Ace nodded in amusement and then turned around to leave.
Seeing Ace leave, Jasper sighed in relief. This was the best-case scenario that had ever happened to him. Usually, Ace and his goons would throw in a punch or two.
'Thank goodness, it looks like it really couldn't get worse than earlier. The universe must be having pity on me and Lady Luck must be on my side.'
Jasper turned around to resume his walking when Ace called out from behind.
"Hey, land whale."
Jasper immediately froze up, he started cursing himself internally.
'Damit, I was a fool for thinking the universe and Lady Luck was on my side this time. They are probably playing a prank on me and laughing at my misery.'
"Hmm," letting out a low hum, Ace strolled closer to Jasper.
"I saw you."
"What?!" Of all the things Jasper expected Ace to say, he didn't expect that.
"You saw me?"
"Yes, I did," Ace gave a small nod as he lazily leaned on a pillar.
"You saw me do what?" Jasper was really panicking inside.
'He saw me? He saw me? What does he mean by he saw me? I didn't do anything, did I? Or is this an excuse for him to whoop my ass?' his mind turned as he tried recalling what he might have done.
"Oh come on, blob, don't act dumb."
"I... I don't know what you're talking about. I swear," Jasper screamed.
"Yeah, you do," Ace let out a soft chuckle.
"I... I don't, I swear, please believe me." At this point, Jasper was already panicking; he subconsciously looked around for an exit.
"Fine, it looks like we would have to shake you up a bit to refresh your memories," an evil smile was plastered on his lips.
"Boys, make him kneel." Behind him, his goons sneered as they rushed towards Jasper.
Jasper turned around to run, but before he could take a single step, a huge fist was already hurling towards his face. The size of the fist got closer and closer as it blocked his view.
THAWCK
The punch resounded around the school premises and blood was sent flying through the air.
The punch hit home, which caused Jasper to stagger and fall on his butt.
Jasper lay on the floor with blood gushing out of his nose. His nose stung like hell and he feared that it might be broken.
Glancing to the side at a mirror, his reflection confirmed that his nose was indeed broken. It was crooked and bent at a weird angle.
"My nose! My nose!" His screams echoed around the school.
"You broke my nose!"
"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to break your nose! Here, let me fix it for you."
"No! No! Ge..get away! Get away from me!!" His voice quivered.
Ace let out a deep frown and feigned being hurt. "You are rejecting my kind offer? I'm trying to help you here."
Although Ace's voice was soft when he said that, his eyes told a completely different story. There was no warmth in them, only amusement, cruelty, and a cold sadistic look.
"Listen, blob," Ace crouched down slightly so that his eyes could look at the downed Jasper, "frankly, I don't mind your pitiful existence, I don't mind you being ugly, useless, and a waste of oxygen…"
Jasper gulped. He moved backwards to get away from Ace.
THAWCK
"Stay in place when I talk to you, worm," Ace screamed. He kept on slapping and punching Jasper over and over again.
"I'm so..wwir, pl..esk, pl..esk, sp..arrr me.iee," his chubby face was swollen up which made his speech all jumbled up and messy.
"How dare you? How dare you filth…"
THAWCK
"You…you fat piece of ugly shit,"
THAWCK
THAWCK
THAWCK
"What you did, the crime you committed are unacceptable, sacrilegious even,"
THAWCK
Jasper's mind was in a mess. He kept on begging and begging for Ace to forgive him. He couldn't even think of what he might have done to deserve this. Ace has always bullied him and beat him up, but it was never this bad.
"Ple..sk, he..rlp mee! He's go..ng to ki..rr mee, he..rp!" Jasper raised his hands towards the watching crowd. He desperately begged and hoped that they would come to his aid, but no one came. All they did was stand and watch, some were even laughing as they videoed him.
'Of course, of course they wouldn't help me. What else was I expecting from them?'
"Lift the pig up."
Jasper was hoisted upwards by Ace's goons.
"As I said earlier, I don't care about a pig like you…" He paused, letting his words sink in before continuing.
"But what I do mind is you staring at things that don't belong to you."
'Staring at things that don't belong to me? What's he talking about?'
Ace tilted his head slightly, his creepy smile had returned.
"You know? For a fat shit like you, you sure are brave. I saw you staring at Aria yesterday, and not only yesterday, you always stare at her with a goofy smile on those cursed lips of yours."
Jasper's swollen eyes widened, he couldn't believe that all this beating was just for a mere stare.
'I…I can't believe he did all that just because I looked at Aria.'
"It doesn't bring me pleasure to do this to you. It hurts me more than it hurts you. Why? Why did it have to come to this?"
Although Ace said he wasn't having any pleasure in watching Jasper suffer, the smile on his face and his history of bullying him told another story.
"You could just mind your business and not stare at her, but you didn't. You just had to defile her perfect image with your filthy eyes,"
'He's psychotic, he should be in a psychiatric home. I just stared at her, nothing more. It's not like I'm the only one doing it. Who in Avadon Hive doesn't have a crush on Aria?'
"The perfect little princess of Avadon Hive. I get it, I truly do, everyone loves and adores her. But you? Come on man, you should know that you are not allowed to dream that far. She's way out of your league. She's at the peak of the food chains and you are way, way below her."
Jasper shook his head vigorously. "No! I swe..already I wasn't,"
Ace let out a low chuckle. "Oh, come on. Don't insult my intelligence, piggy boy,"
Ace slapped Jasper lightly on the cheek, as if consoling him. "Maybe one day you would find love, but the probability is very low. I would say it is less than 0.00000001, but hey, it might happen."
The goons behind Ace snickered loudly.
"You know? You're allowed to dream, but dreams should never become delusions, you get me? Oh, I'm sure you do," his voice dropped into a low whisper that sent shivers down Jasper's spine.
Ace straightened up, cracking his knuckles. "I hope this wouldn't happen again?"
Ace looked down at his hands and clothes, a frown appearing on his face.
'Oh God, oh God, he's about to start round two.'
"Look what you did." Ace pointed towards his blood-stained hands and clothes.
"You stained my expensive clothes with your filthy blood."