I’m currently on a predicament right now. There are two girls sitting on both of my sides while we eat lunch. I sighed, how did this happen? I’m perfectly content on how I eat alone at a table on the corner of the cafeteria. Though I often get targeted by pitying gazes and gossiping, I don’t really care about them as long as they won’t create trouble for me.

Since when did I become so popular? I laughed inside, who am I joking? Jokes aside, this predicament is undoubtedly making me gather unwanted attention, and I doubt it will stop anytime soon.

Lean just transferred yesterday and is still a hot topic among the student body. A noble like presence always attracted the attention of common folks that is practically everyone here. Plus, it’s always a factor that she is the only heiress of the biggest business corporation all over the country.

What qualification did I have to talk to her? What did I do to make her approach me? Didn’t she and I just argue yesterday? Their eyes were telling it all, they want answers, they’re just too afraid to ask since Lean is still here. Speaking of the one that caused this problem, Lean was gracefully eating her lunch, completely oblivious to what is happening around her.

To be honest, I didn’t think that she will eat at the school cafeteria. I thought she has a private chef alongside with her and she will eat lunch on a separate fancy room. Who knew that she will order commoner food and eat alongside with commoners.

“I never knew that this kind of cheap foods in the cafeteria tasted good. I guess it’s passable compared to the cookings of our chefs back at home.” Lean finally talked after she wiped her mouth with a napkin, finishing her meal at last.

Let me remind you that what she called ‘cheap foods’ was the most expensive lunch set in the cafeteria. From the looks of it, some extra orders like extra chicken, a salad side dish and a parfait dessert were added, so it’s probably much more expensive than the usual price.

I looked at her with a look mixed with annoyance and disbelief. What’s her purpose of coming here? Considering the case yesterday, I thought of several reasons, it’s just that I never expected that she will act this way. At an obvious manner as well, I thought that she will keep approaching me in a discreet manner, as she has her reputation to keep up as well.

“What are you looking at?” She was a little bit embarrassed. I don’t know why, but it was probably because it was her first time eating what she called ‘commoner food’. I didn’t reply as I thought it will branch into something that will cause great trouble.

I turned my head towards Bel, which just finished her meal. I’ve been trying to ask for some explanations through eye contact for some time now, but every time our eyes met, she will in turn, quickly avert it, looking flustered and all. I raised an eyebrow, I’m confused right now. What the heck is going on?

Just as I was wondering what to do next, Lean broke the silence once again.

“Can I ask a question? Are you two dating? You always look at each other during classes and there is also yesterday, at the rooftop.” I immediately froze. So she did saw. Things can get pretty nasty if someone else heard that. Fortunately, we are sitting in an isolated corner of the cafeteria and she was speaking in a soft manner. I glared at her to send her a message that she touched upon a sensitive topic and shouldn’t ask further.

Receiving my gaze, she went silent. She furrowed her brows and she seemed to ponder about something. I don’t have time for her right now. I shifted my head towards Bel, our cover has been blown, well at least half of it. It isn’t impossible for them to link this information to something else. We have to do something about this.

Bel is acting strange though. Her face was red and was flustered all over. She was awfully silent. I wonder what is wrong? I have a feeling that she was embarrassed because she messed up my order to her. I don't mind though, it's just that it gets troublesome if people knew. Right now, we need to focus on what’s in front of us. If she didn’t wake up and explain this situation, things will get messy. I immediately nudged her foot under the table and that apparently woke her up for whatever is making her flustered.

“Ms. Coleman, I’m sorry but Mr. Elliot and I aren’t in a relationship like you thought, we are just acquaintances.” Bel tried to explain. Too weak though, that isn’t enough for an explanation, I need to support her excuse somehow. I have a feeling she will bring that up.

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“Is that so? I never heard of acquaintances having lunch together on the rooftop, alone, and acting overly familiar with each other as well.” She strongly emphasized some words in what she just told. She had to bring that up, of course, it's the strongest proof she has on the moment. As for why she was overly eager to expose us? I don't know as well. She probably has something in mind for that.

“You have been mistaken, Ms. Coleman. I invited Ms. Mejia yesterday for lunch and she accepted. We ate at the rooftop yesterday and casually talked to each other. I didn't realize that simply getting to know each other better can be interpreted as ‘being overly familiar with each other’. Also, Ms. Mejia is correct, we're just acquaintances, I suppose we aren't close enough to be called friends yet.” I copied her and strongly emphasized on some words in what I just told. To make it much more believable, I added a little bit of emotion at the end.

