The Culprit of the Spreading Rumours

(You only protected yourself, and remember I am proud of you. Because you were able to get ahold of yourself, Xavier)

"Bro, may I come in?" Augustine knocked at my door early in the morning.

"Wait a minute, I'm going to put some clothes on first," I responded and opened the door after I finished putting some clothes on.

"Bro, want to get another day off for today? And lay low for the week?" he suggested as he looks at my body filled with dried wounds.

"What are you thinking, bro? Why would I hide or lay low as you said?" I responded viciously and asked for an explanation.

"What I want is for you to stay put bro, How the hell do you want me to feel after seeing your body like this filled with wounds? It's okay if it's just ordinary stalkers watching your every move, but what happened to you last night was different. You could have died there," he calmly explained while I feel frustrated about what he said.

"Do you think I wanted this? I already have the lead to know who is responsible for the fears that everyone has been making me feel. And also, I would like for everything to stop, but for me to do that is to cut it from the roots," I responded with frustration on my face.

"Yeah, you will find the truth about the person who was setting you up. But what does that got to do with the gang who beat you up last night?" He asked.

"I have this feeling that someone is behind what happened last night. But imagine, the only ones I met in that group were the students from the alley. And also, the college students whom I encountered at the store. However, how would they know where I live just from meeting for about a minute or an hour?" I replied, and Augustine soon realized what I meant from what I stated.

"Then that would mean that someone who knew you would be the one who told them the address and possibly your routine. So for someone to determine what your schedule is, that someone must be watching every move you make," Augustine marveled after he realizes what I meant.

"And the lead that I was telling you about is this key-chain," I showed him the key-chain which I picked up the other night lying on the floor when I tried to chase the guy hiding in the red car," I responded.

"Wait, isn't that-," I interrupted what he was about to say since I already know what he is going to ask.

"Yes, this is the key-chain mandatory for every third-year student in our school, Augustine. This will help both of us in easily tracking the guy who spreads those rumors and actively stalking us. And today is the last day we will have the chance to confront that guy," I responded and was able to convince him.

After our conversation, we actively resolved our problems on our own. And then headed downstairs for a quick breakfast prepared by Augustine. But incredibly, the house is still intact with no sign of burnt food on the table.

While eating, someone called Augustine, and he was told that we need to head to school quickly. Since the teacher in our PE class will group the team playing later in the gym.

(Why the hell would they call just to tell us to hurry because of a simple gym class?)

During the conversation between Augustine and the caller, I wash the dishes. We then went out and hurried after I finished cleaning since they want us to arrive early. On our way to the bus stop, I asked Augustine for a quick detour to the park and investigate for some clues.

However, he straight up rejected, and we hurried and headed to the school. After minutes of bus fare, there were some students in the street looking at me with the same eyes of fear from others.

I pulled Augustine's hand, then ran to the gate of the school, and went to our lockers to change our shoes for the gym practice. While walking in the hallway connecting to the gym, many of the students, no matter what their year is, they still kept on gossiping while staring at me with disgust and fear.

Inside the gym, all of our classmates were inside, and they already chose the teams. But someone recruited Augustine, so it left me all alone with no one who wanted to team up with me. Then the teacher decided on putting me in the group without any athletic capabilities.

The game that we're all going to play is the game of dodgeball, and we all know how this game works. If you are the attacker, then you throw the ball to the defender, then if you are the defender, you try to evade the balls thrown to you by the attacker. Simple, right?

However, when the game started between my team composed of non-athletic students and some other group. You can honestly see that all the balls are directed to me with full power throws. This is not a simple game of dodgeball, and what they want is to knock me unconscious.

My body can't keep on evading since my wounds will start to open again, and also hopefully, the class ended after minutes of dodging throws with a worn-out body. When I head to the shower room, everyone inside the shower room left speedily.

Then Augustine entered and wondered why I was the only one left inside,

"They left as soon as I enter the door, but you know what, this has to stop now," I stated and waited for Augustine to finish showering, then find the guy who lost his key chain.

While waiting outside the shower, I kept on observing the gym for third-year students without the key-chain hanging in them. Because the key-chain is supposed to be used hanging in the school id, and if one doesn't have it, they will violate the rule of the school regarding improper uniform.

I saw many third-year students who don't wear them, so it'll be difficult for us to find who lost their key-chain. After minutes of waiting, we head to our lockers to change our outdoor shoes to indoor shoes. On our way to our lockers, I saw three third-year students without their key chain hanging on their id.

Two were from the class next to ours, and the other one is our classmate. We walked towards them in their lockers and asked a few questions, but it turned out that the two from the other class were not the one who keeps on stalking me.

The only left suspect is the guy in our class. So we then head to our classroom to interrogate the guy who lost his key-chain that day. When we arrived, we immediately talked to the guy who doesn't have his key chain.

And when we asked a few questions, his key-chain was borrowed by our classmate named Emmanuel. The guy also told me he witnessed Emmanuel spreading rumors about me in various groups on the campus to spread some false information.

(The hell did I ever do to him? I didn't even know that we have a classmate named Emmanuel)

Augustine asked our classmates where they last saw Emmanuel, and it turned out that he was on the rooftop all along. Filled with rage and hatred towards him, I stormed to the rooftop and searched for him all over the place. When I called his name, it scared him to the point that he stayed hidden.

"Show yourself, you messed with the wrong guy. Because of you, every day has been a complete hell for me," I shouted angrily, but he still hasn't shown up.

However, when I was ready to be a lot more composed, I was able to convince him to have a little talk.

"My name is Emmanuel. I'm sorry, please forgive me for what I have done. Someone approached me and gave me a hefty sum of money to follow you and spread rumors that you attempted to kill him," He chipped in before I was able to ask him questions.

"Does that also include sharing information about the place I've been living?" I added and was curious to know his answer.

"Yes, I have followed you every day. And I saw the conflict that you and students from the other school had. From the moment you helped the guys who were being bullied to the day they ganged up on you," he responded wholeheartedly.

"All right, May I know the name of the man who gave you the money?" I asked, trying to keep my anger under control.

"They didn't tell me their names, but I heard them calling each other as John and Emmanuel," he exposed the name of the men who paid him. And the only one who I can think of who would do such a thing is my half-brothers.

"Thanks for telling me the truth, Emmanuel," I added before leaving the rooftop.

(I can't believe this, they still won't leave me alone even though I left the family and even left the house. Now they want to ruin my life as a student)

I tried so hard to conceal my anger, but my mind feels like it's going to burst. So I head to the restroom, and as I enter, I saw a group of guys inside. I tried to mind my own business, but they started to attack me.

However, in just a blink of an eye, the group who tried to assault me inside was all beat up.