Chapter 57: A Good Beginning
Xanthia's new seat in the classroom was in the fourth group, still by the window.
But this time, the view outside the window was no longer the classroom corridor, but the school's green belt. Looking down from the window, all she could see was soil, and beyond the green belt was a wide road, passing by the cafeteria, leading to the dormitory building. The school basketball court was further north along the road.
During the long break, if she didn't feel like going out for a walk, she could sit at her seat and gaze at the basketball court. There would always be a group of sports-loving boys taking advantage of this rare break, sweating on the court. Marcus, a classmate of hers, was one of them.
Only freshmen could gaze at the basketball court from the classroom because the freshman building was closest to it. The sophomore building was on the south side of the freshman building, separated by flower beds and sandwiched between the freshman and senior buildings.
Further south from the senior building was the grand school administration building, where the weekly flag-raising ceremony took place. Students who could give speeches during the flag-raising ceremony were either top students or those who had brought honor to the school.
Xanthia quite liked the window seat, especially the one furthest inside the classroom next to the window. In the future, she could place some plants on the window sill and keep her thermos there.
When she was bored, she could just stare out of the window, looking at the blue sky and white clouds. This was a way for her to accumulate happiness.
As a student, if she was too tense and didn't waste any time, then she wouldn't be a student at all.
She just wanted to keep each day relaxed and leisurely, enjoying a slow-paced life. She had had enough of the suffocating, high-pressure life in her past life.
On Xanthia's right was her new seatmate, Elena La Loannou. After moving all her belongings to the desk, she skillfully stacked her textbooks and reference books like a "fortress." Whenever a class started, she would pull out the relevant textbook to the top.
This "fortress" seemed to deceive others into thinking she was studying when she was actually napping in class.
The teachers at the podium could see everything clearly, but some students would just throw a chalk piece to wake the napping ones up or ask them to stand up and listen, while others would turn a blind eye and ignore them.
By stacking her textbooks and reference books on the desk like a "fortress," Xanthia could also keep more miscellaneous items in the desk hole, such as snacks, a phone, a handheld game console, and various other things. It wouldn't be wise to display them boldly on the desk but hiding them in the drawer was the way to go.
Even though she had gained freedom and privilege, she still followed the rules on the surface to avoid jealousy from some unbalanced minds or being reported by some nosy people.
Now that she had a new seatmate, and she hadn't figured out Elena's character yet, she naturally had to be more prudent. She wanted to maintain good relationships with her classmates so that she could enjoy campus life to the fullest and be content.
Elena's desk contrasted sharply with Xanthia's "fortress."
Her desk was always clean and tidy, with textbooks and reference books neatly categorized in the drawer. She would take out the relevant books for each subject and return them in order after class. Everything was placed in an orderly manner, without any mess.
It was clear that Elena was very clean, slightly OCD, and had an extremely organized and efficient study attitude that ensured her academic performance was consistently excellent.
Elena maintained a polite and distant attitude towards Xanthia. She was deep and wouldn't easily show her likes or dislikes toward others. She seemed to treat everyone equally.
Therefore, she wouldn't look down on Xanthia just because of rumors about her being "poor." In fact, she might even feel a sense of solidarity. She also wouldn't suddenly change her opinion of Xanthia just because she had unexpectedly topped the class in the recent monthly exam.
Xanthia's actions were unrelated to her. This was how she treated unfamiliar classmates. If Xanthia was replaced by a classmate she had no interaction with, she would still maintain the same attitude.
Elena thought it would take a long time before she could get to know her new seatmate, and there was a possibility that they might not get acquainted at all before they were no longer seatmates. She planned to maintain a formal and distant relationship, and in the end, they might not even become friends, at most just acquaintances.
Her personality was different from the outgoing Luciel La Lebrador. She was aloof by nature and rarely initiated new friendships. Yannis was able to establish a good relationship with her because Yannis was a cheerful and active girl, nicknamed "Yanyan," warm and proactive.
In the past, Xanthia might have kept a parallel relationship with a quiet and introverted girl like Elena, never really interacting because neither would initiate.
But now, she had the label of "Social Master," and she was quite curious about Elena. It's not easy for any girl to become the "white moonlight" in the eyes of many boys. There must be something extraordinary about her that she wanted to explore further:
"Elena, I'm glad to be your seatmate. Please take care of me in the future." Xanthia showed a friendly smile and chose to break the ice actively.
As they say, a smile is the best way to reach out to someone. And Elena was a very polite girl. She smiled lightly and replied calmly, "I'm also glad to be your seatmate. Let's take care of each other in the future. Your performance in sciences is very good. If there's something I can't do, I can ask you for help."
Having the label of "Social Master" included in her attributes, Xanthia left a good first impression on her social contacts.
With her naturally beautiful appearance and gentle demeanor, her sincere smile made her look very innocent and approachable. Even someone as cautious as Elena couldn't help but be a little confused when faced with Xanthia.
"Hahaha, asking for too much is too exaggerated. Mutual discussion and mutual progress are the way to go," Xanthia said nonchalantly.
Elena thought this girl was quite humble, with no trace of arrogance, which was nice.
She didn't have high demands for her new desk mate, as long as they weren't troublemakers or gossipmongers in the dorm, she was already satisfied.
This way, their relationship had a good start, but the progress seemed very slow. After all, Xanthia's best female friend now was Luciel, who sat in front of her. During the time after class, Luciel occupied most of Xanthia's time. She really wished she could switch seats with Elena and sit next to Xanthia directly.
Elena was still closest to Yannis. The latter was quite clingy, even though they were no longer desk mates, she still came to play with Elena whenever she had time, even making plans to go to the restroom together.
It was the literary committee member Lhoraine La Bustamante, who was Xanthia's diagonal front seat mate, who was getting along better with Xanthia and Luciel. The three girls seemed to be forming a "love triangle."
Days passed unknowingly, and finally, it was Sunday, with half a day off in the afternoon.
On Sunday morning, during the big break, Lhoraine, who liked surfing the internet and campus gossip, took the opportunity while Elena wasn't around and temporarily sat in her seat. Then, she approached Xanthia with her phone, excitedly saying, "Xanthia, Xanthia, you're becoming popular on our school's forum. Many people are discussing you and even rating you!"