A waste of time known as...

Reaching her room, Layla saw a lock hanging on the door. She took out the keys and inserted one of them into the hole of the lock. After twisting the key and removing the unlocked lock, she entered. As soon as she opened the door, the pink zone in her room greeted her first. She went to her bed, thinking how many shades of pink this room has and how much pink tax Opal is paying.

Just then Opal entered, she was smiling. Layla found her smile beautiful yet silly. "You're back. I thought you might take time." She asked meaningfully.

Layla found it a little strange as her question was not making any sense to her. "Why you thought so?" she asked without beating around the bush.

Seeing her straightforward attitude, Opal decided to be honest. "Umm… I saw you with Ryan. So, I thought…" Opal was scratching her cheek.

"You guessed wrong." It wasn't the first time someone misinterpreted their relationship. "...And thought too much. We are not in a love relationship, nor do we have a crush on each other. And, there is nothing one-sided." She explained killing all the possibilities Opal could think of.

Opal nodded her head slowly and speechlessly. The atmosphere in the room turned somewhat awkward. But Lani's sudden entry eased the atmosphere "Oh, you gals are back."

"By the way Layla, Nat took your homework from the desk." She informed her.

"What!!! And, you let her be." Layla stared at her in disbelief though it was completely possible too. "That was incomplete and… and she would make creases." She dashed out of the room.

Her behavior was no surprise for Lani but it was a different story for the other girl. Thus, thinking about her new poor roommate, Lani turned to her. She found that Opal was a little lost. 'Maybe she has some questions.'

"Opal, what happened?" As a good friend and roommate, she showed her concern.

"Uhh… I saw Ryan and Layla together and I think I misunderstood something." The girl who was embarrassed about her act narrated everything to Lani.

"...Huh!!" She just thought too much, thinking Layla would have scared her. "Don't worry, you are not the first to misunderstand. Let me tell you about the incident that I couldn't tell you about during the lunch break."

Opal nodded her head profusely. She was curious to know that Ryan didn't let her say. "It happened when Layla was about to burst on students for touching her bag and Ryan successfully stopped her. She scared many with her outburst yet because of Ryan she finally calmed down." Lani said it meaningfully.

" Though it was nothing more than reminding her. Yet after that incident, a rumor started to spread that Layla is rejecting others 'cause of Ryan. There's a thing between the two of them.

But before it could go out of hand. Some posted an apology. They even went as far as revealing names of those who told them so and of those whom they told. Like this some names were uncovered, they suffered the most. Some of their secrets were leaked, they almost became the target.

Nobody knows how it actually happened." Her face was filled with emotions as she was recalling the incident. What was Ryan's role in it? If not for Layla dropping hints she would have never been able to guess.

"No one complained to teachers or…?" Opal asked.

Lani shook her head. "Who would go and admit their own mistakes." It would be equivalent to digging their own graves. She continued, "Later, we came to know that Ryan and Layla knew each other for many years. Thus, it was not that odd to them together. No one spreads rumors anymore." Though there are doubts in hearts but Lani has seen how they both interacted, they do not look like a couple. If not for her knowing them closely she would also make the same mistake plus she once questioned Layla.

She would be lying if she says that it does not affect her sometimes. She found it odd. At some point, she tried to search for answers from poker face Ryan but she couldn't find anything except that 'Layla is like a sister to him.' And when she tried asking Layla, she was only told that 'he was scared of something childish' but refused to divulge any information.

When she was lost in her thoughts, Opal's voice pulled her out from her stupor. "Thank you, Lani." If Lani wouldn't have explained she might have ended up upsetting her roommate.

Lani smiled in response.

After some time, a sullen Layla entered.

"What happened… Did Nat…?"

"Got a call from my aunt. She was not happy. I was lectured. Can you imagine she even looked into laws for child labor?" She told, widening her eyes in disbelief.

*ding*

A notification sound was produced, reminding Layla of the arrival of an unread message. She checked her phone and found a bunch of images sent by her aunt. She gulped, "She even sent me screenshots of emergency numbers and laws." It took Layla some time to coax her aunt. It made her think about whether she's doing right or not yet she decided not to change her decision.

…...

-The student council room-

Layla, Lani, and Ryan were in the student council room doing their own activities. But the funny thing was they were bunking their classes and hiding in this room to do their own stuff. Right now, only Layla was doing something related to her duty, but…

"Hey, Lani you should read this, you may get some inspiration for your music or song.

And hear this one,

Roses are red

Sky is blue

I love you

What the hell is this? Some nursery rhyme or some sort of revenge. What a waste of paper."

"If you have nothing better to do, then shut up." Ryan was annoyed. She was disturbing him by reading all that nonsense out loud.

"Fine." She made a mouth zipping gesture.

Not long after the noise died down in the room, Zou Haoran entered. He saw everyone was busy, then his eyes fell on the papers scattered in front of Layla and she was reading them while making faces. He walked to her and picked a paper and started reading it.

After reading it, he couldn't believe that she was reading the love letters addressed to him. Is she some kind of... fetish?

"Why are you reading these?" he asked, a little irritatedly. Her action made him feel like she invaded his privacy even though he himself never read them.

"Because I was bored." she scoffed at his displeased look.

"If you want to pick a fight then go out." Ryan warned before they could engage any further in the argument.

She took a breath and started explaining to him. "Because they were in the complaint box. And, I have to read anything put in there in order not to miss a single request or complaint. No matter whom they addressed."

Hearing this, his face changed and he realized his mistake. 'She was doing her duty as vice-president. Maybe it wasn't comfortable for her either.'

Seeing this she thought, 'Does he think I have some weird habit?' But this time she kept her mouth shut.

When he was thinking of saying something to ease her mood, Lani spoke, "Don't think too highly of her. She might be doing her job but those who wrote their names would end up receiving extra lessons from teachers because of her." Layla is petty and she usually takes her revenge by playing little tricks. She makes them study more for wasting her time like this.

He was speechless. He truly underestimated her. "And those who do not write their name?"

"She is familiar with the handwriting of others."

"..." She is mischievous.