Chapter - 4

Amelia's pov;

"I'm so sick of it. They irritate me so much that I want to report them to the teacher, but should I?" While we were in class, Sophia whined alongside me.

"Who are you referring to?" Asked as I took my notebook from my backpack.

"Peter and Harry! Aren't they sick of making fun of you? I was in the cafeteria with you when they teased you, so I was able to protect you. What if they had you all to themselves? How will you look after them?"

"Why are you suddenly sounding like my mother? And, based on what happened back there, it appears that, in addition to me, someone else was teased, right?"

"Stop making fun of me. Never will I be able to let go of this so simply."

"Peter or Harry? Who are you making reference to?

"You'll be able to tell when I made the report,"

"Are you certain that you're going to report them?"

"Why do I have to make that up? Since the ceremony for freshmen, they have been harassing us. They had been making fun of us since we got on the college bus in the morning till the school let out. No, they are mistreating us. Today, this must end." She forcefully got up from where she was.

"But they were only making fun of me, why are you acting out like they made fun of you?"

"I'm going to report this for you because you won't open your mouth,"

"Where are you going?"

"To the main office."

"Principal? If you want to report them, you must first talk with our class teacher or the school guidance counsellor, who will assist you. Don't you think the punishment will be severe if you go straight to the principal?"

"Why do I have the impression that my friend is siding with her bully?"

"I'm not taking sides. You know how much I despise them. I'm simply reporting the facts."

"There's also the issue of not tolerating bullying. Don't worry, I'll handle everything." And then I left the class.

Should I pursue her? Was she serious about complaining to the principal, or was she joking? No! She didn't appear to be playing with me because she was so serious. What is the principle going to do about them? What is the penalty for bullying?

"Do you know what the punishment for bullying is?" I asked my nearest deskmate, Jack.

"Did someone bully you?" he inquired, concerned.

I answered, shaking my head, "I was simply curious. That's it."

"The sentence varies."

"What does it depend on? How do you feel about the level of bullying?"

He shook his head and said, "No, it depends on who administers the penalty. The rules alter."

"What about the teacher? What will he do to those who bully?"

"Perhaps... suspension. You sound concerned for someone who has bullied someone. Did Hannah get in trouble again?"

I answered, shaking my head, "No, she's perfectly well. I was just curious."

Hannah has been coming to save me from Harry since freshman year. Many students in our classes believe Hannah is nasty to others and causes unnecessary difficulty. What did he have to say about the punishment? Suspension? He's going to put them on hold? Oh! No! I need to stop Hannah before it's too late...

I thanked him for responding because I don't converse much among my peers. After Hannah, I consider the folks in my tiny circle to be my closest friends. I exited the lecture hall.

As I approached the principal's office, I noticed Hannah exiting the principal room. Was I running late? Did she file a complaint against them already?

"Amelia, what are you doing here?" she questioned as she approached me.

"I came here to stop you, but I believe I failed."

"What exactly are you babbling about?"

"Did you file a formal complaint?"

She shook her head and said, "No, the principal was not present. When I inquired about his whereabouts, they informed me that he is on leave for a week."

I breathed a sigh of relief.

"It appears that the cosmos is conspiring against us," she continued which made me laugh at her.

"Let's go to our class now."

We walked into class with two opposing thoughts in our heads. I'm not sure why I chased after her. I'm not sure why I wanted to stop her. It's not because I'm scared about them, it's because I don't want this thing to become too big and I don't want my father to find out. If he hears something like this, I'm sure he'll transfer me to another university so I'm not helping them here, I'm benefiting myself.

Hannah asked me in class, "Hey! Which instrument do you intend to learn in the music class?"

"I have no idea, why did you ask?"

"Did you truly enrol in the class to learn to play an instrument?"

Is she questioning me? I should be careful or I'll get caught, I reasoned "Of course, I enrolled in the class to learn to play an instrument. Otherwise, why would I waste my time on such frivolous pursuits?"

"Unnecessary items? I know you despise learning music, which is why I asked you to double-check. You're not interested in learning instruments, which makes me wonder why you enrolled in the class in the first place. In any case, you must learn one. Is there anything on your mind?"

Andrew Campbell is the only thing on my mind. He is the reason I enrolled in the class. I can see him every time I go to music class. I can stand behind him and keep a closer eye on him than before.

"Did you have anything on your mind?" she shook me again.

"How about..." I looked around my class and noticed a boy pretending to play guitar to his companions, so I continued, "Guitar! Yes, I intend to learn to play the guitar. What are your thoughts?"

"The guitar sounds great. Excellent. But you'll have to give up your nails to do so." And gave me a friendly smile.

I enjoy growing my nails. I don't have long nails, but I do have medium length nails. My hands look beautiful with nails because my fingers are long and slim. I didn't grow out my nails for nail art or polishing, but I liked how they looked.

"What!? Why!? What does this have to do with my precious nails?"

"You can't play guitar with long nails."

Does it mean I have to give up my nails? No!

"What instrument, then, does not require my nails to be chopped short?"

"None," she responded with a smile.

"What? No! Something needs to be there. I can't cut my nails in order to learn to play an instrument."

I took out my phone and searched the internet for something relating to nails and musical instruments, like I had hoped.

I waved my phone in front of Hannah's face and said, "Trumpet, drums, harmonica, trombone can all be played with long nails, and kalimba can also be played with long nails."

"You may wish. So, what are your plans for the weekend? Are you available?"

"Why?"

"I'm excited to purchase a new violin."

"What happened to the violin you already had?"

"The D string stopped working correctly, so I'm going to get a new one."

"What went wrong?"

"Normally, if the D string wasn't working properly, I'd tune it with the E string because it sounds similar to the D string but the peg for the E string was too tight to tune it. I believe the wood swelled inside it, causing it to grasp the tuning pegs more tightly than usual."

"Use English."

"And, I was intending to buy a new one recently as well, so I'm getting a new violin this weekend using this as an excuse," she joked.

"Will you accompany me?"

"It was my error to ask what the problem was," I nodded. "If I forget and ask again later, don't explain it to me like you did just now. When you explain these kinds of things to me, it makes my mind spin."

"I'm not sure how you're going to learn if you keep acting like this."

When the teacher arrived, we began to listen to his lecture.