"A lousy attempt, but at least you tried to do what I did."
Kate's throat had already tightened when she saw Zoey clapping. Hearing her speak, she couldn't keep a straight face any longer and burst into tears.
This took everyone by surprise.
Instantly, the class rushed to comfort her.
The boy who liked her turned and glared at Zoey. "Are you satisfied now? You made her nervous the entire time, and she was just trying to audition. Did you have to make her feel so bad?"
Zoey's eyes darkened.
"Hey, have you lost your mind?"
The entire class was rendered speechless.
His face darkened. "Wh-what did you say to me?"
Zoey dropped the flyer and stepped toward him. "I asked if you've lost your mind?"
She was so close the boy felt intimidated and stepped back.
He never thought she'd stand up to him.
But now that he thought of it, girls from the countryside were crude.
City girls like his wonderful Kate would never talk like this.
Snorting, he slipped both hands into his pockets and glared hard at her, "I get that you have no manners, but it's already come to this. Kate cried because of the pressure you've put on her this entire time."
"Considering how nice she's been to you since the day began, don't you think you owe her an apology?"
Zoey's lips twitched.
"She auditioned, and after her audition, no one clapped. You didn't even commend her. Yet when I clap and commend her, I'm the one who has to apologize?"
The boy pointed a shaky finger at her nose and yelled, "Shut your mouth! You know very well you didn't clap or say all that to commend her. You were outright mocking her performance!"
"That's enough, class!" Eugenia stepped in, breaking up the two.
It wasn't exactly a break-up, but she had to step in as the boy began caving under Zoey's stoic gaze.
And for some reason, she had this feeling the one on the receiving end of a beating if it came to it, wouldn't be her.
Throwing a stern glance at Zoey, she paused.
This kid… was stubborn.
She'd taught a lot of students, but this was her first time seeing anyone stand their ground so provocatively—with a teacher present.
But the impressive thing was how Zoey didn't say anything offensive the entire time.
If she was going to punish anyone for disturbing the class, it would have to be the boy.
But knowing that would spark an unfavorable reaction among the students—who clearly didn't like Zoey—she decided not to. Instead, she shifted her gaze to Kate, who was still sobbing.
"Kate, your performance wasn't as good as your sister's, but as you said, you've been the female lead in too many dramas already. It's just this one time—let someone else take the role."
Kate gritted her teeth and sniffled, keeping her head down.
"I'm not sad I lost the role, Professor Hartwell. I'm just sad I flopped so hard despite how long I practiced. But I'm happy my sister, who only joined the school today, got the role."
The boy's face cracked.
"Oh, Kate, you have no resentment toward her, but she doesn't even seem to care about how you feel. Don't be so nice to such awful people—even if they're family!"
Zoey watched them with a straight face, doing nothing to hide the irritation in her eyes.
As the boy helped Kate up, she happened to catch Zoey's expression and mistook it for jealousy, so she leaned on him.
A bright smile immediately blossomed across his face, thinking his tireless efforts all these years had finally paid off.
Eugenia glanced at the time and then toward the class president. "That's enough for today. The drama festival may be twelve weeks away, but we'll use the next three months to get into our roles and learn how we can improve."
Her words had barely finished when the bell for break time rang.
Without another word, she picked her bag and strutted out of the classroom.
"Zoey, you won't have anyone to eat with in the cafeteria. Why don't you join us?" Kate called out to Zoey as she walked out of the class after Eugenia.
Those with her immediately frowned at the offer.
"Since when do we eat with people from the countryside?"
"I won't be comfortable having her at our table."
"We shouldn't give her an easy pass just because she's your sister."
A conflicted look flashed past Kate's eyes before she bit down on her lower lip and sighed heavily, "That's true, Zoey. Even if you're my sister, you shouldn't be exempt from the ritual others went through to join the clique."
"It's something simple. It's nothing like the barbarian ritual Dylan Berschwith has his followers go through."
The boy beside her huffed, stomping his feet in righteous indignation, "Why would you bring up that delinquent and his followers? Unlike them, we have good grades!"
Kate nodded in agreement and spoke to Zoey again. "So, Zoey, it's nothing difficult to go through our initiation. And once you're part of us, you'll start hanging out with the cool kids."
She couldn't stop her eyes from lighting up at the many horrid things she could do.
She was the leader of this group, after all. She could do whatever she wanted to Zoey and call it the group's ritual. It'd be her way of taming this…
"No, thank you." Zoey replied flatly, putting a drastic end to her fantasy and quickly walked off.
Kate's face changed, and she chased after her. The others followed.
"Maybe you didn't hear me, but no one in our group gets bad grades. In fact, we're one of the two groups where you're guaranteed good grades if you join."
"The other group is in Class B—and they don't give just anyone a chance. You have to wait an entire year to even be eligible."
"You were in the countryside. There's no way you won't have to repeat senior year if you don't join us."
Zoey was already in line for food.
After looking over the various low-quality meals being served, her hunger vanished, and she stepped out of line.
Seeing this, Kate remembered she still had something else to mock her with.
"Hey, you've had a tough life in the countryside. Now that you've left that behind, I want to help you."
Zoey opened a third banking app and laughed with happiness at the sight of the balance.
It wasn't enough for a flight, but she could afford good food with it.
Forgetting where she was, she kept laughing as she turned back to Kate and said, "You couldn't even help yourself get the role of Brielle Sloane. How can you possibly help me?"