The Time I Sat on the School Bully and Made Him Cry

During my heaviest, most innocent year of high school, I accidentally sat on the school bully and made him cry. The harder he cried, the more pumped up I got. I threw a leg over him, pinned him down, and wiggled around a few times. It felt a bit... lumpy. After that day, whenever he saw me, he ran away so fast he practically left a dust trail. Three years later, at our high school reunion, my classmates joked: "Chloe is so skinny now, she could never make Liam cry by sitting on him again." Liam shifted forward in his seat and casually crossed his legs. My entire body flushed hot, my face turning red all the way down to my neck. 1 I had completely forgotten what Liam looked like. For the entirety of high school, he ran away the second he saw me. And he ran fast. So fast that my memory of his face was totally blurry. At the start of freshman year, my desk mate warned me about him. Liam was the grandson of the richest man in the city. He was a menace who did whatever he wanted. She told me if I saw him walking down the hall, I needed to take a detour. My mom had also told me that going to a city high school meant I needed to be humble and absolutely avoid offending anyone. I memorized that advice by heart. One day, I saw him cornered on the far side of the sports field. It was one against five. Five upperclassmen had him surrounded. He saw me from a distance and yelled: "Chloe Foster!" I squinted, taking a few steps forward. Once I realized it was him, I turned right around and walked away without looking back. Seconds later, I heard his agonizing screams. When I got back to the classroom, I felt a twinge of guilt. What if they seriously hurt him? So, I told the whole class, and then I told our homeroom teacher. By the time the teacher led the whole class out to find him, his uniform was torn, one side of his face was swollen like a balloon, and he had a black eye like a panda. It was the first time I had ever seen him up close. The girls who obsessed over him always said Liam was tall, incredibly handsome, and had deep, striking features. But right then, he looked like the guy who collected scrap metal in my home village. I couldn't help it. I let out a small laugh. He locked eyes with me. He struggled to stand up, hissed in pain, pointed a finger at me, and said, "You just wait." Our homeroom teacher swiftly kicked him in the butt, making him yelp in pain. The next evening, right after I walked out of the cafeteria, Liam and his lackeys blocked my path. I quickly hid the fried chicken drumstick I was holding behind my back and swallowed hard. I had just gone in for the first bite, but hadn't even torn a piece off yet. If the chicken got cold, it wouldn't taste good anymore. Because of that, I completely forgot my desk mate's warning and my mom's advice. I was incredibly annoyed. "What is your problem? Are you mad because I didn't help you fight? If I helped you win, wouldn't that just be more embarrassing for you?" The lackeys behind him looked down, clearly embarrassed that I had hit the nail on the head. Liam puffed out his chest and yelled, "Fatty Chloe! You're built like a pig and you're still eating fried chicken!" Was that it? So childish. I shoved past him to keep walking, but he grabbed my arm. I yanked my arm away, and the chicken drumstick slipped from my fingers, landing straight on the dirt. It was fine. I could just wash it off, peel off the fried batter, and the meat inside would still be good. But Liam lifted his sneaker, stepped directly onto my chicken, and twisted his ankle to grind it into the dirt. My gaze slowly traveled up from my ruined dinner and locked onto his face. Anger erupted inside me like a volcano. I let out a feral roar and tackled him to the ground. He had one arm in a cast from yesterday, and his other arm was completely useless against my sheer mass. I landed squarely on top of him, sitting heavily on his stomach. "Give me back my chicken! Give it back! I only get to eat a chicken drumstick once a year! Waaah..." Liam's face turned beet red, and two streams of tears rolled out of the corners of his eyes. A crowd started to form. Someone yelled, "Go get a teacher!" Hearing that, his lackeys scrambled and ran for their lives. The harder Liam cried, the more pumped up I got. I threw a leg over him, straddling his waist, and wiggled around a few times. Just like he did to my chicken drumstick. For some reason, though, it felt... lumpy. Eventually, my classmates pulled me off him. I mourned that chicken drumstick for an entire month. I was so fueled by grief and rage that I studied like a maniac, ranked first in the grade on the midterms, and only then finally stepped out of my depression. 