Chapter 86: Growing circle

Once the first recess bell rang, the class president approached Penny’s desk immediately.

"Uh, Penny."

Penny looked up at the class president and tilted her head.

The class president offered Penny a smile. "Thank you for earlier and I’m sorry I couldn’t stop them." Her smile cracked a little as she thought of what could’ve happened if Penny got in trouble.

She was the class president, and she knew she should’ve done something. However, not only did she hesitate for a second, but her officers and even Penny saved her from Ray’s fans’ wrath.

"It’s okay, President!" Penny reassured. "It’s not your fault. I mean, I knew you tried, and that’s good enough for me."

But that didn’t feel good enough for the class president.

"Lily." the class president said with a subtle smile. "Just call me Lily."

Penny didn’t answer and just smiled.

"Anyway, do you want to eat snacks together?" Lily offered. "I brought some snacks from Germany. You might want to try them."

"Oh, but I’m eating snacks with Ginnie to discuss our project."

Lily glanced at Ginnie, who had just arrived at Penny’s desk. "She can come if you want."

"Well... that’s not for me to decide." Penny shifted her eyes to Ginnie.

Ginnie’s shoulders tensed up when Lily and Penny were looking at her. She forced a smile while her brain almost overheated with all the overthinking. If she refused, then Lily might be upset and might think Ginnie was trying to hog Penny all for herself.

Although Lily hadn’t done anything to her, Ginnie was still scared of rubbing Lily the wrong way.

"Su — sure."

"Great!" Lily exclaimed, and with that, the three girls went to the cafeteria to eat.

Recess time was different from other grades, so the cafeteria in building 1 wouldn’t be so crowded. The girls found a spot in the corner, putting down their snacks. Penny only bought from the cafeteria because she wanted to save the ones she brought for later.

As for Lily, she placed these containers full of snacks on the table.

"Lily, can you eat all of that?" Penny couldn’t help but notice.

Lily smiled. "My parents want me to share it with my friends. I already shared some with the class officers, but I want to share this with you."

"Oh..." Penny’s eyes glossed over the food and pursed her lips. ’They look delicious!’

"Come on, try them. They’re really good." Seeing the shimmer in Penny’s eyes, Lily couldn’t help but push the container toward her.

"Are you sure?"

"Of course. After helping me today, this isn’t enough to thank you."

"Well, then, thank you!" Penny didn’t hear the rest of the sentence as she happily picked up her spoon to enjoy the dishes. It was only recess, but the food they were eating was good for lunch.

Seeing how Penny happily enjoyed the food, Lily was about to start eating as well when she noticed Ginnie.

"Ginnie, don’t you want to try them as well?"

Ginnie just smiled awkwardly and said, "I — I’m — fine."

Hearing this answer, Penny turned her head to her while still chewing. "It’s very delicious."

"Yes, it is. You should try it." Lily backed up.

’But...’Ginnie’s shoulders trembled, reminded of the last time Patricia offered her some food. The food was, indeed, nice, but the experience right after wasn’t nice. Since Patricia gave her food, Patricia demanded Ginnie to buy her as well.

The food Patricia gave Ginnie was an expensive dish. Hence, Ginnie had been paying for it by using all her monthly allowance to buy Patricia snacks every day.

"Come on." Lily moved one of the small food containers. "Just try it."

Lily and Penny watched Ginnie in anticipation. They didn’t take their eyes off her as if they were waiting for her reaction.

Ginnie’s tense expression relaxed as the flavor exploded in her mouth. Her brows rose and somehow her eyes glowed. "Heaven..."

"Hehe. Told ya." Penny giggled while Lily smiled in satisfaction.

"You can have more. You should also try this one and this one — this one is a little weird at first, but it’s yummy!" Lily excitedly offered the rest of her snacks. As a foodie, Lily and Penny quickly found common ground because Penny enjoyed even the dishes that most people would find weird.

Ginnie also started to feel relaxed with how comfortable the two girls were. However, she couldn’t really enjoy some of the dishes because they were too weird for her taste. Even so, Lily didn’t take it to heart and the three of them enjoyed the first recess, lunch, and even the afternoon siesta together.

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It was strange having girls automatically flock around Penny’s desk during their free time. This was something Penny had never experienced in the past. Even if she did, people would only approach Penny when they needed her or when it was convenient for them.

’Having Ginnie come to me isn’t that much of a strange occurrence because we’re both scholar students,’ thought Penny before she shifted her eyes to Lily. Both of them had been sitting around Penny’s desk since their last subject was a self-study.

’But with Lily’s addition to this small group... I don’t know what to feel.’

While Penny was trying to understand what she felt about her growing circle, she heard Miss Sandford’s voice from the entrance. Everyone intuitively gazed at her, only to see Miss Sandford eyeing Penny.

"Penny, come with me."

"Huh?" Ginnie and Lily quickly looked at Penny with slight worry.

Was this bad news?

Everyone shared the same questions in their mind as they watched Penny trudge toward Miss Sandford. Miss Sandford simply smiled at Penny when the latter stood in front of her.

"Come with me for a while. I need to discuss something with you."

Penny nodded and followed Miss Sandford to the faculty. On their way, Penny couldn’t help but stare at Miss Sandford’s back.

’Miss Sandford is really pretty, and she’s also the kindest teacher in school.’ Penny pursed her lips as she thought about her poor uncle. ’I wonder if Miss Sandford is single?’