Chapter 04

NEFERTARY

No me mires así

Tuesday, yes Tuesday-who throws a party on a Monday, and who even attends it? Well, my beloved father and people from our same social class. After playing the piano, I went straight to my room, 'I had already arranged that with my mother'; she was easy to convince since it wasn't the weekend.

Well, actually it was thanks to Mr. Willson; if his flight weren't scheduled for tonight-he only came for some business deal with my father-I wouldn't have gotten away with it. Anyway, I still have five years to go before I take over one of the many companies my father owns. For now, I want nothing to do with business.

Today I feel neutral, watching every tree pass by through the limousine window, 'anxious to get to school'.

"—Don't you think people have a soulmate or an exact copy of themselves?

—And I'm yours! You're such an idiot, Lorenz.

—Believe it or not, I don't care. —He closed the distance between us to get as close to my ear as possible and whispered— You're the bitch I was looking for."

I remember perfectly what Michael told me yesterday at the party. Maybe he's right and is an exact copy of me, 'in a male version, of course'. I'll have to study his expressions more. On the other hand, Mathias:

"—I'm talking about this, Nefertary. —He looked me up and down— The fucking perfect girl you pretend to be. —Since I didn't say anything, he stepped closer and whispered in my ear— I'm here to set you free, Nefertary Ibagon. I want that fucking perfect girl you pretend to be to disappear.

Unable to contain myself, a very dramatic laugh escaped my lips. I cleared my throat a bit to say:

—And you, Mathias Ludwig, do you really want to unleash the monster?"

Just a rebellious boy who thinks he can handle the monster.

Peaceful hours, goodbye. 'I've arrived at school.' Hello filthy rats, fucking bitches... I wish those words would come out of my mouth. 'Let the game of hypocrisy begin.' While I greet them back, my mother would kill me if I dared to say any of that-she'd travel at the speed of light to slap me, literally. So I greet the rats-or the lovely people who greeted me-and head to the cafeteria to grab something like "breakfast" since I had no interest in having breakfast alone with my mother, "since" my father had left 'last minute' earlier this morning for a sudden business trip to Canada. He had to check on one of his companies in Toronto, or something like that, according to Marílis or Elizabeth, one of the mansion employees.

As I sit down at one of the tables in the cafeteria, I spot Lucy coming in. 'I had already told her where I'd be.' Correction: she's coming in with a redhead, honey-colored eyes. Nothing new. They head straight to where I'm sitting, having breakfast: a fruit salad and a glass of orange juice.

—Hi!, Nefertary —she says enthusiastically.

—Hi!, Lucy and... —I look at the redhead girl.

—Oh, sorry, Sere, this is Martina Greco. Martina, this is my best friend, Nefertary Ibagon.

—Nice to meet you, Nefertary —she extends her hand and of course I do the same to shake it.

—Pleasure is mine, Martina. —"Gentle smile"— Well, take a seat, you're not planning to just stand there, are you?

—Okay, yeah... I'm still kind of in the clouds, I can't believe Martina's actually here —says Lucy as she takes a seat at the table—. Anyway, let me tell you-wait, did I already tell you? I think I did... whatever, I'll tell you again, doesn't matter. —Martina lets out a little laugh.

—She's always like this, you'll get used to it —I say.

—Well, she already has, for your information, dear-just like you did —says Lucy, a little annoyed.

—Alright, relax and let Martina tell me how you two met.

—Okay, Martina, are you telling it or should I? —Okay, what part of "Martina will tell it" didn't she understand? So we both look at little miss innocent. 'What manners, Nefertary', you don't even know her well, 'and trust me, I don't care to know her either'.

—Alright, we met a month ago... or maybe a week ago, since I was traveling in New York.

—Also on vacation? —I asked.

—No, I was actually accompanying my mother on one of her business trips. —I nod for her to continue, but Lucy jumps in.

—Well, we ran into each other at a store, I was shopping—obviously, I had to take advantage... I was in New York, babes, New York! —God, her face every time she said 'New York' cracked me up— Anyway, I had spotted this super gorgeous dress that practically said, "Take me with you, you need me."

—Right, because the dress actually spoke to you, didn't it? —I cut in to bring her back to earth. She just gave me a dirty look and kept going.

—So, we both had our eyes on the same dress. I reached out to grab it, but there was another hand—Martina's. I asked her—or rather said: 'Oh, sorry, I didn't know you wanted it too.' She told me: 'No, I was just looking, you can have it.'

—And then she asked me if I was from New York, I said no, I'm Italian. She invited me for a drink, and of course I said yes. We started chatting about all sorts of things, and I honestly thought she was super cool —Martina finished the story for her.

—Not surprised how forward you are with everyone —I tell Lucy.

—Not everyone, Sere.

—Okay, whatever you say. And Martina, it's a pleasure having you here —I say as I grab a piece of fruit with my fork and pop it into my mouth.

