"You're wasting too much energy on her. She's nothing compared to you, right?"

Jessica's eyes widened as she heard that coming from Kristen's mouth, and so did I.

I didn't expect her to call someone that she should be protecting as nothing.

I saw that Jessica was speechless for a moment, her mouth opened and closed few times as if she was trying to utter something, but it got stuck, so Cindy went in front and asked Kristen, "What's your problem here? Are you trying to protect that ugly new girl for no reason?"

Kristen smiled sweetly and then looked down on me, "Don't you see this pitiful girl? She is ugly, dressed cheap, and her family probably doesn't even have enough money to afford better stuff. She deserves to be pitied."

"Jessica, I know that you're more than this, right? Why would you bully a filthy girl like her? It's a bit disappointing," Kristen said. But her words attacked me like a sword that stabbed my heart. It also stomped on my self-confidence in just a matter of seconds.

"This is about Jessica and that girl. Kristen, don't you try to play angel here, or Jessica won't be so kind to you," Cindy said as she looked over her shoulder towards Jessica.

Meanwhile, Jessica was still staring at me and then at Kristen, "Why are you defending her anyway? Did she pay you to be her bodyguard?"

"Oh no, I don't think she can afford that. She can't even afford proper lunch," Kristen replied. "I do this out of compassion because I can't let you hurt a weak bug, right?"

I kept staring at Kristen's back. I was ready to go off and stab this girl. I almost broke my acting because of her humiliation. It was far worse than I expected.

I knew that I should be well prepared. I got the same treatment back then. It was even worse than this. But it was the trauma that got me off. And I got so angry after Kristen humiliated me the same way those bullies did in the previous timeline.

But this was especially painful because Kristen was standing in front of me. She was supposed to defend me against the bullies, but all she did was becoming another bully that liked to see my suffering.

I had a vague grasp of what she did to Cerise because of this, and this was just pure evil.

Jessica glared at me again and then pointed her finger at me, "You bitch, we're not over yet. If you dare to slander me in front of him, then I will make sure that you will be holed up inside your dirty house forever!"

Seriously, who was this 'him' Jessica talked about? I knew no man in this school!

Then she glared at Kristen, "And for you, Kristen, this is the last warning, if you dare to come between me and this bitch again, then I will make you pay for it!"

"Why would you hurt me, though?" Kristen taunted. "You know, all I do is being kind to people."

Jessica looked so displeased with Kristen's behavior, but she decided to ignore her and glared at me instead.

Jessica was still as vicious as ever. She scoffed and strutted away with Cindy behind her, leaving me in a terrified state, with other students' eyes looking at me with pity and fear.

That was the effect that Jessica had in this school. She could instill fear in anyone. Even though she looked like another rash bully, she had a powerful backing that I didn't know.

I just knew that she could kick anyone she deemed dislikable, though she rarely did that. All she did was bullying all of them until they quit by themselves.

She was still untouchable for me right now, but let me do my magic first, and you would her break down, I promise.

Kristen shrugged and then lowered her head. She looked at me still with the same gentle eyes supposed to be the sign of her caring nature.

But all I saw was hypocrisy, intentional hypocrisy. Because she said everything in full consciousness, she meant every word she said.

"Are you okay, Emmy?" Kristen asked.

…

I resumed my acting and hunched my back. I winced in pain, holding my waist after Jessica kicked my seat and made me slumped, "I—I'm fine. Thank you so much, Kristen. You're so kind and brave…."

"Ahaha, no, no, I'm just trying to help the one in need. Cerise also got the same treatment as you before, and I protected her well," Kristen tried to be humble, but in my ear, it was more like a humble brag.

Unexpectedly, there were plenty of students clapping for Kristen, as if she had been doing a seriously commendable thing. Though not everyone clapped for her, it was still enough people to make a voice in this big cafeteria.

Maybe this was part of that angelic aura that she had. That made some people just think that she was truly a kind person.

I want to tear it down. I want to tear down her disgusting facade!

"U—Um… Kristen, I'm so grateful for your help. I know that you can always be dependable. But… what if Jessica came at me again?" I asked.

I needed to bait her again. Jessica and Kristen had a lukewarm relationship back then, but when Jessica discovered Kristen's secret, everything flipped between them, with Jessica as the Queen.

I needed to make sure that Kristen and Jessica's relationship would be severed for real, so there was nothing but hatred between them.

"Well, I'm always here for poor girls," Kristen replied.She looked towards other students and asked, "I think most people here know that I'll always help the poor."

"Yes!"

"Yes!"

"Yes!"

Plenty of students cheered on her, though not everyone. Many of them just looked away, pretending as if nothing happened just now, and continued with their lunches.

But cheers definitely helped to inflate Kristen's ego as the good and strong girl that protected the weak. She looked at me again and patted my shoulder, "I will protect you, don't worry."

I lowered my head, hiding the grin on my face.

Kristen Suite, you've fallen into my trap.