The first period had just ended, and there were still ten minutes before the next teacher arrived to teach. Ivanna intended to use those ten minutes wisely to find out why Tiara was avoiding her.
Yes, Ivanna had only just realized that, after being called several times, Tiara kept ignoring her. She was even avoiding her. Ivanna wouldn't be able to rest easy if Tiara continued giving her the silent treatment.
"Tiara," she called, receiving no response once again.
Tiara's hairstyle was still the same as yesterday. She had tied her long, straight hair into a high ponytail. A few strands had slipped loose from the tie, framing the edges of her face. Since the girl had her head bowed, focused on reading her book, Ivanna had a little trouble reading her expression.
"Tiaraa, don't keep brushing me off." Ivanna tilted her head, but Tiara slowly turned her back on her instead.
Ivanna let out a rough breath, then got up and tapped Tiara on the shoulder, making her jump with wide eyes.
"Va-Vanna? What is it?" she asked with a smile. But the smile was useless because the girl's nervous expression was painfully obvious.
"What did they say to you?" Tiara's brow furrowed, but she was also extremely startled.
"Who? Say what? I-I don't understand what you're talking about. I want to study, Vanna. We can talk later, okay?" Before Ivanna could agree, Tiara had already refocused her attention on her book.
Ivanna frowned in annoyance. "I know Angel and her friends threatened you yesterday, didn't they?" Tiara's eyes flew open. She even reflexively dropped the book in her hands, letting it land on the desk.
"I don't know what they said to you to make you start avoiding me. And it's your choice whether you want to tell me or not—I don't have the right to force you, do I? But, Ra, you only asked me to be best friends yesterday, and today you suddenly decided to avoid me without telling me anything first?" Ivanna fell silent for a moment and glanced around. Fortunately, the other students weren't paying attention to the two of them.
"I don't know what you're afraid of because of their threats either, but I'm serious, Tiara. You can use me. I mean it. I'm on your side, that's for sure. So don't ever think you're alone," Ivanna finished, then returned to her seat.
Not long after that, the teacher came in and started the lesson. Tiara, who had kept her head bowed deeply, wiped away the trail of tears that had run down her cheeks.
"I'm sorry, Vanna," she murmured softly.
"Okay, everyone. We'll meet again next week. See you." After the students said goodbye, Miss Selen left the classroom, allowing them to enjoy their break.
Ivanna turned toward her. "Tia—" Before Ivanna could finish calling her name, Tiara got up and walked away, leaving her behind.
Ivanna frowned. She couldn't let this continue. She had to find out why Tiara had suddenly started avoiding her. Ivanna quickly shoved her books into her bag, then ran toward the door.
Because she was focused on Tiara, Ivanna accidentally bumped into someone who was also trying to leave. As a result, all the textbooks that person was carrying fell to the floor.
"Huh?! S-Sorry, I didn't mean to." Ivanna crouched down and immediately began picking up the books, occasionally glancing outside in the direction Tiara had gone.
She didn't pay attention to the face of the person she'd bumped into. The boy crouched down as well, picking up his textbooks. However, his eyes never left Ivanna. He watched the girl's movements as she appeared restless.
"Here are your books," Ivanna said, holding out the ones she'd gathered. All the while, she kept glancing toward the classroom door.
When the books still weren't taken, Ivanna looked at the person in front of her. And she was incredibly shocked when she realized who it was.
"The class president?"
The boy smiled broadly, revealing a row of teeth. His eyes narrowed until they almost looked closed. "I prefer to be called Agam," he said.
"Ah, sorry." Ivanna smiled awkwardly. This was the first time they'd ever spoken.
Agam took the books, and then the two of them stood up together. "Can I ask you for a favor?" Agam asked, making Ivanna furrow her brow.
"What favor?"
The boy lifted the books in his hands slightly. "Can you take these to the library? I don't think I can carry them all by myself, hehe."
Ivanna was silent for a moment. She glanced outside anxiously a few times, then looked back at Agam, who was staring at her with an imploring expression. Ivanna even bit her lip in confusion before letting out a heavy sigh.
"Okay. Consider it an apology for making your books fall earlier." Agam smiled happily when Ivanna took several of the books from him.
"Thank you," the boy said cheerfully.
Ivanna could meet Tiara later. Hopefully, her friend wouldn't do anything dangerous before Ivanna found her.
