Chapter 3
The crowd fell silent again, all eyes shifting toward the speaker. Another student spoke up, “I saw it too. It was during the school field trip. But because it happened so fast, no one managed to film it.”
“So, Natalie actually saved Jasmine from a snake bite? Have we all been blaming her wrongly this whole time?” The tide turned instantly as students began whispering to one another.
“Hah, Jasmine, say something!” Mia asked her. “Why did the story turn into her bullying you?”
Jasmine’s face turned pale for a moment. She leaned into my father’s side, her eyes brimming with tears as she said, “I… I don’t know either. I didn’t see the snake. I was in so much pain from the fall that I didn’t have time to look around.”
“Liar!” Mia barked. “You framed Natalie. Otherwise…”
“Enough!” Jason pushed her back, stepping in front of Jasmine to protect her. “Mia, you’re Natalie’s best friend. You’re always together, so of course you’d take her side. You don’t have any evidence, so stop slandering Jasmine. Besides, Natalie is stubborn. Maybe she just wanted to catch that snake as a toy and had no intention of saving Jasmine.”
His defense was so absurd that even as a ghost, I had to let out a hollow laugh. How could he come up with something so delusional just to protect Jasmine? And as for me, in his eyes, am I really such a terrible person?
Mia crossed her arms, not bothering to hide her disgust as she clicked her tongue, “Jason, oh Jason, what a waste of all the kindness Natalie showed you. She was exhausted enough from working part-time to earn money, yet she still made time to tutor you. Because you always picked the hardest problems to ask, she had to stay up all night to solve them just so she could teach you. Do you think your rank as the top student in school happened naturally? It didn't. It was all thanks to her. Without her, you’d be nothing!”
Jason’s face immediately flushed red, as if he had just been slapped. The other students standing outside began to buzz with excitement.
“Oh my god, so they were that close before? Didn’t Natalie always sleep in class? Was she really that smart?”
“She’s naturally brilliant. She slept in class because she was overworked from her part-time job. Later on, because Jason kept causing trouble for her, her grades dropped,” a classmate of mine explained.
“Gosh, then why did Jason side with Jasmine and start hating Natalie?” someone wondered.
“Right. I heard they used to like each other, they were practically dating, but Jason changed after Jasmine moved into their class.”
I looked toward Jason, also waiting for an explanation. We had known each other since middle school. In the 10th and 11th grades, we were in the same class and grew even closer. Those were the beautiful days of youth. I thought he liked me too. However, in the 12th grade, when Jasmine, the school’s rising belle, transferred into our class, he changed. To be precise, it was after the time I shoved her to avoid the snake.
He gradually took her side. I even heard rumors that I was a delinquent who hung out with bad crowds, all spread by him.
Why exactly did a kind, simple person like him change so much?
Was it because Jasmine was beautiful, a daughter of the famous Larson family, and so gentle and lovely that he fell for her?
“I didn’t change, it was Natalie who changed!” Jason snapped, his eyes full of hatred but also a hint of grievance. “She relied on her intelligence and the teachers' praise to look down on others. She didn't just bully Jasmine, she even told her delinquent friends to beat me up. Have you all forgotten?”
“If she didn’t want to be friends with me anymore, she could have just said so,” he continued resentfully, his face turning red with a mix of anger and humiliation. “But no, she badmouthed me to her friends. Then they blocked my way and beat me up. They said I was… a pathetic loser who was always begging for her pity, and told me to stop bothering her.”
I was stunned. What was he talking about? When did I ever badmouth him to my friends? I never told them to beat him, either. My friends might have been rebellious, but they were honorable people who wouldn't act so irrationally. Furthermore, that time Jason was beaten by a group of thugs…
“There must be a misunderstanding. Natalie was the one who saved you that day,” Mia corrected him. “Those thugs weren’t her friends. She was the one who fought them until her own arm was broken. Maybe you didn't know because you fainted, but didn’t you see her coming to school the next day with a brace and bandages?”
That was right. I remembered that day. I had called my group of friends for help, but they didn't arrive in time. To stop those thugs, I took a blow from a club to my right arm. The pain was so intense I blacked out. By the time I woke up, someone had already taken Jason away.
Because of that injury, I couldn't go to my part-time job, and my grades suffered. Yet, rumors spread that I was a delinquent who got into fights with bad crowds and that's how it happened.
Jason’s handsome face turned pale, a flicker of panic appearing in his eyes. He grabbed Mia’s shoulders, pressing her, “Is that really true? But why… why didn’t she tell me?”
Then he slumped against the wall, muttering as if to reassure himself, “No. That’s not right. Jasmine was clearly the one who helped me home that day. She was the one who saved me…”
“Are you an idiot? Does Jasmine even know how to fight?” Mia sneered. “She’s a weak little socialite. She faints before anyone even touches her!”
“Shut up! You are not allowed to mock my sister!” Kyler barked at her, laughing coldly. “You’re Natalie’s friend, so you’re just taking her side. Let me tell you, she was an expert at playing the victim. She hired people to beat Jason herself, then pretended her arm was broken to deceive him. Our family has endured this for a long time to protect Jasmine’s reputation, but today, since you are all still blinded by her, I’ll tell you everything.”
“Brother, don't. Everyone has already been tricked by her. She’s strong, so everyone likes her and mocks my weakness. If you say it now, they’ll only hate me more,” Jasmine sobbed, clutching Kyler’s arm.
“You silly girl, it’s because you’re always so submissive that she keeps pushing you!” Kyler scolded her affectionately, then turned back to the crowd. “Three months ago, Natalie sent people to kidnap Jasmine. They almost violated her. Luckily, we arrived in time to save her.”