The girls taunt me as I sit on the ground. Cold seeps through my clothes and settles into my bones, making me shiver. Maybe it's the chill. Maybe it's fear. Probably both.
Panic surges through me and I lunge forward, trying to get away.
"Where do you think you're going?"
Sophia sneers and sticks her foot out. I trip and slam face-first into the ground.
She's wearing a plain white blouse with a pink star on it and the word Superstar printed across the front. Those stupid letters always irritate me. Her skirt sits at least a few inches too short. In terms of looks and build, she's definitely above average, and she knows it. No one in the world rubs me the wrong way the way she does. Pretty much everything about her annoys me, from the stupid Superstar logo to the way she carries herself. Just seeing her every single day feels like a punishment in itself.
I glance around. Besides Sophia, there is her best friend Sophie. I know, right? They love pretending they're quirky and unique, not like other girls. But at the end of the day they're identical. Same personality, same clothes, even the same fucking name.
Ironically, she's wearing the exact same blouse, only with a yellowish-green logo instead. The same generic short skirt too. The two of them look like some kind of fucked up inbred twin act.
I try to stammer out some excuse, but my mind goes blank.
Crap, crap, crap.
Think. Say you're going to class. Say you need a teacher to sign something. Anything.
Before I can force a word out, one of the girls speaks.
Kamila. An absolute bitch.
The worst part is that she doesn't even seem interested in bullying me. She just tags along because she's bored.
She's wearing some kind of fancy T-shirt, the sort you see in expensive stores, and a medium-length skirt. One glance is enough to tell that she takes meticulous care of her hair. Though it's deep brown, her hair shines like polished glass, and I can clearly smell her shampoo even all the way from over here.
As always, she seems lost in her own world, barely paying attention to anything around her.
"Can you guys get this over with quickly? I want to talk to Jones before class starts. We've got... ahem... things to discuss."
Jones is her on-and-off boyfriend. They break up and get back together all the time. I heard she dumped him yesterday, so I guess that's what this is about.
What can I say. The bitch must be in heat.
Yashiro pinches her nose.
"Ewww. Something smells here. Like someone left a bag of rotten trash in the hallway."
She looks down at me, her calm, cold eyes staring straight through me.
She's also the sister of that evil bitch Maevis.
I guess evil runs in the family.
Aside from that, they also look almost identical. Long white hair. Cruel eyes. Matching smiles. Traditional outfits. The only real difference between the two is that Maevis has curly, fluffy hair, whereas Yashiro's falls perfectly straight.
Right now Yashiro is wearing a green pinafore dress with a white shirt underneath. She's carrying a dark lunchbox.
Knowing her, I wouldn't be surprised if it had aborted fetuses inside.
She shoves me from behind.
"Well? What are you waiting for? Let's go before you stink up the whole place."
The other girls grin.
The students in the hallway simply watch as I'm dragged away. Not one of them says anything. Nobody steps in.
But I'm not surprised.
I honestly don't think any of them would care if the girls turned around and threw me out a window.
That's the worst part.
They could do anything to me and nothing would happen to them.
"Hurry it up."
Sophie whines and kicks my leg while they drag me down the stairs.
They're probably taking me to the basement under the staircase.
Ever since the trash compactor broke, the basement has been used as temporary storage for the school's garbage. At this point I've been thrown down there every other day.
So I'm used to it.
Or at least that's what I tell myself.
But every time I land in that pile of garbage bags, the smell still makes my eyes water. Nobody gets used to something like that.
We keep going down the stairs. The deeper we descend, the stronger the stench of rotting garbage becomes.
I glance back, hoping for a chance to escape.
No luck.
Right behind me walks Yashiro. Her cold smile twists my stomach.
Any thoughts of running fade immediately. I lower my head and keep walking.
At this point I'd rather end up in the garbage than deal with the consequences of trying to escape.
I know I sound like someone stuck in a concentration camp.
But that's just my life.
"We're here!"
Sophia announces happily.
Kamila sighs.
"Just get it over with. Some of us have things to do."
I look down at the trash below.
I know what's coming.
I wait for the push.
And wait.
And wait.
And wait.
Nothing happens.
The waiting makes it worse.
Sweat prickles across my skin. I can hear them snickering behind me. My legs begin to tremble.
Then someone suddenly places a hand on my shoulder.
"Eek!"
The sound escapes me before I can stop it.
Sophie and Sophia burst into laughter. Their laughs sound almost identical. Hearing them cackle together is strangely unsettling.
I slowly turn around.
That little devil stands behind me, wearing her usual empty smile.
Behind her, the two stooges whisper and laugh to each other while Kamila scrolls through her phone, barely glancing up.
I have no idea what they've planned this time.
But I doubt I'll enjoy it.
"So, Yurui. Or whatever your name is..."
The two stooges snicker.
Yashiro continues.
"Me and the girls talked. We've decided that from now on we're no longer going to be throwing you into the trash."
She says it with the same empty smile, her eyes half-squinted.
For a moment my face lights up.
Then reality settles in.
It's too good to be true.
"R-really?"
