Andrea takes it too far

Andrea wasn’t finished. Tilting her head, she let her voice turn even more saccharine and cruel. “Or maybe you’re just embarrassed. Big tough guy on the bus, running your mouth, and now you can’t even look me in the eye when someone calls you on it. Classic David.”

David’s jaw clenched so hard his teeth ached. The note from Eveline burned in his pocket like a guilty secret, and every word out of Andrea’s mouth felt like sandpaper on raw nerves. He knew he should stay quiet. One careless sentence and the curse could turn this into something far worse than a bad breakup.

But Andrea just kept going, stepping closer so her shadow fell over him completely.

“Seriously, what’s your damage?” she sneered. “Tammy’s been a mess all afternoon because of whatever poison you spit at her, and you’re just sitting here like it’s none of your business? You really are that selfish, huh?”

David’s fingers dug into the edge of the bench. He could feel the old reflex rising — the same one that used to get him into trouble with Tammy. The curse screamed in the back of his mind: Don’t say it. Don’t say it.

Andrea laughed again, short and sharp. “God, look at you. Can’t even defend yourself. No wonder she dumped your ass. You’re not even worth the effort it takes to hate you.”

That one landed. Something hot and ugly twisted in David’s chest. He’d spent the entire day biting his tongue — with Tammy on the bus, with Eveline in the office, with the pregnancy still settling inside the woman who used to terrify him. And now this.

He looked up at Andrea, voice low and edged with frustration he couldn’t quite hide.

“Last I or anyone else has checked, isn’t Tammy the one who pushes my buttons every single chance she gets?” he said carefully, measuring every word. “So why the hell should I care if she’s upset when I finally say something back?”

Andrea blinked, caught completely off guard for half a second. Then her expression twisted into pure disbelief.

“Oh my god,” she laughed, but there was zero humour in it. “You’re actually trying to flip this on her? That’s your big defence? ‘She started it’?”

She took another step closer, voice rising with every word.

“Tammy doesn’t ‘push your buttons,’ David. She calls you on your shit. There’s a difference. You spent months lying to her face, and now you’re mad she won’t just roll over and pretend it never happened? That’s not her pushing buttons — that’s her having a spine.”

Andrea shook her head, the purple-and-pink tips of her hair swinging sharply.

“And you know what’s actually hilarious? You’re sitting here acting like the victim while she’s the one walking around campus looking like she got hit by a truck after whatever the hell you said on that bus. But sure you can keep telling yourself it’s all her fault.”

David’s fingers dug into the edge of the bench until his knuckles went white. He **** himself to stay quiet, jaw locked tight.

Andrea leaned down, hands on her knees so she was eye-level with him, her crop top riding up and exposing a strip of toned stomach.

“You know what I think?” she said, voice dropping into something colder and meaner. “I think you’re scared. Scared that if Tammy finally stops caring, you’ll have to admit you’re the problem. So, you’d rather keep poking at her until she snaps, because at least then you’re not alone in your misery.”

She straightened up again, arms folding tight across her chest.

“Go on then. Say it. Tell me I’m wrong. Or are you still too much of a coward to own anything you do?”

David stayed silent. The longer he refused to answer, the more Andrea’s smirk grew.

“Exactly,” she said, voice dripping with satisfaction. “Pathetic. Just like always.”

Polished & Smoothed Version

Unfortunately, that was one step too far.

David’s temper finally snapped. Before he could stop himself, the words were already leaving his mouth.

“You will shut up and follow me.”

The command hit Andrea like a physical blow. She froze mid-step, mouth still half-open from her last insult. The sharp, mocking expression on her face went blank in an instant. Without a word, she turned around and stood waiting, silent and obedient, exactly as the curse demanded.

David’s stomach twisted the second he felt the familiar ripple of power settle over her. He knew he should stop — he should take it back right now while he still could. But the anger was boiling too hot, too fast. All the frustration of the day — Tammy on the bus, Eveline in the office, the pregnancy now growing inside her, and Andrea’s relentless needling — came rushing out at once.

