Saving the Villain

Like any other day like usual, the bell rang when classes were over. Today Cosette would have to clean the classroom once again. So, as soon as the bell rang, she pivoted on her chair and faced Maxen.

"What do you want now?" asked Maxen out of irritation as he picked up his almost empty bag.

"I will have to clean the room." She pouted as her shoulders lowered. "Will you wait for me?"

He quirked a brow. "And why will I wait for you?"

"Because we're friends? Aren't you worried that this young lady will have to walk home on her own?" Cosette shamelessly planted her palm across her chest, batting her eyelashes ever so slowly while giving him puppy eyes. "You waited for me before. Can you do that today, too?"

'Uh… really. I can't reason with her.' Maxen clicked his tongue as he let out a sigh. He didn't speak immediately as he stood from his seat. Cosette frowned when she thought he wouldn't wait for her, only for her eyes to light up a second later.

"Make it quick." That was all he said as he marched away, leaving her smiling from ear to ear.

"Gosh… he always acts tough and unbothered, but I think he's really softening up to me," Cosette mumbled and giggled, staring at Maxen's back. "He's so cute."

"Who's cute?" she jumped when Sarah suddenly leaned her face while sitting on her chair in front of Cosette. "Cozie, do you perhaps, like Maxen?"

"What…?"

"Is he your type?" Fay also chimed in while leaning against her desk, eyes on Cosette.

"Is this what they call one-sided love? Where the girl is the one pursuing the guy until he falls for her?" Amie clasped her hands together, daydreaming about the love story she was creating inside her head.

"Hay… you think too much." Cosette chuckled as she glanced at the door where Maxen left. "But you see, Max is really good-looking. It is not obvious now because he still had some scars and his face is still healing, but I don't understand why no one thinks so."

She looked at the girls, only to see them sigh. "What?" she asked in puzzlement.

"Cozie, do you have an eye problem? I mean, sure, although Maxen isn't that bad and is charming despite his weight, there's a reason everyone keeps their distance from him," Sarah explained awkwardly as if this was something she shouldn't talk about.

"Why is that?" Cosette asked while cocking her head to the side.

The three girls came closer to her as Fay looked around cautiously. Their action, as if they were holding classified information, made Cosette also stay cautious.

"You see, when the first girl who confessed her feelings to Maxen happened, she was targeted by Maxen's enemies. They mistook her for his girlfriend and used her to bait Maxen. No one actually knows the details, but that girl transferred after the incident," Fay gossiped in one breath, warning Cosette about it since Maxen was still someone who had tons of enemies from other schools and in this school.

"That's why even when some girls like him, they are too afraid to be tangled with him," Amie added while nodding.

"Cozie, you should also be careful. Maxen doesn't only have enemies from students from other schools, but in our school as well. One of our seniors, who is also known to be a delinquent, is still in the hospital because of his injury. But if he returned here, trouble will only happen since he had some bad blood with Maxen." Sarah chimed in while raising a finger, staring at Cosette solemnly.

Cosette just glanced at the three of them with pursed lips. This was something she had never heard about before or read in the novel. So, she didn't know these small details.

A smile resurfaced on her face. "Don't worry. I can protect myself." She reassured with a nod.

Although Cosette was unsure if she also gained the real Cosette's talent and strength, just like her intelligence, she could start learning from now.

*****

When Cosette bid the three goodbyes, she caught Maxen waiting for her on the floor below their classroom. She wanted to approach him quickly, but stopped and just stared at him. Maxen was leaning against the window, staring outside the campus while deep in thought.

Her eyes softened as she smiled subtly. 'I'm happy that our days had been very peaceful.' A sigh of relief slipped past her lips, staring at Maxen as the orange ray of light hit his face.

He was really beautiful; she thought. Maxen, although a bit chubby, and still had some scars, looked stunning. Well, he was the main antagonist of the story, so his looks would stand out among everyone.

'I really hope my efforts will bear fruit,' she thought while staring at him. 'I really hope Maxen will be happy and lead a better life. If he did, then everyone will be happy. Asher and Mia will be together, Maxen will find his peace, and Cosette… will also be happy with her father, Conrad.'

"I still can't believe I am inside a novel," she muttered with an incomprehensible smile as her eyes lowered to the floor. 'I wonder if I really died and was stuck in here or… I am just in a comatose.'

There was a part of her that still couldn't treat this world as her reality. How could she? Even when she kept waking up in this world, she was afraid — terrified, even. She constantly feared that once she accepted this world as her reality, it would devastate her if she woke up to her real world.

So, Cosette could only stand on that thin line between reality and fantasy. For her, they were all characters in the novel. Even Fay, Amie, and Sarah, who weren't mentioned in the story, were all characters in the story.

"What are you thinking so hard?" Cosette looked up when she heard his voice close. "Did something happen again? Is there another rumor again?"

Her eyes softened as a subtle smile appeared on her face. "Maxen, shall we buy some ice cream on the way?"

"So, there's really a problem?"

"There's none, but I want to have ice cream." Cosette let out a sharp breath as she tossed her thought at the back of her head. Without thinking, Cosette reached for his hand to hold just his index finger. His shoulder and spine instantly tensed up as his eyes dilated a little.

"Max, can I hold your finger just today? I feel somehow a bit scared you will vanish if I don't hold on to you," came out a weak voice with a wry smile. "Just today… let me cling to you a bit more."

Her eyes lowered as she stared at Maxen's long and slender fingers. Meanwhile, Maxen furrowed his brows as his jaw tightened. She sounded oddly sad and scared at the same time, making him worry and wonder what caused her to impose such melancholic air.

"Just today then." She smiled when he agreed. "Just today, Cosette."

She nodded, smiling, closed-lipped. "Mhm!"

And with that, she followed him while holding his finger, as if afraid she would touch if she didn't hold on to something or someone.