—Thanks, I hope I can stay here a long time.

—Why? —I ask with the fruit still in my mouth. Yeah, I know it's rude to talk while chewing, but let's not be "impolite" and ignore what little miss innocent just said.

—Because my mom's always traveling and I never get to stay in one country for more than a year. —She gives me a small closed—mouth smile, and of course there's a bit of sadness in her voice when she says that.

—Oh, sorry, I didn't know, I didn't mean to...

—It's okay, Nefertary. —This time she gives me a more cheerful smile. Not that I care whether she stays long or not. As long as she sticks with Lucy and keeps her off my back, everything's fine. But let's be "polite", so I give her the same smile she gave me.

'God, I'm such a hypocrite.'

—Lucy was right, you really are an amazing person. —If only you knew, you wouldn't even want me near.

—Lucy exaggerates.

—Sere, I don't exaggerate and you know it, eh —I get a playful look from her.

Then they start talking about boys, school, and a bit of everything. From what I can tell, they're both chatterboxes. I try to follow the conversation and chime in on things I couldn't care less about. In a matter of minutes, the cafeteria fills up and the rats set their eyes on us. Obviously because of me-and maybe a little because of little miss innocent Martina-since it's always Lucy and me. I've never sat with anyone else. I bet they're wondering who the redhead girl is.

Lost in my thoughts 'a little', the bell rings, signaling the start of class. We walk Martina to her classroom, and after dropping her off, we head to ours.

✧────── ༉───✦───༉ ─────✧

Already in the classroom, we took our seats, waiting for the teacher. Lucy kept repeating the same words she'd been saying ever since we left Martina in her classroom and headed to ours-she couldn't believe she was actually here, even though Martina had already told her back in New York that she'd be studying here for a few months.

—She's the newest member of our girl group. —Mine she's not, yours she might be.— Sere, this is... —she stopped mid-sentence as she saw Michael walk into the room. I mean, he's just a guy, Lucy, why freeze up? Though, to be fair, he's not just any guy. Before walking past us, he stopped. I didn't see that coming. 'What are you planning, Lorenz?'

—Hi, mute swan. —What the hell did that idiot just say? 'Calm down, Nefertary, not now, NOT NOW.'

—Hi! —I said it as nicely and convincingly as only the dumbest people would believe. Shame the idiot wasn't dumb-he laughed a little.

—Well, I hope you rested well after last night's party. I didn't see you after your performance. I didn't get to tell you how much I loved your piano playing. You've got way too much hidden talent, Nefertary Ibagon. —That cynical smile he gave me... I swear I'll kill him. Is he stupid or what? He did it just to provoke me.

—Thank you! —A stupid thank you, when what I really wanted to say was: obviously I know that, or do you think I'd do something to disappoint people? Like I'd let my reputation be ridiculed? Please, idiot.

—It was a pleasure. —With that, he walked off and Lucy gave me a look like: am I invisible to you or what? You haven't told me anything... damn it, Nefertary.

—Mute swan, you owe me a lot of explanations —she muttered.

—Yeah, I know that you... —Right then, the math teacher walked in. I was saved. No, no, no, not saved at all. Damn my luck. In comes Mathias, who looks at me and winks as he enters behind the teacher. This is a fucking mess-those two and Lucy's interrogation. Let's say fifty-fifty-I'm not telling her the whole truth.

—How the hell do you know those two, Nefertary? —Even whispered, I could hear how pissed she was that I hadn't told her anything. I didn't expect those two idiots to pull what they just did either.

—I'll tell you everything at home —I said in a calm tone, just loud enough for the two of us to hear.

Processing everything that just happened-and the day has barely started-I just hope it doesn't get worse...

Lucy turns her head around every ten minutes. I imagine it's to check on Michael and Mathias.

—Miss Lucy, do you have a problem? Did you lose something? —asked the Math teacher, since he'd been watching her for the past hour.

—No, sir —she answered nervously.

—Well then, if you haven't lost anything, stop looking at your classmates. They —he pointed to Ludwig and Lorenz— won't contribute anything to your learning.

Busted, Lucy. Hahahahaha.

—Sorry, professor —she said, embarrassed.

With that, the teacher didn't say anything else but gave her a look like: I'll be keeping my eye on you, young lady.

As we all went back to solving math problems, pretending the teacher hadn't just scolded her, I couldn't believe Lucy couldn't even pretend well enough to avoid getting called out. How stupid.

—This is all your fault, Serene —she said under her breath, eyes glued to her notebook.

—Mine? I didn't tell you: Lucy, look at those two every ten minutes to then tell me what they were doing, if they were staring at me or what. —I said it calmly, even though I really wanted to knock her off her cloud. Who does she think she is to talk to me like that? She's just a facade to me.

—How can you be so calm?

—Because I don't like those guys. I'm not interested in them. They're just regular people to me, just like us.