2 From that day on, the moment Liam saw me, he would bolt in the opposite direction. Liam didn't get into our high school the normal way. His mom was on the board of directors. Rumor had it his middle school grades were so bad he couldn't even qualify for the worst high school in the city. As a kid who had been on the poverty-assistance list her entire life, I despised people like him. Especially since he murdered my chicken. But I couldn't actually do anything to him. In fact, I was terrified of him. I was terrified he would go crying to his mom and get my financial aid revoked. Or that they would find some random excuse to expel me. For an entire semester, I sat in class just waiting for the homeroom teacher to tell me to pack my bags. Every night, I had nightmares about being chased by a rabid dog. The dog would finally catch me, bare its fangs, let out an evil laugh, and its face would morph into Liam's. It wasn't until finals were over that our homeroom teacher announced he had news. Sitting in the stuffy, heated classroom, a cold sweat broke out down my spine. I was already trying to figure out how to explain my expulsion to my mom. At worst, I would just go work in the coal mines with her. The teacher calling my name snapped me back to reality. "Chloe Foster. For ranking first in the grade, you are the recipient of the school's newly established merit scholarship. The prize is $1,200." That wasn't just a scholarship. It was life-saving money. Not only did I have enough for living expenses, but my mom wouldn't have to risk black lung disease working in the mines just to scrape together an extra hundred bucks a month. The teacher then praised Liam. His rank had jumped from dead last to right in the middle of the pack. My desk mate gossiped that Liam had a crush on the most popular girl in our grade, Mia. Mia consistently ranked in the top ten and had publicly stated she would never date a guy with worse grades than her. Liam's desk was piled high with New Year's greeting cards from various girls. He shoved them all carelessly into his desk drawer. Except for the one from Mia. He carefully tucked that one into his backpack. After that, he totally chilled out. No more bullying, no more trouble. Whenever we bumped into each other, I didn't have to hide, and he stopped calling me "Fatty." Well, actually. He didn't even look at me anymore. By the time we graduated senior year, he had become the cold, untouchable heartthrob the underclassmen obsessed over. He rejected countless confessions, all to wait for Mia to say yes. After graduation, my only interaction with him happened when I went to pick up my diploma. The homeroom teacher told me Liam's mom had a message for me. "Thank the pretty, chubby girl in your class. Tell her that sitting on Liam finally knocked some sense into him." I scratched my head and laughed. His mom was pretty funny. When I turned around, Liam was standing right in the doorway of the faculty office. We made eye contact. He immediately looked away, and I dropped my gaze. We brushed past each other, and I never saw him again. 3 I honestly hadn't planned on attending this high school reunion. I was heading into my senior year of college, juggling part-time jobs and desperately searching for internships. I was way too busy. My old desk mate convinced me: "You have to come! Networking is everything. "Plus, Liam is the one hosting and paying for the whole thing. "You remember Liam, right? The guy you sat on until he cried." I rubbed my temples and cut her off. "Can we please never bring that up again? Fine, I'll go, I'll go." Standing in a quiet corner of the library, I held the phone to my ear, my face burning. It took me a few years to finally understand why it had felt so lumpy that day. On the day of the reunion, to prove how little I cared, I didn't wear any makeup. I purposely wore a faded, washed-out tracksuit and carried a cheap canvas tote bag from a local grocery store. When I arrived, I was, without a doubt, the most underdressed person there. In stark contrast, Liam’s nearly six-foot-three frame stood out instantly in the crowd. He had broad shoulders and a lean waist. He wore a crisp white dress shirt with the top two buttons casually undone. It made me think of that chicken drumstick, and I subconsciously swallowed hard. The moment I walked in, my old desk mate dragged me right up to Liam. "Boss Liam! Do you remember Chloe?!" A wave of good-natured laughter rippled through the group. "Chloe is so skinny now, she could never make Liam cry by sitting on him again." Hearing that, Liam's expression faltered slightly. He shifted forward in his seat and casually crossed his legs. My entire body flushed hot, my face turning red all the way down to my neck. I frantically fanned myself with my hands. "It's so hot in here. I'm gonna go