A Villainess's Struggles

It's been a few weeks since middle school started. Gabrielle found out about my family background just recently and she stopped approaching me right away. I don't think she'll back down so easily though. She'll probably try teaming up with some more influential people to bring me down.

Today, I'm going to go with Olivia to check out the art club. At first, I didn't really want to join any clubs but Olivia insisted that I should.

The art club is at the opposite end of the gym which is quite far. When I walked inside the room, it looked quite simple in terms of decorations.

When the club members came to greet us, I noticed someone familiar.

Oh... It's the lady that helped me on the first day of school!

When our eyes met, she smiled at me.

"We meet again," she said to me.

I nodded and awkwardly smiled back.

"To those of you interested in joining the art club, we need you to draw a simple fruit so that we can evaluate your skills. It doesn't matter what fruit it is. The time limit is 20 minutes" a female student announced.

"A fruit huh..." Olivia mumbled.

"What fruit do you plan on drawing?" I asked.

"I'm thinking about drawing a pineapple" She replied.

"A pineapple? I'm going to go for a simple lemon drawing" I said.

After 20 minutes, we submitted our drawings to the members of the art club. I noticed that there weren't many members.

When I handed my drawing to the student who helped me out. She seemed a bit surprised. The lady nodded her head as she stared at my drawing.

"What's your name?" She asked.

"I-I'm Natalie Coldwell..." I replied shyly.

Why am I acting like a timid girl...?

"Nice to meet you, Natalie. I'm Penelope" said the female student.

"Have a great day, Miss Penelope" I responded as I escaped the art room.

Before I could breathe a sigh of relief, I noticed Blake speed walking towards me.

"Do you mind lending me your time for a bit?" He suddenly asked.

"Huh?!" I replied.

~~~~~

"That's why I will be home late today," I said to my mother who I was calling.

"With the Astor family? Well, I suppose that's fine since their son is very responsible. Don't make trouble for him" mother replied.

"Yes, I'll see you later," I said as I hung up.

Currently, I'm inside Blake's family's car. To be exact, I was forced into here. I was so nervous that I kept looking around.

"May I ask where you're taking me?" I said.

"Right, sorry about that. I'm currently taking you to on a date" Blake answered.

"What-?!" I yelled in response.

"Just kidding" He laughed.

"We're going to follow Allen," Blake said.

"Stalking isn't good..." I responded.

"Don't talk like you haven't done it before" He smiled.

Ah, right. The Henry incident... Yep, sorry.

"Why are we following him anyways?" I asked.

"Allen's going to meet up with my older sister today. They're going to have a meal together" Blake answered.

"And, why am I coming along with you?" I continued asking.

"That's because you're my trump card" Blake replied.

"T-Trump card?" I said while confused.

What is happening right now?

"Just in case my other plans fall apart, I'm going to have to rely on you," he said.

"M-Mind explaining how I'm your trump card...?" I asked.

"You're quite close with Allen and he seems to have at least some interest in you. It's pretty much a gamble" Blake explained.

"W-Wait, so you want Allen and me to-"

"No no, that will make me an extremely horrible person," He smiled.

So Blake does admit that he hides weird intentions behind his actions!

"Speaking of which, it was quite rude of me to just take you along. If you want to get off, please tell me so" Blake said.

"No need... Take me with you, I'm curious" I replied.

I might be able to find out something about Allen from this. For example, how he wasn't even a supporting character in the comic.

~~~~~

The car stopped in front of a high-end restaurant.

"C-Can we really go in here with our uniforms? Rather, we're still in middle school, will they let us in?" I asked.

"Nope, of course not" Blake answered.

"...Your plan is?" I said.

"Connections" He replied.

As expected of the male lead's best friend. Smart, very smart. He managed to get us a seat near where Allen and his sister were sitting. Allen and Blake's sister won't be able to see us from where we're sitting.

"Wow, Allen's wearing really fancy clothes. At least it suits him this time. Your older sister is gorgeous in that rose gold dress..." I whispered.

"The atmosphere seems to be quite tense between the two. This is another one of the reasons why I will never approve this marriage" Blake said, completely ignoring what I said earlier.

"Hey, can you hear what they're saying?" I asked.

"Maybe if we stayed quiet I might" Blake smiled.

That was him indirectly telling me to close my mouth.

"Understood" I answered.

I tried listening in and heard a few things.

"We've met quite a few times now," smiled Amber, Blake's older sister.

"It's the requests of our parents after all" Allen replied.

"How has middle school been for you?" Amber asked.

"I'm currently enjoying it. It's a different experience from elementary school" Allen answered.

"I see. Do you know how Blake's doing in middle school?" She asked.

"We're in different classes and I don't know much but I do know that he's quite popular" Allen responded.

"Hehe, my younger brother's the same as usual. I assume you're quite popular as well?" Blake's older sister smiled.

"No, not at all. I only talk to a few girls" Allen said.

"Oh right, do you have more stories of the girl you often talk with? I believe her name was..." Amber paused and stood up.

She started walking in my direction.

Hahaha... Is this a joke...? I looked towards Blake who sighed and shook his head.

"Natalie, right?" She asked with a smile as she stood right in front of me.

"Yes... That's me..." I mumbled.

A family of intelligent people...