My Desk Mate Used a Grade-Stealing System on Me

chapter 3

I yawned. "I'm a bit sleepy. I want to nap first and eat it later."

Natalie immediately became anxious.

It's just a candy, really too small. If I put it in my pocket, she wouldn't know whether I ate it or not.

She urged, "Your throat is hoarse, hurry up and eat the throat lozenge."

"Besides, you're sick now and need more sugar. What if you faint during class later?"

She frowned, looking as if she was genuinely worried about me.

The people around obviously believed her concern.

Whispers came from the back row.

"It's just a candy, will eating it kill her?"

"I think she's just ugly inside, unwilling to accept others' kindness."

"Natalie cares so much about her, yet she doesn't appreciate it. She's already a poor student, how can she not know to cherish it?"

Those words pierced my heart like needles.

I thought, "Does giving me a few candies count as being kind to me? Am I supposed to eat them gratefully in return?"

"Does the gap between our wealth justify everyone morally coercing me without knowing the truth?"

My fingertips trembled slightly, yet I still forced myself to appear calm.

At this moment, Sophia also spoke up. "You won't take medicine or throat lozenges. Are you picking on Natalie on purpose because you don't like her?"

Her attitude was particularly aggressive, and even the surrounding classmates were full of hostility toward me because of this.

After silently weighing it in my mind, I reached out, took the candy, unwrapped it, and ate it.

A cool sensation instantly spread in my mouth, and the mint's sharpness tingled on my tongue.

Seeing this, Natalie finally smiled. "That's more like it. Feeling any better?"

I also smiled and softly said, "Thank you, my throat does feel much better."

She only turned away satisfied after watching me swallow the candy.

I pretended to be sleepy and lay down on the table.

When it got quiet around me, I quietly felt my pocket, where the throat lozenge she gave me was lying still.

Before, to soothe my throat, I also prepared some cheap and refreshing throat lozenges.

Luckily, the school store only had this one type of throat lozenge, or the packaging alone would have given me away.

Taking the chance to go to the restroom, I hid that special throat lozenge before returning to the teaching building.

As soon as I walked into the classroom, I saw Natalie sitting in my seat.

And the empty throat lozenge tin box I had left in the desk was now sitting on my table.

My heart skipped a beat.

Sophia looked up, saw me standing at the back door, and immediately gave Natalie a look.

Natalie turned around, her face frighteningly grim.

She stared at me and asked, "Sarah, did you buy this throat lozenge a long time ago?"