Chapter 152

The next day, Zinnia said no to Yannis’s request for her to take the day off and stayed in bed until there were only ten minutes left before she had to rush to school. Yannis made her breakfast.

When she went into the classroom, most of the students were already there. “Zinnia, you’re here!” Maisie called out, ran over, and hugged her warmly.

“Maisie,” Zinnia whispered, leaning on her as they walked to their seats. Lydia was already sitting at her desk, where a fancy chocolate cake topped with strawberries was waiting.

Lydia had made the filling with cream cheese. She looked at Zinnia with kind eyes and said, “Zinnia, here’s the chocolate cake I promised you yesterday.”

“Lydia, Yannis won’t let Zinnia have anything too sweet right now,” Maisie explained. “No snacks for her these few days. He’s looking for a special supplier to get her healthy snacks.”

Knowing how popular Zinnia was at school, Yannis had told Maisie last night to watch her closely.

Lydia frowned with concern. Zinnia tugged on Maisie’s sleeve, looking up at her with a pleading face. “Maisie, I’m fine. Just a tiny bite. I promise I won’t eat too much.”

She thought, ‘That chocolate cake looks so good! I want to taste it. No meat last night, and now they’re stopping me from this little treat too.’

“Zinnia, I really want to give you what you want,” Maisie said. “But Yannis asked me to keep you away from these. If I let you, he might get mad. He hits hard after all those years of military training.”

Maisie couldn’t resist Zinnia’s begging. In the end, she closed her eyes tight, not daring to look at Zinnia. She was afraid that if she softened, Yannis would cut her allowance.

Maisie gently messed up Zinnia’s hair and said softly, “Zinnia, once you’re better, I promise I’ll buy every dessert in town and lay them all out for you. We can eat whatever we want, whenever we want. I swear.”

Zinnia’s face dropped. She gave in as she remembered how scared Maisie was of Yannis. It really felt like she was back under her master’s strict watch again.

Maisie told Lydia that Zinnia had to avoid sugar, meat, and other things. Lydia listened carefully and remembered every detail.

Lydia gently comforted Zinnia, saying, “I’ll make you a low–sugar treat tomorrow, but let’s skip sweets today, okay?”

Zinnia was still upset. She thought, ‘There are only a few things I really like in life: sleeping, studying medicine, and eating good food. But lately, I can’t sleep well, and I can’t eat what I want.'

“What’s wrong? Why does she look so sad?” Ethan came into the classroom munching on a burger, noticing right away Maisie and the others around Zinnia.

Zinnia scrunched her little face as the smell of meat floated through the air. Her eyes stayed on the burger in Ethan’s hand, wishing she could have just one bite.

“Zinnia, want a burger? I have two fresh ones,” Ethan said kindly, seeing the longing look in her eyes. Anyone could tell she wanted them as he handed them over.

“Ethan, take your burger outside. Now!” Maisie yelled.

“What’s happening?” Ethan asked, surprised. Blocked by Maisie, he could only press his face to the window, looking at the group inside with a confused look.

“Don’t eat that in class, and definitely not in front of us!” Maisie snapped.

“Alright, since Zinnia wants them, just give her. I’ll go eat somewhere else. I went all the way to buy these. They smell so good. I know Zinnia will love them.”

Though confused, Ethan followed orders. Remembering how Zinnia had been staring at his burger earlier, he offered them to Maisie to pass to Zinnia.

Maisie snapped, “Get lost, Ethan.”

Maisie said softly, “Oh, Zinnia, I’ll buy you those later. For now, let’s focus on getting you better, okay? Once you’re healthy, we’ll have a big feast together.”

Ethan ate his burgers outside and then came back.

Zinnia calmed down a little. She grabbed a bottle of strawberry milk and took a sip.

Zinnia told herself, ‘I’ve lived like this for over ten years. Just one more year to go, and then I can eat whatever I want. It’ll pass really fast.’ She took a big gulp of her milk.

“Anne’s here,” someone said. Zinnia, still drinking her milk through a straw, looked toward the door. The first person she saw was William, and next to him was Anne, who had just come out of the hospital.

Anne looked over. Their eyes met, and Anne gave Zinnia a shy smile. Zinnia frowned.

Zinnia looked away and took slow sips of her milk. “Everyone, be quiet,” William said as he led Anne into the classroom.

Whispers spread as students wondered why Anne had moved to Class 19. They thought, ‘Why leave Class 2 for our class?’ After the fight between the two classes, most of the Class 19 students didn’t like Anne.

“Everyone, this is our new classmate, Anne Carson. Let’s welcome her,” William said. He really didn’t understand why Anne transferred, especially since she had trouble with some Class 19 students.

“Hi, everyone. I’m Anne Carson. I hope we get along," she said softly as she looked around the classroom, but her eyes stayed on Zinnia for a bit.

After everything that had happened recently, Anne appeared much more mature.

A few students clapped. Anne knew she wasn’t really welcome there, but she didn’t care.

William said, “Anne, the only seat available now is the middle one in the back. You can sit there for now, and we’ll change the seats after the monthly tests. Is that okay?”

With the tests starting this afternoon and the weekend in two days, Anne just nodded and said, “Okay.” She slung her bag over her shoulder and went to the last row. As she walked past the front, her eyes stayed on Zinnia.

Zinnia kept her head down, focused on her comic book. She wouldn’t even look at Anne after their fight. Anne pressed her lips together. ‘No way we can just become friends. I better take it slow,’ she thought.

Anne thought sadly, ‘I made too many mistakes. My judgment about people was too bad.'