Chapter 102: Annie’s Deal

Their quiet moment broke the instant another student stepped into the classroom.

The boy paused just inside the doorway, scanning the room carefully.

His eyes swept from one cluster of students to another, as though actively searching for someone specific. After several seconds, his gaze finally locked onto its target.

He started walking directly toward Jimmy and Annie.

His steps carried real purpose.

His expression carried absolutely no warmth.

He eventually came to a stop beside Annie’s desk, arms crossing tightly over his chest.

The sudden shift in his body language was enough to make Jimmy glance up sharply.

Annie noticed him too.

The boy cleared his throat loudly.

The sound immediately pulled Annie’s full attention, Jimmy’s eyes following right behind it.

Jimmy studied the newcomer with an unreadable expression.

He didn’t recognize the guy personally.

Annie, though, clearly did, recognition flashing instantly across her face.

"Oh, hey. What can I help you with?"

Her voice came out noticeably uncertain.

The boy pressed his lips into a tight, hard line.

His gaze stayed locked entirely on her.

The visible tension in his expression made Jimmy frown slightly, watching closely.

"Don’t act like we’re strangers all of a sudden, not when you’re constantly sneaking into my class to borrow notebooks and textbooks, mine included, more often than anyone else’s."

The boy’s voice stayed controlled, though irritation bled through clearly underneath it.

"I haven’t forgotten your little signature stickers and permanent gum stains plastered all over my books either."

Jimmy glanced toward Annie.

Annie looked away quickly.

That small, telling reaction was enough to make him suspect this clearly wasn’t the first time something like this had happened between them.

The boy drew in a deep breath before continuing.

"A couple days back, you borrowed my finished assignment again, which I actually let slide, handed it over myself. Wouldn’t have bothered agreeing to it at all if it weren’t for the usual candy trade you always offer up."

His expression hardened further.

"Haven’t heard a single word back from you since, no response, nothing. You still haven’t returned it either, and today’s the actual submission deadline."

Annie’s fingers shifted nervously against the edge of her desk.

The boy noticed instantly.

His eyes narrowed sharply.

Then he paused.

A different thought seemed to strike him suddenly.

His expression shifted fast, from irritation straight into open suspicion.

"Wait..."

He leaned in slightly closer.

"Don’t tell me it’s exactly what I’m thinking right now. Did you even actually have my assignment in your possession this whole time?!"

Annie’s eyes went wide.

"Thomas Crackler, it’s not what you’re thinking. You need to seriously calm down..."

"Don’t you dare call me by my dad’s name, I’ve told you that before!"

Thomas cut her off instantly, voice rising sharply enough to draw a handful of curious glances from nearby students.

"And I’m not about to just sit here calm and composed when I haven’t gotten a single response from you in days!"

He leaned forward, planting both hands flat against the edge of Annie’s desk.

The motion brought him uncomfortably close to her.

Annie instinctively leaned back, putting whatever distance she could manage between them.

Thomas caught the movement instantly.

Her gaze had already shifted pointedly away from his.

His frustration only mounted further at that.

"I’m done tolerating this shit, same as I used to."

His expression hardened completely as Annie continued refusing to meet his eyes.

"Annie?"

She stayed silent.

"ANNIE, LOOK AT ME!"

Several nearby students turned their heads sharply toward the escalating scene.

The classroom had been relatively peaceful just moments earlier, but the confrontation was quickly starting to draw real, unwanted attention.

Jimmy’s expression shifted hard.

He’d stayed quiet initially, assuming this was some kind of personal disagreement that wasn’t really his business.

But Thomas’s increasingly aggressive posture had become genuinely impossible to just ignore any longer.

Jimmy finally spoke up.

"Why don’t you head on back to your own class instead of causing a scene here? Picking on a girl like this isn’t exactly a good look. People are actually trying to study in here, and last I checked, your class test starts this morning too, separate from ours. Maybe come back some other time."

His warning came out calm, though a clear, sharp edge ran just beneath the surface of his words.

His eyes locked directly onto Thomas’s.

Thomas slowly turned his head toward him.

His eyes narrowed sharply.

A thin, mocking sneer spread across his face.

"Innocent, huh?"

