How the Goddess Met the Beast

Free period.

Under a Fire Blossom tree, a group of students can be found busy doing their homeworks. Books and papers are scattered around the table, creating a mess but no one cared.

Its been more than a week since Jenny got suspended. However, none of them were able to enjoy Jenny's absence because of the pile of schoolworks their teachers kept on giving them. Probably because there's only a month and a half left before the rankings for the first semester to be updated, everyone seems so busy to complete the academic tasks so that the students would be free on the upcoming school festival.

Jamie was currently slumped against the table, looking as if she lost her soul.

Mira stretched her fingers. She felt as if her hand is cramping because of continuous writing. She looked at the pile of workbooks beside her that needed to be answered and felt despair. She also felt like crying. She looked around the table to see how her friends are doing.

She saw Sophie, Kang Jun and Luigi diligently answering their workbook quietly. Sophie was biting the end of her ballpen while frowning. On how can she still manage to look pretty despite being stressed is beyond Mira.

Justin on the other hand... It seems like he gave up answering and was now staring above, counting the tree leaves. She can sympathize with him. It seems like coming back from the future didn't give her a too much cheat. Although she can remember things easier, didn't mean that she could answer the questions easily as if she became a genius overnight.

Jamie groaned. Han Eugine who was sitting beside her glanced at her, before going going back to answering.

She frowned while watching him write. His hand continuously wrote with minimal pauses seemingly not needing any time to think. To make sure she's seeing things right, she raised the other half of the workbook Eugine was working at to check the cover.

?!!

Jamie sat up. "Hey, Han Eugine. Tell me. Are you really solving those math problems or are you just bullshiting your way through and writing whatever comes to your mind?"

Eugine frowned in confusion.

"Im really solving it though?"

"Liar. I dont see you thinking about your answer. You're not even pausing. What are you, a calculator?"

The confused guy scratched his neck as if he couldn't understand the problem. "Its easy though?"

For a moment, Jamie, Sophie, Justin got an urge to beat him up.

Kang Jun snickered while Mira tried to suppress her smile. She was also aware of Eugine's amazing computational skill.

"Are you perhaps having a hard time on this subject? Can you tell me what's confusing you. Maybe I can teach you." Eugine offered.

Jamie raised the whole Math workbook.

"Everything."

Upon hearing that, Eugine stared at her in silence before going back to answering his own workbook like nothing happened.

Kang Jun guffawed. Jamie glared at them before slumping again on the table. She groaned.

"I hate math."

...

After class, they all bid goodbyes to each other before all of them went their own ways, all of them too tired to hang out and just want to go home.

Sophie and Justin went together.

While walking together, Justin yawned.

"The heck with these schoolworks? Im so sleepy."

Sophie pouted. "Me too. Im so tired."

Justin looked at his girlfriend's face. Those who have known him for a long time would definitely notice how different his gaze is when looking at Sophie.

"What are you thinking?" Sophie asked.

"Hmm? I was thinking of the first time we met." He answered.

Sophie tilted her head. "Oh. What about it?"

"I was thinking that I was really cool back then."

Huh. Sophie could only scoff at Justin's smugness but she also smiled when she remembered that moment.

The scene where the beauty met the beast... Well, it was like a scene from a movie or a drama. It wasn't love at first sight, but it was a moment that would link their fate together.

A beauty getting harassed by gangsters. And an unruly bad boy to the rescue. That's how they met.

Sophie was in her last year of middle school back then. She remembered the sense of indignation she felt when Justin frowned at her as if she was a bother and just left her without saying anything. After beating up those thugs, he just looked at her before turning around to leave. He didn't even asked if she was okay. He didn't ask for her name. He didn't fawn at her like others do. Its not that she wanted him fawn at her back then, its just that her pride was wounded by his indifference to her.

Call it Vanity but she was also aware of what kind of face and body she possess.

At first she thought that he must have a blurry sight and that he wasn't able to see her real appearance.

So she called out to him.

"Hey! Are you just going to leave like that?"

Justin turned around and frowned at her. Sophie walked to him and waved her hand in front of his face.

"What are you doing?"

"So your eyesight is fine. Aren't you gonna ask if Im okay?" She asked.

Justin eyed her from head to toe. "No need. I can see that you're okay. Moreover, aren't you gonna say thank you to me?" He asked in the same tone as her.

".... Thanks." Sophie was speechless. It wasn't her intention to be ungrateful, but maybe because she almost got into trouble with those thugs, maybe somehow, just a tiny tiny bit, she wanted to be comforted.

"Well then." He turned around to leave and didn't even looked back at least once.

She could only watch his back as leave. Sophie cannot believe that there was a guy like Justin. She felt hurt, irritated and maybe, a little refreshed. When she got home, she asked her mother.

"Ma, am I beautiful?"

Her mother who was busy cooking, answered.

"Of course you are."

"Right. I am. I definitely am."

"But Im your mother so I might be biased when I say that." Her mother added.

"Maaaa!"

Her mother chuckled. "What's the matter anyway that made you question your own face?"

"Nothing. Its just that I cant believe there is someone who wouldn't show even a bit of favorabilty to me despite my face." The 15 years old Sophie grumbled.

"Its because beauty is not everything."

Sophie pouted. "I know."

It was a short encounter, but the face of the boy who saved her was etched into her mind.

Sophie didn't know, but the next time they would meet, they would be highschool students.