Saving the Villain

Cosette dressed up the young lady\'s wounds quietly and carefully. The latter was just hiccuping and let Cosette in silence. When Cosette finished, she looked at the girl and pressed her lips into a thin line.

"Have you eaten anything?" asked Cosette worriedly, but nothing. The young lady didn\'t answer as she was just staring at her bandaged arms since she had cut her arms a few times to get used to the pain, but to no avail.

Since the young lady wasn\'t talking, Cosette raised her head to Maxen. Cosette didn\'t have to say anything because Maxen already understood what she wanted and needed.

"Let\'s buy something to eat," Maxen proposed to Remo and then to Luke.

"We can\'t let her alone here," argued Remo, which was surprising, since this type of reaction would naturally come from Luke.

"Cozie can handle herself even if she tries to jump again," Luke chimed in, eyes at Remo. "Cozie is a black belter. I\'m also starving, so we should eat first."

"Luke is right, Remo." Maxen fixed his eyes on Remo, signaling him to just cooperate. "Don\'t worry about them. They will be fine, right, Cozie?"

"Mhm." Cosette smiled subtly at Maxen before shifting her attention to Remo. "We\'ll be fine, Remrem. Just buy us something to eat and also ice cream. If you see a cake, get us a slice too and more sweets. Take your time."

For someone who was too scared minutes ago thinking of ghosts and all the horror films she had watched, Cosette sounded too confident in being left alone with the young lady. But she figured this young lady wouldn\'t talk with these guys around. The latter didn\'t even look at them once, aside from Cosette.

Remo\'s jaw tightened, but when he heard Maxen\'s call again, he just rocked his head. With a heavy heart, Remo followed Maxen and Luke out of the classroom to give the girls some time alone.

Cosette watched them leave the room, leaving the door wide open. When their footsteps faded slightly, she set her eyes back on the young lady.

"It\'s okay," whispered Cosette soothingly, holding the young lady\'s hand with enough gentleness and care. "Everything will be okay now."

The young lady slowly raised her head until she locked eyes with Cosette. The second they did, a tear rolled down her cheek as the young lady shook her head.

"It\'s not," her voice was low, and barely spoke out those words without choking. "It\'s not okay."

Cosette felt a pang in her heart as a frustrating tension started building up in her throat.

"It will never…" the young lady choked, lowering her head whilst shaking it. "It will never be okay. I will never be okay anymore. I — just want this to end. You will never understand… you will not… understand."

Seeing that the young lady was breaking down once again, Cosette sprawled her arms to the young lady and embraced her.

"Trust me, I do…" Cosette patted the young lady\'s back mildly while the latter bawled her eyes once again. "I know… what it feels like when you feel like you have no control over your life anymore." — because until now, Cosette had always felt helpless.

By realizing she wasn\'t just a reader who magically entered her favorite novel and occupied the villainess\' body, Cosette had always thought her illnesses might return as well. The reason Cosette had always slept over in Maxen\'s room was that whenever she was alone, those thoughts would hover over her head and rob her of her sleep.

Therefore, she promised not to let those thoughts in the future become a hindrance to her presence. Not the past, not the future. She lived in the present, and in the present, she wanted to live life. Regardless if she would become dumb for a moment. She wanted to be a child because she was never a child and she never knew how to be one.

"What should I do…?" asked the young lady through her gritted teeth, clutching Cosette\'s back so tightly, as if she was afraid if she let go, she would just collapse.

Cosette might be a stranger, but the young lady was utterly desperate. She wanted help, she needed help. But she couldn\'t cry for one; afraid once she did, her situation would just become worse than it already was.

"I don\'t know what to do," the young lady added in between her sobs. "I\'m scared."

The young lady went on and on while Cosette remained silent, rubbing the young lady\'s back. When the former calmed down a bit, Cosette released her but still held her hand.

"Can you tell me what happened?" asked Cosette softly.

Reluctance resurfaced in the young lady\'s eyes, and she immediately shook her head. She didn\'t tell anyone about her circumstance to anyone. Neither her family nor friends knew what she was enduring. She didn\'t want to get judged or ruin her life even more. Moreover, she didn\'t know Cosette. Even though Cosette felt like a trustworthy person, the young lady couldn\'t just tell her everything.

"I already know," Cosette confessed. "Those delinquents wanted to do bad things to me, too. They said they wanted to have fun just the way they had fun with the school bell. It just so happened my friends were there to protect me, so I got away. And we managed to delete the clip they treated as some sort of badge of honor from all their phones."

"It\'s okay. Don\'t be afraid. I won\'t tell anyone if you don\'t want me to. I will protect you — I promise." Cosette nodded her head reassuringly, smiling at the young lady. "We\'re here because of you, so I won\'t let anything happen to you."

The young lady stared at Cosette silently. Her lips were kept in a tight slash, assessing Cosette\'s soft expression. But when she heard Cosette\'s last remarks, the young lady slowly opened her quivering lips, telling Cosette what she had been going through and the reason she just wanted to end her life.