Chapter 108 – Confidence

"I thought they were done but I was wrong. When I came back to my seat after lunch, I saw that my desk was covered with graffiti and words. It was full of stuff like "Liar", "Dick" or "Virgin". I had to spend most of the evening to erase it all."

At this point in the story, Benjamin guessed that she had not told the teacher about the damage done to her desk. Instead of asking a question he already knew the answer to, he let her finish recounting.

"Then, when it was time to get home, I wanted to hurry and come back here but when I passed by them to get to the door, one of them tripped me and I fell to the floor. And then everyone in the class laughed at me. I hate them so much. They saw the girls insulting me for no reason and tripping me and instead of helping me, they all mocked me! I hate them all!"

After her shout, she went back inside his arms and he soothed her again for a long time until she calmed down enough to continue the conversation. In the meanwhile, he thought about the things she had said. The whole situation felt a bit weird to him. Kids who never talked to her suddenly started insulting her out of the blue? And what was with calling her a liar and a virgin? Now that she was at peace in his arms once more, he asked her about it.

"Do you know if those girls play Campmonth too?"

She looked up at him from her position, not wanting to leave the warmth of his embrace.

"I... am not completely sure but I think I heard them talking about games once. Why?"

"Wait, one more question. They called you a virgin, does that mean they have boyfriends and already had sex?"

She blushed at this question but answered anyway.

"No, I never heard anything about them having boyfriends. I don't know if they already had sex but I doubt it."

"I see..."

"Why do you ask about that?"

"I am trying to understand why they did something like this to you. Look at you, you're so kind and cute, why would anyone want to bully you?"

She smiled at his compliment before scowling again.

"They're just jerks, what else?"

"True. But I think there is more to it. Do you want to listen to what I think?"

She nodded, her expression full of trust.

"My guess is that they are also Campmonth players and when they heard about your rank, they got really jealous. That's why they called you a liar, because it was easier for them to believe that you were lying instead of thinking that someone they looked down on could be so much better than them."

Olivia's eyes widened at his words and she nodded, convinced. Still, he wasn't done.

"As for the virgin thing, I think they have a complex about still being virgins themselves. It was probably something they came up with out of frustration. Perhaps they think they're great or something and believe it's shameful for them to not have boyfriends and still not have gotten rid of their cherry. Of course, it's all just a guess but I wouldn't be surprised if that was how it is."

Olivia nodded again and replied.

"Yes, it's just like you said. They always act like they're something special, they're arrogant and try to hit on the guys at school all the time. It doesn't really work, though."

"And perhaps, I might have a way to help you."

She seemed surprised and her face suddenly brightened, looking hopeful.

"I could go and beat them all or Mom could report the girls to the school and ask for punishment but you know, that wouldn't solve the problem. They might get punished and lay down for some time but then they would hate you even more after that and make your life terrible. Instead of that, I have a more fundamental suggestion. First of all, you need to be confident in yourself."

Hearing all of this, her hopeful expression dropped by a good 90%. Seeing this, he quickly added.

"I know, I know. It's not easy to change yourself. But I have a very good idea. Do you trust me, Olivia?"

"...Yes."

"Good. Let me explain it to you. The main problem here is that those girls look down on you while also being jealous of you. The easiest way to change this is to show them that you're much better at everything they care about. What do you think these things are?"

"Games? School? Looks?"

"Wrong. It's true that they probably care about games but they already know you are better than them at it. And these types of girls probably don't care much about school results and looks. No, girls like these only really care about one thing: boys."

Hearing his answer, she giggled a little.

"That's true."

"So, do you understand what you have to do?"

"Hm, do you mean I should get a boyfriend and show him off to them?"

"Precisely."

"It's a good idea but there is no way I can do that. If even they can't do it, how would it be possible for me?"

"That's where my amazing idea comes in. You have one absolute advantage over them. And that's... me!"

"What? What do you mean?"

"I mean that you don't need to find a boyfriend since you have me."

"How could you be my boyfriend, Ben?"

"Why not? In fact, they care about boys a lot but even more than that, what they probably really want is sex. That's why you just need to show them absolute proof that you had sex with your boyfriend, for example with a video, and they will never be able to look down on you again! You know that love and hate are close emotions, right? That's why if you do it correctly, they will instead start to venerate you. Think about it, you have a boyfriend, you have sex with him all the time and you're good at games! From their point of view, you would be like a Goddess!"