13. Surprise

If Paige, by any chance, were wrong about what she had told him, it didn't matter if she was crazy, if she was being deceived, or if she wanted to deceive him.

If, by any chance, she had lied, he would not mind having a long conversation with her, one that would be more painful for her than what the system could ever do.

Paige shuddered, and when she tried to turn around to look at the last row, she saw nothing other than the enlarged face of her desk mate.

"You are Paige, right?"

"Yes."

"How are you, Paige?"

"Alright."

The other girl was too close.

"Right?" She grinned, looking a little overexcited.

"Yes."

"..."

After this little nice chat, Paige turned back to the blackboard, not intending to ever again have a conversation with this crazy little girl.

A few hours had already passed, and it was lunchtime. Nobody wanted to eat with Paige, which was perfectly fine with her, while Lance was surrounded by boys and girls.

She glanced in his direction and felt a bit proud. The plot had already deviated a lot. The best choice she made was being honest with the male lead and taking him home.

Originally, he should have only been a bit acquainted with the female lead by now; he hadn't received this much goodwill from the others.

He was now well-fed, and as she looked at him, she noticed that he even got a haircut, making a different impression than in the original plot.

"Class president, why are you here already?" asked a classmate.

She turned around and was surprised to see the second male lead, Jace, looking a bit constipated. Behind him walked the head teacher with a stern face; they ignored the question as they surveyed the room.

Jace, who should have been absent for the first two weeks of school due to attending an internship at his parents' company, was standing there, pointing at Lance.

"That should be him."

[What is going on?] Paige asked the system.

[The plot has already been received.] The system answered.

[Yes... but that was not in the plot] she answered. 

[It was.] The system sounded certain, and Paige was confused. 

Meanwhile, the headteacher asked Lance to come with them. He, too, was confused before glancing at the school bully.

She just shrugged, so he followed them, putting his broken pen in his pants pocket and fiddling with it. 

Before they left, Jace uttered a few words, and the headteacher turned around, focusing on Paige before asking her to come out, too. 

After arriving at the principal's office, they all sat down while the headteacher stood behind the principal's seat. 

"Are you sure you want to make this accusation?" The principal asked Jace. He didn't know what to think, having seen Lance in his office for the second time in just a few hours; but this time, it involved the best student they had, and it would really be embarrassing if he made false charges.

After glaring at Paige with a look that said, 'We'll talk later,' he turned to Lance. 

"Have you been involved with drugs?" 

Lance's hand, playing with the broken pen in his pocket, froze. 

"What?" he asked, dumbfounded. 

Jace adjusted his glasses; he had short brown hair and blue eyes, a similar light hue to Lance's gray ones, looking neat and tidy, with his shirt fully buttoned. Like a model student. 

"A classmate saw him buying drugs. I will not disclose his identity, but he also reported that this student seems to be under the influence in class. The witness is trustworthy." 

Paige and Lance were both bewildered.

While Lance asked himself where and why he would have contact with drugs, Paige couldn't comprehend why the plot would be this wrong. 

[Was Jace reborn?] He had to be. He—or someone else—was pulling the strings behind him. 

[Yes.]

[...] She froze for a moment.

[That was not written in the book]

The system's cold voice echoed.

[It was.]

Well... she had no idea how to handle this situation.