"And do you know what she said? She told me that I was no match for Junhao!"

Evangeline nodded sympathetically, suppressing a yawn while staring at her perfectly manicured fingernails. She glanced at her phone, pretending to check the time. "How ridiculous!" She exclaimed, feigning shock to satisfy the ranting girl enough to quit pestering her. "Aww, it's getting late already, Enqin, looks like I've got to go."

"So early? Can't you stay for a bit longer?"

"Sorry, I promise I'll make it up to you, ok?" Evangeline rushed to the door, flashing her practised smile before leaving the classroom. The door closed with a click and the room was instantly filled with murmurs.

"My name's not even Enqin. And we've been talking regularly for months now!"

A boy at the other side of the classroom chortled, "Didn't you see her face? She doesn't even care about anyone but herself, haha! The only time she's present in the conversation is when she's bragging about her wealth or influence."

"She really thinks she's the shit because she's rich and good-looking, doesn't she?"

⁂

Later that evening, Evangeline closed her bedroom door behind her, flinging herself onto the bed. The rusted bed frame creaked under her weight, but she had long ago gotten used to the noise. Pulling her phone from her pocket, she checked her social media page, a daily ritual she had unconsciously picked up. Her eyes drifted to her follower count- twenty thousand. "Not bad," she thought, the corners of her lips curling up into a smile, seeing as she had gained half a thousand followers since yesterday, she was becoming increasingly famous by the day.

She pulled up a photograph from a month ago, a picture of her best friend's cat, a cute black and white creature with glistening blue eyes and a heart-shaped patch of fur on its back. Without thinking, she punched out the caption: "My cat!" She tapped the post button and tossed her phone aside, shutting her eyes. Cute animal pictures were bound to attract a lot of likes, and she was sure Yingfei wouldn't mind Evangeline borrowing her cat for a harmless social media post, apart from the fact that her expression turned sour every time she heard Evangeline tell her fabricated tales of grandiosity.

Lying. What was wrong with it? She didn't see a problem with lying a little now and then; she wasn't hurting anyone, after all.