Dara’s POV

‘Tell them you’re just a kid I have to protect because I owe a lot to your father.’

I really don’t understand Jiro. He’s just one year older than me but why is it that he always treats me like a toddler? My dad told me that Jiro’s parents passed away when he was young and he has been living by himself ever since then. He has no siblings too and has no other relatives to support him. We could’ve been friends but why does he always act so distant?

“Hey Dara! Whoah! The uniform looks good on you!” Namee exclaimed and ran towards me. She then twirled me around in the middle of the hallway, checking my clothes.

“Isn’t the skirt too high?” I asked. The InterSAT uniform for girls is admittedly very cute – with a checkered necktie matching the checkered skirt. But the skirt I received is a few inches above my knee and it makes me wonder if it’s even acceptable to wear it in school.

“Oh, come on. Look around you”, she said. I roamed my eyes around and noticed that the other girls’ skirts barely reach half of their thighs. I was still observing the other students when suddenly, a brawl broke out just a few meters away from us. I stepped back in fright and grabbed Namee’s wrist, but this crazy girl just curiously glanced at the ongoing fight and smiled at me, totally unfazed.

“Oh my gosh, should we call the teachers?” I asked.

“Are you kidding? Just let them be. You should get used to this kind of setting Dara.”

Huh?

“Let’s go. One of our classmates in our next subject is the leader of Fire 39. You have to familiarize yourself with this school so you won’t get into trouble.” Namee dragged me towards the direction of the classroom while giving me another round of lecture about InterSAT gangs. Wow, she’s really a chatterbox. Her mouth almost never stops moving.

“The leader of Fire 39 gang is Arden Lee. His alias is Bullet. Unlike your boyfriend-“

“Jiro is not my boyfriend! Jeez…”

“Whatever. Unlike Ice Lord, Bullet is more sociable. He smiles a lot and greets his fangirls. But he’s really good in fighting too.”

Ugh. Migraine. Why do I have to listen to this crap?

“There he is! Look! The cute guy at the back. That’s Bullet!” Namee nudged me as we sat on the chairs near the window.

I looked at where she’s pointing and saw a guy smiling broadly at the enthusiastic girls surrounding him. Well, yeah, he is cute and charming. Honestly, he doesn’t look like a gangster at all. He looks like the type who can sell anything just by smiling.

My lips curled up in a tiny smirk as I watch the other girls who are ready to abandon their souls just to be near him. I really don’t get what the fuss is about. When I darted my eyes at Bullet, I saw him staring directly at me. He then smiled and waved at me, making me avert my gaze in surprise.

“Hey there, new student!” he greeted and started walking in my direction.

Acckkk!! What the hell?! Why is he approaching me?! Go away!

“Hi, I’m Arden Lee. But I’m known as Bullet around here”, he said. “You’re Dara Ramirez, right?”

“Huh? Uh, yeah. Hello”, I simply said and didn’t even bother asking how he got my name. When I glanced tentatively at his fuming fangirls standing at the back, I can almost feel the laser beams shooting from their eyes.

OMG, Arden Lee. Please go away!

“Some people are saying that you’re Ice Lord’s girlfriend. Is that true?”

“Yes!” Namee interjected.

“No!” I exclaimed, my eyes widening in disbelief at Namee. Seriously, of all the girls here in InterSAT, why did I end up being stuck with Namee the MOUTH?!

“Which is it?” Bullet pressed on while smiling.

“No”, I repeated just as the bell rang.

“Oh. Okay. I thought…Nevermind. Nice meeting you, Dara”, he said and lightly pinched my cheek.

Eh? This guy is flirty.

***

Dara crossed her legs and stretched her arms while the professor is writing on the board. She’s honestly about to die of boredom and the professor’s soft voice is not helping at all.

“It’s the Black Dragons!” she heard one of her classmates gushed. Dara glanced at the window overlooking the hallway and saw Jiro together with his gang. She immediately straightened up and pretended to be busy writing notes, not meeting the eyes of anyone.

“Wait, he stopped. Oh my gosh! Is he looking at me?!” another girl shrieked. Murmurs filled the classroom, making her curious. She lifted her gaze and looked at the hallway again, only to be surprised by the sight of Jiro standing outside their classroom while staring at her with furrowed eyebrows. His gang is curiously looking at her as well, wondering why their leader stopped walking.

“He’s coming!”

“Gah! Ice Lord is entering our classroom!”

Dara’s breath was caught in her throat when Jiro barged in her classroom and strode directly towards her, ignoring the professor who was standing in front, completely dumbfounded.

