As soon as she entered the classroom, Ivanna looked around. Several students were already chatting, but the person Ivanna was looking for was nowhere to be seen.
"Izora left before me," she mumbled.
"Are you looking for Izora?" Tiara's question startled her.
"Izora's pretty well-known in class, so I know who she is. And from your face, your last name, and the fact that Kak Rayden drove you here earlier, I figured you must be her twin. Am I right?" Tiara explained, earning a faint smile from Ivanna.
"Yeah, I'm her twin."
"Wow, I don't meet twins very often. Can you two read each other's minds?" Tiara's question made Ivanna laugh brightly.
"Even though we're twins, we're still normal human beings, Tiara. There's no way we can read minds or anything like that," she replied as she followed Tiara to sit at the end of the third row, near the window.
"Oh, I thought you could." Tiara grinned awkwardly and scratched her perfectly unitchy neck.
"Compared to telepathy, maybe we're just more ... intuitive? Maybe we understand each other better." Even Ivanna wasn't sure. That was how it worked in the novel, but their strained relationship seemed to contradict it.
"I've always wanted a younger or older sibling. Being an only child isn't very fun," Tiara remarked. She rested her chin on one hand, which was propped on the desk, and looked to the side, toward Ivanna.
Their light conversation continued until Izora's arrival, along with the arrival of the two girls, drew Ivanna's attention. Their eyes met briefly, but Izora quickly looked away and sat at the desk at the far end on the opposite side of the room from Ivanna. Ivanna let out a quiet breath when she saw her and smiled bitterly. Building a relationship with Izora really wasn't easy.
Tiara, who had noticed the interaction between them, looked confused. "Do you two have a problem?" she asked curiously.
Ivanna quickly turned her head. Ah, she'd forgotten to control her expression. Izora wouldn't like it if their bad relationship were exposed at school, especially in the classroom.
"Just the usual sibling stuff. You know how siblings the same age tend to fight," Ivanna answered vaguely.
Tiara nodded slowly, believing her. "I didn't know twins could get mad at each other, too." Ivanna laughed when she heard that.
"What siblings the same age don't fight? That's impossible."
As she chatted with Tiara, Ivanna began to feel a little uncomfortable. It was as if someone was watching her. She turned toward the strongest signal, and sure enough, an unfamiliar young man sitting near the entrance was staring at her with an unreadable expression. Ivanna furrowed her brows, and the young man, caught in the act, looked away.
"Tiara, who is that?" Ivanna asked in a half-whisper, discreetly pointing at him.
"Who? Oh, that's our class president. His name is Agam. Do you have a crush on him? A lot of girls liked Agam during MPLS yesterday."
Ivanna's eyes widened. "As if! I don't have a crush on him. I was just curious because he kept looking over here earlier."
Tiara smiled teasingly, making Ivanna shiver a little. "Maybe he's the one who has a crush on you? Ooh, Vanna."
"Huh? Why me? He could have a crush on you, you know. You're here too." Ivanna counterattacked, teasing Tiara with a shy expression that made the girl's cheeks flush.
"W-what are you talking about? There's no way he'd like me," she said bashfully.
Ivanna smiled broadly, even more eager to tease Tiara. It seemed Tiara really was interested in the young man. Well, Ivanna couldn't deny that he was handsome. But his behavior was suspicious. Besides, he had never appeared in the novel.
You know, Ivanna loved that novel dearly. She had read it several times back when she often spent her time in her room because her condition kept getting worse every day. That was why Ivanna knew every character by heart. Yet someone named Agam had never appeared in the novel, not even once.
Was he an utterly insignificant supporting character, so unimportant that he was never even mentioned?
The sound of the bell ringing through the electronic speaker in the corner of the room shattered her reverie. Not long afterward, a young woman in her twenties entered the room with a friendly smile. She introduced herself as Miss Ana, their homeroom teacher.
"Class, today we're going to meet a classmate who couldn't attend MPLS yesterday because of health problems. Ivanna, come on up front."
Ivanna immediately stood and went to the front of the whiteboard. She smiled warmly at the other students. Many of them whispered while looking at her, then glanced at Izora, who was staring out the window.
"Everyone, quiet down for a moment!" Miss Ana ordered, silencing them. "Go ahead, Ivanna." The girl smiled and nodded before facing the class again.
"Hi, everyone. Let me introduce myself. My name is Ivanna Razaputra. You can call me Vanna. I hope we can become good friends," she said in a cheerful voice and with an equally cheerful expression.
