Rumor Has It

"Are you sure you don't want to switch places with me?"

In the morning, when the class had not yet started, Mandy came to Runa, sitting on her chair in the back corner of the class. Mandy was carrying a paper bag filled with bread and snacks. She gave it to Runa and said she was worried that Runa would starve for not sitting with her. Sometimes Mandy's attention is too much as a friend, but Runa is glad she had a friend like her.

"No. After what happened yesterday, I don't want to sit down with Owen even more."

Mandy looked at her back. The seat there was still empty. Then she put her lips to Runa's ear. "Be careful with Arden," she whispered. "The case with Anna is getting more and more popular among students. And other rumors about him popped up fast."

Rune was stunned. She didn't know about this at all maybe because Runa doesn't really care about gossip, unlike Mandy. "Is there another thing I need to know?"

"You haven't heard? Where he used to live, Arden was famous as a womanizer. He even physically abused his ex-girlfriend. That's why he moved here."

Mandy leaned her hand on the table and changed her sitting position so she could face Runa. "Rumors have spread everywhere. Even some students claim to have acquaintances where Arden used to go to school, who dare to confirm the truth."

"What evidence do they have?" Unlike Runa, who always checks an incident from all sides, Mandy is the type who easily believes in a rumor. However, Mandy also did not hesitate to apologize and clarify if it turned out that the rumors were wrong.

"They said there was a video about it. But I haven't seen it." Mandy propped her head on one hand, then glanced at the window before speaking again. "You can judge, right, from his appearance? Such a person is most likely to be violent."

Runa hasn't had time to comment on Mandy's words yet, and her best friend keeps on babbling. "I heard that the news about Arden abusing Anna has reached the ears of the lecturers and the campus. It's not impossible that they will carry out an investigation, right?"

"But it seems difficult," said Runa. "Does Anna have any evidence? If it's just words, her position is weak."

And the word abuse that Mandy used was too much, said Runa in her heart.

Should Runa do something about this?

She was considering doing something when they heard a commotion from the door. Runa and Mandy looked there and found Arden and his friends walking into the classroom.

Mandy sighed, then looked back at Runa. She grabbed Runa's wrist as she stood up. "Owen hasn't come yet. Let's move to my place," said Mandy.

Before Runa said yes, Mandy dragged her.

Runa decided to stop using the crutch. After she considered it, no one would wonder why she could recover so fast, because no one knew for sure how long it would take a person with a sprained ankle to heal.

Even Mandy, who is with Runa all the time, doesn't even question it. She just looked happy when she found out that Runa could walk normally.

Runa looked back and saw Arden sitting in his chair, while his friends surrounded him. Someone sat at Runa's table and made her chair a footrest. Rune frowned. She would wipe the chair clean later.

Smoke billowed from the corner of the classroom, turning the place into a bar filled with cigarettes and vaping. Unlike classrooms building where smoking is prohibited, temporary classes allow students to smoke. Runa doesn't understand why the campus doesn't make the same rules. Maybe because this place is only temporary and they don't bother punishing students just for smoking, because they already have too much on their plate.

Mandy started chattering again as soon as they sat down on the chairs, but Runa could no longer focus her attention on her best friend. Time and again she stole glances around the corner of the classroom, subconsciously looking for glimpses of a pair of golden brown eyes from behind the smog.

When Runa found it, her heart sank to find Arden's face, which was now half-covered by smoke. Only his eyes were visible, and they were now fixed on her.

Runa had seen it somewhere. Those eyes. But where?

"Runa!"

Runa gasped and returned her gaze to Mandy. Mandy glared and pulled one corner of her lip to the side. "What are you looking at?" Mandy was about to turn to the corner of the classroom, but Runa quickly restrained her. She pressed her hands to each of Mandy's cheeks and held her head so she wouldn't turn to look at Arden.

"What did you say?" asked Runa while giving a guilty smile.

Mandy grumbled and caught Runa's wrists before lowering her hands from Mandy's cheeks. "You didn't hear me? I babbled and now I feel like an idiot."

"Sorry," replied Runa while giving a guilty look. "Are you still talking about the rumors?"

"No," said Mandy. "About the beach party this weekend. What have you prepared? Already planned the perfect escape? Where should I pick you up?"

Ah. Damn. Runa completely forgot about it.

The encounter with the demon and the angel drained all of her attention.

To be honest, the experience scared her.

Runa couldn't sleep since that incident and she always felt scared in her little house, but Runa couldn't tell anyone about it. All she can do is pretend nothing happened and live life as usual.

This is not the first time Runa has kept her fear alone. She's used to it. It was just that the fear she was experiencing now was different.

Unlike the fear of her father that she could still fight and reckon with, this sense of unreasonable fear almost drove her insane.

Runa had absolutely no idea what she was facing and what she should do if it happened again.

She wanted to find out, but she didn't know where to looking for. She had spent the last two days reading books about demons, but nothing had satisfied her curiosity or assuage her fear.

"I haven't thought about it," replied Runa. She couldn't lie to Mandy about it. "This competition confiscated my mind, and—" She stopped when she saw a look of disappointment from Mandy.

A familiar feeling of guilt gripped her chest. She shouldn't have let Mandy down like this, after all, she had done for Runa.

"I'm sorry..." whispered Runa.

"You won't break your promise, will you?"

"No! Of course not." Runa crossed her arms in front of her face. "Have I ever broken a promise all this time? Never, no?"

"Yes. But you've done nothing like this either. Break the rules." Mandy lowered her voice at the end. "So I was a little nervous."

"Relax. I promise by the end of today, all the preparations will be finished."

Mandy smiled from ear to ear, and her sadness disappeared.

They then talked about the monthly exam, which would start in a few days, when Runa and Mandy's cell phones rang almost at the same time, as did all the cell phones in class.

Runa took the cell phone she placed on the table. A video was sent by an unknown number. Runa didn't just download the video because she didn't trust the source. When Runa turned off the phone and put it back on the table, Mandy handed the phone to her.

"Look!" she exclaimed. "Isn't this—?" Mandy didn't finish her sentence and just showed her phone's screen to Runa, which was playing a low-quality video.

The video, which is about ten seconds long, shows a man and a woman. Runa knows the female figure. She is Anna. While the man is not so visible. The man slapped Anna until she fell, then the video stopped.

"That's Anna," Mandy whispered. "And the man looks like—"

Arden.

Runa was surprised and turned to Arden. At that moment, she realized that now everyone in the class was looking at him.

Arden's friends, who were holding cell phones, gave him the same look. The look of accusing.