anwhile, at the exact sa ti over at the school, "Ding-dong," the morning bell rang. After checking where their classroom was, Emma, Priya, Monica, and Chloe headed inside. Heidi and Laura were in the class next door. Emma, Priya, Monica, and Chloe imdiately took their assigned seats.
Once everyone in the room was settled in, their classmates began stealing glances at them. Emma was sitting in the front, Monica was in the third row, Priya was in the sa row as Monica but at the far end, and Chloe was in the second-to-last row, right behind Emma. Naturally, they were the center of attention, even if nobody actually approached them.
Before long, a female teacher stepped into the room, her natag brooch reading Graciella Lopez. However, Emma, Priya, Monica, and Chloe’s eyes were completely locked on the girl who walked in right behind the teacher, who was usually nicknad Grace because her full na was a mouthful.
The girl was wearing the school uniform. She was beautiful, with straight, black hair that fell just past her shoulders, slightly wide eyes, and dimples that gave her a sweet look. She stood next to the teacher’s desk, facing the class.
"Good morning, everyone. Today we have a new classmate who just transferred here from out of town," Grace said. "Please, introduce yourself," she added, turning to the girl.
"Thank you, ma’am," the girl replied.
The girl took a step forward, scanning the room with a sharp, confident gaze. But then her eyes locked onto Emma, shifted to Monica, moved over to Priya, and finally landed on Chloe in the back. A smile spread across her face.
"Good morning, everyone. My na is Ruby Watts, but you can just call Ruby. I just moved to the city and don’t really know my way around yet, so I hope you guys can show the ropes later... it’s great to et you all, and I look forward to working with you for our final year," Ruby said cheerfully.
Seeing how pretty Ruby was, combined with her down-to-earth and clearly approachable personality, several classmates, both guys and girls, imdiately started firing questions, trying to get to know her better.
Naturally, Ruby was more than happy to answer every question with a bright smile, though her eyes occasionally drifted toward Emma, Monica, Priya, and Chloe, having already mapped out their locations in the room.
Emma took one look at her, turned around to face the wall, and propped up her cheek. She rolled her eyes hard and silently mimicked "look forward to working with you" with a mocking face, making it crystal clear just how much Ruby annoyed her.
It wasn’t just Emma, either Priya and Monica had the exact sa reaction. Only Chloe appeared calm, but her eyes locked onto Ruby with a cold stare, devoid of any smile.
"Alright, alright, that’s enough questions for now. Since today is the first day back, we won’t be starting any formal lessons just yet. I’ll read out the class schedule, and after that, you’ll have free ti until you’re dismissed at lunch," Grace said with a smile.
"Aweso! Thanks, ma’am," the entire class cheered.
"Ruby, go ahead and take the seat next to Monica. There’s an empty desk over there," Grace instructed.
Hearing this, Monica, who had been resting her chin in her hand, imdiately sat up straight. Her eyes locked right onto Ruby’s, while Emma, Priya, and Chloe turned to look at Monica. Ruby then glanced back at Grace.
"Okay, ma’am. Thank you," Ruby said politely.
Without hesitation, Ruby walked down the aisle toward the center of the room. Monica’s eyes tracked her every step as she got closer to the desk. Stopping beside it, Ruby flashed Monica a smile and sat down without even waiting for the desk owner’s permission. The area fell silent, save for the sound of Grace up front reading out the class schedule for everyone to copy down.
Then, Ruby turned to Monica and smiled, though it didn’t quite reach her eyes. She extended her hand toward Monica.
"Hey... it’s great to et you... Monica," Ruby said.
"Oh... so you already know my na," Monica said as she took Ruby’s hand, squeezing it hard.
"Of course I do. Avery gave a heads-up that the redhead is nad Monica," Ruby replied with a smile, squeezing Monica’s hand right back.
"Hmm... is that so? Good. That ans you already know your place," Monica shot back cuttingly, a smirk playing on her lips as she kept matching Ruby’s grip strength.
"Don’t worry, I know exactly where I stand. I’m not going to ss with you, or Emma in front of us, or Priya across from us, or Chloe in the back, but that’s strictly on one condition," Ruby replied, smirking right back as she pushed back against the tight grip.
"Oh yeah? And what condition would that be?" Monica asked, her smirk widening as she kept squeezing.
"I want to see Eric, my older brother. Don’t get in my way when I want to see Eric, that’s the condition," Ruby answered, smirking right back.
"And what if I don’t feel like eting your condition? What are you going to do about it, huh?" Monica asked, throwing down the gauntlet.
"Hmph... you’ll find out soon enough," Ruby answered mockingly, keeping up her tight grip.
"Sounds like you’re challenging ... good... great," Monica shot back. Her smile widened, ready to absolutely crush Ruby right then and there.
But suddenly "thwack" Monica got smacked on the back of her head. She imdiately let go of Ruby’s hand, clutched her head, and whipped around. She was shocked to see Chloe standing there with her arms crossed behind her back, sporting a cold expression that could freeze the entire room.
"What did you smack for?" Monica asked.
"Move. Switch seats with ," Chloe answered coldly.
Seeing that Chloe was completely stone-cold and dead serious, Monica stood up and let Chloe take the seat next to Ruby, while Monica went to sit in Chloe’s old spot in the back.
Naturally, the tension in the classroom skyrocketed, and the only person oblivious to it was Grace up front. The reason was that everyone else in class already recognized Ruby; they had all seen the video of her getting slapped by Emma in the hallway, which had caused quite a stir.
And they knew full well that Emma, Monica, Chloe, Priya, Heidi, and Laura, who were already popular for being the most beautiful girls in their grade and famous for being "The Empress" weren’t the type to just let past grievances go.
The other students felt a bit sorry for Ruby and secretly wanted to pull her into their own social circles before it was too late. Yet Ruby just looked at Chloe, who sat down beside her and gave her a chilling stare.
"Great to et you, Chloe. We didn’t get a chance to properly introduce ourselves the first ti we ran into each other," Ruby said, extending her hand.
But Chloe didn’t take it. She kept her arms crossed and continued to stare at Ruby in silence. Ruby simply smiled and turned her attention back to the front, but then Chloe spoke up.
"Just so you know, Eric wants absolutely nothing to do with you, even though he told us we aren’t allowed to bully you. I suggest you get a clue and stay away from him. Got it?" Chloe said.
"And who exactly are you to talk to like that? If Eric told you not to bully , that ans he still cares about . That puts a step above all of you, who are basically just his sidekicks. Which ans you should be taking orders from too, since I’m his sister," Ruby said lines of defiance, propping her cheek up on the desk as she turned to look at Chloe, who never broke her stare.
"You have no idea who you’re ssing with. You’d better shut up. I’m warning you one last ti, never look for Eric again. Got it?" Chloe said coldly, though she was clearly starting to lose her temper as her voice trembled slightly.
"I’m his sister. It’s only natural for to look for my older brother. You’re the one who needs to stay out of it, you shouldn’t be sticking your nose into another family’s business," Ruby said, staring Chloe down.
This ti, there was no smile on her face; it was completely serious, her eyes locking onto Chloe with a sharp glare. The tension in the classroom grew even thicker. Neither Chloe nor Ruby said another word, but it was crystal clear they were radiating a murderous aura, looking ready to tear each other to shreds if they weren’t in a public place.
anwhile, Emma, Monica, and Priya imdiately braced themselves to step in if necessary. Out of all of them, even compared to Laura, who was notoriously vicious and backed by gangsters, if Chloe actually lost her temper, they had to stop her before things took a very ugly turn.
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