get some fresh air." "If you're hot, just take your jacket off!" My desk mate, moving with lethal speed, grabbed the zipper of my tracksuit jacket and yanked it down. I had bought this jacket before I lost the weight, so it hung on my current frame like a massive potato sack. With one pull, the oversized jacket slid effortlessly off my shoulders. Underneath, I was only wearing a tight, thin camisole. And I was standing directly in front of Liam. He lowered his gaze, taking in the full, unobstructed view of my chest. I panicked and scrambled to pull the jacket back up over my shoulders. My desk mate wouldn't stop yelling. "Damn! You lost all that weight but kept the curves right where it counts! "Honestly, if you sat on a guy now, you'd still make him cry, just for a totally different reason." While aggressively adjusting my collar, I sneaked a glance at Liam. The tips of his ears were bright red. 4 It wasn't until Liam gave a speech that we realized he had an ulterior motive for the reunion. "I've started a tech company here in the city, and we're currently aggressively expanding our team. "The pay is highly competitive, and we offer housing and meal stipends. If anyone is interested, please send me your resume." My desk mate nudged my ribs. She handed me her phone, showing the recruitment page for Liam's company. "Doesn't this align perfectly with your major?" I hesitated. I never wanted to cross paths with Liam again. I had never told anyone, but I had actually seen him at the gay bar where I worked part-time during college. I wasn't judging, but thinking about him just made me feel a little... weird. But I desperately wanted to move back to my hometown. My mom had felt bad that I was working so many part-time jobs to pay for school, so she secretly went back to work in the coal mines and ended up contracting black lung. I wanted to move back to take care of her and keep a close eye on her. But our hometown was a traditional industrial city. Startups in emerging tech fields could be counted on one hand. And they were usually underfunded branch offices with terrible pay. The salary listed on Liam's recruitment page made my heart skip a beat. That night, I tossed and turned, and the dreams started again. In my dream, a massive white dog bounded toward me, wagging its tail, and tackled me to the ground. It licked my face until I couldn't stop laughing. Then the big dog looked up, and its face morphed into Liam. I woke up covered in a cold sweat. He was literally haunting me. Suddenly, my phone rang with an unknown number. "Ms. Foster, this is Stardust Tech. We'd like to invite you for an interview next week." It was Liam's company. But I hadn't even submitted a resume. Right then, a text popped up from my mom's attending physician, saying they were scheduling her surgery for next week. I said "Okay" into the phone. Since I was moving back anyway, I might as well go see what it was about. Liam wasn't there on the day of the interview. I had a great conversation with the Chief Technology Officer. I didn't even have to do a probationary internship; they offered me a full-time position on the spot. And my starting salary wouldn't be docked during the trial period. I knew I was a great candidate. I just didn't realize I was that great. It would be rude to decline an offer this good. But because my mom's surgery got rescheduled, I had to push my start date back by a day. Bright and early on my first day, I ran straight into Liam in the elevator. I stood at attention and respectfully said, "Good morning, Boss." His Adam's apple bobbed twice, but he didn't say a word. Ding. The elevator arrived at our floor. The doors had barely opened a crack when I lifted my foot to step out. Through the gap, I saw a pair of long, flawless legs waiting outside. The doors slid fully open. It was Mia. She completely ignored me and threw herself directly into Liam's arms. "Liam! During the meeting yesterday, didn't you say you weren't coming into the office today?" "Something came up." I stepped out of the elevator and looked back. Liam was holding his arms up, letting Mia hang off his neck, smiling at her with pure indulgence. 