This is going to bite me in the ass later, he thought, but right now he didn’t care.

He stood up from the bench, jaw tight, and started walking toward the Literature building without looking back. Andrea fell into step right behind him, quiet as a shadow. David led her through the mostly empty halls until he found an unused classroom tucked away at the far end of the corridor. He stepped inside, waited for her to follow, then closed the door firmly behind them.

“No one noticed us enter or that we walked together,” he stated coldly, feeling the curse take effect again. “Not even the cameras.”

He locked the door for good measure.

“No one outside will hear a thing that happens in here.”

The room fell unnaturally quiet.

David turned to face Andrea, chest still heaving with anger. She stood perfectly still in the middle of the classroom, eyes wide, clearly **** to speak but unable to make a single sound.

“I was keeping silent for your sake,” he snarled, stepping closer. Andrea’s mouth opened, but nothing came out. The sight made David’s lip curl into a sneer. “But now? Since you decided to go too far… I don’t think I should care anymore.”

He phrased the last part as a question on purpose, testing the boundary, daring the curse to react.

Andrea’s eyes flashed with a mix of fury and confusion, but her lips stayed sealed. She was completely, helplessly mute, which was exactly as David had ordered.

David took a slow breath, forcing his voice to stay even despite the anger still simmering. “You’re going to stay right here, silent and still, until I say otherwise—if I ever do,” he said, letting out a slow breath, his jaw clenched tight.

“You see, I have been uniquely cursed,” David informed her. “Any statement I make to another person becomes reality. Yes, I probably deserve it for all the lying I used to do. I’ll own that.”

Closing his eyes David shook his head before continuing, “but what I don’t deserve is Tammy, you, or any of your friends coming up to me and harassing me every time you feel like it.”

He met Andrea’s wide, furious eyes, something sharper creeping into his tone.

“Tammy has come up to me after our breakup time and time again. She decides to talk, prod, poke, and needle me every single chance she gets.”

His frustration slipped through now, harder to contain, and it felt good to vent. “Today, I finally said something she didn’t have a retort for, and now you approach me like that and rant at me? You even have the gall to act like I deserve to be harassed by her.”

A short, humourless breath left him. “Newsflash," David sarcastically commented. "I don’t. I don’t deserve that.”

David ticked Andrea’s accusations off on his fingers, one by one, his voice growing steadier with each point. “You said I’m selfish for not caring that she’s a mess? She’s the one who keeps starting shit with me." it was true, David didn't need the curse to even make it true.

“You said I spent months lying to her face? Yeah, I did. And perhaps that is one of the reasons I got cursed, but it wasn't exclusive to her." David reminded Andrea "And last I checked that doesn’t give her a lifetime pass to keep coming at me because she wants to feel better about herself."

That was the truth of it, Tammy had her own issues and beating down on David made her feel important and better about her life, she was a miserable person. That was why she was initially attracted to David. “You said I’m playing the victim? I’m not. I’m just refusing to let her keep treating me like her personal punching bag.

“You said I’m spineless for not owning my shit? I am owning it right now," David sneered, "to you, of all people.”

His voice faltered, just slightly. “And you called me pathetic? Maybe I am. But that still doesn’t justify you or Tammy treating me like I’m fair game for constant public humiliation.”

David’s eyes stayed locked on hers, something quieter but firmer settling in. “So no, Andrea. I’m not flipping anything. I’m just done letting Tammy, you and all your friends act like I owe you endless emotional labour because I used to be a shitty boyfriend. In case you forgot Tammy was a shitty Girlfriend too.”

It was good to get that off his chest, but David was still furious and, so far, he actually hadn't done anything drastic to Andrea other than make her keep silent—something he doubted she could normally do—and made her follow him here instead of running away. Okay, so he had done some things.