"Does anyone want to ask Ivanna a question?" Miss Ana's question prompted a great many students to raise their hands. "Wow, it looks like Ivanna's already attracting a lot of attention, huh?" Ivanna could only chuckle awkwardly.
"Are you Izora's twin?" asked a girl with long hair.
"Hey, why are you asking something that's obvious? Can't you see for yourself? They're practically identical, like two halves of a split betel nut. The only difference is their haircuts." Another student objected to the girl's question.
"I just wanted to make sure!"
Ivanna smiled faintly before answering. "Yeah, I'm Izora's twin." Ivanna glanced at Izora, but the girl didn't react at all.
"Do you have a boyfriend?" asked a male student, prompting cheers from the others.
"Aldo the playboy is making his move!"
"Watch out, Vanna. Aldo's a certified playboy! The real deal!"
"What the heck? I was just asking," Aldo protested, looking slightly annoyed and embarrassed.
"I don't have a boyfriend, and I don't plan on getting one," Ivanna answered, drawing laughter from the class. More specifically, mocking laughter aimed at Aldo.
"Ouch, rejected right away!"
"That's your rejection signal, Aldo. Just back off! Hahaha."
Ivanna laughed softly along with the classroom's uproar. It felt nice to enjoy a moment like this.
"I have a question." Ivanna's attention shifted toward an unexpected figure. She was slightly surprised to discover who the voice belonged to.
"Why are you going to school here? Why not somewhere else?" Vania asked, staring sharply at Ivanna. She was Izora's close friend, one of the few people who knew that Izora had a twin—and also knew how much Izora hated her twin.
"Vania! Why would you ask your classmate something like that?" Miss Ana scolded.
"I'm not her friend, Miss. And I don't want to be friends with her," Vania replied hostilely.
"Vania, enough." Mita, another of Izora's friends, reprimanded her. But Vania didn't give up. She continued staring at Ivanna as if demanding an answer.
If Ivanna had been her old self, she might have taken the bait. But the Ivanna she was now wasn't like that. She had a great mission in this world, one far more important than Vania's hostility. She wasn't going to get angry over something this trivial.
"Vania, you've gone too far." Ivanna turned toward Miss Ana, then smiled sweetly.
"It's okay, Miss. I'll answer her," Ivanna said confidently.
She stared intently at Vania, as if challenging her right back. "I came to this school because I have a great mission to carry out."
Everyone was stunned by her words, including Miss Ana. Even Izora, who had seemed indifferent until then, turned toward Ivanna, who was focused on Vania.
Without Ivanna realizing it, someone watched her with a suspicious, searching gaze. As if they knew there was something wrong with Ivanna. Or perhaps with the original Ivanna.
The bell signaling lunchtime rang, ending a lesson that some students had found boring. Once the teacher on duty left, the students put away their writing supplies and hurried out of the classroom.
"Tiara, where are you rushing off to?" Ivanna asked, confused as she watched Tiara hurry away anxiously.
"I-I have to go downstairs, Van. There's something I need to do," she replied nervously. She was clearly hiding something. In fact, Ivanna already knew where the girl was headed.
"Are you going to the cafeteria? Come with me! I don't know where it is yet."
Tiara looked uneasy. She nervously bit her lower lip while glancing out of the classroom.
"But I—"
"Please, Tiara ..." Ivanna put on a pleading face, like a wet puppy.
The girl with the ponytail couldn't hold out any longer. She slowly exhaled, then nodded at her friend's invitation. Ivanna cheered happily. She quickly linked arms with Tiara like an old friend, then headed toward the school cafeteria.
When they reached the second floor, Ivanna could feel Tiara's body growing increasingly tense. They were almost at the stairs leading down to the first floor when a voice interrupted their steps.
"No wonder the servant who's waiting for you never showed up. Turns out she's walking around with her new master." Tiara's body went rigid, and she began trembling in fear. But when Ivanna tightened her hold on her arm, Tiara turned to look. Ivanna smiled at her, trying to calm her down.
Ivanna turned around first and looked at the three girls standing in front of them with a raised chin. When dealing with people who acted like they owned the place, Ivanna had to show her own power too.
"Can I help you?" she asked with a faint smile. The three girls were clearly annoyed, judging by the sharp looks they directed at her.
The girl standing in the middle stepped forward first and looked Ivanna up and down dismissively.
