Part-33

  A frantic shout pierced the tense air in the gym. A girl, Anika, burst through the doorway, her eyes wide with arm. "Mili! Mili!" she gasped, pointing towards the grappling ring. "The Judo club guys are pig on James!"

  Mili's stomach ched. James, the boy who'd surprised her with his ce in the cafeteria, was being targeted? The idea of the boy who tried to save her, James being bullied by the Judo Club because of her, angered her. She wasn't going to stand by and watch it happen.

  Mili kly where to find Ryan – they shared a few csses, and she'd spotted him just a few minutes ago. Bursting into his , she ighe surprised stares of his cssmates and teacher. Her eyes nded on Ryan, who was meticulously sharpening a pencil, a picture of studious innoce.

  "What did you do?" Mili demanded, her voice ced with barely tained fury. "Why are you sending your Judo club goons after James?"

  Ryan, taken aback by her sudden outburst, blinked in fusion. "What are you talking about, Mili?" he stammered, his carefully structed facade crumbling.

  "Don't py dumb!" Mili spat. "I know James didn't randomly pick a fight with those guys. This is all your doing, isn't it? Well, let me tell you something, Ryan – if you think you bully James around, you've got ahing ing. And if you keep causing trouble, I swear, I'll tell my dad, and he'll have you transferred out of this school faster than you say 'bully'!"

  The threat hung heavy in the air. Ryan's face flushed red, a cocktail of anger and fear simmerih the surface. He wasn't afraid of James, but Mili's father held a powerful position. The thought of being transferred was enough to make him resider his tactics.

  "Look, Mili," he said, his voice surprisingly mild, "I didn't send aer James. Maybe James just has a knack fetting himself into trouble. And even if I have ey with him, I handle him by my own, I didn't fallen that low." It was a weak defense, and he k.

  Mili narrowed her eyes, unvinced. "Maybe," she ceded, "but I'm keeping an eye on you, Ryan. Make one wrong move, and you'll regret it." With that, she turned on her heel and stalked out of the , her anger simmering but slightly abated.

  Mili burst into the gym, her anger boiling over as she withe se unfolding before her. James, trapped in the ter of the small grappling ring, was struggling against Sourov's superior strength and teique. The hulking Judo student expertly maneuvered James, throwing him off bah a series of swift throws and holds. James, despite his newfouermination, seemed outmatched.

  A surge of protectiveness welled up within Mili. She couldn't stand by and watch James get manhandled. "Hey!" she yelled, her voice eg through the gym. "Leave him alone!"

  All eyes turowards her. Sourov, momentarily distracted, loosened his hold on James. James, seizing the opportunity, scrambled to his feet, a grateful look fshing across his face.