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Novel Catalog
Chapter 16
As Nicole settled into her seat, she couldn’t help but feel the weight of the stares from her new classmates.
The whispers and judgments were hard to ignore, but she maintained her composure.
Her aloofness, which was often mistaken for arrogance, was just a shield she had learned to build over the years.
Ms.
Emerson began the lesson with a curt tone, and Nicole focused on her work, choosing to ignore the occasional glances from Gary and the others.
She could feel the tension in the air, but she was determined not to let it affect her.
The last thing she wanted was to give these students the satisfaction of seeing her uncomfortable.
Gary, still glancing her way, couldn’t shake the feeling that Nicole looked eerily similar to someone he knew, someone from his past.
He couldn’t quite place it, but the thought nagged at him.
As the lesson progressed, he tried to focus, but his mind kept drifting back to that fleeting thought.
Jack, on the other hand, couldn’t resist making a few more snide remarks, trying to get a rise out of Nicole.
“Hey, don’t worry, girl.
You’ll get used to the back row.
You might even like the view of the class from here,” he teased, his voice dripping with sarcasm.
Nicole didn’t respond.
She simply pulled out her notebook and began taking notes, ignoring him completely.
It was a strategy she had perfected—if you didn’t acknowledge them, they would eventually grow bored.
Meanwhile, Ms.
Emerson continued her lecture, unaware of the undercurrents of tension in the classroom.
Nicole’s quiet confidence and the subtle way she carried herself didn’t go unnoticed, even by those who tried to dismiss her.
Some of the boys, like Bradley, had been impressed by her beauty at first glance, but there was something else about her—something that felt different.
As the class went on, the murmurs slowly died down.
The students couldn’t decide if Nicole was someone to be admired or someone to be ignored.
For now, it seemed like she was content to remain an enigma.
And that, in itself, made her even more intriguing to them.