Just after transferring schools, the popular girl Valerie came crying to the teacher, claiming I was mentally disturbed and had been secretly photographing her in the women’s restroom. When the Dean of Students arrived, she pointed at my backpack and cursed: “Pervert! You were definitely lurking around the bathroom entrance acting suspicious, and your phone must be full of photos!” “I could feel it! Your camera lens was pointed right at me the whole time, it’s disgusting!” The students around me started whispering and pointing. “This kind of creep should be expelled immediately!” “He looks so honest and harmless, but turns out he’s a voyeur!” Facing the collective accusation, I unzipped my backpack and pulled out an old Nokia phone that could only make calls. “Teacher, please tell me—how exactly could I take high-definition photos with a phone that doesn’t even have a camera?” I held up the Nokia that looked like a brick, its screen still showing the Snake game interface. Instant dead silence all around. The Dean of Students pushed up his glasses, the fat on his face quivering slightly, clearly not having expected this outcome. Valerie was the first to react. “You must have another phone!” She pointed at my nose, her voice shrill. “You deliberately pulled that one out to deceive people! I’ve seen plenty of people like you! Acting honest on the surface, disgusting on the inside!” The tall guy beside her, named Garrett, the captain of the school basketball team, stepped forward aggressively. “You hear that? Hand over your other phone! Or don’t blame me for getting rough!” I looked at him calmly, even holding the Nokia closer to his face. “This is my only phone.” “Bullshit!” Garrett slapped my hand away, and the Nokia fell to the ground, but its screen remained stubbornly lit. “Search him! Dean! This scumbag needs to be searched! He must have hidden the phone on his body!” The Dean of Students frowned, clearly feeling the situation was getting out of control, but seeing Valerie crying so pitifully, his balance obviously tipped. “Young man, to prove your innocence, please cooperate.” “Take out everything from your pockets yourself.” The murmuring around grew louder. “Exactly, if you haven’t done anything wrong, what are you afraid of?” “Hurry up, don’t waste everyone’s time.” I ignored those voices, just looking at Valerie. She wiped her tears with the back of her hand while peeking at me through her fingers. In front of everyone, I began emptying my pockets. Left pocket: a set of keys, some loose change. Right pocket: a pack of tissues, half an eraser. I spread my hands open, looking at the Dean of Students. “Teacher, that’s everything.” Valerie’s crying stopped. She looked at me in disbelief. The air fell into awkward silence again. I broke the silence. “Valerie, can you prove my innocence now?” I paused, looking into her eyes, asking word by word. “Shouldn’t you apologize for your false accusation?” Apologize? Those two words were like a spark, instantly igniting Valerie. She looked as if she’d heard the world’s greatest joke, then her face went pale, her body swayed, and she fell backward limply. “Valerie!” Garrett caught her with quick reflexes, shouting in panic. Valerie lay in his arms, eyes tightly closed, brows furrowed in pain, murmuring: “So scary… he’s so scary…” The Dean’s face changed drastically, immediately rushing over. “Quick! Get her to the infirmary!” He directed Garrett, then turned to glare at me. “What’s wrong with you as a student? You made a classmate faint! You have no compassion at all!” He pointed at my nose, his voice full of reproach. “This matter ends here! Don’t bring it up again! You—come to my office this afternoon and write a self-criticism! Reflect on your words and actions!” With that, he hustled away with the “unconscious” Valerie and the furious Garrett. The crowd dispersed, leaving only me standing there. On the ground, the Nokia’s screen was still lit. No apology came, replaced instead by a self-criticism assignment.
