'Should I just solve this directly? Oh well, I don't want to be branded as a bimbo.'

Serena pretended to think it through then slowly wrote on the board.

3x + 2 = 11

3x = 11 – 2

3x = 9

X = 9/3

X = 3

"Sir, did I do it right?" Serena asked, feigning uncertainty. Although this is easy for her, she has no desire to be labeled as a genius. That just means more expectations and responsibility.

"Good, very good! Did you study this subject before? Even some of the male students couldn't solve this question!" the teacher praised.

"I have read some books, but it should be credited to your brilliant teaching that I learned how to solve it, sir." Serena complimented. 'Well, there's nothing bad in being the teacher's pet. At least I will be able to get away with some things later. And although I don't like him that much, I can see his effort in teaching my classmates.'

"Alright Ms. Maxwell, please be seated" he said.

"wow Serena, I'm now seeing you with new eyes, I never thought you were this smart!" Via flattered.

"Ha! Sure, puts that Ms. Evans on her place." Milly suddenly stated.

"What did she do to you?" Serena raised her brow.

"Well, I just hate her smug look. Like she thinks that she is better than all of us just because she can answer the teacher's questions. Not only that, I've seen her making that face, you know, the face one makes when they just heard something stupid, it's like a frown with a mixture of disgust, when she thinks no one is looking. It's like she's judging everyone here as stupid just because they can't understand what the teacher is saying immediately. I have no doubt that she has already labeled us as dumb bimbos in that head of hers just because of the clothes we choose to wear. What aggravates me more is that she also particularly made that face when you were solving the question too. Like she had no doubt that you will get it wrong. She's such a goody two shoes in front of the teachers but really, she's just a pretentious bitch." Milly ranted.

"And you already got all that in just these 5 days you met her? You haven't even had a conversation with her yet." Serena remarked as she chuckled 'young girls and their pettiness.'

"Milly's right, I also hate her." Gizel seconded.

"Shh... she might hear you." Via warned.

"You've got to trust me in this Serena, my gut is never wrong when it comes to these things. That girl is bad news." Milly continued.

"Well, not that I like her or anything, but she has not done anything harmful to you or me. So, my advice is to just ignore her so long as she doesn't cross us." Serena said while thinking 'In the end, she's the female lead and will be the future queen of Windsor. It's still best for you guys to not make an enemy out of her for nothing.'

"And if she does?" Gizel just had to ask.

Serena smirked.

"Please remind me not to get on your bad side." Gizel stated, feeling her skin crawl.

--

After Math was lunch. Their lunch break had different time schedule from the other levels. The reason was that the school wanted to avoid crowding in the canteen. For Freshmen, lunch was from 11:30 to 12:30, for Second year, it's from 12:30-1:30, and for Seniors it's from 12:00 to 1:00. The seniors had overlapping schedule with the two because they were less in number.

This made it difficult to meet with Charlton during school hours. Serena can only wait till dismissal to see him.

"Would you guys mind if we join you?" a group of girls from their class asked Serena and her friends.

Although there were still a lot of seats available in the canteen, there's nothing bad with them being friendly.

"Not at all. Please come join us." Serena responded with a smile.

The girls whose names were Cornelia, Lydia and Eloise, praised her to heavens. Serena can only smile and shake her head. They told her that she was very beautiful and smart, that she would be a great queen someday. Etc etc. What can she say? A lot of girls want to suck up to her.

In comparison to her popularity, she saw from the corner of her eye that Emily was sitting with just one girl. From the novel, that girl was portrayed as her best friend. Isabel Price was an insecure princess from Balamb who had a huge crush on Charlton. She met him during one of Emily's music rehearsals and she was instantly smitten. Well, who can blame her? Emily promised to help her, but nothing came out of it except for Charlton falling for Emily instead. Later, she and Emily will have a fall-out, with her saying that Emily was a fox. Since they were best friends, Isabel knew Emily's secrets and she will also be the one to divulge the lot of it. She will continuously and anonymously post on the bulletin board that Emily was nothing but a two-faced social-climbing gold-digging slut. She will also write about how she seduced the crown prince despite him having a fiancée. Emily knew who was doing these things, for who else will know the details of her secrets? But she can't tell anyone that it was Isabel. Not because they were best friends, but because if she did, it will be like an admittance of what was written about her. Besides, who will believe her? Isabel was known as a painfully shy girl who can't even hit a fly. Plus, no one can even think of her motive in doing those things to her. So, when everyone pointed at Serena and blamed her as the one who did those things, she can only silently shrug her shoulders.

Serena scowled recalling that part in the novel. Hopefully, that will not happen now. She didn't really think that the girls were necessarily evil, it's just that children at this age tend to act that way. She was also just like that when she was younger, hating on the other girls, thinking everyone is just plainly good or bad. But as she grew older, she also gained some maturity. Of course, if they were to do those things to her, or even attempt to mess with her, she would not take it laying down.

"Are you alright Serena? Is the food not to your liking?" Lydia, who invited her to taste her packed lunch asked worriedly.

Serena smiled at the girl. "Of course not, this is actually very good. I've never tasted anything like it before."

Lydia sighed in relief. "thank you. If you like, I can cook more for you."

"Thank you for your offer, but I can not possibly impose on your kindness. Besides, I'm also looking out on my diet, if you were to give me more, I'm afraid that I'll have the thought of you trying to ruin my figure!" Serena jested.

Lydia blushed and all the girls laughed.

After lunch, they returned to class.

--

TBC

Serena's class schedule--- I decided to add philosophy just to balance the time.

Time M/W T/TH

9:00- 10:15 Reading Economics

10:15-11:30 Math Philosophy

11:30-12:30 Lunch

12:30- 1:45 History Biology

1:45- 2:15 Break

2:15- 3:30 Geography Biology Lab

3:30—4:00 Homeroom