“Are you alright?” Jeff asked for the nth time, Maxim just nodded not telling him the whole story; it would only cause more trouble.
“I-I’m fine don’t worry, thank you…” Maxim lowered her head and thanked the vice captain.
“You know you look familiar now that I got a better view of you, you look like that Maxim girl…” Jeff looked at her newly cut bangs and noticed.
“I am her…” Maxim whispered but Jeff heard it clearly.
“Oh, you look good with your new look” he brightly said and waved goodbye, Maxim blushed having been complimented, she never thought that he would at least remember her name or maybe she was that popular as the school’s loser. She sighed deeply and just headed back to class, not knowing that Sarah had been listening to their short conversation brimming with jealousy.
Lunch break came and the sea of students filled the cafeteria, Kwangmin had pulled Maxim to sit with him and the girl was hesitant at first but the boy managed to persuade her. They sat in the middle of the cafeteria and everyone who passed by their table looked at them curiously, asking themselves who the new girl is (for those who didn’t know), and how girls gossiped about Maxim’s change. The girl felt uncomfortable with the new attention she was getting, sure it was different now but still, some still hated her, even when they thought she was ugly they hated her and now she looked like a normal person they still hated her, she didn’t quite understand.
Kwangmin felt her uneasiness and he didn’t like it, he was thinking that Maxim should like the attention, to succumb into vanity and fame or to take advantage of her looks. But he knows deep inside that it’s going to take awhile for her to change completely and she needs to as soon as possible.
Sarah entered the cafeteria and was glad to see Jeff sitting with the other basketball team members including Ljoe, she saw Maxim and Kwangmin eating as well and she glared at them. Somehow she considered Maxim as a friend but she couldn’t contain her feelings of jealousy, she approached Ljoe and asked if she could talk to him, Ljoe agreed knowing well what they are going to talk about.
Ljoe and Sarah came to the empty hallways; she was carrying her books and leaned her back to the wall while Ljoe smirked at her doubting expression.
“Tell me what they were doing before I got there” Sarah demanded and Ljoe licked his lips.
“Well, I was doing my daily work of bullying our dear Maxim until Jeff the hero came along and stopped me” Ljoe said the undeniable truth, “But you know what? I think Maxim prettied up herself just for him, Jeff is all nice you see and wouldn’t say no to a pretty girl, I bet Maxim knew that and started changing…” now he just told a cruel lie.
“What? Are you sure she has feelings for him?” Sarah asked, when she was with Maxim she never heard a word from her about Jeff, nor did she complimented the guy.
“Trust me on this, Jeff kept receiving love letters from her and I know it’s from her because the design and handwriting are the same as the cards she gave me last year” Ljoe replied with a serious expression, “You like Jeff right? I do believe he deserves better than Maxim…”
Sarah stayed quiet, almost not believing Ljoe but jealousy gnawed deeper into her faster than her mind could convince her that Ljoe was lying.
“I like him a lot Ljoe, and I don’t want him with anyone else but me…” she admitted with no shame.
“Too bad that Maxim is quite on the move huh? Jeff seems to like him back now” Ljoe teased knowing well what this might cause, “If only there is a way Jeff would despise her or she could embarrass herself again…”