First period that afternoon, I sat in the Dean of Students’ office as promised. The Dean sat across from me with his beer belly, leisurely brewing tea. “Do you know why I called you here?” he asked without looking up. “Yes, to write a self-criticism,” I answered. His hand paused mid-lift with the teacup, apparently not expecting such a straightforward response. “Your attitude is acceptable.” He took a sip of tea and set down the cup. “But good attitude alone isn’t enough. You need to deeply recognize your mistakes.” I looked at him and asked seriously, “Dean, what exactly is my mistake?” “You…” He choked on my question, his expression darkening. “You still have the nerve to ask? Valerie had low blood sugar and had to go to the infirmary because of you! As a male student, you argued with a female classmate and pressed her so aggressively—that’s your mistake!” “So,” I stated calmly, “because she’s a girl, because she cried, because she fainted, her false accusation that I’m a voyeur is acceptable. And my request for an apology is my mistake.” “What kind of logic is that!” The Dean slammed the table, splashing tea water. “Sophistry! Valerie was just being sensitive and concerned about school safety! As a new transfer student, instead of thinking about how to get along with classmates, you cause trouble right away! That’s your problem!” I understood now. In this matter, the truth didn’t matter. Who was right or wrong didn’t matter. What mattered was that Valerie was the perfect campus beauty in everyone’s eyes, while I was just an insignificant newcomer. “Self-criticism, one thousand words. You can’t leave until it’s done.” The Dean issued his ultimatum. I said nothing more, picked up the pen, and began writing. An hour later, I handed over the completed self-criticism. The Dean picked it up with satisfaction, but his brow furrowed tighter as he read. “What is this supposed to be?” He slapped the paper on the desk. “‘I shouldn’t have demanded truth in the face of facts, shouldn’t have requested an apology after being slandered, shouldn’t have overestimated a person’s basic decency, and shouldn’t have underestimated a group’s blind conformity. My mistake was thinking this was a place where reason matters.’ Rubio, is this a self-criticism? Who are you mocking!” I looked at him, my tone sincere. “Dean, these are all my honest thoughts. Isn’t that deep enough?” His face flushed red as he pointed at me, unable to speak for a long while. Just then, someone knocked on the office door. My homeroom teacher entered, her expression troubled. “Dean, I need to speak with Rubio about something.” The Dean seized the opportunity like a lifeline, waving impatiently: “Take him! Take him! A student with character problems—you educate him properly!” I followed my homeroom teacher out of the office. In the hallway, she stopped and sighed. “Rubio, I know you feel wronged. But Valerie… her family is an important donor to the school, and Garrett’s father is one of the school board members. You should… just endure it.” She handed me an application form. “This is the school’s financial aid application for students in need. Looking at your records, you’re from a single-parent household and transferred here from a rural area, so you should qualify. Fill this out, and I’ll try my best to help you get it.” After saying this, she patted my shoulder and left. What was this supposed to be? A slap followed by candy? I held that thin application form, feeling like it was all a joke. Back in the classroom, everyone looked at me with strange eyes. On my desk, someone had drawn a turtle in red permanent marker, with two words beside it: Pervert. Garrett sat not far away with several guys, laughing mockingly in my direction without any attempt to hide it. Valerie sat in the front row, surrounded by a group of girls, whispering about something. She seemed to sense my gaze and turned to give me an extremely innocent yet pitying look, silently mouthing two words. “Deserved it.”
Before evening study hall, I went to the cafeteria for dinner. I’d just gotten my food and sat down when someone took the seat across from me. It was Garrett. Several basketball team members followed behind him, forming a semicircle around me. The cafeteria immediately quieted down considerably, with everyone’s attention focused here. “New kid, heard you’re pretty tough, huh?” Garrett slammed his tray down heavily on the table, splattering food everywhere. I didn’t respond, just picked up some vegetables with my fork and ate slowly. My disregard completely enraged him. “I’m talking to you! Are you deaf or mute?” He slapped the table and stood up. “Can I help you?” I finally raised my eyes to look at him. “Can I help you?” He laughed, the laugh full of arrogance. “Of course! You made Valerie suffer so much today, and you got her called in by the teacher. Tell me, how should we settle this account?” I put down my fork, finding it somewhat amusing. “She slandered me, and it somehow became me making her suffer?” “Stop twisting things!” A guy with bleached hair behind Garrett pointed at me and cursed. “If you hadn’t been so aggressive, would Valerie have fainted? You’re a grown man with a heart smaller than a needle point—disgusting!” “Exactly! Pervert! Voyeur!” Echoing voices rose all around. Garrett was satisfied with this effect, looking down at me condescendingly. “I’ll give you two choices.” He held up two fingers. “First, right now, immediately, go apologize to Valerie. Kneel down, beg for her forgiveness.” He paused, his smile turning vicious. “Second, I’ll make it impossible for you to stay at this school. Don’t think I don’t know—you also applied for some bullshit financial aid. Believe me or not, with one word from me, your application becomes waste paper?” This was a threat. A blatant threat. I looked at him and suddenly asked, “What if I choose neither?” “Neither?” Garrett looked like he’d heard the funniest joke. “Then don’t blame us for using our own methods to teach you a lesson.” As soon as he finished speaking, the guys behind him simultaneously closed in on me. Students in the cafeteria let out gasps, but no one stepped forward to stop it. Instead, they all excitedly pulled out their phones to watch the show. I slowly stood up, my body somewhat stiff from sitting. Just when they thought I would submit or panic, I did something no one expected. I picked up my tray and, with an extremely precise angle, firmly planted the remaining half portion of braised eggplant, along with rice and sauce, right on top of Garrett’s head. The sticky sauce ran down his hair, hanging from his eyebrows and nose tip, with several grains of rice stuck to his cheeks. The entire cafeteria fell instantly silent. Everyone was stunned. Garrett froze too, seemingly unable to believe what had happened. One second, two seconds. “Ahh!” He let out a beast-like roar, wiping the grease from his face. “FUCK! You dare touch me!” He swung his fist at my face. The guys behind him also reacted and rushed forward together. I didn’t take it head-on, dodging Garrett’s punch with a sidestep and kicking the chair beside him. The chair toppled over, tripping the two guys coming up behind him. The scene instantly descended into chaos. Though I looked thin, years of helping with farm work at home had given me considerable strength and quick reflexes. But two fists can’t fight four hands. In the chaos, someone kicked me hard in the back, and I fell forward, knocking over a table. The sound of breaking dishes mixed with the dull thuds of fists and feet landing on my body. I tasted blood at the corner of my mouth. I don’t know how long it lasted before the cafeteria security and teachers finally arrived and pulled apart the brawling group. I was helped up from the ground, completely disheveled, with cuts on my face and my uniform torn. Garrett, aside from a few eggplant skins still hanging from his head, had barely any injuries. The Dean of Students arrived to this scene. His face was as black as the bottom of a pot. “Rubio!” He pointed at me, trembling with anger. “You again! Are you trying to turn the school upside down before you’re satisfied! First you made a female classmate faint, now you’re openly brawling in the cafeteria! Our school can’t have students like you!”
