Chapter 197
“Look, as a student myself, I think you’re being unfair. Who says Cordelia’s grades are bad? And life isn’t just about hitting the books
“But as seniors, it’s crunch time for the SATs. Sure, life’s not all about studying, but each stage has its own priorities. Right now, hitting those books is about smoothing out the road ahead”
“Off–topic, guys, but I just realized how smart Sweetheart is! I’m even more of a fan now. Gorgeous, high GPA, and she’s a whiz at gaming? She’s like some kind of angel!”
Admiration for intellectuals with stellar academic achievements was common, and Sweetheart’s popularity had taken a hit after yesterday’s debacle. But today, with her educational credentials out in the open, her popularity had rebounded
Merry glanced at the chat room. “After all that drama, Sweetheart’s stream is even more popular now”
Little Parrot snorted, “Some no name university from Ontoky City, and she dares to compare with you? Preposterous! Lia, let’s show them!”
Cordelia, the subject of their discussion, was indifferent. “Boring.”
Ever since that livestream incident with Little Parrot, she had seen the irresponsible nature of online attacks, where words were thrown without regard, often wounding deeply. No wonder they called it online exposure.
She continued reading, unconcerned by the online chatter. Her real–life friends knew her as a straight–A student. Why worry about faceless netizens?
To her, it was all noise.
Seeing Cordelia’s cool response, Merry suddenly felt her own agitation was rather pointless.
But just because Lia wasn’t into the online scene didn’t mean Merry wasn’t.
Fuming, Merry logged into an alt account and waded into the online fray:
“You think Lia’s a bad student? FYI, she’s Ivy League material, aiming for Superiority College!”
– “Dreaming, are we? Superiority
not Greenmeadow Academy”
College aren’t that easy. Besides, it’s always Greenmeadow High’s students who get those,
–“Big talk, everyone can do that, I’m Harvard–bound then!”
Trying to pick a fight with Sweetheart? Even getting into a regular Ontoky University is a stretch for her,”
– “Doesn’t Greenmeadow Academy focus on international studies? Barely anyone there takes the SATs, right?”
The online world was a battlefield, and Merry was in the thick of it, her heart aching as she read the brainless attacks
She was about to share the posts in the “Flame Union” group, rallying her online allies to join her crusade, when her phone
chimed.
Distracted by the recent chat in Flame Union, she mistook the first chat window for the group and didn’t realize she had messaged the wrong place in her indignation.
Merry texted, [Guys, I need backup! They’re trashing my Lia, have they forgotten our million–strong army?]
[I can take on a hundred of them, no sweat!]
[Insult me all you want, but back off Lia! I want everyone in on this, or you’re dead to me!]
I
[After I post the tweet, send me screenshots, I’ll like it, buy likes if I have to. If you can get over ten thousand likes and retweets with your own army, you’re my dad!]
After sending the messages, she returned to her Twitter offensive, unaware of her mistake. The deal for Lia’s university. placement was done, but without tangible proof handy, and certainly not something to flaunt online, Merry felt helpless
While Merry was deep into her seven–hundredth reply, another message popped up.
This time, she saw clearly it was from Brandon, her crush, with a screenshot attached.
Startled, Merry hurried back to the chat. Brandon had shared a screenshot from his own popular Twitter account
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Chapter 197
Bland said, “Actress Cordelia has indeed been accepted to Superiority College on a scholarship. I can vouch for that. Please keep discussions civil and refrain from commenting on matters you’re not fully informed about.”
The tweet was barely two minutes old and already had thousands of retweets.
As Merry was processing this, Brandon messaged again, [Now, call me dad.]
Merry froze, then rapidly scrolled through the messages she had mistakenly sent him.
Brandon had first asked, [Are you in class?]
Then came her barrage of messages….
Merry’s heart sank. Her phone dropped from her grasp as she buried her face in her textbook, a wave of mortification washing
over her.
Her carefully constructed image of composure and grace had crumbled.
And then, Brandon sent another message, [Never mind, I don’t want to be your dad.]
On impulse, Merry typed back, [Then what do you want to be to me?]
She hit send before the gravity of her words hit her, and she scrambled to retract them, but it was too late. Brandon had seen it, and now he sent a voice message. Normally, she would have waited to listen, but this was from her idol….
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