Saving the Villain

SPLASH!

Cosette blinked countless times at the giant splash of water from Luke's fall. When she raised her head, Maxen was already looking down at her with an annoyed face.

"Max?" she called and raised her brows, but Luke resurfaced immediately.

"Hey!" Luke yelled, grinding his teeth to see who was the culprit behind his fall. "Have you lost your mind?! How can you kick me back here?! What if I hit my head, hah?!"

Maxen let out a shallow breath and shook his head, letting Luke express his annoyance before he walked away. He didn't even say anything, nor did he look back at them. He came as silent and quick as the wind and left, just like it.

"Gah! I hate him!" Luke hissed in irritation, staring at where Maxen left. "Ugh!! He's even more annoying than my brother!"

"Maybe because you were blocking the flowers he had been staring at!" One of their classmates humored, pointing at the flowerpots on the corner.

"Screw him!" Luke grumbled, but his classmates simply laughed playfully.

Meanwhile, as the rest were teasing Luke in their attempt to calm him down, Cosette kept her eyes on the sliding door where Maxen left.

"Has he been that tall?" she wondered, despite already noticing that Maxen just seemed to grow significantly. It was like whenever she would take her eyes off of him, he just magically grow. Or perhaps it was just the perspective, as she was still in the pool and noticed his long limbs as he walked away.

"Well." She shrugged as it didn't really matter, glancing at Luke, who was still continuing his outburst. "I should leave him alone for now, or my eardrums will bleed."

With that being said, Cosette helped herself get out of the pool. Thanks to Amie, who handed her a tower, Cosette immediately wrapped her body with it and joined the girls. Like always, they simply gossiped or talked about anything that was silly.

Shortly, they went for another round of swimming to enjoy the day. The energy of the youth was almost limitless as they had games to spice things up, had snacks, and then swam until their body felt heavier and heavier underwater.

It was a good first day as everyone forgot their own worries and enjoyed the moment until they all decided to rest before dinner.

"I can still my body floating and the waves..." Fay said in a lazy voice as she laid flat on the bed. "I'm so tired."

"I feel sleepy..." Amie added, lying flat on her bed just like Fay.

"Pfft--" Sarah chuckled while alternately brushing and drying her hair with a towel. "That's because you two overdid it. How can you wrestle with the boys?"

"We're fighting for women's pride, oy," Fay argued, but her tone was the same. "We can't let those guys get drowned by their male pride."

"That's right...!" Amie agreed, wondering how many times she fell from Fay's shoulders. Her expression contorted because thinking about it tired her already.

Sarah shook her head mildly. "Dry your hair first, at least."

"Nah... I'm good," answered Fay while Amie responded with, "my hair is short, so it already dried up... I think."

"Goodness, you two..." Sarah let out a shallow breath before her eyes fell on the other bed beside hers. Just like the two, Cosette was also lying down on her back. However, she was oddly silent. Sarah initially thought she was just as tired as them, but just to make sure, she asked;

"Cozie, are you alright?"

Cosette snapped her eyes at the ceiling and turned her head in Sarah's direction. "Yes, I am," she replied with a smile. "I'm just tired and sleepy, but I can't sleep."

"You guys should sleep first since there's still two hours before dinner. They said they will serve it at 8, so you should rest."

"Sarah, you're biased, aren't you?" Fay complained in a dead tone, but she didn't have the energy to even turn her head. "When Amie and I said we're tired and sleepy, you asked us to dry our hair. But when Cozie said the same, you're saying she should sleep."

"That's because Cozie already dried her hair." Sarah rolled her eyes and shook her head. "Once you dry your hair, you three go to sleep and rest."

"What about you?" asked Cosette, waiting for Sarah to look back at her.

Sarah smiled. "I will. Later."

"Everything alright?" Amie asked, out of plain curiosity.

"Yes, of course. I mean, I'm not that tired." Sarah chuckled, sensing their concern. "I'm fine, really. It's just that I don't think I can sleep and just stay on my phone to kill time."