5 The second I sat down at my desk, my manager called me into his office. "Mr. Vance's executive assistant hasn't started yet. You have a great academic background; I need you to go up and cover the desk for a while." "I don't know if that's a good idea—" "What I mean is, won't Mia mind?" "Mia—? Oh, you mean the Boss's wife. Why would she mind? "Mr. Vance gave you a fantastic compensation package. Be smart and play along." Boss's wife. Makes sense. But my chest felt inexplicably tight. My chair hadn't even gotten warm yet. I grumbled under my breath as I packed up my things and headed upstairs. Right outside Liam's massive office was the secretary's desk. Since I was already here, I figured I should go in and say hi to the boss. I pushed the door open. He was facing the door and jumped slightly when I walked in. He frowned and asked why I didn't knock. Behind him, Mia was bent over his desk, facing away from me, leaning her weight on her elbows. That position... My face instantly flushed crimson. "Sorry to interrupt!" I scrambled backward and quickly shut the door. A few seconds later, Mia walked out, giving me an amused, knowing look. She took two steps, rubbed her lower back, and let out a soft, breathy sigh. From inside, Liam called out, "Come in." It made me jump. He was leaning back in his office chair, pinching the bridge of his nose with one hand. "I was too loud just now. Don't take it personally." My mom always said, If someone respects you an inch, respect them a mile. I cleared my throat. "Not at all, Boss. You're too polite. You can yell at me or hit me whenever you want." He looked up, suppressing a smile at the corner of his lips. "I can hit you?" "Sure." His lips parted slightly, a smirk playing on his face. "A girl like you should really protect herself better." "I'm great at protecting myself! You should protect yourself. Have you forgotten the time we fought and I—" Why do I never have a filter? He closed his eyes and waved a hand dismissively. "Get out." Back at the secretary's desk, I buried my head in paperwork. Liam suddenly opened his door and tossed a uniform onto my desk. "Change into this. You're coming on a business trip with me." Fine. I'll change. A crisp white blouse, a tailored blazer, a tight pencil skirt, and black pantyhose. My body proportions—specifically the ratio between my chest and my waist—were ridiculous, making it almost impossible to buy clothes off the rack. But this uniform fit me like it was custom-tailored. I looked at myself in the restroom mirror and gave myself a very serious, professional salute. Walking out of the restroom, I bumped right into Liam. He seriously must have a medical condition. His ears were always bright red. 6 It was my first time on an airplane, and we were flying First Class. I asked Liam: "Next time, could you book me in Economy and just wire me the price difference in cash?" He turned away, completely ignoring me. The plane suddenly hit intense turbulence, and I shrieked. Before the sound even left my throat, I found myself pulled tightly into his arms. His Adam's apple brushed against my ear as he swallowed, his voice dropping from above me. "Coward." I looked up and met his gaze. His eyes were dark and hazy. He slowly lowered his head, and it looked like he was about to kiss me. I swallowed hard and squeaked out, "I have boundaries, you know." He immediately let go, sat back in his seat, and turned his face away. My heart was pounding out of my chest, my palms completely sweaty. He didn't look at me again for the rest of the flight. I had no choice. He was the boss, and I was terrified of getting fired. I carried his luggage and told him jokes to lighten the mood. I also dropped some heavy-handed hints. "Mia is so beautiful. You'd be hard-pressed to find anyone prettier, don't you think? "Whoever marries Mia is the luckiest guy in the world. Anyone who doesn't appreciate her deserves to be impotent for life." A visible crack finally appeared in his stoic expression. He gave me a very strange look. "You really like her?" "Yeah, I do!" "Is that why you worked at that... place?" "What place?" "Mr. Vance!" The client's representative shouted, interrupting our conversation. A guy ran over holding a pickup sign. He had sharp eyebrows and bright eyes, easily as handsome as Liam. "I'm Carter. I also graduated from City High. "Technically, that makes me your upperclassman." I smiled sweetly. "Hi, Senior Carter!" Liam glared at me. I pouted internally. He was the client! If Liam kept acting like an arrogant jerk, how were we supposed to close the deal? This rich kid clearly had zero networking skills. I continued turning the charm on for Carter. "Senior, your company is notoriously hard to get into. You must be incredibly smart. "We're so honored to be here. Next time you visit our city, I'll bring you some local specialties!" Liam's face grew darker and darker. Did he just not want to do business? 