The cafeteria had gone silent at that moment as a group of seniors appeared at the door.
Zoey didn't look up the entire time as she was too preoccupied browsing the internet for what to order.
Kate, on the other hand, was seething with righteous indignation.
This little…!
Either she was being clever on purpose, or she was just dumbly making the right decisions—her patience was wearing thin.
No one had ever escaped so many traps she'd set in a single day, and so smoothly at that.
But this Zoey was dumb. A struggling child who lived from hand to mouth, what could she possibly know about how the world worked?
No, she was a chess prodigy with numerous trophies because she was always two steps ahead.
Just like in chess, she would still be two steps ahead of Zoey.
She'd make sure of it.
"What? I don't see Dylan anywhere. Seems like he didn't come to school today."
"No, I saw his car in the parking lot. He did come."
"Oh, there he is! That leather jacket looks so good on him!"
"He changed his hair too? I liked the last one better. But what does it matter? This one looks good too."
"It's not the hair. He just looks good in anything. He's so cool I'll do anything to be one of his minions."
Listening to both girls and boys swoon over Dylan Berschwith, Kate snapped out of her thoughts just in time to see a tall boy with white hair and an ear piercing walk past her.
Too engrossed in watching the seemingly perfect boy, no one saw Kate, who rarely wore this expression, stare at him with misty, longing eyes.
By the time Kate shifted her attention back to Zoey, she was no longer beside her.
She glanced around the cafeteria for a moment and found her seating at a table on the middle of the room, scrolling through her phone.
Fine. You may have escaped every trap I set for you today, but I'll do better next time and the time after until I show everyone what a disappointment you are.
Let's see you try to wriggle your way out of every situation!
On the table, Zoey didn't pay attention to her surroundings until she successfully placed a pizza order.
Glancing around, she leaned back on her seat and glanced around, immediately exhaling in relief when she saw the other students with different food brands.
How nice that they let students order in.
Twisting the cap off the grapefruit juice she'd taken, she took a gulp—and gagged, nearly throwing up.
How could something so terrible be sold in a school?
She turned it around, trying to read the things written on the bottle when a shadow suddenly fell over her.
"You did this on purpose, didn't you?"
Wiping the back of her mouth and covering the bottle, she raised her eyes to meet a familiar face.
The smooth face she'd seen earlier now had two bruises—one at the corner of his lip, and the other near his eye.
"You look like shit. I should've let you jump this morning."
Seeing the genuine surprise in her eyes, he glanced around first, making sure none of Dylan's minions saw him, before sliding into the seat across from her.
"So, you didn't show me that ridiculous move just so I'd get beaten up earlier?"
Her lips curled into a mocking smile. "You're that much of a loser?"
He leered at her, lifting his hand to point—but groaned in pain and dropped it immediately.
The smile slowly vanished from her face as she stared him over.
"What?"
He hissed, "What do you mean, what? Do you think Dylan Berschwith and his minions are stupid?"
"They only hit me in the face because they found it too good-looking. Claimed it was calling to their fists."
"And that was right after they spent thirty minutes stomping me from every direction. The stupid tricks you taught me weren't enough."
She leaned forward, propping up her head with both hands with a smile, "Inviting me to come be a spectator on the rooftop tomorrow, what a nice boy you are. What time do I need to be there?"
The boy was dumbfounded and leaned toward the table to huff, "Hey, do you have no conscience? I'm in this condition because I listened to you and tried to fight them off."
"When I didn't resist and let them do as they liked, they didn't beat me this much. But today, they beat me harder than ever."
Zoey tiredly pressed a finger against her temple, "They beat you every other day, but you get beat today and blame me? You're a shameless little thing, aren't you?"
At their table, Kate glanced toward Zoey, expecting to see her alone, but frowned upon seeing her talking to someone.
Her classmates saw her looking and followed her gaze.
"Ah. Losers always finds each other, and winners stick to winners. She makes a great couple with Austin Cross."
"Isn't he a second-generation heir?"
"He is, but he has six older brothers, so he's basically forgotten and useless to the Cross family."
"He's so useless he disappeared when he was six and was found three years later when he was nine and his family never noticed until the police called them. No wonder Dylan lets his minions bully him."
Hearing the last sentence, Kate turned to them in surprise. "Dylan lets his minions bully him?"
They nodded.
"Didn't you know? He's been their target since we became seniors. Anyone who even looks in his direction becomes next. That's why he has no friends."
"All the friends he's made in the past deserted him the moment the bullying began. It's that bad."
Kate beamed, rose to her feet and called out, "Hey, Austin Cross!"
Like sharks catching the scent of blood, Dylan's minions turned toward the voice.