#13 A New Gossip Topic

"Just one slice, please?" I begged my sister with my best puppy eyes. It did strike her but she resisted and gave me a pat on my head.

"No means no, Amanda." Is she trying to imitate the way mother speaks? It's so similar but their voices are different. Like a mother, like a daughter.

I sulked while eating the cereal that was placed in front of me. It's not like I dislike cereals or something, I just preferred pancakes over anything. It took me a while to finish it until it was all soggy due to the milk.

After I was done with my breakfast, I took my bag and grabbed my phone before going in the car. My sister stood at the door to see me off to school while Alice started the engine and drove away.

"Miss, did you tell the lady about Carl Smith?" asked Alice while she was driving.

"Yes," I added, "She didn't have much reaction to it."

"You seem to interact with him well."

I mean, he is my deskmate.

"We have arrived. Please enjoy your school time, Miss." Alice said as she drove off. I waved to her before entering the school.

There was a commotion in the classroom and I was dragged into their gossips again the moment I entered. Well, I was curious too so I didn't mind.

They were talking about Natasha's good traits for the first time. Apparently, her attitude changed recently, in a good way of course.

"This morning she smiled at me when I got down from the car."

"I met her on my way here and she gave me a very sincere smile."

"I never knew she was so beautiful when she actually smiled properly."

"She isn't mocking us, right?"

No one could stand her sudden change of treatment towards us. I have yet to meet her this morning so I haven't experienced the 'sincere smile' they mentioned.

As they were talking, someone suddenly came behind us. She had a sweet tone in her voice when she asked about our well-beings. Everyone startled and turned their heads to see who it was. To our surprise, it was Natasha.

The way she talked differed so much from before and her bright smile gave off a different vibe.

"Miss Asia, I see you are doing good as usual." She greeted everyone with the 'sincere smile' they spoke about earlier. It was like her personality had completely changed.

Whenever we had the chance to discuss among each other in class, Natasha would interact with us and help us with any problems we do not know.

"For this, you need to use the formula xxxx. So, you'll have to take xx and xx then multiply by xx….. And there, you got the answer." She gave good explanations and not to mention, she's really good!

"Thank you, Natasha."

"You're welcome."

Natasha guided us for the next few subjects too. I never knew she was excellent in academics since she never showed any interest in them before. Guess she really studied hard for money.

During break time, the whole class gathered around and started a new gossip topic while Natasha went to the cafeteria.

"I never expected her to be that smart."

"I know right."

I got bored hearing then talking about the same thing since morning so I went for a toilet break. While I was at it, I looked into the mirror and realized the roots of my hair were black. The last time I dyed my hair was around two months ago so I guess it's time for a touch up again.

Just when I was about to leave, Natasha came out from one of the toilet stalls.

"Are you freshen up?"

"Ah, I just came here to redo my hair."

"Is that so? Need help?"

I passed my comb to her and she tied a neat braided-ponytail for me. It wasn't as amazing as Lily or Mia's but at least she did better than me. Jeez, why are the girls around me so good in hair styling?

When we went back to class, everyone was shocked to see Natasha with me. Of course they would be, after what she has done to me last time.

"Amanda, your hair..." Mia was dumbfounded when I had a different hairstyle from this morning. She thought I tied it by myself.

"Oh, this? Natasha helped me with it," I cleared up the misunderstanding and tried to make them believe Natasha wasn't as bad as we thought.

Natasha blushed a little when I complimented her. I invited her into our gossip group since I was bored with them talking about her all day anyway. They seemed fine with it and didn't push her away when she got close to us.

We chatted until break time was over. The school bell rang and everyone returned to their seats.

"Amanda," Carl whispered to me during class, "Natasha did not threaten you to deceive us that she was actually nice, did she?"

That was on his mind this whole time? I couldn't believe she was doubted.

"She did not ask me to do anything, those were words from me, myself."

He sighed in relief when he heard what I said, "Please let us know if she is acting."

I shifted my focus to the teacher after he was done talking. However, what he just said really bugged me.

Does he think she was playing the good-girl role?

Nothing could stop me now that I've found out Natasha was actually a kind girl. It did freak me out a little when I first experienced her so-called 'sincere smile' but it has been good now so far.

After school, I wanted to head to the gate when Mia called out to me from behind. It seemed like I walked too fast for her to catch up until she was nearly out of breath. I waited until she was ready to talk again.

"The girls planned to go somewhere, wanna join?"

I would like to but what about mother? I texted Alice and fortunately, she said my mother was sleeping so I told her I was going to hang out with some friends.

"Sure, I'll go."

"Oh, we invited Natasha too because she seemed friendlier than before."