—Sorry, Nefertary, but you and those two are nothing like regular people—unlike me, who totally is. —I looked at her to see if she was serious, but her eyes were still glued to her notebook, pretending to work on the math problems. Though, it was painfully obvious she hadn't understood a damn thing.

—Am I a freak then? —I don't even know how I keep myself from screaming that in her face, but hey, calm is better. Faking is better than being real.

—Of course not. It's just that you're the sole heiress to your billionaire father, the best student in the school, plus the most popular, respected by everyone... I don't know how you're always so relaxed and nice to everyone.

—And that makes me different from you?

—Yes, because I'm none of those things. Unlike them.

—And what do they have to do with anything you just said?

—That they're just like you. —Maybe... but anyway—. Nefertary, Michael is the only heir too, he's got excellent grades, became popular in a day, same with Mathias. The only difference is that Lorenz is polite, treats you like a gentleman. -Yeah, sure. I'm not buying that.

—And have you talked to him or are you just saying that because you like him?

—I haven't talked to him, obviously. I'm just saying it based on how he talked to you a few hours ago. —She was clearly nervous when I asked that. Finally, she stopped whispering—. Anyway, as I was saying, Mathias is obviously the rebellious, stubborn, annoying guy, and he seems like a womanizer.

—I already said I'm not interested in either of them. End of discussion.

—STOP BEING STUPID AND OPEN YOUR EYES, CAN'T YOU SEE THEY'RE DROP-DEAD GORGEOUS?! —I can't believe she just yelled at me. That's a first—but not even the worst part. Nope... the entire class heard. Lucy, you just majorly fucked up, idiot.

—MISS LUCY, TO THE PRINCIPAL'S OFFICE NOW! YOU ARE ABSOLUTELY DISRESPECTFUL! —said the teacher, who in my opinion didn't even want to look at her.

—But sir...

—NOW! DID YOU HEAR ME OR ARE YOU DEAF?! —The teacher interrupted. I don't even know what Lucy was expecting, since she wasn't moving—. CAN'T YOU WALK EITHER OR DID YOU FORGET HOW?!

I know he's angry, but now he's going too far with my almost friend who's being deceived by me. I have to be the best friend, right?

—Professor Eusebius —I said in a proper, calm tone so only he would look at me—. I know Lucy was very disrespectful to you and everyone here, but there's no need to shout. She gets it now, she's just in shock because she realizes how ridiculous she looked. —Lucy looked at me for the first time since our conversation started, like: what the hell, I know I messed up, no need to announce it to the world. I turned back to the teacher—. If you allow me, I'll take her to the principal's office myself, since she's in a trance right now.

He considered it for a few seconds.

—Okay —he said, in a calmer tone. He can't yell at me, or correct me, or even tell me to shut up, because my parents are donors of this school. They're some of the main patrons of the institution, and therefore very important... just like me.

I nodded to the teacher, stood up, and looked at Lucy, who hesitated for a moment but eventually stood with her head down, staring at the floor. We walked toward the classroom exit, heading to the principal's office. As we left that cage-sorry, classroom-I could feel our classmates' eyes on us. Already in the hallway, Lucy said something:

—Earth, swallow me whole... right now -she whispered, but I heard her.

—You're too selfish to ask that from the Earth. Besides, she's already sick because of us—do you want to make her worse? —I said super calmly, which annoyed her for some reason.

—Damn it, Nefertary, damn it... how the fuck can you be so calm after what just happened? —she said as we walked, still staring at the floor.

—Uhm... because I wasn't the one who made a fool of myself. Also, I haven't heard a thank you yet.

—A thank you for what, exactly? —This time I looked her in the eye.

—Well... for stepping in, because if I hadn't, the teacher would still be yelling at you.

—See? I'm right.

—Right about what?

—That you're not a normal person. Because if it had been another student who stepped in to defend me, the teacher would've stabbed them right along with me.

I said nothing and we kept walking toward the oh-so-lovely principal's office. I'm surprised there are no rats around here.

—We're here, Nefertary... uhm... —she wanted to say something, but hesitated. I just nodded, turned around, and started walking back to class.

—THANK YOU! —I heard her yell when I was already sixteen steps away. That was enough to leave satisfied.

Author:

Well, well... what did you think of this chapter? Because I love seeing how everything slips out of Nefertary's control and she still manages to keep faking her little perfect-girl face. Between Lorenz throwing hints, Mathias wanting to unleash the "monster," and Lucy embarrassing her in public... this is just getting started, babies.

Serious question:

Would you have let Lucia sink on her own or defended her like Nefertary did?

And most importantly... Team Lorenz or Team Ludwig? Because I know more than one of you is already drooling over one of them.

The game is just beginning, my loves.

P.S.: This story is certainly complete in Spanish and English on W*****d, but it also deserved to be discovered on other platforms.