(1982)

“SORRY! I didn’t intend to bump into you,” Clayton apologized after colliding with a lady, causing the coffee she was carrying to spill onto her clothes and onto her friends.
“Oh my goodness! Look what you've done! Are you blind?! You’re not even paying attention to what you’re passing by!” The lady in the middle said as she wiped away the stains on her clothes.
“I’m so sorry, girls! I honestly didn’t—”
“Back off! Don’t even think about wiping your dirty handkerchief on me! And take a look at yourself; where did you come from, in the jungle? You’re so out of date! Ugh!” The girl in the middle scoffed.
She appears to be the group’s leader.
“Gosh! He looks like a beggar," the lady on the left added.
“Well, he’s such a hermit for me!” says the lady on the right.
“Oh, gosh! You stink!” The lady in the middle added and get a disinfectant in her bag after smelling him.
She sprayed it on him all over. “Better! Let’s go Ladies!”
Her two friends simply laughed at him first before leaving.
He sniffed his clothes, which smelled awful. Maybe it’s because of the dried fish he bought for their breakfast. The smell lingered on his clothes when he fried it earlier.
“Tsk! What’s their problem? Do they not realize that dried fish is an excellent source of omega-3 fatty acids, DHA, and vitamin D? It can help keep mental health issues at bay,” he murmured before searching his room.
Clayton as recently transferred to BSU. Good thind, he was able to credit almost all of his subjects in their province. Life in the province is extremely difficult, so when his aunt saw how hard he was studying and helping on their farm, she brought him to Manila and sponsored him so that he could concentrate on his studies. 
He was valedictorian in elementary and high school. He was not even removed from the dean’s list from his first to second year of college.

HE WENT inside as soon as he saw their room. The entire class fell silent when he entered, as if they had seen a ghost. He moved towards an empty seat in the back when he noticed it.
“Good day, Campus Queen!”
“Good day, Barbara!”
As the three women entered, he heard men greet them. When he recognized the girls, he simply shook his head. So the three of them are famous at BSU.
“Gross! I can’t believe he got into this school, and worse, we’ll be with him all day,” Barbara exclaimed. The one in the middle who was always ahead of her two companions.
“You’re right! Good thing he sat in the corner,” Leticia, the curly-haired girl, said.
“Listen, guys! You should bring your disinfectant every day so that you are not infected by his appearance and smell.” Esperanza, the blonde-haired girl.
He stood up and responded. “So what if I’m poor? So what if I stink? Don’t act as if I asked you my tuition fee and our daily expenses?”
People around him were taken aback by what he said.
Barbara approached him and then looked at him from head to toe. “Because people like you are gold diggers! That’s why you’re not belong at this school!” 
She even poked his left shoulder with every word she uttered.
“Wealth is not the only basis for a person like me to study in this school.” He said, pointing to his right temple. “But intelligence too."
“Whoah. . .” he heard the people around them booing.
Barbara was obviously embarrassed but still managed her composure and raised an eyebrow at him. 
“Be cautious with your words because you never know who you’re talking to,” she advised.
A man arrived a minute later and simply wrapped his arms around him “Dude, she’s right! When you oppose the Campus Queen, you will face us.”
He clenched his fists. The girl seems to have a great influence on the school she attended. But he will not let them belittle him.

“IS THIS seat already taken?” a man with thick glasses asked Clayton. He looks familiar because he saw him in their class earlier. He simply does not know what his name is.
Clayton nodded then removed his bag across the table. It’s lunch break so they are in the canteen now.
“I’m Leendon, Don for short. One of your classmates.”
“Clayton,” he introduced himself and shook hands with him.
“Do you know the reason why they worship Barbara that much?” Leendon asked out of the blue.
“Barbara? The one they call Campus Queen?”
He nodded. “Everyone is afraid to oppose her because she is the General’s daughter.”
“That’s why she dares to bully whoever she wants?”
“Exactly! Do you think that those people around her are loyal and honest to her?”
"Are you referring to her friends? Esperanza and Leticia?”
“Yup! When Barbara is not around, they will back-stabbed her. The only reason they cling to her is the popularity and authority she possessed, which enabled them to become famous as well.”
He just shook his head at what he discovered. “Maybe you guys want to leave?” They looked at Johnny, their classmate who was the most braggart in their entire class, who suddenly appeared in front of them..
“But we were the first to come here,” Clayton answered.
“What if you were the first? Don't you know that this is the Campus Queen's table?”
He and Don looked at each other.
“Are you leaving or not?” Jhonny impatiently asked them again.
“But there are still many vacancies out there–”
Johnny reached for her collar. “Are you opposing me now?!”
“Jhonny, let go of him! We will just move to another table,” Don retorted.
Clayton adjusted his collar when Johnny released him. They exchanged glances for a while before Leendon pulled him away from them.
“Why did you stop me?” he asked Leendon when they moved to another table.
“I’ve already told you that they are difficult to oppose. They will not stop bullying you until they get you out of here.”
Clayton focused his attention on Johnny’s table, which was occupied by Barbara and friends.
"How is Johnny related to Barbara?"
“Leendon sighed and shrugged. “What I know is that he tried to court her numerous times, but he got busted all the time.
Clayton smirked. “But when you observed his actions, as if he were the boyfriend.”
"Why did you ask? Don’t tell me you’re really going to fight them?”
“Why not?”
“Seriously?!”
“To cut off their horns.”
Leendon scratched his head. “I’m telling you, Clayton, you won’t like it when you push them to their limits.”
Clayton remained silent.
“And how are you going to do that?” Leendon added.
“Well, just wait and see.”

AND, as Leendon mentioned, Clayton became the center of bullying at BSU.
“What happened? Why did you just follow their orders? I thought you were going to cut off their horns?” Leendon asked Clayton worriedly when he noticed that he was taking no action. 
They just let him do whateber they wants. Cleaning the room alone, being teased, made fun of and most of all, they always humiliated him.
“Right now, no one in a higher position could see me being tortured by our fellow students. But soon they will. I’m just gathering some evidence to dispel the fear of other students who are hesitant to report.”
Her friend sighed. “I like your idea, Ton. Don't worry, my friend, I will support you.”
“Thanks, Buddy!” And they exchanged fist bumps.