3 "The Good News and The Bad News"

Sydney was surprised, and she could have stepped back to avoid him. But his deep grey eyes seemed to have turned her into stone.

"When I say, I want to be your friend, I mean it, Sydney," Matt said in a serious tone, "You should just listen and obey-"

As if her energy was recharged, Sydney shoved away Matt's hand, and it was so strong that his arms swung to the side, hitting Greta's nose!

"Owwwww…!" Greta whimpered, "Sydney! Can you behave for a day!?"

Sydney ignored Greta, but concentrated on talking to Matt, "VIP guy," Sydney said in a cold voice, "I don't know why you want to be my friend, but when I said I don't want to, I mean it! So stop bothering me!"

Upon hearing this, Matt laughed.

"Oh, he lost it. The screw in his head is loose," Sydney thought.

Without saying anything, Matt continued chuckling and stepped out of the room.

"He's a creepy guy," Sydney said, "I'd never want to be his friend. Ever. He's crazy."

"Sydney! He's a VIP !" Greta exclaimed, "You should follow all his commands, or else-"

"Or else, run around the campus 50 times, or squat 100 times?" Sydney said, recalling what the rich girl said earlier that day. "Tell me Greta, just what kind of a VIP he is that the teachers are afraid of him? Do his parents own the school?"

"No."

"Are his parents the major stockholders in the school?"

"No."

"Is he an heir to a big, famous company?"

"No."

"Don't tell me he's in the mafia-"

"No, no! Where did you even get those scenarios?" Greta asked her, raising her eyebrow.

"Just some romance novels I've read before," Sydney replied, missing her free time when school had not yet started. "Let me think…"

If his parents do not own the school, his parents aren't the major stockholders in the school, he is not an heir to a big, famous company, and he's not in the mafia, then there's another option…

"I know, I know!" Sydney exclaimed, excited to share her theory. "Maybe he's the mayor's son-"

"He's not!" Greta protested. She gave up and decided to tell it to Sydney and her classmates who were listening. "The truth is, he's-"

"Class, sit down now," the music teacher, Elle McBean, said as she stood behind the teacher's desk. "Let's start class now."

Matt didn't attend that class and the other classes after it.

After all the afternoon classes…

"My driver is here, bye," Greta said as she bid goodbye to her underlings, the group of girls who followed her everywhere. Before she stepped out of the door, she called out to Sydney, "Sydney! We're not yet done!"

"Yeah, right!" Sydney said, chuckling, "See you tomorrow, blondie!"

Greta rolled her eyes and walked out of the classroom.

Sydney was happy that Matt didn't return that afternoon. "Let's go to the ice cream shop, Olivet! I suddenly feel like eating my favorite vanilla ice cream!"

"There you go again, you and your sweet tooth," Olivet said, as she wore her cute, pastel blue and pink striped backpack. "Let's go!"

The two of them stepped out of the classroom. They walked in the hallway, and when they passed in front of the teacher's room...

"Sydney! Please wait," Ms. Elle called her over as soon as she saw her, "Can I talk to you for a while?"

Inside the teacher's room were several cubicles and tables for all the teachers in the school. Sydney was asked to sit in a free chair beside Ms. Elle's office chair, while Olivet was asked to wait outside the room.

"I have two news for you, which one would you like to hear first?" Ms. Elle asked. "The bad news, or the good news?"

Sydney gulped upon hearing that there's bad news included in her teacher's choices. She thought for a little while, and eventually decided, "The good news, Ms. Elle. Please say the good news, first."

"Good news, you're included in the list of performers in the Kasumi (Province) Inter-school Concert! You and one of the Seniors will be the school's representatives for this very important event." Ms. Elle explained. "Let's talk about it tomorrow. I will set a meeting for us."

"Oh my goodness! I'm so excited!" Sydney exclaimed. It was one of her goals to join the inter-school concert at least once in her high school life. Looks like hitting the super high notes enjoined with her powerful timbre and beautiful vibrato worked really well during the audition!

"But, here's the bad news, Sydney…"

Her excitement was cut off, "Yes…?"

"You… You were erased from the list of Music Club members," Ms. Elle said, frowning. "It means… you're not permitted to use the Music room anymore."