31 Seri Starts to Gossip

The next morning, Lona came in to change me as usual. As she struggled to zip up my dress, I felt as if she was trying to strangle me.

"Why won't this zip up? Surely you couldn't have gained so much weight overnight!?"

I felt a tear at the corner of my eye. Last night Mama O gave me several desserts to eat. I must have ate my entire body weight in sweets. I can't tell Lona that though.

"It's because I'm growing, Lona."

"Perhaps growing outwards."

*sob*

She managed to zip up the dress. I waddled around feeling as if I would die from lack of air.

She sighed, "I will have to tell your father that you need more clothes. You'll just have to deal with it for now."

"But I can't breathe Lona! And I look like a penguin!"

"Well then I guess it's time to put you on a diet. No more sweets."

"How can you be so cruel?!"

I went to my desk drawer and pulled out my lucky necklace. I need this more than ever. I went to put it on, but was stopped by Lona.

"You can't wear something so expensive to school!"

"But-"

"No buts. You will lose it."

I succumbed to Lona and put it back. After we got to school, I waddled to class feeling like a sumo wrestler. Ah, I'm such a disgrace. Can I just hide in embarrassment?!

William was surprised to see me walk to class willingly.

"Oi, are you okay? Are you sick or something?"

"No." I whined.

"Did you hit your head again?"

"Don't make fun of me today. I'm not in the mood."

I'm too proud to cry in public.

I walked into my classroom and buried my head in my desk. Millie looked at me curiously but didn't say anything. I sat through the rest of my class silently crying.

At the lunch table I stared at my food glumly. For some reason I'm not very hungry today.

All three of them stared at me in shock. They all wanted to say something but didn't want to be the first one to talk. Millie glanced at Dante and Dante glanced at William. William quickly shook his head. Dante jabbed his elbow into William's side.

He groaned and held his side, "Seri. Don't you want to steal my cake today?"

He pushed the plate to me and I hissed. He flinched.

"Get that poison away from me!!"

"P-poison?!" He looked at Dante, "Did someone try to poison us again?!"

Dante sighed and facepalmed. He looked to me, "Why don't you want to eat anything?"

My lip trembled, "Isn't it obvious?!" All three of them quickly shook their heads. I sobbed, "I'm a godd*mn penguin!" I slammed my head into the table.

"P-penguin?" William looked to Dante, "What's a penguin?" Dante shrugged. They didn't know this type of animal.

Millie rubbed my back, "It's okay. We don't think you look like a penguin."

I groaned and lifted my head, "No. I do. I need to make some serious life changes."

Dante asked, "Life changes?"

"Yes. For instance I need to stop eating so much cake."

William snickered, "Yeah right."

I glared at him. Dante spoke, "Do you think you are gaining weight? Is that what this is about?"

I cried, "Yessss! Can't you tell? Lona could barely get my dress on this morning."

He sighed and shook his head, "Did you happen to eat a bunch of sweets last night before bed?"

I giggled, "Maybe."

"Then you shouldn't worry. Every time you eat too many sweets you always look chubbier. It will go away soon. It always does."

He was so confident I couldn't help but believe him. I paused, "Wait. How do you know that?!"

He glanced to his right refusing to meet my eyes, "Lona pointed it out to me."

Lona did? I guess that makes sense. Wait. Does that mean they are talking about me behind my back?!

"When did you talk to Lona?!"

Dante quickly changed the topic, "So how is it going with Lona? Is she still mad at you?'

I fell for it, "Not too much. I got my father to be happy with her again so she's not as angry."

"That's good. And your parents?"

"Ugh. They are still screaming at each other for what happened at the party."

Wait. I should use this opportunity to talk about Duke Bayne.

"They were especially angry yesterday. Duke Bayne came to visit and they were sooo peeved."

William interjected, "Duke Bayne? Why did he come over?"

"He was angry about what happened at the party. He made sure to let us know that he was a powerful Duke and we had to listen to him. He demanded that I apologize to Ilene and that I stop meeting with you two and Queen Luna."

William looked worried, "What did you say?!"

I gave him a blank look, "Oh, I don't know William. Am I talking to you right now?"

William glared at me and crossed his arms, "No reason for you to be so snarky."

I continued, "Anyway, I told him no of course. After all, I did nothing wrong."

Millie looked away guiltily and Dante gave a fake smile. Ugh, I want to smack that grin off of his little sadistic face.

William didn't notice, "What happened then?"

"Well, he was huffing and puffing and calling me unstable. Apparently he thinks I'm crazy." I rolled my eyes. The three of them grew stiff. "So, just to spite him, I agreed to meet with a doctor to prove to him I'm a very stable person."

William blinked, "Uhhh. Are you sure that's a good idea?"

"What do you mean?! Do you think I'm crazy?!"

