But I’m sure he will now. Because I’ve turned into a bad girl. He’ll get disappointed in me.’ Those thoughts ran in my mind while I was on my bed.

“I want to see him...”

After a while, someone knocked on my room’s door.

“Cindy? A friend of yours is here,” Amilia said on the other side of the door.

Hearing that, I became surprised.

“It’s Prince... I’m sure of it,” I immediately thought after I lifted my upper body upright.

I then went towards my window. Below, I saw him outside the gate with his usual serious expression. When I saw him, my heart became warm in an instant. Soon enough, I felt a sudden urge. The urge of wanting to hug him. As I reached out my hand towards him, I saw Amilia approached him. They had a conversation, and he left after. Amilia then re-entered the house. After two minutes, Amilia once again knocked on my door.

“Are you awake, Cindy?” she asked on the other side of the door.

“Yes. I’ll put on my maid outfit now,” I responded and opened my closet.

“Your friend left you a message.” Those words made me stop.

“...”

“He said, ‘trust me too because I’m your friend. I’ll be waiting for your call’.”

“I... see. Thank you, Amilia,” I answered with a smile and made a serious face. Then, I engraved these words into my heart. ‘I can’t stay like this. I’ll solve this problem of mine and call him after everything got resolved.’

And when Thursday arrived, I once again skipped the afternoon classes. As usual, Anjie, Mel, and Dory were there. They were still playing with their phones without a care in the world.

“Wonder Girl, I’m thirsty. Buy us some drink,” Anjie ordered, her eyes fixed on her phone.

It’s time. I have to be strong.

“Anjie...” I said with a serious look and stood up.

And out of the blue, Hanna entered the room with a scared expression.

“Hanna...” I whispered, shocked.

What is she doing here? It’s already time for the afternoon class, right? Did she... follow me here?

“I won’t allow you to bully my friend anymore! I’m here to take her with me!” Hanna shouted while her legs were shaking a bit.

“Interesting,” Anjie reacted with a smirk and stood up. “Mel, Dory.”

“Got it!” both of them replied and they grabbed each of my arms.

“Wh-what are you planning to do?” I asked and tried to get away from both Mel and Dory. But I failed because of their strengths.

“It depends on your friend,” Anjie replied and went before Hanna. “So how will you exactly take her back?”

“Through force!” Hanna shouted and tried to slap Anjie on the face.

“You’re slow!” Anjie muttered and avoided it with ease. After that, she readied her arm and shoved Hanna away. The force was enough for Hanna to fell on her butt.

“Ouch,” Hanna reacted, seated on the floor.

Seeing that... I snapped.

“Don’t you dare hurt my friend!” I shouted in anger and grabbed both Mel and Dory. Then, I shoved them out as hard as I could. The sudden increase in my strength pushed them away from me.

“This girl...” Dory reacted, surprised.

“Boss!” Mel yelled to inform Anjie.

Freed, I stepped towards Anjie and slapped her hard on the face. It was loud enough to echo throughout the room.

“Huh?” Anjie reacted with a red cheek. That action from me made her stunned. Meanwhile, Hanna, who was still on the floor, became astonished.

After that, I looked at Anjie while I panted. My right palm ached from the impact.

“Why you!” Anjie yelled after a surge of anger and grabbed my collar. I also did the same with my left hand but yanked her hair using my right.

“You can hurt me, but I won’t forgive you if you hurt my friend!” I shouted, full of mixed emotions.

“You’re only a lackey! How dare you!” Anjie shouted in a furious state and grabbed my hair too with her free hand.

“I’m not your lackey anymore!” I yelled back as loud as I could.

“Then, are you breaking your promise?” Anjie asked and smiled evilly. “Looks like someone here is a liar after all!”

When I heard Anjie’s taunt, the words of my late father came back to my mind.

‘It’s not a bad thing to help others. But don’t do it too much that you’ll regret it after meeting bad people. So when the time comes... never hesitate to act selfishly.’

“I will... break my promise!” I shouted as loud as I could. It made everyone surprised. “I don’t want to be a part of your group anymore!”

When Hanna felt my resolve, she immediately stood up to help me, but both Mel and Dory grabbed her to prevent that.

But suddenly, the old ceiling made of wood shook. After that, something fell down between Anjie and me.

We let go of each other to dodge it and that ‘something’ hit the ground with a bang.

“I’ve been waiting for those words, Cindy...” someone said after he came down while covered with smoke. When it lifted, he stood up straight and looked at me.

“Prince...” I whispered, surprised.

“You can leave the rest to me,” he said with a reassuring smile.