Saving the Villain

"I know our school is shit, but I\'m glad it\'s not as shit as that school." Luke was leaning his arms against the railings of the window in the hallway, staring at the few police officers that had visited Winter High as well. "The bullying here isn\'t as crazy as that in that school."

Luke turned to his right where Cosette was standing. It was recess, and the two of them were just hanging out in the hallway. Maxen was just inside the room, doing some notes for their homework.

"Oy," called Luke when Cosette didn\'t react to him. "Are you still not satisfied?"

Cosette blinked ever so slowly, casting him a cursory look before looking over the window.

"I don\'t know," she confessed under her breath. "A few of those delinquents were arrested already. Although not because of what they did to Olivia, they were paying for their actions."

"I know. Isn\'t that the plan?" he returned with a delicately arched brow.

The idea came from Cosette, and Maxen did the planning. Since they wanted to respect Olivia\'s wishes, Cosette wrote an article that Maxen manipulated to gain a little bit of popularity. The article blew up because more and more people took an interest in it.

Meanwhile, Luke and Remo investigated the illegal drug dealing that was happening not just in that school, but also in Winter High. Yes. Although the bullying in Winter Highschool wasn\'t as how it was in the past, some students here were purchasing drugs.

After investigating how the dealing was done, they tipped the police. The buy-bust operation that involved a minor only made Cosette\'s article blow up even more that the media outlets had to pick up the story due to public interest.

"What?" Luke frowned. "Don\'t tell me you actually want her to suffer?"

"No." Cosette snapped her tongue weakly. "I just hope this is enough."

"It should be." Luke bumped his shoulder against her side. "We did our best, hey? People had turned a blind eye to this matter, but now, everyone was forced to address the bullying and what it does to people. And the best part is that the girl didn\'t have to come out herself."

Cosette looked back at him with pursed lips. "Do you think this is okay now?"

"You\'re not superhuman," he said. "You did your best, and we just have to trust those adults who failed the children over and over."

"That\'s not very reassuring, Luke."

"But your dad is also an adult, yeah?" Luke cocked his head to the side. "I mean, I don\'t trust the adults, but I think there were still responsible adults out there like your dad."

"Do you like my dad?"

"Who doesn\'t?"

"You\'re not scared of him?"

"Should I get scared of him?" Luke arched his brow. "I think he\'s really cool. My dad is cool, though, but he\'s too cool he\'s good as a friend but not as a father."

Cosette assessed Luke and the nonchalant air around him as he spewed his remarks. She wondered for a moment before peeling her eyes away from him. This was something she didn\'t have to poke her nose in. So long as Luke was fine, she knew there would be a day that everything in life would fall into its rightful place for Luke and Asher.

"By the way, Luke, is no one in the Quinn residence visiting you?" she asked out of plain curiosity.

"My brother went to visit me once," he answered, keeping his eyes ahead to where he could see a few teachers and police officers walking on the school grounds. "My dad\'s assistant would drop by once in a while, sending financial help. It\'s frustrating."

"Frustrating? Why? You\'re practically a beggar now."

"Hey!" Luke scrunched his nose up at her.

"What?" Cosette arched a brow. "I\'m telling you the truth, though. I\'m seriously getting worried about how you will survive in the following months if you don\'t look for a part-time now."

"Wow…" he scoffed in disbelief, looking at her up and down. "Oy, who said I don\'t have work, eh?"

"You have a job?"

"Your tone makes me angry, Cozie." Luke clicked his tongue, rolling his eyes at her.

"How can I know when I don\'t see you do anything, duh?"

"I work for Max —" Luke bit his tongue and gasped, looking back at her, wide-eyed, after his slip up. He didn\'t know if he should be telling her this since it didn\'t seem she knew about Maxen\'s current role in the BLK subsidiary.

"What\'s with that reaction?" she furrowed her brows.

"I should be the one asking."

"About? My reaction?"

"You knew?"

"I don\'t know that Max hired you, but my dad told me a few days ago about Maxen\'s job in our security company." Cosette shrugged indifferently. "I\'m a bit worried about his health, but Max is amazing. His plate is already full, but he still makes time for me — for us."

"You\'re not angry?" Luke calmed down a bit, studying her side profile.

"Why would I get angry?"

"Well." He cleared his throat, looking away from her. "I mean, his role in the company shows that your dad favors him. If this happened in the Quinn family, there will be problems. You can guess why."

"Is that why you\'ve been acting stupid?"

"What?"

"So your brother gets the spotlight and no competition for him?"

"I don\'t do that."

"So, you\'re saying you\'re just dumb?" she returned, causing his face to contort. Cosette let out a weak chuckle while shaking her head. "You know, Luke, I had a conversation with your brother. I think you two just need to be honest and talk about things calmly. He\'s still your brother, after all, and I\'m sure you two don\'t hate each other just as deeply as you thought you do. I won\'t poke my nose into your business and force you to do that, but as a friend and the legal wife of Maxen, I\'m being kind to my husband\'s mistress."

Luke looked at her incredulously but didn\'t have the energy to banter with her usual teasing.

"You are so annoying," he grumbled. "But this is for the better. I\'m actually getting used to this life now. It\'s peaceful."

"Mhm… yeah," she whispered with a smile, idling in the hallway until the bell rang that indicated recess was over.