"Yes," she says calmly. "It's beneath us to do the work of garbage collectors. That kind of job should be reserved for slum rats like you."
Her smile widens slightly.
Great.
She already looks like the devil incarnate, and yet, somehow she still manages to find a way to look even more sinister.
"So," she continues, "as the only slum rat in our school, from now on you are officially designated as our personal trash man."
"Congratulations."
Her hand tightens around my shoulder. Pain shoots down my arm.
"S-so... you want me to go around the school collecting trash and bringing it down here?"
"Oh, there's no need for all that labor," she says. "We wouldn't want to pay you too much overtime."
The girls behind her laugh quietly.
Kamila keeps tapping on her phone.
Yashiro leans closer.
"Besides, you've already brought all the trash down here."
"Excuse me? I don't get it."
Her smile disappears.
Her face turns completely cold.
When she smiles she looks like a devil. Without it, she looks worse.
Slap.
The sound cracks through the room.
The girls fall silent. Even Kamila pauses for a moment before returning to her phone.
Yashiro grabs my hair and yanks hard, dragging my face close to hers. Tears sting my eyes.
I can smell her breath.
"At least something smells nice over here."
The words slip out before I can stop them.
The room goes silent.
Then the girls burst into laughter.
Kamila looks up with a disgusted expression.
"Get a room, you two."
Then she goes back to her phone.
I stare at Yashiro, trying to gauge how badly I messed up.
Usually I can read her expressions. Her face is always cruel, but I've learned the different shades of it.
But right now I can't read her at all.
She sighs.
"I don't know what I expected from you. I've called you a rat before, but that's not accurate. Rats are actually intelligent. It's not fair to compare them to someone who lacks basic cognitive abilities."
Her voice remains calm, but the look in her eyes makes me regret ever opening my mouth.
My eyes begin to water.
She pulls my hair harder.
"You're more like a... cockroach."
She smiles again.
The same cold smile.
And strangely enough, I feel relieved.
Phew.
I guess insulting me helps her relax.
"So from now on," she says, "you will officially be known as the Roach. That's what everyone will call you."
The snickering behind her grows louder.
Yashiro leans closer. Our lips are almost touching.
Heat floods my face. I'm not used to someone being this close.
"By the way," she whispers, "if you haven't figured it out yet... you're the trash we were talking about."
"Huh? I'm the trash?"
Her smile widens.
"That's right. And trash should..."
She pauses, waiting for me to finish.
But my mind goes blank again.
Her expression shifts.
Before I can react, she slaps me so hard everything goes black for a moment.
When I come to, the three girls behind her have moved closer, watching with eager smiles.
Yashiro grabs my hair again.
"Trash should throw itself out."
She looks at me.
"Y-you w-w-want m-me t-to t-throw m-myself o-out?"
I stammer.
She nods and lets go.
Then she simply stands there, watching expectantly.
I don't know why, but my body starts moving toward the ledge.
The fact that I did so without any command is the most humiliating part of the whole ordeal.
My legs are still shaky from the slap. I collapse onto the floor.
But I keep going.
I crawl toward the edge as if my life depends on it, desperate to escape from all the humiliation.
The girls behind me are laughing so loudly I can barely think.
But I don't stop.
I reach the ledge and drop down without thinking.
The fall is short, maybe a few feet at most. The trash bags soften the landing, but something hard digs into my side.
The smell hits me immediately.
I gag.
"She did it! Oh my God! I can't believe it! She actually did it!"
Sophia is bent over laughing, wiping tears from her eyes.
Sophie is on the floor shaking like she's having a seizure.
Yashiro stands at the edge, calmly looking down at me with that same empty smile.
Kamila stands nearby, typing on her phone.
She pauses, lifts the phone, and points it at me.
Flash.
The light blinds me.
No.
She didn't.
I didn't want to believe it.
"Hey! Send it to the school chat!"
Sophia shouts through her laughter.
Kamila nods.
I lie there on the garbage, staring up at the dirty ceiling.
"Heh... I didn't even know we had a school chat..."
I mutter.
Something light lands on my chest.
A candy.
I look up.
Yashiro nods.
"Good job. From now on you'll be taking out the trash every day."
She points at the candy.
"There's your reward, ROACH."
She stresses the word.
Without thinking, I unwrap the candy and put it in my mouth.
Like a trained dog.
Yashiro nods.
"Good girl."
I've never been a proud person.
But whatever little self-respect I had left is gone now.
Kamila grabs Yashiro by the sleeve.
"Can we go now? I really need to talk to Jones."
Yashiro nods.
They turn and leave, chatting among themselves.
None of them even look back at me.
Like I've already served my purpose.
Like I'm not even there.
I keep lying on the trash, staring at the ceiling.
I could get up and go to class.
But I don't want to face them again.
Not to mention Miss Maevis.
The saddest part is what I realize next.
As I lie there in the garbage, a strange sense of relief spreads through me.
Down here, I'm safe.
No one can hurt me.
Realizing that disgusts me so deeply, I feel like I'll never recover from it.
I keep staring at the ceiling.
Only one thought comes to mind.
I must be cursed.
There's no other explanation for all the horrible things that keep happening to me.