Matcha Latte

7 Lily-samaaa!!!

[3rd person POV]

Kyaaaahhh!!! Lily-sama is talking to me! OH MY GOSH!!

The minds of all the girls surrounding Lily seem to scream the same thing as Lily, THE Lily, decided to talk to them. It's a shame though that the topic is too depressing and not compatible with the glory of Lily-sama.

⸢Ah! Lily-sa—Lily! Nothing. It was nothing. ⸣

The surrounding ladies and some of the men who were listening in on the conversation smirked at the double meaning because it's true. They really were talking about "nothing". As they were laughing amongst themselves, they noticed a slight change in their idol's eyes. Even though her face is still the same, calm and beautiful, her eyes displayed a bit of sadness, a sadness so well-hidden that you could almost miss it if you didn't focus on Lily as much as they do. They never noticed the flash of disdain that flickered across her eyes though.

⸢Oh, I see...⸣

With a small voice, Lily-sama lowered her head, smiled gently at the girl who answered her and slowly turned her head away from their group.

AH! Did she think we were excluding her from the conversation!? No way!?

⸢Ah! No, Lily-sama! It's just....we... we just thought it wasn't a topic worthy of Lily-sa--Lily ...⸣

⸢YES! Ahem...yes, Lily. We were just discussing some malicious rumors that were spreading around the school. ⸣

⸢That's right. It's just the 1st week of school and, already, there are a lot of rumors floating about. It's such a disgrace for such a prestigious school as ours.⸣

⸢Exactly! That's why we thought that our discussion was not appropriate for Lily-sa—Lily to listen to⸣

⸢Oh? ⸣

The surrounding girls answered Lily hurriedly, making up reasonable excuses to deny the gossiping they were enjoying a while ago and hiding the fact that they were the ones spreading the rumors themselves. One of them, however, seemed to have noticed a bit of cold fury from Lily's answer just now but since it was only for an instant, she merely ignored it and convinced herself it was just her imagination because, Lily-sama couldn't be angry right now, right? Lily-sama looks so cool and distant but she's gentle and warm on the inside, right?

⸢Malicious rumors? Really? I haven't heard any though? Are there any rumors about me? Fufu~⸣

(I can see flowers behind Lily-sama... I can totally see flowers around her! That smile!)

Was that a joke?

Did Lily-sama just-- Aaaaaaahhh~ our goddess smiled and made a joke. Our hearts are satisfied. Are there rumors about our goddess? Yes! A LOT but malicious rumors about our goddess!? NOT A CHANCE!

⸢No way! ⸣

⸢That's impossible! ⸣

⸢There's no way that's happening!!!⸣

A wave of denial attacked Lily on all sides as the group of people she was talking to answered her loudly as well as the eavesdroppers around them. Surprised, Lily looked over her shoulder at the other people who answered her but when she looked around, the people were either looking at their phones, involved in a deep conversation with the people beside them or staring intently at the stage as if they couldn't wait for the program to start.

⸢Ahem~ anyways, Lily, there really are malicious rumors spreading around the school⸣

⸢Oh, I see... but how can that be? It's just the first week of school and almost everyone is still a stranger to each other, right? ⸣

Not noticing the slight coldness in Lily's words because of the gentle smile on her face and her reputation as a goddess, the people around her kept on shaming Shane. In dire need of some calming scenery to harness the fury inside her, Lily took a glance at Shane and saw that her head was lowered in shame. Why? Because the slanderous people around Lily never bothered lowering their voices. In fact, in their excitement to finally talk to Lily, they raised their voices to a level so shrill that the windows of the gym were in danger of breaking. So how can Shane not hear them when she's just a few meters away? Lily also noticed the people around Shane glancing at her deliberately and sniggering arrogantly. Rather than calm down, Lily's rage was ignited and the temperature around her seemed to have dropped. Not noticing the changes around them and seemingly forgetting about Lily because of their immense joy of putting people down to boost their own egos, Lily's fans continued their tirade happily, adding more to the malicious rumors.

⸢How did she even get into this school? I bet she "met" with one of the school board members...⸣

⸢It's actually not a surprise that these kinds of rumors are spreading. I mean, just look at who's involved! ⸣

⸢Because you don't know, Lily, we'll tell you. See that girl over there? That's her. That's the girl in those rumors. ⸣

Finally having a "valid" reason to look at Shane, Lily looked at the corner of the bleachers once again. As she turned her head to look, Shane lifted her head and looked her way.

All of Lily's fury vanished as their eyes met. At the moment, what she was experiencing was close to a heart attack. A pressure in her chest, shortness of breath, dizziness, sweating and, most of all, a fast heart rate. It only lasted for a second but her emotions went through a total reversal. From her raging fury that was just about to come out of her calm and composed exterior into a sudden onset of tranquility.

The people around them not noticing this blink-of-an-eye interaction.