Later on, the two beautiful young girls blossomed into the kind of girls that the boys in their ss admired. These fifteen or sixteen-year-old girls were graceful, slender and exquisite, exuding a delicate fragrance.


    Compared to Cheyenne, who had a reputation that kept others at a distance, Kate became the most popr girl among the boys in the middle school section.


    Next to the yground, a young boy with heavy footsteps dragged a bag of volleyball equipment towards the equipment room. The teacher had instructed him to put the stuff back to finish his ss.


    As he reached the door, he happened to hearughter and chattering from inside.


    The usual troublemakers in the ss were using the excuse of organizing equipment to chat, taking puffs from a smoke and talking about the most interesting topics for teenage boys.


    “Did you guys notice? That long-haired girl in eighth-grade ss 3 with double ponytails is so good-looking, and her legs are so long.”


    “I noticed. During ourst swimming ss, I took a good look at her chest. She’s definitely ‘blessed’, probably had some boob job. My hands couldn’t even hold something like that.”


    Just as they finished speaking, it caused a burst ofughter among the others. “You’re such a perv, MOUSE. How can you be so creepy?”


    “Johnson, you were checking her out too, and now you’re calling me a perv? Didn’t you steal her socks and put them in your backpack to take home?”


    The boy named Johnson choked, coughing for a while, his face turning red as he mumbled, “I… I thought those were Cheyenne’s.”


    “Tsk, tsk, you’re in deep trouble, buddy! If Cheyenne finds out you stole her socks, she might just rip your head off.”


    “MOUSE, if you ever mention this to anyone, you won’t be my buddy anymore!”


    “Don’t worry, don’t worry, I don’t like that type. I’m into Kate, and sleeping with her would be reallyfortable.”This belongs to N?velDrama.Org: ?.


    MOUSE, whose real name was Nichs Morgan, hailed from a coal-mining family. His father was a coal mine owner, and Nichs, being a good-looking second-generation rich kid, enjoyed considerable poprity among the school’s female students.


    Reece had witnessed him getting cozy with various girls in the stairwell, restroom, and on the rooftop several times.


    The fact that this repulsive boy was making fun of Kate and Cheyenne, his two best friends, left Reece incensed. Without holding back, he immediately reached into his bag and pulled out a volleyball,unching it straight at MOUSE’s face.


    Although he had a portly and feeble physique, the close-range force with which Reece hurled the volleyball left Nichs reeling.


    “Thud.”


    The sound reverberated, plunging the equipment room into chaos. The boys who had been smoking initially mistook it for a teacher’s arrival, hastily extinguishing their cigarettes and stubbing them out on the floor. They nervously stomped on the butts, trying to hide any traces of their illicit activities.


    However, when they realized who was standing at the door, the tension from a moment ago disappeared, reced by a seething rage directed at Reece. This was especially true for Nichs, who had a slightly oval red mark on his otherwise fair and handsome face, extending from his eye corners to his nose, making him lookically absurd.


    “You fat bastard, Reece, have you lost your mind?”


    “Damn it, that was the only cigar I had to beg someone to buy for me, and it’s gone after just one puff.”


    Confronted by a group much taller than himself, Reece charged at them as if he had gone mad, using his plump body to press against them.


    “Has he gone crazy? Let’s teach him a lesson!”


    “But…”


    “What are you afraid of? Five of us can surely handle an overweight weakling like him.”


    Nichs had long been irritated by Reece, an unsightly, overweight guy who shamelessly tried to curry favor with the two middle school goddesses. Behind his back, everyone called him a fatso, a sissy, and a waste of space. While Cheyenne had shielded him before, she was absent today due to illness, leaving Reece with no one to protect him.


    Reece found himself getting brutally beaten by the five boys, with two of his ribs broken in the process.


    Just then, a slender and charming figure rushed in from the doorway. The girl had just turned fifteen, with a hint of baby fat still lingering on her face. Her strikingly pure and clear features, cute twin ponytails, white blouse, and blue checkered skirt made her look like a goddess straight out of an anime world.


    With a cute look, a great figure, and a slightly gluttonous personality, Kate was more approachable than Cheyenne.


    “Stop the fight! Why are you guys beating Reece? I’ll report you!”


    Nichs, upon seeing Kate’s arrival, lowered his hand and brought his injured face closer to her. “Go ahead, report me. Reece was the one who hit me with a volleyball first. Look at my face…”


    Kate nced over and indeed saw the imprint of a volleyball on Nichs’s face.


    “He deserved it!”


    Despite the excruciating pain, Reece, resembling a fierce little wolf in the wilderness, continued to re fiercely at everyone.


    “Kate, don’t protect him”


    “Exactly, he struck first.”


    “I can vouch for that. Reece initiated it.”


    Kate’s presence shifted the dynamics in the room, and the confrontation took a different turn.


    Everyone in the room directed their attention towards Reece. Considering Kate’s understanding of him, he might have indeed struck first.


    Unable to resist, Kate turned around, red at Reece, and pointed her finger at his forehead, giving it a not-so-friendly flick. “Have you lost your mind? Why would you intentionally provoke Nichs?”


    Nichs came from a wealthy family, and he was well-known as a domineering school bully. If it weren’t for Cheyenne’s presence, who knows how many people he might have bullied. But today, Cheyenne happened to be absent.


    Reece coughed up blood but refused to answer, his face flushing and his neck growing thick as he hung his head, stammering and remaining silent.


    “Speak up!”


    He didn’t want to talk because he felt the vulgarnguage would dirty Kate’s ears, so he clenched his teeth.


    Nichs and his friends naturally had no intention of revealing the fact that they were badmouthing others behind their backs. Reece’s silence yed into their hands.


    “Kate, you saw it too. This fatso struck me first. If I go out with this face, how can I face anyone?”


    With that, Kate furrowed her brow and discreetly pinched Reece’s hand, quietly suggesting, “How about you apologize first? When Cheyenne returns to school tomorrow, we can settle this then.”


    “A real man knows when to yield and when to stand firm.”


    Apologize?


    Reece sneered at the idea.


    The wrongdoing wasn’t on his part to begin with, so he had no intention of apologizing.


    The situation became tense as Nichs insisted on Reece apologizing, and Reece refused to do so. As dusk approached, they realized the school might lock its doors if they didn’t leave soon.


    Kate called Nichs outside, and the two of them had a conversation. When Nichs returned, he had a broad smile on his face and treated Reece like a buddy.