Sour raisin (джен)

March arrived with a disgusting, humid thaw and a constant, gray fog. For Barbara, this month became the collision point where psychological torture materialized into raw physical violence. Dead Chan was no longer satisfied with proxy attacks; her internal, twisted envy demanded direct action.It happened on a Tuesday, right after the final gym period of the day. The rest of the class had quickly changed and scattered. Barbara intentionally lingered behind, wanting to avoid a confrontation in the crowded hallways. She was slowly tying the laces on her torn Vans when the heavy wooden door of the locker room slammed shut, followed by the distinct, heavy click of a deadbolt.Barbara’s head snapped up. Standing in the center of the damp, dimly lit room was Dead Chan. Her long hair was adorned with her signature pink bows, but her doll-like makeup looked grotesque in the flickering fluorescent light."So, grunge trash," Dead Chan said quietly, her voice stripped of its high-pitched, sugary internet persona. It sounded raspy, hollow, and vicious. "Still think you're too good for my world?""Unlock the door," Barbara said, standing up and slipping her hands into the pockets of her oversized jacket."Make me," Dead Chan sneered. She lunged forward with shocking speed, slamming her palms into Barbara’s chest.Barbara flew backward, her spine colliding violently with the metal lockers. Before she could regain her balance, Dead Chan’s fingers clamped onto her left arm with a terrifying, white-knuckled grip. With blind, venomous strength, she brutally wrenched Barbara’s forearm behind her back, pinning her face-first against the cold steel of the locker.A sickening, distinct snap echoed through the empty room. A blinding, white-hot spike of agony shot through Barbara’s shoulder and collarbone. Her vision instantly fragmented into black spots."Stop... stop, you’re breaking it!" Barbara choked out, gasping for air, trying to twist away, but Dead Chan applied her entire body weight, forcing the joint past its limit, nearly fracturing the bone."If you ever look at me wrong, if you ever say a word to my friends, or if you complain to a single teacher, I will make sure your fingers are broken so badly you’ll never hold a pencil again," Dead Chan hissed into her ear, her bracelets jingling mockingly against the metal. "You belong in the dirt, Babs. You and your pathetic excuse of a father. Shut up and take it." Dead Chan released her with a violent shove. Barbara collapsed onto the tile floor like a dropped sack, cradling her violently trembling, broken shoulder against her ribs. Tears of pure agony burned her eyes, but she forced herself to stay silent. Dead Chan casually adjusted her pink bow, unlocked the door, and walked out, her platform boots clicking away.Ten minutes later, the school erupted. Dead Chan, hair artfully disheveled, tears streaming down her face, and a fresh, self-inflicted scratch running down her cheek, was sitting in the vice-principal's office. She was putting on a masterclass performance, sobbing uncontrollably into her class teacher's shoulder."She just attacked me out of nowhere!" Dead Chan wailed, her voice trembling perfectly. "Barbara was screaming about how much she hates my family! She grabbed my arms, I barely got away! Look at what she did to my face!~"The vice-principal was furious. Barbara, ghost-pale and barely able to move her left arm, was dragged into the office. Half the class had gathered in the corridor outside, muttering threats.Barbara tried to fight for her life. She took a step forward, fighting through the agonizing white-hot pain in her shoulder, and said loudly:"She's lying! She locked the door and threw me against the lockers! Look at my arm, my shoulder is dislocated! She attacked me!"But her voice betrayed her, shaking from the pain. In the eyes of the administration, Barbara was already a "problematic thief" and a "troublemaker." They looked at her with pure disgust."Stop fabricating stories, Barbara!" the vice-principal snapped. "Your reputation is already in the gutter, and now you're physically assaulting our top student out of pure, unadulterated envy!"Barbara felt the ground vanish beneath her. Her defense was useless. Her words held zero value. She had officially hit rock bottom, a total pariah whom no adult would ever believe. At that exact moment, Lila and Mizuki forced their way into the office. They took in the lynch-mob atmosphere instantly.Mizuki stepped forward, pushing her glasses up, trying to inject some desperately needed logic:"Ms. Vance, look at the biomechanics of the injuries. Barbara has a severe shoulder joint trauma, while Dead Chan only has superficial scratches angled perfectly for self-infliction. If you check the hallway cameras outside the locker room, the timestamp will show—""Quiet!" the vice-principal cut her off brutally. "Mizuki, stop playing detective. Your 'theories' are irrelevant. Are you seriously defending an unstable bully? Sit down and mind your own business!"Mizuki went silent, her analytical approach completely dismissed by adults who saw it as childish nonsense. That was when Lila stepped onto the stage. She took one look at the room and realized the truth didn't matter here; she had to play by the corrupted rules of the school. Lila instantly forced an expression of deep, terrified remorse onto her face, tears welling up in her eyes as she spoke in an incredibly vulnerable, breaking voice:"Ms. Vance... please, just listen to me. Mizuki doesn't know the whole story, she’s just defending Barbara blindly. But I... I have to be honest. Barbara was not herself today. But it wasn't because she hates Dead Chan! It's her home... her father had a horrific, violent episode last night. Barbara didn't sleep a single hour, she had a total mental breakdown today. She went into the locker room, had a severe panic attack, and accidentally collided with Dead Chan when the room started spinning! She didn't mean to hurt anyone, she can barely stand up herself, just look at her!"Lila lied with such theatrical, breathtaking conviction, weaving the very real tragedy of Barbara’s father into the narrative, that the vice-principal and the class teacher instantly traded glances. In their minds, the puzzle pieces clicked perfectly: "the broken girl snapped due to her abusive household." They believed Lila completely."Fine," the vice-principal sighed heavily, her posture softening under Lila’s tears. "Given the... domestic circumstances... we won't involve the police for Dead Chan's sake. But Barbara is suspended for a week. Take your friend home, Lila, before I change my mind."Once they crossed the school perimeter, Lila and Mizuki practically carried Barbara between them. Her left shoulder felt like it was on fire, a massive, horrific black-and-blue bruise forming under her clothes, but inside her, fear had completely burned away, leaving a frozen, lethal resolve."Thanks, Lil," Barbara whispered, her vision swimming. "You saved me from a juvenile facility.""That pastel psycho is going to pay for every single tear you shed today, Babs," Lila spat, the fake tears completely gone from her eyes, replaced by pure, arrogant malice. "I am going to ruin her." "My logic failed with the adults," Mizuki said, her voice dropping into a terrifyingly calm register as she pulled out her phone. "But logic is a weapon she can't run from online. Lila, you keep manipulating her fan club since they buy your lies so easily. As for me... I am starting a total digital manhunt on Dead Chan. We are going to find the one thing that will eat her alive."Barbara looked down at her torn Vans, then glanced back at the school windows through her bangs. The year was winding down, and she knew their next encounter would be the last.