Kate froze, rigidly raising her eyes at the sound of the voice.
Compared to what she looked like yesterday, Zoey now stood dressed in her school uniform, a cup of coffee pressed to her lips.
Her uniform was… pressed to perfection and highlighted her slender, long legs.
She toiled away in the countryside, so why were her knees so white and spotless? Even her elbows and neck…
"No need to look me over so longily, I know I look good." Zoey shrugged, dropping the coffee to her side.
"Zoey felt bad about what happened last night. She wanted to make it up to you, so she got ready early today." Gina said eagerly, getting to her feet to pat Kate's head.
Henry barely said a word to either of them, reading his newspaper in silence.
"You two, hurry to school before you're late, okay?" Gina mummed, pushing Kate toward Zoey.
Zoey smiled and reached for her bag.
Kate remained standing in place, undeniably scared by Zoey's calmness.
After what she pulled last night, she expected Zoey to be livid. If anything, she expected her to act out even more than she had been doing.
But none of that was happening. Zoey was acting like last night never even happened.
Glancing at Gina's probing eyes, she braced herself and lowered her eyes.
No. She had nothing to worry about. Everyone believed Zoey hit her, and Zoey herself had no proof of it.
Even if she brought it up later, she'd just deny it.
Making up her mind, she turned to wave Gina and Henry goodbye before heading out of the house.
She got into the car and wasn't surprised to see Zoey playing with her phone.
Right. She was overthinking this.
Zoey knew better than to hurt her. Especially in the presence of their driver.
Rest assured, she leaned back on her seat.
Noticing the driver watching them through the rearview mirror, she whipped out a textbook and pretended to read.
A few minutes into the drive to school, Zoey suddenly reached toward her.
Kate flinched and raised both hands defensively, balling them into a tight fist.
"Stay away from me!"
The driver stomped on the brake immediately, cautiously glancing back to see what was happening behind him.
Zoey didn't raise her eyes as she retracted her hand with a straight face.
"Your textbook is upside down."
Kate froze, cautiously lowering her eyes to the textbook.
"I—I knew that." She grimaced, turning the textbook properly.
Zoey said nothing else and returned her hand to her phone.
Neither of them spoke again until the car pulled to a halt outside the school.
Unlike yesterday, Zoey put away her phone and proceeded to alight.
Kate flinched, recoiling in horror when she saw her suddenly standing outside her door.
Swallowing, she rolled down the window just a little and sighed. "What are you doing?"
"I noticed you're very popular around here. Given how eager you were to introduce me to our classmates yesterday, I figured I should stand right beside you today so you can introduce me to your friends properly." Zoey retorted, barely able to look inside the car because of the sun's reflection on the window.
Kate frowned, her hand beside her clenching into a fist.
As a master manipulator, it didn't take her long to realize the only reason she didn't want to go out under Zoey's guidance was because it seemed like the situation wasn't under her control.
She expected Zoey to rage about what happened last night, not act like nothing happened.
It was… too uncomfortable.
"I'll stay in the car for a bit. You go in without me." She voiced out after a while.
Zoey's brows perked up in surprise and she moved her face closer to the window, "Oh? Don't tell me sister has fallen sick. I'd hate for you to fall sick when I've just begun."
"Did you just say 'when you've just begun'? Begun what?" Kate frowned, subconsciously gritting her teeth in annoyance.
Zoey chuckled. "School. You promised to share your notes from earlier this school year with me and answer whatever questions I'd have. If you suddenly fall sick, I'd be disappointing Mom and Dad way too much."
"Yeah… I did promise that. Is that the only thing you have in mind?" Kate, of course, didn't believe her.
Zoey raised her eyes, feigning confusion for a bit before smiling in realization.
"Don't tell me you've been tense all morning because of what happened last night?"
"I…" Kate parted her lips to speak, but Zoey interrupted with a wave of her hand.
"You said it was a mistake. After you left, I replayed what happened, and it did seem like a mistake.
"I mean, I had my back to you, and I was losing in my game. When I heard you come in, I took my anger out on you."
"Then I turned my back to you immediately. I guess you tripped as you walked toward me, which prompted what happened."
Kate hesitated and stared into Zoey's eyes.
No one squinting in the sun could fake emotions. So seeing the genuine remorse on Zoey's face despite her hard squinting, Kate was convinced.
Yeah, that's right.
Only an idiot wouldn't change after what happened last night. Henry had slapped her for lying.
Getting slapped by a parent must've jogged her memory and led her to believe she was actually wrong.
Relieved she wasn't being gaslighted and led on, Kate's chest was light again, her voice softer as she advised Zoey, "I'm glad you've come to understand that, sister."
"In fact, fearing you'd lash out at me like last night, I've been unable to speak with you properly this morning. I'm just glad we've gotten this out of the way."
Zoey simply smiled, turned and headed into the building.
Kate spent the entire morning watching Zoey and didn't focus properly in class.
For someone who was ordered to study hard, Zoey casually slept through every class until it was time for lunch.
It made Kate realize she was truly serious about borrowing her notes later and that she meant it when she said she held no grudge against her.
This was literally placing her academic life in her palm. If she controlled her school life, she could control her entire life.
Thinking like this, her mood improved. That afternoon, she and her group came over to eat with Zoey and Austin.
Austin frowned and straightened up, not bothering to spare any of them a glance.
Zoey grimaced at the five additions to the table.
Picking up her spoon, she paused and suddenly looked up like she remembered something important.
"That reminds me, who among you sleeps with a plushie?"
The words had barely left her mouth when two girls scoffed.
"I'm almost 19. Why would I sleep with a plushie?"
"Yeah, that's something only kids do."
"Kate and I even got rid of our plushies when we were nine, isn't that right?" The third girl, a red-haired girl Zoey hadn't noticed yesterday chuckled.
Kate didn't hesitate before bobbing her head in agreement.
"Of course. I haven't touched a single plushie since then."
Zoey's lips spasmed and she fluidly reached for the mineral water on the table, mumbling audibly as she twisted the cap.
"Is that right? Maybe I saw wrong this morning when I passed by your room on my way out of the house for a run… and saw you cozying up with a pink plushie."