“Stand up, Ramirez”, Jiro instructed.

“W-Why?”

“Stand up”, he repeated firmly, causing her to immediately comply in surprise. He then took off his blazer and to everyone’s shock, he tied it on Dara’s waist, making sure that her legs are covered.

“Don’t remove that”, he said and started walking away.

“What? Wait…”

Jiro stopped walking and glanced back at her, his eyebrows mashed together. “I’m warning you, Ramirez. Don’t remove that”, he sternly reminded her.

Huh? Dara followed him with her gaze in bewilderment while the entire classroom gawked at her. Who is this girl who is getting Ice Lord’s attention?

On the other hand, Bullet smirked while rubbing his chin with his thumb and forefinger. He can’t believe he has witnessed Ice Lord behaving in such a way. Things just got interesting.

***

Dara’s POV

All I want right now is to crawl in a hole somewhere.

As Namee and I are walking towards the cafeteria, everyone is looking at me and whispering to each other because news got around that ‘Ice Lord’ tied this stupid blazer on my waist. URGH! Why would he do that? Why? WHY?!

As soon as we settled on a table, I furiously untied the blazer and threw it on the chair. I looked at Namee and rolled my eyes when I saw her smiling teasingly at me.

“Are you sure you want to do that? Your boyfriend-“

“He’s not my boyfriend!”

“Whatever you sayyyy ~ ~”, she said in a sing-song voice and headed towards the array of food. I grumpily followed her and stood beside her.

“No, seriously, he’s not my boyfriend”, I said.

“Okay. But it’s obvious that he likes you”, Namee remarked while filling her tray with food.

“No, he doesn’t”, I replied in a low voice. “He sees me as a kid he has to protect because according to him, he owes a lot to my father.”

Namee glanced at me and arched her eyebrows. “Oh”, she simply said.

Our topic is honestly stealing away my appetite so I just grabbed a few snacks and placed it on my tray. We were about to go back to our table when someone blocked our path.

“Hey, new student”, the guy with a nose piercing grinned at me and winked.

“Hawk, get out of our way. Let’s go, Dara”, Namee said. We both screamed in surprise when the guy named Hawk hit Namee’s tray upwards, causing the food and plate to topple on the floor. I looked around and the other students just gave us a disinterested look and went on with their meal. What the hell is wrong with this school?!

“I’m not talking to you, Cheng. I’m talking to this new girl”, he said and turned to me. “Sweetheart, wanna play with me?”

“She’s Ice Lord’s g-“

“I know she’s not Ice Lord’s girl. I heard her a while ago”, he cut Namee off and stared at me. “Nice skirt”, he said and eyed my legs.

Gah! Help!

***

“You’ll pay for this, Hawk”, Namee hissed and grabbed Dara’s wrist, intending to pull her away. But Hawk stretched his arm, blocking Dara’s way again.

“Oooppss. Where are you going?”

“Stop this”, Dara snarled at him and slap his outstretched arm away.

“Not so fast, sweetheart. Why don’t you come with me?”, Hawk said and was about to grab her arm but Dara stepped back in fright.

“What the hell are you doing?!” Namee yelled but Hawk forcefully pushed her by the shoulder, causing her to fall on the floor.

“Namee!” Dara screamed and gasped when Hawk held her wrist and spun her to face him. “Let go of me!”

“You’ll like it anyway so just come with m-“ Hawk’s eyes widened when someone grabbed his back collar from behind.

“J-Jiro”, Dara mumbled while looking at Jiro’s grim face. She has never seen such frightening expression from him before.

“You bastard”, Jiro muttered under gritted teeth and slammed Hawk on the edge of the nearest table. He then pulled him up and began punching him blindly.

“YOU…BASTARD!” he yelled as he continued throwing solid punches on Hawk’s face, making him almost unrecognizable with the blood and bruises.

The entire cafeteria was frozen as they watch the Ice Lord going berserk. Nobody dared to interfere. They don’t want to face the wrath of Jiro Montecillo.

“Oh my God! JIRO! STOP!” Dara shrieked in disbelief and ran towards him, holding his arm. “Stop!”

Jiro’s fist hang in midair. He then let go of Hawk and faced her, his eyebrows mashed together and his eyes squinting into tiny slits. “I told you not to untie the fcking blazer on your waist”, he dangerously said. “And if some asshole like this one is messing with you, tell them you’re under my protection. Understand?”

Dara nodded while sighing heavily.

Jiro placed his hand on Dara’s head, making her lift her face to meet his gaze. “Eat your lunch, Ramirez”, he said flatly.