So absorbed in her thoughts, Ivanna didn't realize that Agam's fixed gaze had never left her. He wasn't looking at her with admiration or interest, but with a flat stare, as though he wanted to interrogate her. He observed her every movement. Who knew what he was thinking?
"Are you fighting with Tiara?" The question immediately made Ivanna turn toward him in surprise. But once again, the first thing she saw was the boy's wide smile and nearly closed eyes. Could that even be called an eye smile?
"Huh? Ah, it's just a girl thing. Nothing serious," Ivanna replied vaguely. In truth, she was suspicious of this boy too.
Yesterday, he had kept stealing glances at Ivanna. Then he had asked Ivanna to carry the books, even though he could have asked the vice class president or any of the other boys. Well, maybe it was because Ivanna had bumped into him. But now he was also asking bluntly about Ivanna and Tiara's friendship. Wasn't that suspicious? Especially since this boy wasn't a character in the novel Ivanna knew.
Seeing Agam merely nod in response, Ivanna wasn't satisfied. "Why do you ask?" Ivanna questioned, making Agam turn toward her in surprise. Perhaps he hadn't expected her to ask him the same thing.
"No reason. I just wanted to know. As class president, I want to make sure my classmates are doing okay. If there's a problem, I can help smooth things over."
Ivanna wasn't satisfied with the boy's answer. She felt there was another reason behind it. But she couldn't press him, or he would end up suspecting her.
"Oh, we're here." Agam's remark made Ivanna notice her surroundings.
They had arrived without her realizing it. Maybe because they were both suspicious of each other, neither of them had noticed their surroundings.
"You can stop helping here. I'll take the books inside. Looks like you're in a hurry to leave," Agam said, making Ivanna smile bitterly. If he knew she was in a hurry, why had he asked Ivanna for help?
Ivanna wanted to ask him that, but she still had a conscience and had no intention of lingering here. She quickly stacked the books on top of Agam's pile.
"In that case, I'll get going." Ivanna smiled, but before she could turn around, Agam's voice interrupted her movement.
"Thanks for helping me." Ivanna turned back and smiled.
"Sure, no problem." Before she could turn around again, Agam's voice stopped her once more. This time, however, what he said shocked her.
"Tiara was bullied again yesterday." Ivanna's heart pounded. She immediately stared at Agam, urging him with her eyes to explain everything.
But once again, all Ivanna saw was the boy's wide smile and eye smile. For some reason, the more often she saw it, the more uncomfortable she became with the class president's signature smile.
"What do you mean?" Ivanna pressed impatiently.
"I saw Angel and her lackeys drag Tiara to the back garden yesterday. Maybe they threatened her?" Agam shrugged, one brow raised.
"And then what? What did Angel threaten her with?" Ivanna asked, half shouting. She had already guessed that Angel had something to do with the change in Tiara's behavior, but she hadn't expected Tiara to be bullied again yesterday. That hadn't happened in the novel. Tiara had been bullied in public, not in secret. That wasn't Angel's style—her goal was to humiliate Tiara and ruin her image.
No, this was Ivanna's fault from the very beginning. The girl cursed herself. If only she hadn't left Tiara. If only she'd waited until Tiara's taxi arrived. If only she had... Ah, if only Ivanna had been more careful.
"I don't know. I only saw that much, then I went home." Agam's casual statement made Ivanna's eyes widen and her mouth fall open.
"You didn't follow them?!" she snapped unconsciously. Ivanna was furious.
Agam merely put on an innocent expression, as though he'd done nothing wrong. "Did I have to? It's not my business."
Ivanna's jaw nearly dropped when she heard that. She hissed angrily, no longer able to hold back her temper. "What kind of class president are you? You don't care at all about the people in your own class. Pathetic," Ivanna sneered. She immediately turned around and walked away.
"Hey! That information was payment for helping me, okay!" Ivanna didn't want to listen to any more nonsense from that cruel boy.
"How can there be an NPC this cruel in this novel?" Ivanna muttered, her voice thick with irritation.
Now her goal was to find Tiara as quickly as possible. She had to calm the girl down. She must be terrified, Ivanna thought.
Meanwhile, Agam remained rooted to the spot, continuing to stare at Ivanna's shadow as it disappeared around the corridor. The smile had vanished from his lips, leaving only a sharp gaze that seemed capable of flaying anyone to dig out information.
"Very different," he murmured in a deep voice. After that, Agam entered the library to finish his business as class president.
To be continued...