Chapter 5

Thinking about those weird messages, I noticed they vanished once I wasn't around Sophie anymore.

So, the messages really did follow Sophie wherever she went.

Looking back on today, it was anything but normal. First, Jenny came after me, then I almost got into it with Sophie. If those messages hadn't popped up, I would've totally messed things up.

Remembering all this, I got a bit spooked. Was Sophie even more freaked out than I was back then?

I made up my mind to apologize to Sophie tomorrow.

But I wasn't sure if I'd even get the chance.

*****

The next day, as soon as I walked into class, everyone started giving me strange looks.

No doubt it was because of what went down with Felix and Jenny yesterday. Word must've gotten around. Pretty much everyone knew by now.

When I got to my seat, Felix, my desk mate, snorted dismissively.

After everything that happened yesterday, and having learned from the messages that Felix regularly bullies Sophie, I really didn't feel like dealing with him.

As soon as class started and Jacob walked in, Felix shot his hand up and said to the teacher, "Mr. Wales, I want to change seats."

Felix was so eager, like he couldn't wait for everyone to know we were having beef.

Back when I used to go along with whatever Felix wanted, he was always super happy.

But the second thing didn't go his way; his mood flipped faster than anyone I've ever seen.

He didn't want to sit next to me, and honestly, I wasn't about to deal with him either. I raised my hand as well. "Mr. Wales, I want to change seats too."

Felix protested, "Hey, I called it first. There's a pecking order, you know."

"Alright, everyone, calm down." Jacob Wales was clearly caught off guard. Felix and I used to be on good terms, and now we were both scrambling to change seats.

With both of us insisting, Jacob had to go along with it.

"Felix spoke up first, so he gets to switch seats first," Jacob decided.

Jacob saw me nod, then scanned the classroom, trying to figure out how to arrange Felix's new seat.

Felix jumped in, "I want to sit with Alex."

My eyes drifted over to Alex Quincy. He was currently sharing a desk with Sophie.

Jacob didn't see any problem with it. "Alright, Olivia, you switch with Alex for now."

Alex had already packed up and was ready to move as soon as I got up. Clearly, Felix and Alex had worked this out ahead of time.

I took Alex's seat, and now I was sitting next to Sophie. She didn't look surprised at all.

"Olivia, do you still want to switch seats?" Jacob asked.

Now that I'd fallen out with Felix, most of the class was avoiding me like the plague. Nobody wanted to sit next to me and risk getting on Felix's bad side.

Sophie kept a neutral face, but at least she didn't seem bothered by me. I said, "No need to switch."

After I sat down and saw that Sophie didn't seem bothered, I finally relaxed. But then, the messages popped up again.

[What is Felix even thinking, making our precious Sophie sit with that villain Olivia? Olivia literally tried to hit her yesterday.]

[It's all Olivia's fault. She hasn't let Sophie stand up for herself. Now Sophie goes along with whoever sits next to her.]

[Neither Alex nor Olivia is any good. We're waiting for Vincent to come and be Sophie's desk mate.]

[Don't worry, Vincent's transferring in tomorrow. He'll be sitting with Sophie soon.]

[Vincent's the only one who actually supports and trusts Sophie.]

Seeing the messages mention yesterday, I glanced at Sophie. She really was the heroine. She had a real class.

After all, I almost got into a fight with her yesterday, and we were sort of rivals in love before.

But today, sitting right next to me, Sophie didn't show any sign of being annoyed.

If she was upset, she didn't let it show, which honestly made me feel a bit better.

The way things were supposed to go, Sophie should be sitting next to Vincent.

But Vincent hadn't transferred in yet. Once he showed up tomorrow, I'd let him have my spot. It was really not a big deal.

Sitting next to Vincent might actually help Sophie awaken for real.

If she needed me to be the catalyst for her awakening, that was pretty sad for her, and honestly, it was rough for both of us.

"Hey." I hesitated for a bit, then finally said, "I wanted to say sorry for yesterday."

Sophie glanced up, looking puzzled. "Huh? What do you mean?"

"I almost hit you yesterday," I said, my voice fading. "I was all over the place then, so..."

"You said you almost did, but you didn't actually hit me," Sophie said.

Honestly, if those messages hadn't appeared, I might've actually done something to hurt Sophie.

I couldn't even imagine what I would've done if those messages hadn't stopped me.

"I don't hold it against you," Sophie said, looking totally unfazed. She paused, almost like she was about to say something else. "Anyway..."

"Huh? What were you gonna say?" I pressed.

"Forget it," she shrugged.

Sophie didn't overthink what happened yesterday. She took my apology in stride.

I let it go and didn't press her to say anything more.

[Olivia doesn't seem so bad. At least she knows how to say sorry.]

[Saying sorry is nice and all, but let's not have a repeat of yesterday, okay?]

[Hope she's actually sincere. I really don't want to see Sophie get treated unfairly again.]

"I'm being sincere," I said, responding to the messages and looking at Sophie.

"I trust you," Sophie replied.

Sophie nodded, not making a big deal out of it, then tilted her head and asked, "But why did you touch me twice yesterday?"

I suddenly remembered that after I got kicked out yesterday, I tried to trigger Sophie's awakening by touching her, and even ended up rubbing her face.

I got really nervous and mumbled, "Uh, well, that was, I mean..."

Sophie didn't know anything about the whole awakening stuff, and there was no way I could mention it.

After hesitating for ages, I finally said, "I thought you were cute. Seriously, I couldn't help myself."

Sophie started laughing.

Sophie was already gorgeous, but when she laughed, her eyes crinkled with happiness, shining so bright, and those dimples made her look even more adorable.

I had no idea what the messages were saying. Her smile was all I could focus on.

Near the end of the day, Jacob gave back the tests we took yesterday.

Jacob looked pleased as he announced, "Olivia came in first again. And second place goes to..."

I checked my test. My scores were still as good as ever.

As long as I stayed out of trouble, I wouldn't get expelled. If I kept working hard, I could change my fate with what I learned.

Jacob was handing out the tests one by one, but Sophie's name still hadn't been called for ages.

I never really paid attention to Sophie before, so I had no clue what her grades were like.

After almost everyone else had gotten theirs, Sophie finally received her test.

I happened to glance over and saw she'd only gotten a low grade on her math test. Did Sophie do badly this time?

I couldn't help but peek at her test, trying to figure out which questions she got wrong.

The fifth multiple-choice was a total no-brainer. Did Sophie not even know the formula? And she missed the next one, too. Did she skip over the instructions or something?

Sophie waved her hand in front of my eyes, teasing, "Hey, what are you looking at? Are you peeking at my test paper?"

I shook myself out of it. "The questions were pretty easy this time. I wanted to see which ones you missed."

"Easy?" Sophie repeated.

Right after I said it, I realized I might've sounded a bit insensitive.

Sure enough, the messages started rolling in right away.

[Yeah, we get it, Olivia's good at studying, but does she need to brag about it?]

[Sophie used to have great grades, too, but Felix totally held her back.]

[Once Sophie finally wakes up and stops liking Felix, Vincent will help her out, and her grades will get better. Who does Olivia think she is?]

[Olivia's smart. Maybe she could teach Sophie, so Sophie can get better at studying.]

[If Olivia's acting this nice, can we even call her the villainess anymore?]

"I've really changed for good now, no more messing things up," I muttered.