Millie spoke quietly, "Well, you have been smacking your head into a desk all day. The teacher was really frightened."

William added, "You also say words that are made up and have no meaning."

Dante added, "Not to mention that you tried to set a carriage on fire."

I gasped, "I can't believe it! You all think I'm crazy!!"

They all nodded in agreement. I crossed my arms and growled, "Well I'm not. And I will prove you all wrong."

William nodded as if he didn't believe me, "Sure. It's been nice knowing you."

Dante agreed, "I hope you won't be at an asylum for too long."

"How rude!!! I'm not crazy! Right Millie?!"

She patted my back encouragingly, "Don't worry. I'm sure the asylum will have good food."

Millie too?!

"You three are despicable. I'm going to the library now."

They also agreed and we began to grab our things. I bent down to grab my knapsack.

*RIIIIIIIIIIIP*

I froze. Please don't tell me what that was.

Millie gasped, "Seri! Your dress!!"

"I know Millie. Don't point it out."

Ugh. This is exactly why I wanted my lucky necklace. Now that I don't have it, I'm having bad luck!!!

I felt something cover me. I glanced up and saw Dante without his jacket. He had thrown it around me to cover me up, "Here. Borrow this until you can change."

I blushed.

Wait.

WAIT.

What am I doing?! Am I being moved by a child?! What's wrong with me!!? I really must be crazy.

I stood up quickly and whispered, "Thanks."

I quickly rushed to the library leaving the three of them behind. It is too embarrassing to face them and admit that I had been moved slightly. Only slightly.

I will just look at books to take my mind off of things. I whistled a tune and pulled out a book. Why are all of these books so boring? They need to put in something interesting instead of all this educational crap. I pulled out another book.

"Hmm. Queen Lativa the Great overthrew King Veo and single-handedly ran the nation. Due to her rule, it was an era of unprecedented prosperity and happiness. Nice."

I grabbed the book and went to check it out. The librarian looked surprised, "You're actually going to read a history book?"

"It's not history. It's about overthrowing the government."

She gave a faint smile, "Right."

I returned back to the table no longer recalling what made me so embarrassed in the first place. The jacket almost felt natural.

William raised an eyebrow, "You actually rented something?"

"It seemed like a good story."

"I'm a bit worried."

I glared at him. "Why are you worried?"

"No reason."

"Whatever. Are you ready to go?"

"I will meet you guys later. I just need to do something really quick."

Me, Dante, and Millie left the library and started walking to class. As we walked down the hallway, I noticed Ilene with her goons glaring at us with their arms crossed.

"Oh, look. It's the three liars. Where's William?"

I shrugged, "Somewhere. I don't know, I'm not his babysitter."

She scoffed and looked me up and down. Suddenly I feel very uncomfortable.

She gave a hideous laugh, "So it is true! You really did rip your dress earlier!"

Sel spoke, "She must be too poor to afford clothes that fit her."

Mel chuckled, "So that's why her clothes are so out of style. I just thought she had bad tastes."

Ilene flipped her hair, "Now, girls. It's not her fault for being so poor. We shouldn't make fun of her for that."

Sel nodded, "You're right. Plus, it's obvious that it ripped because of all those sweets."

The three of them giggled so annoyingly. They were clearly looking down on me. These vipers have some nasty mouths.

Ilene smiled, "I'm surprised Seri! How could you be so rude to take Dante's jacket? What if he gets sick from being cold?"

Cold? It's not even cold outside. Plus he's a knight in training so this is nothing to him.

She continued, "You should really be ashamed. If it was me, I'd be too embarrassed to wear it around."

I gave a cruel smile, "Why's that? Don't you know the meaning behind a boy giving his jacket to a girl?"

She looked stunned that I spoke. She had thought I would be to embarrassed to speak. "What do you mean?"

"Boyfriend's give their jackets to their girlfriends because it's a sign of affection."

"B-boyfriends?!"

I grabbed onto Dante's arm lovingly, "Yes. You know. Lovers~"

I felt Dante tense up. Ack. I can just imagine how angry his face looks right now. I'm too scared to look.

Ilene looked as if her soul had left her body. I quickly dragged Dante away taking advantage of her stunned appearance. Millie shuffled after us quickly. Once we were far away, I slowed down.

"Lovers, huh?"

I froze at the sound of Dante's cold voice. Oh man! He's going to hit me!

I realized I still had my arms around his. I quickly pulled away, "Alright. See you after class! Bye!" I quickly ran away leaving behind Millie and Dante.

Millie glanced at Dante, "Why didn't you defend Seri back there?"

"I don't need to."

She glared at him, "Why not? Aren't you her friend?"

"It's because she doesn't need me to defend her. She's capable of handling it herself."

She shrugged still unconvinced, "I guess you're right."

Millie left Dante and followed me to class.