"Ohh... well, if that is what you say." Fay shrugged and closed her eyes. "I'll doze off a bit. Please wake me up when it's time for dinner... or not."

"Me too... I'm really sleepy." Amie rolled on her stomach, hugging the spare pillow.

The two quickly fell asleep as their breaths grew heavier. Sarah was almost amazed how those two fell asleep quickly but seeing them brought a smile to her face. When she turned in Cosette's direction, she was still staring at the ceiling in silence.

"Cozie?" Sarah's voice was quiet, receiving a hum from her. "Are you sure everything is fine?"

"Well... yeah, I guess. I'm just thinking about something, but it isn't a big deal."

Sarah stared at Cosette's side profile while nodding. She didn't take her eyes off of her, studying Cosette's expression. Usually, Cosette was smiling. So, seeing her expressionless countenance was quite a sight to behold. It almost made Sarah wonder if she was the same person.

Right now, while Cosette was deep in her thought, her facial features were all sharp. She looked almost like a snob. If Cosette entered their room with such an expression, Sarah would be a little hesitant to approach her because she might ignore them. Surely, one couldn't judge another just because of their appearance.

With that being said, Sarah dried her hair in silence and barely made a sound as she placed the towel back in the bathroom. She then lay on the bed, scrolling through her phone, until she eventually fell asleep without her knowing.

Meanwhile, Cosette was on her spot for long minutes before she turned her head to where Sarah was at. Her lips curled up as her eyes softened, seeing that Sarah's phone fell from her hands.

"She's tired and just doesn't know it," she whispered, peeling her eyes away from her and back to the ceiling. "She's always like a big sister to all of us."

Thinking about it now, Cosette didn't have friends even from her previous life. But these girls were very kind and considerate. She was happy that they seemed to really enjoyed their first day.

"No one will wake them up..." she muttered with a smile. "Well, I'm not really sleepy and that tired. Right..."

Cosette pushed herself up from the bed and sat upright, running her hand through her hair. "Max... he didn't even join us, and it slipped my mind to drag him with us." A shallow breath escaped her mouth the more she thought about that Maxen only appeared once in the pool and that was when he kicked Luke back inside the pool.

"Should I check him?" she wondered. "Although I know he will be fine all on his own, he can't just keep distancing himself."

With that thought in mind, Cosette flung her legs out of the bed and tiptoed her way out of the room not to wake up the girls. She closed the door carefully, almost holding her breath until the faint click reached her ears. When she straightened her back, she heaved a sigh of relief before walking away to check on Maxen.

As she walked through the hallway, she met a few of her classmates who wanted to take a walk for some fresh air or just stay by the pool as they waited for dinner. Cosette walked with them and chatted on the way until they reached the lobby where they all suddenly halted.

Cosette furrowed her brows and gazed at the two figures standing in the lobby. Their chattering also subsided, eyes on those two figures, sensing the thick tension between the two.

"Isn't that Luke's brother?" asked someone in their group in a loud whisper.

"Is he having a confrontation with Max?"

"What's going on here?"

Cosette glanced at her classmate and sighed. These people, although she still sees them as her friends, couldn't help to question their love for such cliche scenarios they watch in dramas. There's no way those two would have a problem with each other just because they were standing in silence while holding their gaze.

"You guys should go. Max is here, so I will chat with him." She broke the silence with them while pointing at Maxen with her thumb. But her face stiffened when she heard Asher's distant and cold voice shattering the silence in the lobby.

"You'd been looking. Any problem with me?"

Maxen's eyes went from Asher's head to toe. "Problem? No. I'm simply admiring you."

"What?" Cosette furrowed her brows, but what she heard next from one of her female classmates sent a chill down her spine.

"Max is admiring Luke's big brother? What is this? BL?"

'Oh no... he hates that...' Cosette's face contorted as she smiled awkwardly. When she turned her head to them, her under-eye twitched seeing the twinkle in the girls'  eyes.

'Everyone loves that genre, huh?' she sighed, having this premonition that their creative minds and assumptions would soon spread like a wildfire.

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