The sound of high heels ringing out on the sacred cafeteria floor? This feels ominous somehow.
‘It can’t be.’
I paused with a forkful of pancake halfway to my mouth and turned my head slightly over my shoulder.
Sure enough, all the students in the cafeteria, including myself, were looking in the same direction.
As if in slow motion, three girls entered the cafeteria in a leisurely manner.
And then came the predictable lines from the boys.
“Damn, did you see her look at me? Chloe smiled at me!”
“Don’t be ridiculous. She was giving me the eye smile, not you!”
The nondescript boys huddled against the wall, murmuring excitedly.
After briefly shuddering at their clichéd dialogue, I turned my attention back to the trio of girls with a feeling of goosebumps rising on my cheeks.
Hips swaying like supermodels. Designer brand shirts fitted snugly to their bodies. Straight spines honed by Pilates and jogging, and gaits that never faltered no matter how high their heels.
Three tall girls were approaching, carrying tiny handbags that looked like they could barely fit cosmetics, let alone textbooks.
They were the quintessential queen bees, straight out of a teen movie.
The popular girls.
I can say with certainty that I had never properly spoken to the school’s queen bees.
While I had no particular feelings towards those girls, the queen bees in teen movies tended to have a habit of sizing up other students.
Sometimes they would be temporarily nice to students they thought might benefit them.
Shallow… but also, in a way, the most innocent and honest characters.
Since I was well aware of these clichés, I had no reason to approach them first or try to impress them.
We’d managed to get through a year without crossing paths, each of us going about our school lives.
But this was strange.
‘Why does it seem like they’re coming towards me?’
That can’t be right. Girls like that wouldn’t approach a nerd like me.
Maybe I should turn my head and pretend to be busy cutting my pancakes.
But making my concerns moot, the three Barbie doll-like queen bees came right up to me and stopped abruptly in front of the small table where I sat alone.
“Are you Huntington?”
The pretty Black girl on the right of the trio asked.
Being a celebrity, I knew her name. It’s Regina. She’s the White Tiger of the queen bee group.
On the opposite side, Jena, the Azure Dragon, wore a cardigan over a low-cut crop top. Of course, that cardigan was also from some luxury brand.
She leaned towards me, exaggeratedly pretending to be pleased to see me.
“You’re Huntington, right? Timothy Huntington’s sister!”
“That’s right, but… who are you?”
I knew their names, but since this was our first time actually talking, I meant for them to introduce themselves first.
However, Chloe, the Queen Bee who led the Azure Dragon and White Tiger, smirked with disdain.
“My goodness, you don’t know us? Have you been living in a cave?”
“Well, I suppose… if I don’t know, then I don’t know. It’s not like I’ve ever spoken with you before.”
It’s true that I don’t know much about you apart from your clichéd personalities and names.
Hiding my true thoughts, I shrugged my shoulders, which made Chloe’s face scrunch up even more.
Jena tried to soothe her.
“Oh, Chloe, don’t get angry. It’s possible. A nerd might not know about us. Nerds only look at comic books and math problems! You know getting angry makes you gain weight. Just let it go.”
Jena’s words, though sounding like a joke, had some truth to them. The stress hormone cortisol does have some connection to obesity…
‘Ah, I just thought like a nerd again.’
Fortunately, I didn’t say it out loud. It’s been over a year since I was possessed, is my mind starting to sync with the nerd’s now?
Having barely managed to control her anger thanks to Jena’s placating, Chloe stood askew and looked at me. Then she lifted her chin haughtily.
“I’m Chloe. I’m in 11th grade and the leader of the cheerleading squad.”
“I’m Jena, an influencer with 100,000 followers.”
“I’m Regina, a member of the student council. Same as Adrian.”
The trio of queen bees struck impressive poses as they introduced themselves. They seemed like nice girls for giving such cool introductions when asked.
Of course, I was a bit taken aback by their poses that twisted their waists and emphasized their curves.
“I see, so you’re all celebrities. Quite the range of positions too…”
Cheerleading squad, influencer, student council. They were certainly well-distributed.
Anyway, I rather liked this honest and transparent group of queen bees that always appeared in teen movies, so I nodded without much thought.
“So, did you have some business with me?”
“You, you went to Adrian and Thompson’s birthday party yesterday, right?”
Ah, so that rumor has already spread.
Now I had some idea of why they had come to find me, but I desperately pretended not to know.
“Oh, well. It just happened?”
“Don’t say ‘it just happened’, tell us more details, Huntington.”
The three had already sat down across from me, their eyes sparkling.
“It’s just that, when I mentioned I had never been to Thompson’s birthday party during my time at school, Adrian was considerate and invited me to go together.”
“Is that all?”
“That’s it.”
I told the truth as it was. Just editing out the less favorable parts.
To emphasize that there really was nothing between Adrian and me, I tilted my head innocently.
“What else could there be?”
