The following school day began with Tiger waking up late, still yawning as he entered the school with somewhat red eyes. Heading to the auditorium, he spotted Benjamin waiting for him.
"Yo, Tiger, didn't you sleep well?" Benjamin asked with a big smile.
"Says the guy who got me drunk," Tiger replied, leaning on him.
"Yeah, now I didn't ask you to fight with your childhood friend yesterday, now did I?" Benjamin said, patting Tiger on the shoulder.
"We didn't fight; it was just a little argument," Tiger said.
Benjamin sighed and took a deep breath. "Yeah, yeah, whatever you say. Let's just get to the hall on time."
They walked towards the auditorium, where the other students were gathered. A female teacher, Miss Selena, stepped onto the podium. Known for being the most disciplined teacher in the school, she called the students to attention.
"Good morning, everyone," she said gently, and without hesitation, the students stood upright and quiet.
"Well, that's good for you all. The assembly has been called for one reason," she said, stretching out her left hand. Jackson came onto the podium with bandages on his face and a slightly broken arm. The students looked on in shock and horror, while Jackson could only groan in pain.
"A student of ours was gravely injured and has been hospitalized for a day now. He said it was a student from his class that put him in this situation," Miss Selena announced.
The students gasped. "As you know, it is against school rules for students to fight against each other, either on school grounds or outside school while still wearing the uniform. Because of their misconduct, both of them will be punished with expulsion."
The students began to murmur amongst each other.
Student 1: "Well, it's about time Jackson is expelled."
Student 2: "Yeah, but who is strong enough to put Jackson in such a state?"
Student 3: "The person is also dangerous."
Student 4: "But we also don't know the other person's side of the story. He may not need to be expelled."
"That's enough," Miss Selena said, and the students fell silent.
"If you know the person or if the person is in school today, please signify. But if I have to fish you out myself..." She smiled and held up a piece of paper. "I will gladly drag you out once he points at you."
The auditorium fell silent as Tiger and Jackson's eyes met. Jackson thought to himself, "If I'm going down, you're going down with me." As their eyes locked, fear pinned Jackson to the spot, and he began to tremble.
Tiger's eyes, like daggers and spears, pierced Jackson's soul. "I...I can't do it," Jackson said, trembling and shaking. Miss Selena looked at him as he stumbled backwards. "What happened to him all of a sudden? He was fine just a short while ago," she thought to herself, trying to figure out who Jackson was staring at.
"Benjamin, I need to sit, please," Tiger said.
"Let me guess, you put him in that situation?" Benjamin asked, taking Tiger to a chair.
"Nope, he fell into the pit he dug," Tiger said with a dark smile.
Miss Selena released the students to their classes, unable to identify the culprit. Meanwhile, Jackson was shaken as Tiger's eyes continued to haunt his mind.
Back in the classroom, Benjamin put Tiger in his seat, and he noticed Ruby wasn't in school. "Hey, does anyone know where the president is?" he asked, but everyone just shook their heads in response.
A teacher entered and began the lecture as Tiger tried to sleep off the alcohol in his brain. He vaguely saw the girl who had tried to assassinate him, but he couldn't override the alcohol and then slept through the class.
As he fell into a subconscious state, he saw his mom and dad smiling at him when he was still young. "Those times I wish never ended," he said, as he kept falling through his memory lane until the incident of his mother's death.
"Mother!" he screamed out of his dream after sleeping for an hour, still sweating in the middle of the class.