Each class stretched out to 45 minutes. When the bell finally signaled the end of the lesson, Madelyn, almost with a sense of doomed acceptance, walked to the back of the room. She quietly righted Forrest’s knocked-over desk and gathered the scattered books from the floor, tidying them neatly into his drawer. Her actions elicited a flurry of astonished whispers from her classmates.

“No way! Madelyn, who’s always acting high and mighty, is actually picking up books for Forrest? Did she hit her head or something?”

“Can’t believe what I’m seeing. Madelyn, who couldn’t be bothered to speak, is now serving her arch-nemesis Forrest? Holy cow, I must be hallucinating!”

Someone had discreetly snapped a photo of Madelyn’s surprising act of humility and anonymously uploaded it to the school forum.

Madelyn ignored the buzz around her, focusing on straightening up Forrest’s desk. Despite everything, she was just too good-natured to hold Forrest’s temper against him.

Meanwhile, in the grimy alley behind the school, Timothy was debating about which bar to hit that night. Adrian was engrossed in his phone when a headline suddenly popped up.

[Shocker of the Century! Madelyn actually…]

Before he could finish reading, Adrian saw Madelyn’s name and clicked on the link. A photo loaded, revealing Madelyn crouched down, books cradled in her arms. “Holy smokes! Look, Forry, look at the school forum, Madelyn is picking up your books again!”

the…?” Timothy doubted his hearing for

as he peered at the photo Adrian shoved his way. A girl crouched on the floor, her skirt pooling around her. The camera captured Madelyn’s smooth, elegant profile perfectly. Light streamed in from the window, illuminating her, her eyelashes cast in shadow like the feathers of a raven, one hand clutching books, the other picking up a textbook from the floor. The photo exuded

‘Well, I’ll be damned.’

skipped the cafeteria at noon. She usually brought her own lunch due to her selective palate and her aversion to cafeteria food. Now alone in the classroom, she

math problem. The noise of chatter and footfalls grew louder as it approached the classroom. Startled gasps echoed

coming back to settle the score with Madelyn,

over and grab a front-row seat. I’ve had it

a menace in this school. It was her dad who nearly cost my dad his life over a plot of land. People like

fishes in Ventropolis, getting on their bad side always spells trouble. Don’t let your

whispered behind Madelyn’s back. Many in their class had parents whose businesses had suffered at the hands of the Jent family, and those

a shadow loomed over her. In the next instant, a hand swept across the desk, scattering her books to the floor. She looked up into Forrest’s

asked calmly, “Can

gave you permission to touch my stuff? Looking for trouble?” His sneer was cruel, his

just because I picked up his books,

accidentally taken his seat and he had gotten upset. She thought cleaning up for him might serve as a sort of quiet apology. She had never imagined that simply tidying his things would provoke

neighboring

icy coolness. “You’ve just messed with my books, too. We’re even. Besides, it’s my turn for cleaning duty today. If you’re unhappy with

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