"I have no business with Izora's duplicate. I have business with that loser." She pointed at Tiara, who had lowered her head in fear. "So you can leave."
Ivanna smiled viciously. If anyone deserved to be called a duplicate, it was Izora. Hey, technically, Ivanna was the older sister. She'd come out first, so she wasn't the one doing the duplicating.
"Sorry, but the loser you're talking about isn't here. This girl beside me—" Ivanna raised their linked hands in front of the girl's face, making Tiara stare in shock. "...is my classmate. She's not a servant, a loser, or anything like that. So if you're done talking nonsense, we're leaving now."
Ivanna urged Tiara to turn around, preparing to leave. But a shout from behind interrupted them.
"Hey, you bitch! Are you looking down on me?!" Ivanna lazily rolled her eyes. Why did cheap drama like this always take so long to end? These people were dragging it out way too much.
"Angel, enough. Don't make this a bigger deal than it is. She's Izora's twin. We can't afford to get involved with her." Ivanna heard another girl comment.
"She's right, Angel. It could be bad if this gets back to Kak Rayden. Do you want your image ruined in front of Kak Rayden and Kak Liam?"
Ivanna's lips unconsciously formed an O. So Angel was interested in the handsome student council upperclassmen? Ha, Ivanna felt like laughing at them. Couldn't they see it? The two men clearly had those girls completely under their spell, and they were both part of the student council's inner circle.
The girl called Angel clicked her tongue in annoyance. "Fine! Hey, Servant! I'll let you off this time, but next time, I'll destroy you. Remember that!"
"Under Article 368 of the Criminal Code, that threat could land you in prison." Ivanna spun around, leaving Angel frozen at her words. The girl smiled crookedly as she folded her arms across her chest, enjoying the tense look on Angel's face. Her raised brow only strengthened the intimidating impression, though it was hard to maintain with such sweet features.
Ivanna casually pulled out her phone, then gave Angel a playful look. "So, could you repeat that? I want to use it as evidence," she said brightly, making Angel and her two friends shudder.
The other students watching them clicked their tongues in admiration. Maybe they thought Ivanna was cool, and Ivanna was thoroughly enjoying her role at the moment.
"W-what a weirdo!" Angel shrieked before running away. Ivanna giggled at the sight and gave her a little mocking wave.
Whispers praising Ivanna's actions could be heard, making the girl gloat inwardly. Apparently, cheap drama like this could be pretty entertaining when you took it a little seriously.
"Ivanna ... you're so cool," Tiara said, smiling emotionally beside her.
Ivanna gripped Tiara's shoulder firmly, sharing her courage with her. "It's not just me. You can do it too, Tiara. See? They can't do anything when you stand up to them, right? You can fight back too," she explained encouragingly.
"But ... I don't have power like you do, Van. I don't have anyone backing me up," Tiara added, putting herself down.
Ivanna raised one eyebrow. "Who says you don't have anyone backing you up? You have me. You can use me however you want, okay?" The girl formed a circle with her thumb and index finger while holding the other three fingers straight up.
Tiara looked at Ivanna with tear-filled eyes, then suddenly attacked the girl with a hug.
"Huh?" Ivanna was startled by her friend's behavior.
"Thank you, Vanna. You're my best friend," Tiara whined like a little kid. She buried her face against Ivanna's shoulder.
"We've known each other for less than twenty-four hours. It's kind of weird for you to immediately call me your best friend." Tiara shook her head in disagreement.
"Time isn't what determines how close a relationship is. It's the way someone treats you and their sincerity that matters," Tiara remarked as she let go of the hug. Ivanna chuckled softly.
"All right, thanks for thinking of me that way." She patted the top of Tiara's head, earning a blissful smile from the girl.
"Ugh, drama queen." Ivanna's brows drew together when she heard the insult that seemed to be aimed at her. She turned and saw Izora walking past without stopping, followed by Mita and Vania.
Ivanna was sure that had been Vania's voice. The sharp, laser-like glare the girl shot at her confirmed it. Ivanna smiled blandly, though four sharp angles had already formed at the end of her forehead, a sign of her annoyance.
*Be patient. Vania's like that because she loves Izora so much. I can't get mad. I have to stay patient. I am patience, and patience is me.*
Tiara had also heard Vania's remark, but she only looked back and forth between the two girls in confusion. Maybe after a few more days, Tiara would finally understand what was going on between them. Yes, maybe.
To be continued ....