I stood once again in the Dean of Students’ office. This time, Garrett stood beside me, along with Valerie, who had rushed over upon hearing the news. Valerie’s eyes were red. The moment she saw the grease on Garrett’s face, tears fell. “Garrett, are you okay? Does it hurt?” She pulled out tissues, carefully wiping his face. “It’s all my fault. If it weren’t for me, you wouldn’t have been… by this kind of person…” She choked up and couldn’t continue, looking heartbroken and guilty. Garrett immediately comforted her: “It’s not your fault, Valerie. I’m useless—I couldn’t properly teach this bastard a lesson for you.” The two of them acted out a drama of deep affection as if no one else was there. The Dean coughed heavily. “Garrett, although the other party struck first, fighting is still wrong. Go back and write a five-hundred-word self-criticism.” He glossed over it lightly. Then he turned to me, his expression instantly becoming extremely stern. “Rubio! You! Repeatedly refusing to reform! Extremely bad in nature! Must be dealt with severely!” I looked at him, my voice somewhat muffled due to my cut lip: “He surrounded and blocked me first with his people, and threatened me.” “I threatened you?” Garrett jumped up immediately. “Bullshit! I just wanted to ‘communicate’ with you, to get you to apologize to Valerie. You’re the one who went crazy and dumped food on my head! Everyone saw it!” “Right, Dean.” Valerie spoke softly and weakly. “I heard that Rubio seems to have a big problem with me. Garrett just wanted to help resolve the conflict. He didn’t expect Rubio to react so violently… Did I do something wrong to make him misunderstand?” She looked at me, her eyes full of “sincere” confusion and grievance. With one sentence, she pushed all the blame onto me. I was making a big deal out of nothing, I overreacted, I was unreasonable. The Dean clearly bought it. Looking at Valerie, his tone softened considerably. “Valerie, don’t overthink it. This has nothing to do with you. It’s our school’s management that has problems, admitting students with such poor character.” He looked at me again. “The school has decided that given your short time here but already causing two serious incidents, creating an extremely bad impact on the school’s reputation, we’ll give you one chance. Apply for voluntary withdrawal yourself. Otherwise, you’ll receive a major demerit, school-wide public criticism, and expulsion.” Expulsion. Those four words fell like four mountains pressing down. My dad had spent half his life’s savings and pulled countless strings to transfer me here from a rural high school, all so I could have a better future. If I got expelled, everything would be ruined. Garrett and Valerie exchanged glances, both seeing triumph in each other’s eyes. This was the result they wanted. To completely remove me from this school. “Well? Have you decided?” The Dean urged impatiently. I remained silent, saying nothing. My silence appeared to them as despair and submission. Valerie even “kindly” advised me: “Rubio, the Dean is doing this for your own good. Voluntary withdrawal looks better on your record. You’ll still have opportunities in the future.” I finally raised my head, my gaze sweeping over the three of them. The Dean’s bureaucracy and snobbery, Garrett’s arrogance and stupidity, Valerie’s malice and hypocrisy. Looking at them, I suddenly smiled. “Dean, before making a decision, I think you should probably watch a video first.” “What video? Stop being mysterious here!” Garrett shouted. I ignored him, pulling out an ordinary-looking black smartphone from my pocket. This phone—from the start of school until now—I had never used in front of anyone. Everyone thought I only had that Nokia. I unlocked the screen and opened a video file. “Dean, did you know? In public places like cafeterias, although some surveillance cameras are just for show, there are always some corners where the signal is public.” I turned the phone screen toward him, my voice not loud but clearly reaching every corner of the office. “I don’t have many hobbies, but I like writing little programs. For instance, occasionally backing up certain public video streams under public WiFi. Very unluckily, this afternoon at lunch, I backed up a segment.”
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