The sunlight spills through the window, warm against my skin. I sit quietly in the farthest seat—the one no one usually picks unless the room is full. It's peaceful here.
So this is the first day of my second year in high school, at a school I was transferred to under less-than-ideal circumstances.
The uniform was as stiff and spotless as the day demanded.
A crisp white button-up shirt, its collar neatly folded and tucked into a pleated navy-blue skirt that brushed just below the knees. A thin striped tie, navy and silver, hung uncomfortably at my throat—tight but required. Just like everything else here.
I came a little early today. But I have no expectations from this school—not after what happened at the last one.
I made a decision:
No friends. No conversations. No entanglements.
That's why I chose the window seat—to avoid attracting attention.
So when I saw that girl walking toward me, I frowned. She looked like she was avoiding everyone too.
She looked pale, almost sickly. There was something fragile about the way she walked—like she didn't want to be seen. But the moment she stepped into the room, the noise exploded. Whispers. Murmurs. Judgments.
It was all nonsense to me.
A few girls tried to strike up a conversation with me.
I answered coldly, "I prefer to be alone."
That was enough.
No one approached me again—for the rest of the day.
---
A few days later, I noticed that same girl surrounded by a group of girls in the hallway.
They were laughing—loudly and cruelly—insulting her for being petty, miserable, and looking like a beggar among them.
I stopped walking. I stared.
One of them turned to me.
"Do you want something, Miss Lonely?"
I wanted to keep walking. I really did.
But instead, I said, "No. But do you want something from her?"
The girl's smile dropped. Her eyes narrowed.
She marched toward me and yanked my hair back.
"Don't try to mock me. You'll be next if you interfere."
But I knew.
I'd seen Mr. Wilbert, our homeroom teacher, coming down the hallway just a moment ago.
That's why I interfered.
I didn't do it for her. I didn't do it for justice.
I did it because I could.
---
He saw everything.
"Valine, come with me for further inquiry," he said calmly.
He already knew who I was.
So before anything else, he listened to my side of the story.
I told him everything—every word, every action. I hadn't done anything wrong.
By the time I returned to class, everyone knew.
I was Valine. The only daughter of the CEO of the country's largest finance corporation.
The whispers came quickly. Then the silence.
Even the teachers looked at me differently now.
The girls who had bullied her? Suspended for a month.
---
The next day, during lunch break, I noticed her again.
She was walking across the field—toward me.
I thought she'd pass me by like the others.
After all, the rumors were back again.
They always follow me: how I misused my power in my previous school, how I destroyed someone's life, how I got transferred here as punishment.
But this girl… she didn't just walk past.
She slowed down.
She hesitated, like she wanted to say something.
But she didn't.
Later, I learned her name was Elise.
And since that incident, no one dared to meddle with her either.
I felt a little bad.
But it wasn't my fault… so I ignored her.
Still, I could tell—
She was intelligent.
After all her academic scores are better than me..
---