Anna Willow tried to hide it, clutching her stomach. "Holly, I have to go to the bathroom."
What they'd said was truly vicious, especially towards a girl.
"If you don't tell me, I'll make you hold it in. Hmph, let's see how long you can last," Holly said, now even more certain they were hiding something from her—something bad about her.
So much time had passed since her school days that she couldn't clearly remember the specifics of what had happened back then.
She didn't realize that from the very day she'd returned to high school, the original course of events had already begun to deviate, little by little.
"Holly, you're so mean," Anna pouted, then had no choice but to tell Holly what Iris had said, recounting everything in detail.
Holly Winslow glanced over at Lily Chandler and Erin Webb, but she had no memory of them.
She quickly looked away, then smiled and pinched Anna's puffy cheeks. "Don't worry about stuff like this from now on. People will say what they want. They're just jealous because I'm so pretty." That last part was clearly a joke.
During her three years of high school, Anna Willow and Iris Kensington were her only friends. The other girls in class seemed to deliberately ostracize her, and she'd overheard them bad-mouthing her in private on several occasions.
Some rumors were even more vicious than accusations of two-timing; they claimed she'd slept with so-and-so, or so-and-so, and for how much a night.
Back then, she hadn't understood why people looked at her that way. She hadn't done anything to deserve it.
Only later did she realize her face was the source of all the trouble.
Iris and Anna burst out laughing, doubling over in their seats.
"You'd better hurry to the bathroom. You've only got five minutes," Holly said, glancing at the round clock above the blackboard.
Anna really did have to go, so as soon as she heard that, she grabbed some tissues and bolted out the door.
"Holly, are you really okay?" Iris leaned forward, her voice filled with concern.
Holly winked at her. "I'm really fine. It's not like I actually did any of those things."
'In the past, I would have gotten angry and confronted them, causing a huge scene. All it did was leave a bad impression on the teachers. Totally not worth it.'
...
There were ten minutes left until the lunch break.
Julian Carlton yelled for the boys who were checking people out and trying to look cool on the veranda, as well as the girls who were messing around, to get back to the classroom.
Anna was in the middle of describing an overbearing CEO novel she was reading, acting it out as she spoke. "And then the overbearing CEO wraps one arm around the heroine and kisses—"
Holly, who was facing the door, was the first to see Julian Carlton. She immediately cut Anna off. "Mr. Carlton's here."
At the same time, the previously boisterous classroom fell silent as everyone scrambled to sit down properly in their seats.
Julian Carlton's gaze swept across the classroom. Seeing no empty seats, he began, "I'll just take a few minutes of your time, class. I have two announcements."
"First, this Thursday and Friday is the first monthly exam of the term. I already gave you a heads-up last week, but I'm reminding you again. I hope you all use this time to review and aim for good scores. After the exam, we'll be changing seats based on your grades."
That last sentence made the class erupt. One of the boys wailed, "Mr. Carlton, do we have to change seats?"
"If we don't, you'll all start treating this classroom like a fish market."
Julian Carlton shot him a glare, then rapped his knuckles on the desk with a stern face. "Quiet! Do you want to hear the good news or not? If you don't, I'll just leave."
"No, wait! Tell us, Mr. Carlton," the same boy called out.
The classroom fell silent.
Julian Carlton didn't drag it out any longer. "Alright, for the second piece of good news: next Monday through Wednesday is the school's fall sports festival. I hope you'll all actively participate and bring honor to our class."
"WOAH!!"
The students, who had just been bummed out about changing seats, were now all cheering with excitement.
The sports festival meant three days off from class.
"If you all got this excited about exams, getting into Branton or Q University would be a piece of cake," Mr. Carlton grumbled.
The entire class erupted in laughter.