Liar and Liar - Chapter 2

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 2

“You’ve been through a lot.”

Even though there was a partition, it was practically an open passage, so he must have heard everything. Danielle tightened her grip on Miranda’s desk.

This bastard, that bastard…

‘Why is he suddenly talking to me and making a fuss?’

In this situation, the person Danielle least wanted to encounter was Frederick Bastia.

There had been times when they laughed and chatted together, but the memories with Frederick Bastia had long been completely covered by the emotion of contempt.

Danielle glanced at Frederick with cold eyes and turned away first.

However, when Frederick passed by Danielle and picked up a red marker from the whiteboard to write something on the board, Danielle’s gaze inevitably turned toward the board.

[ TRASH TEACHER ]

(Trash Teacher)

Danielle’s eyes widened in surprise as she looked at the writing on the board, then turned to look at Frederick who had written it. He smiled faintly and likewise lowered his head toward Danielle.

Frederick Bastia (Frédéric Bastiat).

There wasn’t a single person at Elmir Westlake who didn’t know this name. He was that kind of existence.

And unfortunately, Danielle hated Frederick Bastia. Very. Extremely. Tremendously.

The shitty situation, her mood that had sunk to the worst depths, her ill feelings toward Frederick Bastia.

All of it combined to make Danielle’s voice turn ice-cold.

“What are you doing right now?”

However, as if there truly was no word like ‘tact’ in English, Frederick answered Danielle with a leisurely expression.

“You’re right, it’s too abstract, isn’t it?”

He wrote new letters below.

[ BULLY IN A CHAIR.

GO EDUCATE YOURSELF FIRST. ]

(A bully playing teacher. You should learn first.)

Danielle felt something in her head opening. It was probably something like a lid.

Her body reacted faster than her thoughts. She approached the board and irritably snatched the marker from his hand.

“What are you doing, right now.”

“Protesting against a substandard teacher?”

It’s not like he’s stupid either.

Frederick’s attitude of not answering properly just annoyed Danielle.

“If you had personal complaints about Miranda, go handle it officially. If you write stuff like this here, they’ll think I did it.”

“Me? Of course I wrote it for you.”

Danielle, who had been forcefully erasing the board with the eraser, turned her head back at Frederick’s voice. Somehow the distance was unnecessarily close.

“What?”

“You worked really hard to become a research intern. Aren’t you frustrated?”

‘You worked really hard?’

Danielle’s brow furrowed sharply.

“It’s unpleasant when you act like you know everything about me when you don’t know anything. And stepping in like this isn’t appreciated, it’s ridiculous.”

Besides, strictly speaking, I failed to get the research internship because of people like you.

Even though Danielle’s hazel eyes glared fiercely, there was no wavering in Frederick’s gray eyes.

The reason Danielle hated Frederick Bastia was very clear.

First, he was an annoying trust fund baby.

There were even widespread rumors that he had already inherited his share of the trust fund without even graduating yet.

Perhaps because of this, Frederick Bastia was unanimously considered the most fortunate idler at Elmir Westlake. To the extent that he would come out after sleeping in the lounge during class time like this.

Second, he was part of the privileged class who thought everything was easy and the world revolved around him.

No matter how well-off his family was, openly writing something like this on the board didn’t make sense by Danielle’s standards. How easy and simple must life be for him to do something like this without a care.

And one more thing.

“Really? Sorry. I made a mistake. But what about you being upset.”

‘Annoying.’

Every so often he would pretend to worry about her like this.

Frederick Bastia’s kind words instead ignited the anger inside Danielle.

‘Pretending to empathize.’

Instead of vomiting out her messy insides to Frederick, Danielle closed her mouth and caught her breath.

She realized she had been acting too emotionally. Actually, she shouldn’t have.

Who was Frederick Bastia? In fact, he was someone who could torment Danielle even more than Emily Holt or Miranda, an existence reigning at the very top of the pyramid.

“Even though we’re not on speaking terms, I appreciate the consideration of bothering to interfere in my situation. But I’d like you to mind your own business. This is my affair and has absolutely nothing to do with you.”

Frederick didn’t answer, so Danielle had no choice but to quietly look at his face.

However, even looking directly at his gray eyes, she couldn’t interpret his expression. He looked elsewhere and raised one hand to cover his mouth.

