Chapter 3

The next morning in early class, the moment I walked into the classroom, I felt something was off.

Several people glanced at me and whispered something, then quickly looked away.

She sat in the third row, eyes red and puffy, looking like she hadn't slept all night.

Tissues were piled on her desk. Her open notebook showed the first page:

【To Claire: I'm Sorry】

I intended to ignore her and walk to the back row, but she suddenly grabbed my sleeve, her voice trembling:

"Claire... I really didn't mean it."

I shook off her hand without saying anything. Her eyes immediately reddened:

"I really didn't know you'd mind that much... I thought we were good friends."

People around us started whispering.

"She apologized though..."

"She looks pretty pitiful..."

"You think maybe that girl in the video dressed a bit too...you know?"

I gritted my teeth and sat in the back row. My phone buzzed—

The class group chat was blowing up:

【Jenny's really not a bad person, she's always nice to everyone】

【She cried all night, she hasn't even dared to eat】

【Don't you think Claire is overreacting a bit?】

I clicked in and saw screenshots from Ins posted by her roommate:

【Some people act all cold on the surface but have worse tempers than anyone.】

【We ordinary girls deserve to be humiliated? Say two words and get reported with recordings?】

Below were pictures of her crying with tears all over her face, holding a stack of "apology letters" in draft form.

This stirred up a massive response.

Someone wrote in the comments: 【Is a joke between girls really that serious?】

Others said:

【You really can't touch people nowadays. Make one little mistake and they report you. Makes us all walk on eggshells】

Others shared the post with a hashtag:

【#City Girls Are Too Sensitive#】

I looked at that line "say two words and get reported with recordings," my fingers trembling uncontrollably.

She was performing. And she was better at it than anyone.

This wasn't the first time she'd pulled my clothes. She was just testing whether public opinion would forgive her again.

And sure enough, people believed her.

In my previous life, she cried like this too, saying she was just "trying to get close to me."

Teachers, classmates, even my mom all said:

"She already apologized. Why won't you forgive her?"

Forgive?

Next time she could brazenly push me down the stairs and tell everyone:

"She was careless."

I took a deep breath and saved the Ins screenshots, the videos she'd liked last night, and those group chat logs.

You want to cry?