The Cat and the Rat

Jogging to school, Mike stopped at the school gate, exhausted and breathing heavily. On top of the school gate was a banner with 'Destiny High School' written boldly on it. Mike was a final-year high school student, not so brilliant but not dumb either.

A red Toyota Camry squealed and stopped right beside him, and the window wound down.

"Want a ride?" Laura's voice came, staring at Mike, perhaps waiting for a response.

"Ummm…." Mike mumbled, trying hard to catch his breath before replying.

"It's okay if you don't want!" Laura said and drove off.

Mike raised up his hand and waved to stop her. "I didn't decline!"

"I guess your friend was in a hurry as well," Jude, the gateman said with a smile. "You're quite early today,"

"Coming to school at first period is quite uncommon."

Mike sighed, rolled his eyes, and resumed jogging into the school.

"Hey! Wait for me!" A familiar voice came from behind. Mike glanced back, reducing his speed. It's Stefan, his best friend.

"Run faster!" Mike shouted with a smile. Stefan caught up with him and smiled back. "You're always late, lazybones," he said.

Mike frowned at him and shook his head. "Says someone who's behind me," he said."I can't miss Mrs. Lydia's class today,"

"Neither am I," Stefan replied, and both increased their speed.

"Hey lovely runners!"

Both Mike and Stefan turned to their right at the voice they heard.

"Oh shit! The weirdo is here!" Stefan said and dug his hand into his pocket to reach for his earpiece.

"You're really going to miss the class despite driving a luxurious car," Mike said to Christina, who was driving her Lambo sport car slowly to keep up with the duo's speed.

Christina smiled evilly and drove toward the duo aggressively. "I didn't mean to interfere, but what's your deal with Mrs. Lydia?"

"Oh….. you didn't know?" Mike asked, and Christina shook her head.

"We are in a love triangle," Mike said. "You wouldn't know what that means. Have you ever dated?"

Christina's eyes turned red, obviously angry, she glared at Mike warningly.

"I'm very sure she doesn't know what love is. No one would want to date the 'DND School Queen' who bullies even her friends," Stefan said and smirked.

"What a weirdo."

One could see Christina's expression,no doubt she's annoyed. She didn't say anything, she just kept glaring at the duo.

Mike turned to Stefan and saw him put an earpiece in his ears. "Betrayal!" he said and brought out his earpiece and put it in his ears.

Christina was frustrated, she bit down her nails and angrily drove past them at full speed.

Her name is Christina Idris, but the name given to her in school was 'DND School Queen'. She was a rich beautiful girl with long dark hair that snaked down her back.

She was short-tempered with a real advanced anger issue. When she enters her 'DND' mode, not even the teachers in the school could approach her. Students, even her friends, try as much as possible to avoid her.

However, only one person would face her no matter how aggressive she is. Mike. Actually, it's two - Stefan as well. While Stefan always uses Mike as a human shield, he would never dare face her whenever Mike wasn't around.

Mike knew exactly what to say to annoy Christina to her full potential and also what to say to make her feel embarrassed and keep her mouth shut.

But knowing Christina for her 'IDC' character, sometimes embarrassment doesn't work on her, and Mike would have no choice but to back off.

To simply put it, Mike and Christina were like cat and rat - full-time enemies.

"Wow! Welcome, my dears." Mrs. Lydia said with a smile. "You're early today; you're here just... at the right time!"

"Whoa! Thanks goodness!" Mike said. "Thought I was gonna miss this class."

"Me too, but here we are." Stefan added. "The early bird catches the...." He tried to recollect but couldn't.

He turned to Mike and asked, "What did the early bird catch again?"

"Worm! Dumbass!" Mike grumbled.

"Oh yeah! We caught the worm!" Stefan said with a smile, staring at Mrs. Lydia.

"But wait…..," Stefan suddenly said. "What if the worm was late? How would early bird catches a late worm?"

"If you fail my subject, I'm gonna pluck all your teeth!" Mrs. Lydia threatened, packed her books, and left.

Mike and Stefan stared at each other for a while. "What does that mean?" Stefan asked.

"It means you missed the class," Laura interrupted with a laughter.

Mike glared at her and scoffed.

"What!?" Laura asked. "I wanted to give you a ride, but you declined, knowing it takes at least 13 minutes to run from the school gate to class."

"Did I decline?" Mike asked. "Did you allow me to reply before you took off?"

Laura looked crestfallen, apologized, and snatched Mike's bag. "My bad, I'll get your notes up to date. Would that be enough?"

"That would be enough, apologies accepted," Mike replied with a smile, knowing most of his notes were incomplete, and quickly agreed. Laura is in trouble; she's going to write a lot of pages.

Stefan stared at Laura, then at his bag, and then at Laura again, grinning charmingly.

"Don't even think about it!" Laura quickly said. "I already have a lot on my plate."

Stefan sighed in disappointment and sat at his desk, next to Mike's, and turned towards the entrance as he noticed movement.

Four students from the next class burst in. The senior year students were divided into three classes: A, B, and C. Mike and Stefan were in class A, while Christina was in class B. She always topped her class in every activity the school created.

"Whoa! She really didn't waste any time today," Mike said with a smile.

"It's called 'revenge is a plate that's served hot,' right?" Stefan said, stretching his head towards Mike.

Mike glared at him through the corner of his eyes and said nothing.

"Dammit! Don't give me that look; I'm more brilliant than you think," Stefan boosted.

"Brilliant? My foot!" Mike said. "If you don't know it, don't say it at all. It's a 'dish,' not a plate. And it's 'cold,' not hot. Revenge is a dish best served cold. Don't know what's wrong with you today."

"Hey Mike!" One of the four students, probably the leader of the gang, said, waving at Mike.

"I was expecting you, Simon. Just didn't expect you to come during school hours." Mike said and snapped his fingers. Just then, Christina appeared, coming inside the class.

The guys were surprised. Simon raised the corner of his lips into a slight smile and sat in the chair in front of Mike, facing him.

"Told you, right?" Mike said to Simon. "I was expecting you. You're such a loyal dog to the school Queen. You wouldn't waste any time carrying out her orders like a well-trained German Shepherd."

Everyone in the class burst into laughter.

Simon's anger boiled over as he glared at the students, his fierce gaze instantly silencing the room.

Mike turned back and waved at Christina, who rolled her eyes and smirked. "I wouldn't be surprised if you hire assassins to come deal with me later. Keep up the good work."

Something is odd.

Stefan!

Why's he silent?

Mike turned to his desk but couldn't find him. A movement under Stefan's desk grabbed Mike's attention. He bent down to look.

"Stefan! What are you doing under there?"