As the saying goes, ‘a bluff has power because it's a pinch of a lie mixed with the truth’. A half-assed lie would be exposed immediately, especially in the eyes of an expert.

She stared intently at us, she seemingly doesn't want to finally let it go, but I deceived her enough that she stopped questioning further. I sighed in relief. I glanced back at Bel to check how she's doing but apparently, she went back to her spaced out self. She was looking at me and was thinking of something. I thought that my acting skills were so great that I even deceive her, but I immediately scraped the thought as it sounds illogical. I need to, however, end this quick before it turns out into a greater mess.

Just as I was thinking of an excuse so I can escape away from here, Lean once again said something. This time, it felt like she's looking for trouble.

“Yes you're right, I think it's impossible for someone to like this gloomy and bad mouthed person. I tried to approach him yesterday because I want to ask something and he just brushed me off like some arrogant brat. Also, I've been hearing rumors that he's a loner and he has a bad attitude. I guess you should have thought twice before you had accepted his request. I suggest you stay away from him from now on as nothing will come out good when he’s involved.” She started slandering me without reason. She said that nonstop and with a straight face too.

How can you bad mouth a person with a straight face? Moreover, the person you are talking about is right beside you! How impolite this girl is, I thought. Well, it's not like she's the first one to do that. You don’t know how some maids and butlers cannot control their tongues and just have to say it out loud. It happens on a daily basis so I’m kind of immune to it. I don't want to dig my grave deeper than it is now. I just thought it was strange however, there must be a reason for her to do that.

I shrugged off my shoulders, brushing it off. I'm not going to fall for such an obvious trap. I was going to stand and leave when I saw Bel. Her warm and gentle feeling is gone and the way she stares at Lean, it was dark and fierce. How scary! Note to self: never make Bel angry.

As I was making heads of the situation, Bel retorted. “Excuse me? On what basis did you assume that Mas-, I mean, Mr. Elliot is a bad person? I never thought Ms. Coleman is a type of person that judges a person based on appearance and a couple of encounters. Let me tell you that Mr. Elliot was very kind to me yesterday and did not seem like a bad person to me.” As every word that Bel said, her voice gets higher and higher. She even stood up from her seat.

I tried to calm her down as her little outrage silenced the whole cafeteria. Everyone is looking at us, dumbfounded. We're now the center of attention. I hate this. People started whispering to each other. They didn't bother to keep it low as I can hear it clear as day.

“Hey isn't that Bel and the transfer student from Class 1?”

“Yeah, they seemed to be arguing over something.”

“I somehow heard their argument, it seemed that Ms. Coleman said some bad things about Kane and Ms. Mejia got worked up! It seems Kane and Bel are close.”

“They're fighting over that gloomy guy? What's in him that they see anyway?”

Those gossipers. I'm getting irritated by this. I'll have a talk with Bel once we get back home.

“It seems that you care dearly for your, acquaintance.” Crap, so she was just testing us. I let my guard down thinking it was over. This girl is tricky. Fortunately this time, Bel was quick to recover and realized the mistake she has done. She calmed down and returned to her seat.

“I'm sorry for raising my voice. I was just annoyed by the fact that you've slandered him clearly knowing that he's right beside you and can hear you clear as day. I also cannot forgive the fact that you've judged him based on his appearance and baseless rumors. I deeply apologize for everything.” Bel apologized both at Lean and me and bowed at us afterward. She quickly left afterward, it's a good thing though, as I thought things will get worse if she stayed.

Now that I thought about it, Bel was always at my side. Of course, she also hears some of the servant's snide comments about me. I also heard that she always talk to the ones giving off the side comments. Maybe her professionalism as a maid slipped out when she heard Lean slandering me. With that in thought, I decided to let her go. She's doing it for me anyways and I appreciated that.

I stared at Lean wondering what she will do next. Surprisingly, she didn't do anything and quickly left, pondering over something. Well, if they just did that in the first place, this will not happen! I decided to go to the nurse office to play the ‘my stomach hurts’ card as an excuse to skip class. No way I'm dealing with the aftermath of this situation! Better let it die on its own.