Chapter 83: Penny, fighting!

If Penny was drinking water, she would have spat it out already. If she was eating, she would’ve choked.

"Penny, can I woo you?"

Where in the world did that question come from?

Penny’s mouth fell open while the crowd felt their jaws fall to the ground. For a moment, every single soul within the vicinity forgot to breathe as they tried to process five words: Penny, can I woo you?

Penny even felt her guardian angel hum a holy song to cleanse her ears.

Looking at Ray from head to toe, Penny opened her mouth, but then she closed them again. This guy was clearly around seventeen or maybe eighteen! She’s thirteen. At least, that was what her birth certificate said, but this body? Some students from higher grades wanted to tickle her, mistaking her for a kindergartener!

But this guy...

Wasn’t this a crime?

Worse. Why were other students carrying a look of envy as if they wanted to be asked that question?!

Penny blinked many times and looked at Ginnie. "Ginnie, I’m leaving."

"Ah? Huh?" Ginnie turned her head, but her eyes remained on Ray. "What — what — Penny?"

"Penny, you hadn’t answered my —"

Penny looked up at Ray and her answer was a cold and ruthless, "No."

Yet, her refusal only made Ray smile. "You sure?"

Hearing that question, Penny felt her entire core shudder. Why did that question sound more like an omen?

"Is it because of the age gap?" Ray cocked his head to the side, eyes squinting as his smile remained. "Don’t worry, once you’ve turned eighteen, I’m already twenty-two. It’s not a huge gap if you think like that, right? By then, we can get married and no one will criticize it."

"..."

The crowd’s disbelief jumped to the highest level, looking at Ray with widened eyes. Some were just shocked that a boy from a higher grade — from the star section at that — would show an interest in a thirteen-year-old bonsai.

Others, who were very active in such things as relationships and puppy love, couldn’t help but feel heartbroken. Many of them admired the star students; they were the celebrity of the school, after all. Thus, this felt like a rich man falling for the poor girl concept.

Some found it like a fairytale and romantic, others saw this as an abomination. The opinions were equally split.

But what Penny said next threw them all in more disbelief.

"Big brother, it’s not the age gap I am concerned about." Penny sported a disgusted look and made it as obvious as possible so Ray would stop this madness.

"Then, what?" Ray’s face brightened up, putting on his most charming smile.

"You..." she trailed off and assessed his face. "... are not my type."

"???"

"..."

Ray felt like a block of concrete fell on top of his head while the crowd’s mouth gaped wide.

What did she say?

The crowd studied Penny’s figure and were in even more dismay. Compared to the stunning Ray, Penny was short and wide! She was probably the shortest student in the building. Although she was cute because of her smooth complexion and naturally pinkish cheeks, how dare she?!

"Ha ha..." Ray chuckled when he recovered. "Then, what do you like —"

"Not interested," Penny answered even before he could complete his sentence. Without giving him the slightest interest, Penny faced Ginnie. Seeing that Ginnie hadn’t recovered, she dragged her away.

As Penny hastened her steps to get away from this, she heard Ray speak.

"Don’t worry, Penny! I won’t give up until you give me a chance! See you tomorrow."

Penny stopped and looked back at him with horror. "Please don’t see me forever."

"Haha!"

Shaking her head, Penny hastened her steps even more and quickly disappeared from that horror scene.

When they were near the gates, Ginnie looked at Penny with wide eyes. Penny tried her best not to notice, but Ginnie’s shock was written all over her face.

"Penny, are you sure... you don’t want to date?" Ginnie muttered, only to flinch when Penny faced her with a dark expression. "So — so — sorry."

"I’m not angry at you, but at that psycho." Penny clicked her tongue in irritation, refraining from using a much more appropriate term to call Ray. "Ginnie, do you really think he likes me?"

Ginnie assessed Penny and said, "You’re cute, Penny, and even if you’re short, your personality is big enough."

"You don’t understand." Penny shook her head. "There must be an ulterior motive behind this."

This is the rank 2 in the star section. Penny never recalled being ever involved with these people. Why was he showing interest in her now?

Penny quietly wracked her brain to think of the root of why Ray was showing interest in her. She needed to know the root, so she could pull it out.

’This is not the trouble I thought that guy would give me,’

Seeing her in distress, Ginnie felt worried. "Penny, even if there’s an ulterior motive, I don’t think refusing him is the right decision."

"Huh?"

"Ray is the rank 2, and it’s not a secret he never tried to be 1 for some reason. The point is, he was already ranked 2 the moment he stepped into the school and because of that, he has a very huge fan club in the school," Ginnie explained as this seemed something that Penny wasn’t aware of. "All the star students have their fan clubs and Ray’s has the biggest fanbase for some reason."

"..." Penny was flabbergasted. She was too shocked that she forgot the star section’s diehard fans.

Considering the reaction from the other girls, Penny’s face twisted. She was very familiar with that look of envy and little girls like them would surely do Ray’s dirty work.

’This must be his plan! He’s giving me interest so his insane fan club would target me!’ she harrumphed mentally, her nose flaring. "I knew it! Yesterday is him painting a target on my back!"

Now Ginnie was more worried. "Did you do something to annoy him?" she asked nervously. "Penny, should you apologize so he stops and calls it a misunderstanding?"

"Apologize?" Penny glanced at Ginnie and realized that the suggestion came from genuine concern. "Ginnie, I didn’t do anything to anger the star section. So, there’s nothing I should apologize for."

If Ray was doing this because Penny hyped up Atlas and Theo, then the star section was petty children! If they disliked the challenge and felt threatened by Atlas, then they didn’t deserve to be called the star section.

"Penny..." Ginnie felt like crying as she could imagine Penny’s future. "What are we going to do?"

We?

Penny’s anger slightly subsided as she looked at Ginnie. With that fear plastered on Ginnie’s face, she calmed down and smiled.

"Don’t worry, Ginnie." Penny offered a reassuring smile. "This will be a battle of consistency and I’m very consistent."

Penny winked at her, making Ginnie’s brows rise. Now that Penny was showing her confidence again, Ginnie smiled helplessly and believed in Penny’s spirit.

"Penny, fighting!"

"You bet!" Penny grinned, but then suddenly thought of an idea. ’Should I start a betting pool about this too?’ She scratched the idea because if she started a betting pool about this, she was afraid her brothers would hear it and make ridiculous assumptions.