Chapter 7

The space was silent. The girl asked Anna to stand in a corner and start calling someone. 

“Hmm, she said Brandon hates her and forbids her to touch her body.” 

“Yes, that’s right, she’s very emphasized.” 

“She even asked us to ask Brandon to verify.” 

The girl kept describing what Anna had said. It filled the entire room with only her voice and Anna’s deep internal voice. 

Clack! 

The other girl disconnects the call, then looks at the other girls.

“Okay, she told us to go.” 

“You, watch out!” The girl fiercely glanced at Anna, raising her voice threateningly. 

After they left, Anna lay on the floor of the bathroom, she began crying loudly in silent space, each sob getting louder over time, the small sound becoming clearer than usual. 

‘Why do they always hit me?’

This sentence appeared in Anna’s mind ever since there was no way to erase it. She was very sorry, also very sad. At this moment, the entire world seemed to turn its back on her. 

Anna just lay there, approximately thirty minutes later. She wiped her tears with her hands, tried to hold back the pain, sat up, stood up, and walked to the door step by step. 

Anna touched the handle on the door, turning it heavily. 

Flick! 

Anna tried opening the door again, but to no avail. The door still wouldn’t budge. She started banging on the door, then used her whole body to push the door open, but the stable door was so strong that the strength she applied didn’t make it move at all.Tired of skating down, Anna suddenly felt desperate, hoping she wouldn’t starve in this place. 

Suddenly Anna felt regret. Was entering this school a smart decision? Initially, she enrolled in this school because of a full scholarship for students here, in addition to the living expenses that the school periodically gives out each week, which is quite high for an ordinary family like hers. 

Because it is a private school, the education system here is not like the state public schools. Here, classes are not divided by subject, but classed with a fixed number of students each year, in extra, student scores here are public and posted on the wall.

Each year there are four main semesters. In addition, there may be additional semesters organized by subject teachers, all to enhance the competitiveness of the students here, and also to keep the reputation of the best school in this city. Students are also required to wear school uniforms. 

When she heard about the education system here, Anna thought that students who have good points would be appreciated, the smart students would be respected, and Anna would be respected too. However, when looking back at her current situation, Anna smiled wryly. Thinking about having to see Brandon again, and having a mysterious person who liked him so much that he hired someone to lock her in the bathroom, Anna felt that perhaps choosing this school, it seemed, was not very wise. 

... 

At the night, the sound is quiet, a little wind blows through the trees. 

In the toilet, Anna was breathing heavily, she sat on the toilet, her arms wrapped around her legs, her head bent between her knees. 

She had been sitting like that for an hour, it was 7:30 pm, and almost everyone in the school has already left, perhaps Anna is the only one left in the school except the security guards and the cleaners. 

Suddenly outside the bathroom, the sound of hurried footsteps resounded, Anna heard it, feeling both happy and scared. Before she could speak, from the outside door came a rushing voice, the other party seemed to be a girl. 

“Hey, hey, are you there Anna? If you’re here, please speak up, I’m Vivia in your class!!!” 

Anna happily exclaimed, “It’s me, Anna. I’m here. Please open the door!” 

Anna went to the door, banging her hands, her voice full of urgency. She said once, twice, then thrice, ‘I’m Anna!’ 

Vivia heard Anna’s fear, she rushed to comfort her. “Don’t worry, they put a wooden stick under the door latch, I’m trying to open it!” 

After a while, the door finally opened. Appearing in front of Anna’s eyes was a girl with short brown hair, and emerald green eyes, still wearing the school uniform, and approached Anna in a panic. 

“Anna, are you okay? Want to get up? Aren’t you hurt anywhere?!” 

Vivia raised her voice, her voice low, she helped Anna to her feet, her eyes darting all over Anna. 

Anna, who was still in despair, was suddenly saved by someone else and was deeply moved in her heart. Laughing till she cry, Anna nervously thanked Vivia. 

“No, I just got a little scratch. Thank you so much, Vivia! Let’s get out of here first.” 

Anna looked back at her surroundings, she pulled Vivia’s hand out of the toilet, and the two young girls walking in the dark gradually left the school grounds. 

“Be careful, Anna. All right, sit down here.” 

Vivia helped Anna sit down on a wooden chair outside the convenience store. After that, Vivia ran inside to buy some mineral water and cotton gauze, prepared to give first aid to Anna’s skin wounds. 

Anna looked at the bandaged wound on her arm, glimpsed at Vivia, asking the question she’d been trying to ignore all this while. 

“Hmm, Vivia, why did you know I’m in the toilet?” 

Vivia lifted her head and smiled, “I don’t know. I went room by room looking for you.” 

Anna asked in surprise. “So how do you know I was locked up?”

“While I was buying spaghetti near my house, I heard someone trying to lock you in the bathroom. I just knew they locked you up but didn’t know they beat you like this.” 

Vivia recalled the process and sighed, feeling guilty in her heart. Without waiting for Anna to continue, she quickly replied. 

“Originally, I was planning to ignore it, I've told myself that I didn't hear anyone calling about you, didn't know you were locked up, I’ll go home and continue eating my favorite noodles. But as soon as I picked up the noodles, I thought about you still locked up at school, so I went to look for you.”