chapter 2-transfer student?
1420 Words
The next day, Jeanine—my best friend and fellow valedictorian candidate—saw Dianne submit my notebook. She recognized it immediately. I didn’t say a word. I just smiled.
"Whatever happens, we’re still friends, okay?" she said. “Being valedictorian doesn’t define who we’ll be in the future. Graduation is just one step toward real life.”
I nodded, touched by her words.
“But seriously, Jane,” she added, frowning. “You’re so stupid when it comes to that freaking sister of yours.”
“I love her, Jean. And no matter what, I’ll accept her for who she is.”
Jeanine rolled her eyes and smacked my arm. She always gets like this when I try to defend Dianne. Understandable—Dianne wasn’t exactly kind to her back in elementary. “Let’s stop talking about your psycho sister. Let’s talk about the new handsome transferee!” she said, giggling. “You missed it, girl. He introduced himself to the class today and guess what? Your sister—flirt of the year—already asked him to have lunch together. Ugh!”
I laughed, covering her mouth with my palm. “Shhh! Don’t forget she’s still my sister. Maybe she’s just trying to make new friends—or find motivation. Who knows? Maybe she’ll finally beat us.” We both burst into laughter. The thought was ridiculous, but funny.
“But isn’t Edward still her boyfriend? That demon who told you he loved you—then ended up dating your sister anyway?”
For a moment, I felt stung... but I didn’t answer. I just smiled at her.
Yeah... I nearly forgot about that...
The boy who once promised me marriage…
Is now hers... and I can't even do anything about it... not if I'm going against my sister's will...
We were about to return to our classroom when I spotted Brian in the hallway—my violin mentor from last summer.
"Brian? Long time no see... What are you doing he—"
Before I could even finish my sentence, he pulled me into a sudden, aggressive hug. I smiled awkwardly, but I felt a wave of embarrassment wash over me. Everyone was watching, and worse, I caught a glimpse of Dianne glaring at me from a distance.
I gently patted Brian’s back and managed a nervous smile.
“S-sorry, Damn it, Denise! I missed you!” he blurted out, using the fake name I once told him.
“It’s Jane now, Bry... That name was just something I made up,” I whispered, cheeks burning with embarrassment.
“I know, Queenie,” he chuckled, pinching my cheek playfully. I turned to Jean, she looked stunned, as if she'd just seen a ghost.
“U-uh Bry, this is Jean... my friend. And hey, you still haven’t answered my question. What are you doing here?”
He pouted, then casually threw an arm over my shoulder, steering me down the hallway—toward our classroom.
“You’re acting weird,” I said, confused.
“I’ll study here, obviously. I heard you're gunning for Valedictorian. Well… bad news for you—I might just steal that spot!” he
laughed.
I smiled weakly. “That’s fine. I’m not the only one running for the top. Jean here wants it too. But… I support you both.”
He paused, staring into my eyes with a strange seriousness—until Dianne suddenly pulled me away. I let her drag me all the way to
the girls' restroom, where she slammed me against the wall.
I bit my lip and didn’t fight back.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing? Ate?” she spat, emphasizing the word like an insult.
“I—”
“Are you that dumb?! Flirting out in front of our classroom like some shameless b***h? Don't you have any idea of what people will say about you?!”
I took a deep breath and stepped back, putting distance between us so I wouldn’t lash out. I didn’t want to say something I’d regret—but this was too much. “Dianne, calm down, okay? Brian and I are just friends—”
“Hell do you think I care?” she snapped pushing me against the wall.
I forced a smile. A fake one.
“Dianne... I said calm down.” I said in a low voice, trying to supress myself.
She was about to throw a hand at me but when I flinched, she smirked. “What, Ms. President? What are you gonna do?”
She always does this—and yet I'll remind myself that she’s still my sister. She’s still good somewhere deep inside. I just don’t know what happened that turned her into this. We used to be so close. I even dropped out of my first year just so I could enroll again and be her classmate until we finish high school together. Mom scolded me. Dad almost disowned me. But when I told them why... they had no choice but to agree.
“Dianne... We should go back. We have class. Let’s stop this nonsense.”
“Nonsense? Screw you. You go if you want—I’ll ditch class. And don’t you dare stop me. If you do, I swear I’ll ruin you.”
I didn’t feel threatened. But I wouldn’t stop her either—even if it means letting her waste another chance to change. I still believe I can help her find her way someday.
I practically ran back to our room and, as I suspected, our teacher had already arrived.
“G-good noon, Ma’am. I’m so sorry, I—”
“It’s alright, Queenie. Take your seat. But where’s your sister?”
I bit my lip and looked down. “Ma’am... she’s not feeling well and she said she couldn’t make it. She really needs to rest...”
Lie!
The teacher gave me a suspicious look and sighed. “Hmm. Take your seat.”
“Liar!” someone suddenly called out.
“H-huh?”
“I saw you. Your demon of a sister dragged you out. And she wasn’t sick—she was smoking right after you left!”
I froze. She's smoking?
“I saw everything from the window,” he added. Outside, Dianne was leaning against the wall, cigarette in her mouth, smirking. She knew I saw her and she was proud of it.
“You’re lucky Ma’am can’t see her or she’d be punished right now,” the guy said, rolling his eyes. “And fix yourself, Queen. You look like you’ve been chased by a ghost.”
I nodded even though my head throbbed painfully. Then I felt Brian walk up behind me. I was about to scold him but he suddenly whispered, “Shh... you have something in your hair?”
I blinked. What is he talking about? I clenched my jaw, ready to protest—"What are you doing with my hair?!”
He had taken off my hair tie!
I frowned at him. “What?! You didn’t even ask.”
“I did,” he said smugly. Despite the heat creeping up my cheeks, I stayed still and let him style my hair. The whole class was watching. Our teacher was giggling. The class was practically swooning. “Done,” he said, like it was nothing. Then he returned to his seat.
I avoided his gaze, burying my eyes in the board.
“Looks like our transferee is already smitten with our school president, huh?” Mrs. Dela Rosa teased.
“N-no, Ma’am... He was just my mentor during summer class. That’s all,” I stammered, but she just smiled knowingly.
“Well, that’s great! You already know each other—what a wonderful start.”
“M-Ma’am, stop~” I whined, pouting.
Class finally resumed. But as expected, Brian stayed competitive. Every time I answered, he had to match it. He’d always
been like that—even back in summer.
He said he enjoyed the challenge whenever I was around. I guess it’s not so bad. He’s weird—but in a good way. Friendly, talkative... manageable.
“Jane,” he whispered, poking me with his pen.
“Hmm?”
He poked me again—harder this time.
“What?!” I snapped, a bit annoyed. “You’re acting like a child! You weren’t like this last summer!”
“I like you.”
I blinked, stunned. I couldn't even bring my self to response... H-he likes me?
- Writer
