While everyone still had at least half of their plates full, Elena had already finished up with her meal. It was rather remarkable considering how much she stuffed her plate in the first place. Perhaps it was because she grew up as an orphan that she eats as if someone will take it away.

When she lifted her eyes from the table, Maya noticed Keith sneaking up behind Elena and covering her eyes with his hands. It was rather cute, but Elena wasn’t surprised in the slightest because Maya’s look had already given him away.

“You’re shit at sneaking, Keith,” Elena said, and he leaned over to kiss her. “I could feel your dazzling aura all the way from across the room.”

“I tried my best. There’s no fooling your beastly instincts.”

“Beastly, you say? Is that what you would call the one you love and adore?”

“I guess calling a kitten beastly would be an overstatement,” he chuckled.

Seeing grumpy Elena suddenly being lovey-dovey with her boyfriend was a striking contrast.

“Hi, guys. Do you mind if I steal this one for a moment?” he asked the rest of them.

“You need to pay for her, first,” Andrea joked.

“She’s my pimp. Better pay her up,” Elena laughed.

“How much do you ask for her?” Keith played along.

“A million dollars.”

“That’s going to take me a while to count,” he said, smiling.

“You can take her for free if you promise you’ll both come to my party this Saturday.”

“What kind of party?” Keith asked, seemingly reluctant. He must be receiving so many invitations.

“Just a party. To celebrate the beginning of our education at magic school. I call it: Yay, we’re witches, bitches.”

The lunch table squad laughed.

“You’ve got yourself a deal,” Keith said with a grin, and they departed.

“Andrea,” Sarah said, clearly annoyed. “Are you going to invite everyone under the sun?”

“Yeah. That’s the point of having a party — making friends,” Andrea pointed out. “I’m already counting you, and you are going,” she said to Maya and smiled.

“But you didn’t have to invite Elena,” Sarah persisted in her complaints.

“Why not? She’s popular.”

“No. She’s unpopular,” Sarah corrected her. “There’s a big difference.”

Maya stared from one to another, trying to discern the source of Sarah’s hostility to the idea. In the end, she asked:

“Why do you hate Elena so much?”

Sarah looked at her like she just heard a cockroach speak.

“Sheesh…” Leo leaned back in a chair with his hands behind his head as if he were in a theatre watching a drama unfold. “Maya, you couldn’t have ventured into a better group.”

“Did I say something wrong?” Maya asked.

Andrea sighed. “She’s just in looove with Keith.”

“ANDREA!” Sarah was outraged.

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“What? We all are. He’s the hottest guy in the school. Calm your nerves. You don’t need to be so but-hurt all the time,” Andrea defended herself. “Seriously. What’s with you today?”

“How are you so sure he’s the hottest? I mean, it’s the first day of school,” Maya tried to loosen up the situation.

“I’m sure. Look around you. There’s no one as delicious as him,” Andrea said with a wide grin as she clasped her hands.

“Ugh,” Leo interjected.

“I don’t see what you girls see in him. He probably spends more time in front of a mirror than any of you,” Isaac commented.

“My guy understands,” Leo said, attempting to pat Isaac on the shoulder.

Maya was trying hard not to be distracted by Leo.

“I appreciate when a guy puts effort into his appearance. And Keith’s posterior is quite appealing,” Andrea sighed dreamily and giggled.

“Good Lords!” Sarah exclaimed. Unable to bear the conversation any longer, she abruptly stood up and stormed off.

People were leaving the cafeteria little by little. Soon, Isaac and Linda excused themselves and Maya was left alone with Andrea. Maya wondered if those two were an item. They seemed close.

“Sarah used to be Elena’s roommate,” Andrea explained casually. “That’s why there’s some tension between them.”

“Oh, that explains a lot,” Maya said, appreciating Andrea’s clarification. “What happened between them?” she asked curiously.

“You know,” Andrea talked while stuffing her mouth with desserts, “it’s hard to be the one who tries so hard with appearance and being liked, while living with someone like Elena—who doesn’t try but still succeeds.”

Maya could sympathize. It wasn’t pleasant to admit, but Maya was envious of Elena’s effortless beauty. Especially since she got to see up close how little regard she gives it. It should be noted that Sarah also looked incredible. Those two opposites, Maya would say, are the most attractive girls she met in her life.

This school was full of pretty people, and those two standing out among them spoke volumes.

While Sarah was a typical ‘pretty’ girl — blonde with sparkling amber eyes, slender build, conscientious about her makeup and hair not having a spec out of place — Elena looked like she stumbled into looking so great. Two vertically placed beauty marks under Elena’s eye were quite memorable and a constant reminder her face needed no foundation.

Sarah’s face seemed to follow the formula of the golden ratio, each feature harmonizing in spotless symmetry. But Elena’s face had a captivating quality despite her brilliant blue eyes almost being too big for her face.

Sarah’s cute white and pastel pink outfit, carefully picked to abide by academy rules, seemed like something Maya would soon see other girls imitating. And, although Elena’s fashion sense wasn’t for everyone, she could probably pull off even a plastic trash bag.

It was a quality some people possessed, which Maya had long tried to decipher. Both invoked feelings of envy and admiration. Thinking about it left Maya with a sudden urge to readjust her wild curly hair and remembered every spot and unwanted blemish on her face.

‘Are those two even teenagers?’

Maya sighed. “Elena doesn’t seem to be particularly popular, and Sarah wasn’t exactly going out of her way to befriend me.”

Andrea pondered for a moment. “I guess a friend of your enemy is your enemy as well…?”

Maya gave her a questioning look. But it seemed Elena did cast a wide effect area for people’s dislike and Maya simply got caught inside of it.

“I can’t say with certainty what happened between them, since I arrived a little later,” Andrea began, “but Keith seems to be at the heart of their animosity. They both had eyes for him and it led to numerous fights. I heard it got so intense that it kept the entire dorm awake at night.”

Andrea got distracted for a moment before continuing.“Eventually, Sarah requested Elena to be removed from the room. They relocated Elena to a large room in the attic of Delta Major House. It’s practically a penthouse. Needless to say, that probably didn’t sit well with Sarah. Elena just seems to have a knack for things working out in her favour.”

She was quick to add, “Don’t take this as me talking behind her back. I enjoy hanging out with her. But, she can be quite dramatic at times…”

It seems Sarah won the case to kick Elena out of the room, but then Elena got rewarded in return; with both a bigger room and a boyfriend. That would be infuriating.

“So, Elena having a roommate before was true…” Leo said, listening to their conversation intently. “Although falling out over a boy sounds boring…”

“…So, how did you end up hanging out with the lone queen Elena?” Andrea’s question returned Maya from the plain where she began finding herself relating to Sarah a little.

“Oh, I’m her roommate.”

Andrea dropped the fork she was eating with, along with her jaw.

“NO WAY. You’re living in that huge room? You got to tell me what it’s like.”

“Um… I don’t really know what other rooms are like to compare it,” Maya felt useless. It was a cool room, but they all could be, as far as she knows.

“Oh my gosh! We absolutely have to move our party to your room!” Andrea exclaimed enthusiastically.

“Er… I don’t think Elena will agree to that.”

“She agreed to come. I don’t see the problem,” Andrea said, still enthusiastic about her proposal.

“Then… I’ll try to arrange it,” was all Maya could respond.