Chapter 7

Daniel and I had just stepped out of the restroom when we were blocked.

Robert stood in the hallway with a group of people, looking aggressive. Students crowded around, eager for a show.

Jack held up his cracked-screen phone. "Robert, I saw it with my own eyes! Those two were all over each other in there. Isabella even kissed Daniel's hand! It was disgusting!"

Robert's face turned ugly.

He stared at me intensely, his eyes showing not just anger, but the humiliation of being betrayed by a possession.

"Isabella, do you have any shame left?"

Robert pointed at Daniel, his voice loud enough for the entire floor to hear. "Are you this cheap? You'd stoop to this kind of trash? Are you in heat or something, biting anyone you see?"

Laughter erupted around us.

All kinds of crude comments drilled into my ears.

"So the honor student plays this dirty in private."

"Skin hunger syndrome? I'd say she's just promiscuous."

"She'd go for trash like Daniel-must be really desperate."

Daniel stood in front of me, his spine straight.

Even with everyone pointing fingers and cursing at him, he didn't defend himself once.

His fists were clenched so tight they crackled, clearly on the verge of exploding.

But I knew that if he threw a punch, even if he was in the right, it would turn wrong. He'd be reprimanded, expelled immediately.

That was the difference between elite students and "bad students."

I stepped out from behind Daniel and stood in front of him.

Daniel froze, reaching out to pull me back.

"Don't move." I pressed his hand down.

Then I raised my head and looked Robert straight in the eye.

"Trash? You think you're qualified to call him trash?"

My voice wasn't loud, but it was clear. "When the power went out just now, what were you doing? You were comforting Alice. And this person you call trash was protecting me."

"You call me cheap. But what about you?"

I sneered, my gaze sweeping over Alice standing behind Robert. "You have a girlfriend but still string along your ex, soaking up attention from two women. You're not cheap? You're rotten."

Robert looked at me in disbelief: "You're cursing me out for some mechanic?"

"What's wrong with being a mechanic?"

I grabbed Daniel's hand with the band-aid and held it up high. "These hands earn money through honest work. They're clean. A million times cleaner than yours-hands that only know how to spend your parents' money while putting on airs!"

Complete silence.

Everyone was shocked by my words.

Even Daniel looked at me dumbfounded, as if seeing me for the first time.

"Robert."

I took a deep breath and said what I'd been holding back for ten years. "Your body temperature is too low. Even your heart is cold. Now this medicine has stopped working. In my eyes, you're worthless."

With that, I ignored Robert's face alternating between green and white, and directly grabbed Daniel's hand.

"Let's go."

Holding hands in public.

Fingers interlaced.

Daniel's palm was covered in sweat, burning hot.

He let me pull him along, like a tamed beast, obediently following me through the crowd.

We walked far, to the deserted back of the school building, before I let go.

My legs gave out. I'd been running on adrenaline.

Daniel leaned against the wall, lit a cigarette, his hand shaking slightly.He stared at me for a while, then suddenly asked, "Why did you help me?"

"Not the bathroom thing," he added. "Just now."

People had called him trash before when I was around, but I'd never said a word.

I'd even joined Robert in looking at him with that condescending pity.

I looked up at him, at that careful, tentative look in his eyes.

"Because you're warm."

I said, "And I want to live."

Daniel froze, then laughed.

A self-deprecating laugh, but also one of relief.

"Fine."

He exhaled a smoke ring, his eyes unreadable. "As long as you pay me, I'll keep you alive and well."