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Chapter 39
After that, it was complete chaos.
Those who had been encouraged by Janice came forward one after another to expose Victoria’s misdeeds, and Victoria found herself cornered.
The principal was furious for his own reasons.
“A provocative dance like this in front of parents?!”
Parents were allowed to attend the homecoming game where the cheerleaders were performing. The principal, who had to consider the parents and alumni who donated enormous amounts of money every year, naturally had every reason to be upset.
“Mr. Lewis, let’s talk separately. Victoria, Lucy, the same goes for you two.”
The principal, his face turning red and blue, disappeared with the coach and the students.
The teachers left in the gym tried to calm the students down and gradually sent them back to their classrooms.
However, the anxious cheerleaders found it difficult to move.
“What’s going to happen to us?”
“It’ll probably be a draw. They couldn’t finish the performance.”
“What? So we have to perform the match again?”
The cheerleaders on Victoria’s side were just as uneasy. They didn’t dare approach Lucy’s team, standing awkwardly while Janice quietly slipped away.
Since this all happened because of Janice’s revelation, it must have been uncomfortable for her to stay there any longer.
‘Strictly speaking, it’s Victoria’s fault…’
Unable to take her eyes off Janice’s gradually shrinking figure, someone poked Xian’s side.
“Go.”
It was Kylie.
Still, Xian couldn’t move immediately. The fate of the cheerleader club hadn’t been decided yet, and it felt awkward to leave alone.
“You probably still have something to talk about with her.”
“…Yeah.”
“Then go. I’ll contact you if anything happens. Don’t worry about this place.”
“Thanks.”
Xian thanked Kylie and ran in the direction Janice had gone.
“Sienna, I saw your performance!”
“I’ll vote for you, Sienna.”
“Thanks.”
Boys passing by shouted something at her, but it barely registered in her ears.
Answering vaguely, she exited the gym and looked around.
After searching for a while, she finally found Janice hiding behind the gym to avoid the crowd.
“Janice.”
Janice jumped in surprise, then showed a subtle expression when she realized it was Xian. She had hoped Xian would come to find her, but didn’t expect him to actually do it.
“…Sienna.”
Xian stood in front of Janice.
They had always just passed by each other, so it had been a long time since they stood face to face like this.
“Why did you do that?”
At Sienna’s question, Janice’s eyes welled up with tears, trembling as if she might cry at any moment.
“I-I’m sorry. You were my first real friend… I got jealous and didn’t know how to handle it.”
Xian let out a small sigh.
Janice flinched as if she had committed a great sin.
But Xian’s sigh was for a different reason.
“I wasn’t asking about that. I meant what happened in the gym earlier.”
Janice lifted her head from the floor where it had been hanging low.
‘Could it be… she’s worried about me?’
Looking directly into the hope subtly reflected in her eyes, Xian said:
“You just made Victoria your enemy. You know how hard it’s going to be from now on, don’t you?”
“I don’t care. As long as I can ask for your forgiveness.”
“…”
“I want to… be your friend again.”
Xian sighed again, but this time it carried a different meaning.
“You were too reckless.”
Her sigh was laced with concern for Janice.
“If you wanted to apologize, you should have come to me directly instead of escalating things like this.”
“I wanted to be helpful to you.”
Janice added hesitantly:
“Now you have Aaron and Hazel, and they don’t like me much… I thought if I could at least help you, maybe you’d accept me again… I’m sorry if I made things difficult.”
“What kind of excuse is that?”
Xian frowned, and Janice shrank her shoulders like a turtle.
Seeing Janice so timid, Xian felt a tightness in her chest, as if someone had pressed on it.
“Who becomes friends with someone just to see if they’re useful?”
On the contrary, Janice’s heart was pounding. She wriggled her fingers nervously and asked cautiously:
“So… you’ll forgive me?”
Xian watched Janice anxiously before suddenly pulling her into a tight hug.
“You’re such a fool.”
Startled at first, Janice soon hugged Xian back.
She felt relieved knowing she was forgiven.
“If you had just come to me and said sorry, I would have forgiven you already.”
“I’m really sorry… I won’t do it again.”
“Of course you shouldn’t! If you betray me again, I won’t let it slide.”
When Xian narrowed her eyes, Janice leaped and swore:
“I swear on my name. I’ll never betray you again.”
“I’ll be watching.”
Xian relaxed and smiled gently, as if nothing had happened.
Although their relationship had been strained, she felt surprisingly happy to have reconciled with Janice.
Actually, she was glad Janice asked for forgiveness.