7 The dinner banquet was a success. Everything went smoothly. Back at the hotel, I got a text from Liam. Just three dry words: [Come to my room.] The almost-kiss on the airplane replayed in slow motion in my head. And now he wanted me in his room at night. What a dog. I wasn't going. [Come over. I'll give you the cash difference for your flight next time.] Oh. I thought about it, went into the bathroom, and layered two thick, terrycloth hotel bathrobes over my clothes. Then, I put my winter coat over the bathrobes. I looked like a massive, shapeless dumpling. There was no way this look would give anyone the wrong idea. I raised my hand to knock on his door, but it swung open before I even touched it. He leaned against the doorframe, looking me up and down in absolute bewilderment. I quickly covered my nose. "Achoo! "I think I caught a cold. I'm freezing." He stepped aside to let me in. I hugged my arms and sat stiffly on the sofa. He tinkered around in the kitchenette for a few minutes. He walked over and handed me a steaming mug of ginger and brown sugar tea. "Drink this first. Room service is bringing up some cold medicine soon." Staring at the piping hot tea, I realized I was already sweating bullets under all my layers. I dutifully took the mug and pretended to take a tiny sip. I was boiling. Liam frowned, staring right at me. "Drink the whole thing." His tone was gentle but left no room for negotiation. I tipped my head back and chugged the entire mug. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the faintest hint of a smile tugging at his lips. Remembering why I was actually here, I asked, "Why did you call me over?" He lowered his eyes. "Today on the plane, I was entirely out of line. I shouldn't have..." "It's fine! Let's just always remember: you're the boss, and I'm the subordinate." I raised three fingers in a solemn vow. "Don't worry, I won't tell a soul. Besides a promotion and a raise, I don't want anything else from you." He pressed his lips together so hard they turned white. His eyes were filled with deep frustration. Ha. The dog feels guilty, I thought. I stood up. "Well, I'm gonna go. Senior Carter asked me if I wanted to go grab some late-night barbecue. Want to come?" "I thought you were sick?" "I— Well, that ginger tea was amazing! I feel basically 100% better. "If you don't want to go, I'll just go by myself." I took one step toward the door. His long arm shot out, grabbing me by the collar. He shoved me firmly into the desk chair and slammed a laptop down in front of me. "Since you're feeling better, stay here and draft the project proposal." 8 Yeah, right. Like anyone was going to believe I spent the entire night in my boss's hotel room just writing a business proposal. Being a principled, hardworking employee requires so many sacrifices. The good news was, the company booked me an Economy ticket for the flight back. Thank god. Sitting next to the boss was way too stressful. I had just sat down when a familiar figure loomed over the seat next to me. He struggled for a minute before finally squeezing his massive frame into the tiny Economy seat. "The assistant booked the wrong ticket." Liam looked furious enough to dismantle the plane with his bare hands. I tried to console him. "You can ask the flight attendant if there are any open seats in First Class. You can just pay the upgrade fee." Before I could even finish my sentence, his head tilted to the side, his eyes closed, and he started softly snoring. His head was practically resting on my shoulder. I sat up completely straight, folded a blanket, and wedged it onto my shoulder to properly support his chin. I don't know when, but I eventually fell asleep too. When I woke up, he was slouched deep in his seat, casually flipping through an inflight magazine. I was leaning entirely on his shoulder. And I had drooled a massive wet spot onto his designer shirt... The second we got off the plane, he started walking incredibly fast. I chased after him, begging. "Please take the shirt off! I'll take it home, wash it, and bring it back to you! "I am so, so sorry. I normally never do that! "It's all your fault anyway. You kept me up all night and made me so exhausted!" He stopped dead in his tracks. I couldn't brake in time, slid several feet past him, and had to jog back. The corners of his mouth turned down, his lips pressed into a tight line. It took him several seconds to speak. "If you get exhausted this easily, how are we going to manage in the future?" Help. I'd only been working here for a few days. How could I complain to the boss about being tired already? "I'm not tired! I used to work three part-time jobs in college! I have crazy stamina!" He nodded slowly, then resumed his fast-paced walk. His voice floated back to me, lingering in the air. "Good to know you have crazy stamina." 