He let out a dismissive scoff.

"Wouldn’t exactly use that word for her, if I were you. She’s pulled plenty of stunts that could easily get someone officially flagged as a problem student. Just because you share a class with her doesn’t mean you actually know her that well."

Jimmy’s expression hardened further.

Thomas kept going.

"Just because she’s cut you deals through notebooks and homework trades doesn’t give you the right to come over here and..."

Jimmy’s attention started to drift mid sentence, Thomas’s words barely registering anymore.

Thomas had already stopped paying him any real attention anyway.

His focus snapped straight back to Annie.

Before Jimmy could even fully register what was about to happen, Thomas reached forward and grabbed Annie hard by the wrist.

Annie hissed sharply in protest.

"Let go!"

Thomas only tightened his grip further.

"There’s still time before my own test starts, so let’s use this little window to get a real explanation out of you about my missing assignment."

He tried yanking her upward out of her seat.

Annie resisted hard, bracing herself.

Her chair scraped loudly against the floor as she fought to stay seated.

Several students nearby gasped aloud.

Jimmy’s eyes went wide.

This had officially crossed a line.

"Don’t you dare touch her!"

His voice boomed sharply across the entire classroom.

Thomas barely had a second to react.

Jimmy surged forward, swinging his fist hard.

The blow connected squarely before Thomas could properly brace or defend himself.

The impact sent him stumbling backward violently, crashing hard into the window frame on the far side of the room, the glass rattling loudly in its frame from the sheer force of the collision.

A sharp burst of noise erupted from the surrounding students.

Gasps.

Shocked cries.

Chairs scraping frantically against the floor as people scrambled back.

The classroom’s earlier calm vanished completely, replaced by chaotic, scattered noise.

Thomas crumpled near the window, visibly stunned, a thin trickle of blood already beading along his split lip from the impact.

For a moment, nobody moved at all.

Jimmy stood frozen in place.

His fist still hung raised slightly in front of him.

He stared down at his own knuckles in genuine shock.

He’d acted purely on instinct.

Anger had taken over his body completely before his mind had even caught up to what was happening.

Annie pressed one hand flat against her chest.

Her eyes were wide, stunned.

She looked back and forth between Thomas and Jimmy, seemingly struggling to process just how quickly everything had spiraled completely out of control.

Jimmy slowly lowered his fist.

He stared at Thomas’s crumpled form.

Then glanced toward Annie.

His breathing had grown noticeably heavier.

Around them, every student in the room remained locked on the unfolding scene.

Some whispered rapidly to each other.

Others simply stared in stunned silence.

Nobody seemed willing to step any closer.

From across the room, Mia turned sharply away from Victor.

The two of them had been deep in conversation only moments earlier, but the sudden commotion had instantly seized their full attention.

Victor’s eyes locked onto Jimmy and the fallen Thomas.

Mia’s expression stayed difficult to read as she took in the aftermath unfolding before her.

Nearby, Amanda went on instant alert as well.

Her focus snapped away entirely from the stolen report book she’d been so carefully tracking.

The sudden confrontation had created an unexpected, convenient distraction.

For a brief moment, genuine curiosity pulled her attention toward the chaos.

Her friend noticed exactly where her focus had drifted.

Without a word, she pressed a steadying, reassuring hand against Amanda’s shoulder.

The gesture was subtle.

Its meaning was unmistakable.

Don’t let this opportunity slip through carelessness now.

Amanda glanced toward her friend.

Then down toward the hidden report book.

The classroom had suddenly filled with far too many competing distractions all at once.

Thomas’s confrontation with Annie.

Jimmy’s sudden, explosive reaction.

Every student’s attention pulled sharply toward the unfolding chaos.

For Amanda, that chaos might have been exactly the opening she needed.

Still, one careless slip could expose everything in an instant.

She tightened her grip on the stolen book and forced herself to stay perfectly still.

Meanwhile, Jimmy kept staring down at his own fist.

He’d only wanted to protect Annie.

That much was obvious, even to him.

But now that the initial surge of anger had started fading, the real weight of what he’d just done was beginning to properly settle in.

He’d just struck another student, right in the middle of class.

And the actual test hadn’t even started yet.