After a few minutes had passed, while everyone was focused on the lecturer, Iris slowly turned her head and looked at Xavier.
She froze when their eyes met.
"Xavier, I'm sorry, it's because of me that they think we're dating! Please ignore them..." she said regretfully.
Xavier didn't say a word. He turned his head and looked ahead, ignoring her.
Iris, "..."
'Forget it! This man doesn't like to speak! I should try not to speak to him from now on!!' She smiled awkwardly, trying to cheer herself up.
Then she turned her gaze to Justin on the other side.
From young Iris' memories, she knew that out of the three men around her, Justin was the one she could rely on the most. This man always helped her with college assignments, gave her information about Xavier, acted as her driver when Grandma couldn't pick her up, and much more. Justin was like her BFF*.
But now, she wanted to distance herself from Justin because she couldn't stand having someone who liked to talk around her. Now, she preferred to be close to Xavier or Niles, who also had a similar personality to her—disliking talking and making new friends.
Iris silently took a deep sigh before refocusing on the professor. But suddenly, an invisible phone appeared in her hand, shocking her. She feared that Xavier or Justin, sitting next to her, would see it. She immediately tried to hide it, but the phone was still there.
Just before she wanted to cover her hand under her bag, she remembered what Gavriel had said, "Only you and God's Helpers could see the phone!"
Iris secretly took a long sigh before calmly checking the phone, curious why it had suddenly appeared without her even thinking about it.
Her eyes fell on the new text from Gavriel, and she felt tense as she opened it.
[G Senior: ] Are you okay?
[G Senior: ] My protection signal appears again.
Iris frowned. Why did the signal appear when she wasn't in any dangerous situation? Why did Gavriel mention the protection being triggered?
Setting aside her curiosity, she started typing to reply to him.
[Iris: ] I'm fine. Nothing happened here.
[Iris: ] You don't have to worry.
[G Senior: ] Okay! I pull my protection spell on you. So it is no longer there to protect you.
[G Senior: ] To replace it, you must immediately call me if you are in danger. So you need to be more careful now.
[G Senior: ] Don't worry, scream or whisper my name; this device will pop up on your hand immediately!
[Iris: ] Sure! That sounds better.
Instantly, the phone disappeared from her hand. However, her mind was now busy analyzing the two strange events that happened to her last night and today.
Countless questions filled her mind; Who triggered Gavriel's protection? Was there an invisible person trying to harm her?
Instantly, she got goosebumps when she remembered how Gavriel first appeared in front of her. He was also invincible; at that time, she could only hear his voice.
'My goodness! I wish I had the ability to see things that mere mortals cannot!' She prayed. Now she felt afraid because her enemy turned out to have powers like Gavriel's, capable of teleporting, being invisible, and possessing great strength.
While Iris was deep in thought, surprise flashed in Xavier's eyes when he saw the object that had appeared in Iris' hand. However, his surprise was only momentary as he quickly shifted his gaze elsewhere, lost in thought.
It wasn't just Xavier who was puzzled, but Justin as well. He was confused to see her hands moving strangely. He brought his head closer to Iris.
"Why are your hands moving like you're typing something?" he asks in a whisper.
Iris silently cursed this man in her heart before answering him in a low tone, "I was just trying to loosen my fingers!"
"I see," Justin chuckled. He continued to whisper, "Iris, so, it's true?" Justin paused, waiting for Iris to look at him. "...Are you and Xavier now a couple?" he continued as their gazes met.
Iris, "..."
"Are you so eager to go to hell!?" She replied curtly, her eyes glaring at him as if she wanted to slap him with her gaze. "Stop saying nonsense!"
Her words almost made him cough up a mouthful of blood. 'Is she really Iris?' Justin silently spoke to himself, narrowing his eyes at the girl who was now ignoring him. He was utterly shocked.
This was the first time Iris had spoken to him with such an intimidating tone. Now he understood why Xavier had said that Iris had changed—her personality and how she dressed were also different. His suspicion slowly disturbed his mind. He needs to talk to her.
Justin wrote something on the paper and placed it on Iris's table. Then, he gestured for her to read it.
At first, Iris was reluctant to read the paper. Still, she did it anyway after seeing Justin urging her through his sharp and menacing gaze. Slowly, she unfolded the paper and read its contents.
[Iris, we need to talk after class!]
'Talk!?' Iris looked at him with a frown. Without saying a word, she nodded at him. She did need to talk to him about her plan to buy a second car. He might have a channel, right?
...
Before long, the class finally ended.
Iris followed Justin and the others, leaving the room hurriedly, ignoring everyone who still congratulated her and Xavier.
As Iris walked towards the stairs, she felt curious. Why didn't Xavier scold their classmates for spreading such cheap gossip? Why did he seem to be letting the misunderstandings circulate?
She felt like asking him, but every time her mouth opened, she remembered Xavier's words—he didn't like to talk—and the questions that were bothering her faded away slowly.
For now, she would ignore them, just like Xavier had. Hopefully, those bunch of kids would stop bothering her. She didn't want to be the center of attention like she used to be in the past.
"Justin, let's go to the café to talk," Iris suggested as she wanted to shop for new clothes.
"Sure!" Justin immediately agreed. He also needed the right place to talk to her.
___
AN: *BFF = Best Friend Forever