She was glad Janice still wanted to be friends.
Xian pulled away from the hug and carefully looked at Janice.
“By the way, have you eaten? You look thinner than before.”
It was the first time in a long while someone paid such attention to her.
Swallowing the lump in her throat, Janice shook her head.
“Why? Nervous?”
“Yeah. You can’t throw up holding the mic…”
“Oh…”
Xian sighed, then patted Janice’s back, changing her tone.
“You did well. Even though you were trembling, you spoke well until the end.”
“I practiced a lot. I even practiced in my dreams.”
“Really?”
Feeling understood, Janice became more playful.
Xian gently grabbed Janice’s hands as she chattered, as if releasing her pent-up feelings.
“Let’s eat something first. I have almond milk in my locker.”
Since almond milk is diet-friendly, Janice could drink it without guilt.
Although Xian offered it, Janice hesitated.
“Not a fan of almond milk? Or should we go to the cafeteria?”
“It’s not that…”
“Why? It’s okay, you can tell me.”
Gently coaxed, Janice finally confessed:
“We’ll meet Aaron and Hazel… what if they don’t like me?”
“Hmm.”
Xian couldn’t promise it wouldn’t happen.
Aaron was usually indifferent, so he probably wouldn’t care whether Janice returned or not.
The problem was Hazel.
They had only recently grown closer, so Xian couldn’t be sure how she would react.
While Xian pondered, Janice sulked and muttered gloomily:
“Even you don’t know the answer…”
There was nothing to be done. Being forgiven by Xian was already enough.
Just as she was about to give up, Xian squeezed Janice’s hand.
“If they say something too harsh to you, I’ll cry.”
“What?”
“If I cry and say I want to stay friends with you, won’t they accept you too?”
At the ridiculous comment, Janice chuckled.
“With you saying that, we’re like Romeo and Juliet.”
“Then I’ll be Romeo.”
“Not Juliet?”
“I just wanted to live recklessly and impulsively, like Romeo, at least once.”
Hearing this, Janice laughed out loud.
She missed these silly conversations with Xian so much.
“Anyway, I’ll handle it. Let’s go. We can’t keep avoiding each other.”
“Yeah…”
Janice squeezed Xian’s hand in agreement.
To skip ahead to the result: all of Xian’s predictions were wrong.
Hazel, apparently impressed by what happened in the gym, surprisingly accepted Janice easily.
Aaron, on the other hand…
“Absolutely not.”
Crossing his arms with an expressionless face, he looked like an impenetrable fortress.
“Someone who betrayed once can’t betray twice?”
His resolute tone was like a blade.
But Janice couldn’t back down. She now had someone to rely on—Xian.
“I won’t do it again. I swore to Sienna.”
“It’s true.”
Xian quickly supported Janice, but Aaron’s stance didn’t change. His expression even seemed harsher.
‘What should I do? Should I really cry?’
But would tears even work on Aaron? Janice prepared herself emotionally when Hazel intervened.
“Hey. Why are you making such a fuss? Sienna said it’s okay.”
Hazel lightly smacked Aaron’s back, taking Xian’s side.
“Or do you like Sienna? Even if so, this is overreacting. You’re not even her boyfriend.”
Aaron’s gaze only became sterner.
‘Look at her. Why isn’t she answering? Does he really like Sienna?’
Just as Hazel was about to give up, Sienna stepped in to mediate.
“Of course Aaron likes me. I like him too. That’s why we’re friends.”
‘It doesn’t seem to mean exactly that…’
Hazel kept this newly discovered fact to herself.
“Anyway, think about what Janice did today. She was brave.”
Even Aaron couldn’t refute that. Janice’s revelation had, in fact, turned the atmosphere in Lucy’s favor.
“If Victoria had won, who knows what would have happened to the cheerleader club… I don’t even want to imagine it.”
Xian shuddered at the thought, and Aaron let out a heavy sigh, signaling his surrender.
Finally, he addressed Janice:
“Remember. No second chance.”
A warning that Janice would be given no second chance or forgiveness.
With the situation somewhat settled, Hazel whispered to Aaron:
“Why didn’t you deny liking Sienna?”
“…Shut up.”
It was basically an answer. Hazel giggled.
“Why hesitate? Confess quickly. Don’t tell me you think only you see her as pretty.”
“…”
“Homecoming party. Perfect timing for a confession.”
“I’ll handle it myself.”
Aaron, speaking bluntly, moved away, though his eyes betrayed a hint of inner turmoil.
