07

Claia gave a little start when she noticed a guy who was slightly taller than her staring at her with a blank expression.

She’d come into this store just to avoid Diora’s friends, not to buy anything.

Since she was in such an absurd situation, having money was absolutely essential. She couldn’t even spend loose change carelessly. But if she had no choice but to spend money here, she’d have to do it.

Claia didn’t realize that the guy was wearing the same school uniform as her—hidden beneath his jacket—and had greeted her because he actually knew Diora.

However, Claia assumed the guy was one of the employees at this bookstore.

“Good afternoon to you too,” Claia replied politely. She smiled politely.

The guy furrowed his brow.

Could it be that the aloof and cold Diora had just returned his greeting?

While the guy was still staring at Claia in surprise, Claia stepped aside and looked around. There were so many books. She loved books. Especially novels.

She often borrowed books from the library because she couldn’t afford to buy many.

If her money weren’t needed for something very important, Claia might be buying a lot of books right now.

At that moment, the phone rang. Claia couldn’t stand it anymore, so she checked it. Calls from Jethro and Diora’s friends kept coming in.

Claia hung up the phone and switched to her messages—and to her surprise, there were so many new messages.

"Wait. What’s going on?”

Claia read the message from Noah.

You promised to sleep in my room Saturday night. Finally, it’ll just be the two of us. Just ignore Jethro. You’re mine.

“Crazy,” Claia whispered.

Claia sighed. She put her phone back in her jacket pocket.

“Why did I have to end up in this mean girl’s body?” Claia complained.

Diora was clearly no different from the girls who used to bully her. How could she accept this situation? Even if this were all a dream, or simply a gift from God to comfort her heart after she’d been humiliated, she found it hard to accept.

Claia became even more determined to return to her home. She picked up a few novels and took them to the cashier.

“Have you seen Diora or not?”

Claia turned toward the sound of Jethro and his friends. Panic instantly gripped her because they were standing right in front of this bookstore. She even hid by crouching behind the cash register.

“Can’t they just stop looking for me?” she thought.

The guy who had greeted her as soon as she entered the store turned around, and their eyes met. The guy noticed the worried look on Claia’s face.

“No,” the guy replied.

Earlier, she had seen Diora walking quickly along the sidewalk, looking anxious as if she were being chased and in such a hurry that she was forced to enter this bookstore.

However, it turned out she was being chased by her boyfriend and her friends. That’s so strange.

“Really?” One of Jethro’s friends grabbed the guy’s uniform collar.

“What? Does he know me?” Claia wondered.

Jethro and the others weren’t looking for her by describing her physical features or her clothes, but instead immediately mentioned her name.

And the guy understood. That means he knows her, right?

Claia felt a little relieved when she realized that the guy had helped her.

"But she’s still here, Jeth," said one of Jethro’s friends. He showed Jethro his phone screen.

“Location?” Claia thought. “Are they tracking me on their phones?” she wondered.

Claia took out her phone and checked the location section.

"Did Diora really go in there? It’s hard to believe. She could have chosen plenty of other places to hide besides a bookstore. But this kid is lying, too. "Imagine—Diora promised to give him something if he’d help her," said one of Jethro’s other friends.

"You don’t believe it? Why don’t you check it out for yourself!”

The guy stepped aside from in front of Jethro and his friends.

Claia panicked.

Claia hurriedly sent a message to Jethro.

Jethro, I’m sorry. I’m on my way to the airport right now. Please don’t bother me.

“I hope they’re heading straight to the airport,” Claia thought.

Jethro reached into his pants pocket and pulled out his cell phone. He read a message from his girlfriend. He was instantly stunned.

Her friends saw the message Diora had sent to Jethro. After reading it, one of them, without a second thought, immediately headed to the airport.

From the very beginning, Diora had been acting very strangely. Something must be wrong with her, so when Diora said she was going to the airport, he believed her right away.

"Wait a minute! This might not be true. Diora might be tricking us. Our friend just saw her running around here,” said one of Jethro’s other friends.

“But what if Diora is on her way to the airport? Did she send the message on purpose so I’d take her there?” Jethro asked.

"That’s not impossible either. In that case, let’s look for her along the road. And you—if you find her but don’t tell us, we’ll beat you up so badly you won’t be able to go to school anymore.”

The guy even threatened that guy. But it should have been Jethro who was making the threats since he’s Diora’s boyfriend.

"Yeah. There’s no point in me lying either,” the guy said.

After that, Jethro and his friends left.

Claia let out a sigh of relief. She immediately paid for the books. The cashier looked at her strangely.

“Ah. I’m sorry I was hiding over there earlier.”

“It’s okay, miss. It seems like you’re going through a rough time.”

“You’re right.”

After paying for her books, Claia approached the guy who had helped her.

“Here you go,” Claia said, handing the guy her change.

Diora’s expression just now seemed strange. The girl had walked into this bookstore, and her boyfriend and friends were looking for her, while she was trying to hide from them. If she wrote about this to her classmates, it would definitely cause a stir, and many wouldn’t believe it. Especially about Diora giving her money. Since when has this girl become so generous?

The guy was still lost in thought, speechless.

“This is my way of repaying you for helping me,” said Claia. “You know me, right?”

“What’s wrong with you?” the guy asked. He couldn’t help but ask, curious about the change in Diora’s attitude.