Chrissy and I walked through the noisy corridor. Everyone was busy with their friends and cliques, so they didn't notice me. Which was a relief because I was sticking out too much in the previous timeline.

It was also partly my fault. I thought by sticking out, I would get many friends to cover the loneliness in my heart. So I could forget the problems in my house and all the abuse my dad had done to my mom.

I thought… if I had many friends, I would be happy…

But that wasn't the case. Rather than getting friends, I got enemies instead, or rather what people called 'bullies.'

Maybe I should go on stealth mode from day one, or at least, find a way to make myself not stick out.

But most people in this school had their own friend circles for a long time now, since most of them were in the same junior and even elementary school.

Meanwhile, I was a new girl here. After my mom and dad got divorced due to extreme abuse. I moved away with my mom to my late Grandma's house.

So yes, even my presence was already sticking out.

"Hi, Chrissy. Who is this girl?" Another girl suddenly joined us and then took a good look at me. She raised her brow and then commented, "A new kid? I have never seen her before."

"Yeah, she is my neighbor. She just moved in about three months ago," Chrissy answered. She then pushed me forward to introduce myself.

"M—My name is Emmy…" I nervously introduced myself. But the girl crossed her arms and then hummed for a second.

"Well, at least Chrissy is kind enough to befriend you," she said.

She turned her back and looked over her shoulder, directly talking to Chrissy, "Your new friend doesn't pass my vibe check. She is very down to earth, like a worm."

"Aha—Ahaha… perhaps…" Chrissy laughed awkwardly.

Chrissy glanced at me and distanced herself a bit, "Don't worry about her. She is just like that. Her name is Ashley, by the way."

I noticed Chrissy's distancing herself from me and only grinned thin, "It's fine."

Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.

Yeah, she didn't need to mention that girl's name because I already knew it.

She was Ashley White, the rich kid of this school, even richer than Jessica. She didn't join Jessica's gang, but she acted as if she was high above all, thinking that she had the privilege of stepping on us, the poor ants.

She never physically bullied me, but I still remembered all the ridicule in her eyes and how she didn't ever shy away from calling me a weak girl who had nothing.

Not that I cared about her anyway, she will get what she deserves next year when her father is arrested for money laundering.

Though, I had the urge to watch her break down right in front of my eyes, with the same gaze that she gave me when she knew that I live off of the scholarship money.

We walked to our class and were stopped by a crowd of girls who flocked around with a boy in the middle. The boy stood out because he was more than six feet tall, and also cute.

"Mason, are we in the same class today?"

"Mason, which club did you sign up for? I will follow you!"

"Mason, where will you go after school?"

Mason looked overwhelmed with the flock of girls surrounding him, but he still answered the questions one by one politely.

Since he was the tallest amongst the flock, I could see his face clearly. He had wavy blonde hair with dreamy blue eyes. He wore glasses today, but usually, he would wear contacts whenever he had a photoshoot.

Mason Hall, the most popular guy in the school. Aside from his handsome face, he was nice to everyone, good in everything, and overall just a dreamy man.

Oh, with a sweet smile complete with his dimple.

"S—Sorry, I really have to leave. My class is starting soon," Mason said.

"Aww, Mason, why are you so worried?"

"Yeah, we are here. We can go together," one girl grabbed Mason's arm, and the other followed by grabbing the other arm.

Chrissy and I watched as Mason was dragged to a class by two girls. It looked like he wanted to struggle but was afraid he would hurt the girls.

Looking back at it, I was an idiot for silently crushing on Mason. He was too nice to everyone, and he was a source of trouble.

From the time he had helped me after I fainted, the bullying intensified, ten times worse, and everybody was always looking at me cynically. Rumors popped out that I was trying to force Mason to sleep with me in the infirmary after carrying me.

It was ridiculous, I know.

I stared at Mason's back for a while, and Chrissy suddenly patted my shoulder, "Emmy, do you like him? He is Mason, the uh… hm… he is a model, but he's got a brain. He won a math competition in junior high and was also active in the track and field team."

I knew all that. It was already well known since Mason was so popular with girls tailing him like fangirls, including Chrissy.

Chrissy had been secretly obsessed with Mason for so long, I still remember that she was exposed stealing random stuff from Mason's locker.

I had a moment of pondering in my mind, thinking whether I still had a crush on Mason or not.

And the answer was… yes.

But being too honest wasn't good, especially in front of a crazy fangirl like Chrissy.

I smiled and shook my head, "I'm way out of his league."

The smile on Chrissy's face didn't falter, and she added, "I see, so you do like him. Haha, it's fine, everybody likes Mason. Glad you realized that he is out of your league."