“Hmm, we heard a rumor that you’re Adrian’s girlfriend, you see.”
Before I could blurt out ‘What nonsense is that?’, the three queen bees burst into affected laughter.
“Of course, I thought that couldn’t be true! We were just curious. Whether you really are Timothy Huntington’s sister, and if you really did go to Thompson’s house party with Adrian last night, the one that turned out like the movie ‘Tomorrow’.”
“Ah, well. That’s right. Has your curiosity been satisfied?”
“A little?”
They seemed pleased to hear that there was nothing between Adrian and me, shrugging their shoulders.
“Alright then. If you’re done, could you please leave now? I’d like to eat my pancakes before they get cold and stick to the plate…”
“Yeah, you girls go. I have some business with her too.”
Before I could finish speaking, a thick hand firmly grasped my shoulder as I sat.
I flinched at the sudden weight of the hand. And then, a spreading fresh scent.
Huh.
‘This voice…’
As I turned my head with a creak, I saw Victor standing there with a tray in his other hand, smiling.
Oh, no.
“You must have something to talk about with me too, right? Dummy… I mean, Juno Huntington?”
Instead of the relaxed demeanor I had seen last night, Victor McQueen slowly raised the corners of his mouth with a slightly irritated expression.
I turned my head forward with an annoyed look and thought.
Damn it.
‘So the fourth queen has arrived…’
I could guess the situation without having to ask.
After hearing from me that Victor McQueen was an A-class or higher Awakened, Teacher Gina must have stirred him up.
McQueen, who had been avoiding the Awakened gathering in the gym, was probably looking for the person who had leaked that he was a high-level Awakened to get revenge…
And that person was me.
As I silently averted my gaze, the queen bees sitting in front of me looked up at Victor with bewildered expressions.
“What’s this, McQueen? Why are you butting in?”
Ah, of all times, Victor McQueen had to act familiar with me now.
The queen bees already thought I was Adrian’s girlfriend.
I glanced briefly at the trio of queen bees.
But contrary to my expectations, the three of them glared at Victor with incredulous and annoyed expressions.
“Vic, can’t you see we’re having a conversation between girls right now?”
The queen bees, who I thought would smile prettily at the appearance of the football team’s quarterback, glared at Victor with narrowed eyes.
Despite this, Victor continued to hold my shoulder firmly while smiling.
I waved my arm to indicate that he shouldn’t act so familiar, but my twig-like movement fluttering in the wind went unnoticed by everyone.
In the midst of an inexplicable tension, Victor said with a smile:
“Sorry, but I’m in more of a hurry. I have some important things to discuss with Glasses here, so could you kindly step aside?”
At this, the three laughed nervously.
“Don’t be ridiculous. We. Were. Talking. First. If anyone should leave, it’s you.”
“Yeah, that’s right. Wait your turn, Vic!”
“Can’t you see we’re in the middle of a conversation with Juno?”
Suddenly, a sharp exchange broke out between the four of them over me.
I was so taken aback that I kept my mouth shut. Then Chloe, with her arms crossed, haughtily glared at Victor.
“Vic, I told you before. Please don’t show up in front of us three if possible. It’s not pleasant to see you hanging around like this after you tore Regina’s heart to shreds. Do we have to spell it out for you? We find you uncomfortable!”
“But I don’t have any business with you?”
“That’s right. You shouldn’t appear in front of us at any time!”
Ah, I see.
True to his ‘playboy’ keyword, Victor seems to have briefly dated Regina from the queen bee group.
It looks like they broke up quite recently.
Victor and Regina’s faces were already flushed red and blue. It seemed like lasers might shoot out of their eyes at any moment.
Victor looked back and forth between Regina, Chloe, and my face for a moment, then shrugged.
“Fine, then. I’ll talk to you about my business later. Happy now?”
“Tearfully grateful, Vic.”
“Don’t mention it.”
Victor snorted nonchalantly, ignoring Chloe’s sarcasm.
And just as I was about to breathe a sigh of relief, he leaned in and whispered to me.
“It won’t be fun if you run away, Glasses. See you later.”
_____
In This Life I Love You Again (Modern Female-dominant)
Xie Zhi and Fang Xianxing who had known each other for less than three days through a blind date sat in the same car in front of the civil affairs bureau. They had a disagreement and failed to get married.
Xie Zhi immediately took out his phone, slid through his contacts, and randomly selected the next marriage candidate.
The woman snatched his phone and hung up. Looking at his phone wallpaper, she awkwardly changed the subject: “An ancient painting, eh? It looks pretty good, it’s just that the person in the painting looks a bit like me.”
When he heard this, he sarcastically mocked her for being so delusional, completely unaware that, the person in front of him was the reincarnation of Wen Ru, the famous prime minister of Yuan Shun whom he most admired…
The female CEO who doesn’t want to get married with a divorce agreement in hand × The male archaeological researcher who will only get married if he’s sure he can get divorced