The moment Matteo's trembling fingers brushed against Eliane's wrist, the world shattered around him.
The sharp crack of a slap echoed through the parking lot.
His face whipped to the side, his skin burning from the force of it. His vision blurred for a moment, and before he could recover, another slap sent him stumbling back. The sting crawled through his cheek, but the real pain came from the look in Eliane's eyes...cold, sharp, filled with something twisted that sent a shiver down his spine.
"How dare you?" her voice cut through the morning air like a blade. "You disgusting little insect."
Matteo barely had time to breathe before she grabbed his project again, the one he had poured his sleepless hours into, the one he had rewritten with trembling hands and desperate hope.
With deliberate cruelty, she tore it apart right before his eyes.
"No," the word barely left his lips, broken and weak. He wanted to reach for the papers, to gather the shreds, but what was the point? The pieces fluttered to the ground, lost.
Another slap.
"I should file a case against you for sexual assault," Eliane spat, her voice carrying enough venom to freeze Matteo's blood.
His legs gave out beneath him.
"No, please," he begged, kneeling before her on the cold pavement, his hands shaking as they clutched the ground. "Professor, I swear.....I didn't mean.....please don't do this."
Eliane didn't speak at first, just watching him with detached amusement as he crumbled before her. The weight of her silence pressed down on him harder than her words ever could.
Minutes felt like hours, his frantic pleas falling on deaf ears.
Then, finally, she let out a sigh. "Fine."
Hope flickered inside him for the briefest moment.....until she stepped forward, pressing the sharp point of her stiletto heel onto his back.
Matteo froze.
The leather of her shoe dug into his spine, not enough to hurt but enough to remind him of exactly where he stood.
Or rather, where he knelt.
Voices echoed in the distance.
A group of students had gathered near the college entrance, watching. Some whispered, some giggled, and others simply stood in silence, absorbing the sight of their professor standing over a kneeling Matteo, her heel marking him as something beneath her.
Not a student.
Not a person.
A lesson.
Matteo's hands clenched into fists against the pavement, his breath unsteady, his humiliation complete.
Eliane removed her foot and walked away without another word, her heels clicking rhythmically against the ground, her posture untouched by the moment. As if it hadn't even been worth remembering.
As if he hadn't even been worth remembering.
Matteo barely made it inside the college before his vision blurred again.....not from tears, but from sheer exhaustion. His body moved on its own, his limbs too heavy, his mind too dazed.
What would happen if she told his parents?
What would he even say?
His father, already weakened by two heart attacks, might not survive the shame. His mother, suffering in silence, would break under the weight of it.
He was supposed to be their hope.
Not their disgrace.
Lost in his thoughts, he didn't notice the figures approaching until it was too late.
A sharp tug on his wrist.
A door swinging open.
Then.....cold.
Water crashed down over him, drenching him instantly. His breath hitched at the sudden shock, the icy sensation slamming into his skin like needles.
Laughter rang around him.
His eyes darted up, blinking against the droplets clinging to his lashes.
Noémie. Annelise. Seraina.
Three of the most popular girls in the college, standing around him in the dimly lit restroom, their smiles wicked, their eyes gleaming with something cruel.
"You look even worse up close," Noémie said, tilting her head in mock pity. "Pathetic, really."
Matteo shivered, the cold seeping into his bones. "W-why...."
Annelise knelt in front of him, her fingers tracing the edge of his soaked shirt. "Because we can," she whispered.
He tried to move, to get away, but Seraina's foot pressed against his shoulder, pushing him back against the cold tile wall.
"You don't want us to tell your parents, do you?" she purred, watching as the fear settled deeper into his eyes.
The room spun around him.
Blackmail.
Of course.
"I...." his teeth chattered, his voice barely above a whisper.
"Good boy," Annelise smirked. "Now, let's see how much fun we can have before the next class."
Matteo sat in his usual seat, his body trembling, his clothes still damp from earlier. The air conditioning in the lecture hall was relentless, turning his soaked uniform into an icy prison.
He pressed his arms against himself, trying to still the shivering, but his teeth clattered uncontrollably.
Lina nudged one of the boys in the row ahead, whispering something with a smirk. The boy's eyes flicked toward Matteo, widening in exaggerated disgust before he shot to his feet.
"Professor, something reeks in here," he announced, his voice loud enough to draw attention from the entire class. "I think it's Matteo."
Laughter erupted around him.
Eliane, who had been flipping through her notes, glanced up with a bored expression. Her gaze landed on Matteo, and she frowned, as if noticing him for the first time.
"That's why I was feeling sick," she murmured, just loud enough for everyone to hear.
Another wave of laughter.
Matteo's chest tightened.
Eliane sighed, her fingers tracing the edge of the desk as she leaned forward slightly. "Honestly, someone like you doesn't belong here," she said, her voice smooth but cutting. "A beggar pretending to be a student? What a joke."
Silence followed her words.
Then.....whispers.
Chuckles.
A storm of them, swallowing Matteo whole.
He wanted to defend himself.
He wanted to scream.
But no words came.
Because deep down....
He was starting to believe them.