A face like that should have been famous in Era City by now. How had they never heard of her?
"I heard she onlysted a few days at Era High before getting expelled," a dissenting voice cut through the murmurs of admiration.
"My cousin goes there. After I heard her name yesterday, I asked around." The student continued, "Skipping ss, fighting, bad grades, terrible attitude... let''s just say she''s got a reputation."
"A problem student? For real?" one student asked, his mouth agape. "If that''s true, why would Salma put her in our ss? What if she affects Queenie?"
Queenie was the first student in Aurora High''s history to rank in the top fifty in the entire state. If she could get into Era University, it would boost the school''s reputation and might even save it from being shut down.
At the mention of her name, Queenie, who had been focused on her work, nced up at the new girl. She looked aloof, with a rebellious streak that suggested she wasn''t to be trifled with. Her looks, her reputation, her past—none of it concerned Queenie. But if she caused trouble that brought shame to Aurora High or disrupted her studies, Queenie wouldn''t hesitate to put her in her ce.
"You''re tall. Is the back row okay for you?" the homeroom teacher asked softly, pointing to an empty seat.
"It''s fine." Juniper nced over and walked to the back, dropping her bag beside the empty desk.
"Hey, new girl."
As soon as she sat down, Qadir crossed his arms and spoke with a hostile tone. "This is Aurora High. You need to keep your head down and not mess with our studies, got it?"
Juniper hadn''t even noticed someone was sitting there. She turned her headzily and her eyes fell on his report card. Every subject marked with a ''F''!
She was speechless. With scores like that, was there even room to get any worse?
"What are you looking at?" Qadir''s heart skipped a beat when he saw her staring. He quickly shoved the report card into his desk, his cheeks flushing. “Just remember, if you cause any trouble and distract Queenie from bringing honor to our school, I''ll..."
So noisy. Juniper couldn''t be bothered. She stood up to throw something away, nudging her chair slightly as she did.
"Whoa!" Caught off guard, Qadir tumbled to the floor with a loud thud.
"Hahaha, Qadir!” The surrounding boys erupted inughter.
The new girl had some personality.
After a morning of ying the model student, Juniper was starving. Given her apparent reputation, no one approached her. Just as she was wondering where the cafeteria was, a girl with a sweet-looking face walked up to her.
"Hi, Juniper. I''m Dolce, the ss president. The teacher asked me to show you to the cafeteria."
Juniper looked up, her gaze falling on Dolce. The girl wasn''t very tall, but her skin was fair, and herrge, bright eyes seemed to sparkle. She spoke in a small, shy voice.
Dolce? The name suited her.
"Sure," Juniper agreed, always happy to follow the promise of food.
"You probably don''t have a meal card yet, do you?" Dolce offered her own. "You can use mine for now."
A meal card? She definitely hadn''t had time for that.
"Thanks, Dolce." Juniper took the card politely and made a beeline for the food counter. "This, this, this... and that, that, and that... I''ll have them all!"
Soon, a tray loaded with arge chicken leg, spicy beef, a bowl of egg soup, a side of eggnt, and three packed bowls of rice was sitting on the table.
Dolce''s expression froze. "Juniper," she whispered, "we can''t possibly eat all of this." The cafeteria staff here were notoriously generous with their portions.
"We?” Juniper held her knife and fork, replying casually, "Dolce, this is my lunch. Do you need me to get yours too?"
Honestly, her normal portion was even bigger, but the cafeteria staff, fearing she would waste food, had refused to give her any more.
She''s going to eat a meal for four all by herself? Dolce''s jaw dropped. She was pretty sure she had misheard.