‘…Is he laughing?’

Looking again, it seemed more like an action to hide his expression rather than laughing.

“Greetings and such… we can do that from now on, can’t we?”

His glass-like gray eyes turned gently toward Danielle.

“Let’s end the conversation here. I need to go to my next class.”

Danielle cut off his words decisively. She had absolutely no intention of being swept up, entangled, or exchanging words any further.

Thus, Danielle turned and left the classroom first without waiting for Frederick’s answer, missing Frederick’s real expression that he had hidden.

Frederick lowered his head and covered his mouth while staring intently at the door where Danielle had disappeared. His eyes darkened.

Buzz.

At the vibration sound, Frederick took out his phone from his blazer pocket.

What appeared on the screen was a text message.

Young master, they say the upper school merit scholarship budget is being reduced.

Frederick stared at the screen quietly, then closed his eyes as he turned off the screen. Then he pressed his fingertips against his brow with the hand holding the phone.

* * *

From the time Danielle was selected as a scholarship student at Elmir Westlake, she had expected that school life would definitely not be easy.

And it really wasn’t. All the ordeals she had vaguely imagined in her head unfolded in reality as if it were natural.

Nevertheless, Danielle, who was only in 7th grade, didn’t bat an eye at most things. They were all things she had prepared for when selected as a scholarship student.

Is getting free money support easy? Whether I’m ignored or humiliated, it’s like paying my taxes. She thought that way, but sometimes disasters exceeded the scope of Danielle’s imagination.

Just like right now.

“Danielle, can we talk for a moment?”

“Yes?”

At Emma’s gesture, Danielle, who had been hurrying through the hallway, turned her steps and approached her.

“Um… it’s really awkward for me to say this to you… um…”

Emma, who was Christian, was humane and always kind to Danielle. Danielle was enveloped by an ominous feeling as she watched Emma struggle to speak.

“The budget is being reorganized this time… and it looks like the scholarship budget will probably be cut…”

Danielle’s heart dropped.

“…What? Is my scholarship being cut off?”

Just living expenses? Or tuition too, everything?

Either way, it was a hopeless disaster for Danielle.

“We’ll try our best to prevent that from happening, but the situation really isn’t good right now.”

Even though she had already experienced all kinds of humiliation as a scholarship student for years, this kind of bolt from the blue was a first.

“Could you write an essay about how scholarships are really useful and absolutely necessary, so I can persuade the School Board to maintain the scholarships? I know it’s a difficult request. It’s absolutely not forced. Still, if possible, I’d like you to help for the sake of the underclassmen. Could you do it?”

Separate from her respect for Emma, who had a strong spirit of service and was loving toward students, what she said was translated more sharply in Danielle’s mind.

I need your official begging. The begging of a poor and desperate scholarship student that’s as pitiful and sympathetic as possible.

She thought she had paid enough for receiving the scholarship, but it seemed there were more taxes to pay.

For instance, something that was natural for other Elmir Westlake students, but conversely, not easily allowed to Danielle even a handful.

Something like pride.

“…When do I need to submit it?”

At Danielle’s answer, Emma’s voice, which had been drooping with difficulty, immediately brightened.

“Would that be okay? Could you show me just a first draft by next week?”

“Yes. I’ll do that.”

Having pride also required qualifications. For the socially vulnerable class at the bottom of the pyramid, pride was an excessive luxury beyond their station.

Knowing this fact very well, Danielle Ryu showed no sign of displeasure whatsoever.

She simply crossed the hallway alone, taking deep breaths in and out.

‘Ugh, my head hurts…’

Entering the Science Classroom, Danielle Ryu pressed her forehead with one hand.

In just half a day, she’d been hit with three consecutive strikes, and with her locker belongings still missing, she’d have to skip lunch and dig through all the trash cans in the Main Building.

‘The research internship…’

I’ll have to give up on it. Danielle Ryu let out a silent sigh.

In America, having no connections was also a sin. There was nothing she could do about it, so she had no choice but to give up.

However, even though she rationally knew it was reasonable and beneficial to focus on what remained instead of the opportunity that had slipped away, Danielle Ryu felt indescribably complicated. She had truly put her heart and soul into her efforts.

Brushing her hair back as she headed to her seat, Danielle Ryu couldn’t help but widen her eyes at the scene she encountered there.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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