9 After the business trip, I took half a day off to be at the hospital for my mom's surgery. While walking past the Urology and Men's Health clinic, I glanced through a cracked door and saw a very familiar figure. Weird. I took a few steps back and stood near the door, pretending to read a medical brochure while eavesdropping. "Men have too much pride. He'd rather die than come see a doctor. My parents are worried sick." "Are you saying the trauma might have been caused by that girl sitting on him years ago?" "It's impossible to hold her legally accountable now, there's no proof. "But I'll figure out a way to drag him in for an exam. Thank you so much, Doctor." Hearing the screech of a chair sliding back, I sprinted away as fast as I could. Mia meant that Liam had... issues. Down there. And he had issues because I crushed his equipment in high school. Back then, I was 5'5" and weighed a solid 160 pounds. I suddenly remembered the tears streaming down his face and how red he turned... "What are you doing here?" The sudden voice scared the living daylights out of me. "What are you doing here?!" I looked up. Liam and I were staring at each other, wide-eyed. "I'm picking up meds for my mom." "I'm looking for someone." We spoke at the exact same time. I clutched my chest, turned around, and bolted, yelling over my shoulder: "Okay, you go do your thing! I gotta go, my mom is waiting!" If he was single, the worst-case scenario was that I'd just close my eyes and take responsibility for ruining him. But he was married. When Mia was talking to the doctor, she only sounded worried. There wasn't an ounce of disgust in her voice. She was a good woman. But she also said she wanted to hold the culprit accountable. Liam hired me. He put me in his office. He even pretended to flirt with me. Was he just waiting for me to admit it so he could gather evidence and destroy my life?! It made sense. I had destroyed his, after all. My brain was a chaotic mess, my body felt light and numb. I had no idea how I managed to walk back to my mom's hospital room. As I walked past the office of my mom's lead surgeon, I saw Liam walking out of it. I quickly went inside to ask the doctor what was going on. "Your boss is taking great care of you. To ensure your mother's surgery went smoothly, he called me yesterday, and came in person today to check on things." When I walked out of the office, my legs felt like jelly. Was he... trying to use my mom to threaten me? 10 After the surgery, I settled my mom into a hotel right next to the hospital. Public places have security cameras everywhere. It was much safer. As I walked out of the hotel, I saw two familiar figures walking into the lobby of the five-star luxury hotel across the street. The man's hand was resting intimately on the woman's waist. "If he can't even get it up, why is he booking hotel rooms? Kinky." I grumbled to myself, resting my chin in my hand as I sat back at my desk in the office. "What are you mumbling about?" "Oh! Boss, you're back?" I was so deep in thought I didn't even hear Liam approach. I glanced at the time on my phone. It hadn't even been thirty minutes since I saw them walk into that hotel. "Wow, you're pretty fast." "What's fast?" "You! You're fast." "I'm not as good as I used to be. My hand speed was way better when I was younger." He stretched his arms, popped his knuckles, and unbuttoned the top button of his shirt. "I'm exhausted. I'm going to take a nap in my office. No one is allowed in." "Got it." The second his door closed, the company group chat exploded. [I didn't know Boss was a gamer!] [He sucks but still loves to play, and then makes excuses about how his hand speed used to be better. Lol.] [He's actually super down-to-earth. On his last trip, he told me to book him in Economy.] I was so confused. My brain couldn't process the information fast enough. The Economy ticket wasn't a mistake? He just wanted to sit with me? And he was just talking about playing video games? Then what was he doing with Mia... I pushed his office door open. "Boss, I have to ask you—" He had been facing away from the door, but slowly turned around. The afternoon sun spilled diagonally across his body. His tanned skin glowed in the light. He had a lean waist and broad shoulders. The sharp, sculpted lines of his abdominal muscles trailed downward, disappearing beneath a black leather belt. He calmly picked up a clean T-shirt from the coat rack and pulled it over his head. "Why are you still not knocking?" "I—" I choked on my own saliva, unable to finish my sentence. I coughed awkwardly. "Come here." His voice had a magnetic pull. Without realizing it, my feet moved forward. "Is there something you want to tell me?" His breathing came from right above my head, slightly heavier than usual. I looked down at the tips of our shoes. We were standing so close that if we weren't wearing shoes, our toes would be touching. I held my breath, but my chest still heaved uncontrollably. "I'm sorry." "You definitely owe me an apology." His breathing grew more ragged. I pulled my gaze away from our shoes. Like I was possessed by a demon, I slowly reached my hand out...

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