Female Novel
Chapter 15
Chapter 15
Each class stretched out to 45 minutes. When the bell finally signaled the end of the lesson, Madelyn,almost with a sense of doomed acceptance, walked to the back of the room. She quietly rightedForrest’s knocked-over desk and gathered the scattered books from the floor, tidying them neatly intohis drawer. Her actions elicited a flurry of astonished whispers from her classmates.
“No way! Madelyn, who’s always acting high and mighty, is actually picking up books for Forrest? Didshe hit her head or something?”
“Can’t believe what I’m seeing. Madelyn, who couldn’t be bothered to speak, is now serving her arch-nemesis Forrest? Holy cow, I must be hallucinating!”
Someone had discreetly snapped a photo of Madelyn’s surprising act of humility and anonymouslyuploaded it to the school forum.
Madelyn ignored the buzz around her, focusing on straightening up Forrest’s desk. Despite everything,she was just too good-natured to hold Forrest’s temper against him.novelbin
Meanwhile, in the grimy alley behind the school, Timothy was debating about which bar to hit that night.Adrian was engrossed in his phone when a headline suddenly popped up.
[Shocker of the Century! Madelyn actually…]
Before he could finish reading, Adrian saw Madelyn’s name and clicked on the link. A photo loaded,revealing Madelyn crouched down, books cradled in her arms. “Holy smokes! Look, Forry, look at theschool forum, Madelyn is picking up your books again!”
“What the…?” Timothy doubted his hearing for a moment.
Forrest’s eyebrows raised ever so slightly as he peered at the photo Adrian shoved his way. A girlcrouched on the floor, her skirt pooling around her. The camera captured Madelyn’s smooth, elegantprofile perfectly. Light streamed in from the window, illuminating her, her eyelashes cast in shadow likethe feathers of a raven, one hand clutching books, the other picking up a textbook from the floor. Thephoto exuded an unexpectedly serene ambience.
‘Well, I’ll be damned.’
Madelyn skipped the cafeteria at noon. She usually brought her own lunch due to her selective palateand her aversion to cafeteria food. Now alone in the classroom, she quietly savored the caramelizedpork that Rosario had prepared for her, while working on her incomplete test paper from the last exam.
An hour passed and the other students gradually returned from their lunch. Madelyn was still strugglingwith the final math problem. The noise of chatter and footfalls grew louder as it approached theclassroom. Startled gasps echoed down the hallway.
“Oh my God, it’s Forrest. He isn’t coming back to settle the score with Madelyn, is he?”
“Most likely. Let’s head over and grab a front-row seat. I’ve had it with that lowlife girl. I can’t believeshe got into this school.”
“People like her are a menace in this school. It was her dad who nearly cost my dad his life over a plotof land. People like them who can’t compete fairly always resort to dirty tricks. Those Jents are boundto meet a nasty end.”
“You better watch your mouth. My dad said the Jent family are big fishes in Ventropolis, getting on theirbad side always spells trouble. Don’t let your anger lead you into trouble.”
Indeed, such words were only ever whispered behind Madelyn’s back. Many in their class had parentswhose businesses had suffered at the hands of the Jent family, and those dealings were always
shrouded in shadow.
Madelyn had just begun writing a formula for the major math problem when a shadow loomed over her.In the next instant, a hand swept across the desk, scattering her books to the floor. She looked up intoForrest’s face, a tumultuous storm of rage swirling within his eyes.
She asked calmly, “Can I help you?”
“Who gave you permission to touch my stuff? Looking for trouble?” His sneer was cruel, his gazethreatening to consume her alive.
‘So, just because I picked up his books, he has come to settle the score?’
Madelyn had only done so because she had accidentally taken his seat and he had gotten upset. Shethought cleaning up for him might serve as a sort of quiet apology. She had never imagined that simplytidying his things would provoke such a strong reaction from Forrest.
Onlookers from her class and even the neighboring one had gathered to witness the spectacle.
Madelyn turned back to her work, twirling her pen. She spoke with icy coolness. “You’ve just messedwith my books, too. We’re even. Besides, it’s my turn for cleaning duty today. If you’re unhappy with it, Iwon’t touch your stuff next time.”
Forrest jammed his hands into his pockets and kicked at Madelyn’s desk. “What’s your game,Madelyn? Who are you trying to impress?”
She gave him a puzzled look, quickly gathering her textbooks and stuffing them into her bag.
“Impress? There’s no one here worth impressing. Since my good deeds are an eyesore to you, I’llmake sure to stay out of your way. You can have the classroom; I’ll go to the library. There’s another
class reshuffle coming up in three weeks after the final exams. I’ll do my best to stay out of your sight.”
With that, she gathered the books from the floor and walked out of the classroom, just as the bellsignaling the start of the next class rang out. Madelyn was exiting through the back door when she raninto the English teacher coming in.
“Madelyn Jent, where are you headed during class time?”
Madelyn remained silent.
“Whoa, Forry,” Timothy crowed, “Madelyn doesn’t seem to give a damn about you.”
Adrian chimed in. “It’s truly astonishing. She’s second from the bottom of the class and she’s thinking ofchanging classes? Why doesn’t she just drop out?”
Forrest’s fist slammed onto Madelyn’s desk with a thunderous crash.
‘She should count herself lucky that she fled so fast, or I might have broken my rule of not hitting awoman,’ he thought.