After what seemed like an eternity, it was finally Leila's turn.
The woman selling the buns was in her forties. The moment she saw Leila, a smile appeared on her lips as she took extra glances at her before proceeding to add two extra buns to her purchase. Leila's eyes shone with gratitude and she happily showed them to Jayden.
Jayden couldn't understand what was making her so happy. "Isn't it just an extra bun? It's not like we couldn't afford it," he thought.
"Look here, Jay," Leila nudged him, dissatisfied with his nonchalance. "These extra buns aren't something anyone could get."
Behind them, another conversation unfolded.
"Aunty, wouldn't you give me an extra too? You clearly gave the beauty an extra just now," someone asked.
"I will give you one when you become a beauty too," the woman replied.
"No wonder you haven't gotten married; it turns out your expectations are too high..."
"You...!"
The short conversation reached Leila and Jayden's ears, and Leila couldn't help but flaunt again.
"That's what I'm talking about. Getting an extra bun is a privilege for good-looking people like me," she said enthusiastically, linking her arm with Jayden's as he shook his head helplessly, and they walked away.
*****
Grade 12, Class 5
The class was bustling with students chatting and playing around. Suddenly, they all stopped, the noise dwindling as they collectively stared at the door, eyes slightly wide at the sight of the beauty standing there.
The figure was tall and slender, basked in the ethereal golden glow of the morning sun, which shrouded her entire face. She looked so much like an angel, except for the lack of white wings that should be on her back.
As she stepped in and came into view, they couldn't help but hold their breath. It wasn't until she stared at them confusedly that they snapped out of their spellbound state.
"W-who is she?" someone whispered.
The class monitor, a petite and chubby girl with large golden glasses named Elise, stepped forward and smiled politely.
"Hello, I am Elise, and this is Grade 12, Class 3. May I ask what brought you here?" she inquired.
"Oh my God," Leila gasped dramatically. "I can't believe our class monitor doesn't recognize me!"
The voice sounded somewhat familiar to the students, and they exchanged looks. Still, they couldn't place it until a tall, stylishly dressed girl stepped forward, swaying her hips.
"Isn't this my dull desk mate? Leila, right?" the girl asked as she stepped closer, her eyes filled with curiosity as she tentatively studied Leila's face.
"You didn't get plastic surgery? Then what changed?" She squinted her eyes, deep in thought, then smirked as she clapped. "Your aura did!"
Leila smiled slightly as she studied the girl who had been her desk mate for two years, acknowledged as the most sexiest girl in the school, Aditi.
Standing at a height of 180 cm, 3 cm taller than Leila, Aditi was an Indian-American girl. Her looks were deep and top-notch, her lips a gorgeous shade of flaming red, and her skin very fair. The way she dressed was too sexy; many boys claimed they got boners at the sight of her.
Her skirt was way too short, stopping midway up her thighs, and her long, fair legs were exposed. The way she carried herself made many men unable to ask her out; most of them always stammered whenever they stood before her, even after their long practice.
"Desk mate, I can't believe you finally decided to heed my advice and stunned everyone. I swear, if being beautiful were a crime, you would have been beheaded."
Everyone: " "
No one ever told them that their gorgeous queen was a super visual creature.
"Come, desk mate, I brought food today. It would be a pity if we don't enjoy it together," Aditi said as she dragged Leila through the gathered classmates, smiling happily without paying attention to their dumbstruck expressions.
Leila let herself be dragged along. One of the only friends she had in her life was this desk mate who always protected her whenever she was bullied by others. However, Leila had once rebuked her after she said bad things about Julianne, which she couldn't accept.
Aditi had been hurt by Leila's rebuke and had since ignored her, but now, in the current timeline, their relationship was still good and Leila will try her best to maintain it.
Everyone in the class finally came out of their stupor, staring at Leila in awe.
"Is that really Leila?"
"It looks like her."
"Goddamn, I would have suspected she had plastic surgery if I hadn't seen her two days ago. Plastic surgery can't heal that quickly, can it?"
"What are you talking about?!" The sudden familiar voice startled all the students as they quickly returned to their seats. It was their Mathematics teacher, a young woman in her early thirties, Miss Elena. She had books in her arms, and the class monitor hurriedly stepped forward to help her, placing them on the podium.
Miss Elena was a gorgeous woman, no doubt, especially her beautiful figure that even students admired such that if Aditi was a princess, then she is a queen. However, she was fierce and never failed to scold any student, no matter how light the offense was, even the class monitor wasn't exempted from her scoldings if she did anything wrong. That's why she was named The Sexy Witch.
The Sexy Witch scribbled something down on the board and then turned back to the students.
"I gave you an assignment two days ago, and I told you then that unless you have two heads, you are not exempt from it. But I was quite surprised that half of you seemed to have two heads, am I right?!"
The students went dead silent.
"If you know among these books with me, you didn't own one, then quietly stand up from your seat without any trouble at all."
"Miss Elena....I..." A male student called out, preparing to give an excuse, but The Sexy Witch only smacked the table in front of her, glaring fiercely.
"And no excuses!"
Slowly, the students who failed to submit their assignments began to stand up quietly, including Leila and Aditi.
The Sexy Witch's eyes flitted towards them but stopped at Leila's.
"Hey, which class are you from? Why have I never seen you before?"
Leila's lips twitched helplessly as the class monitor helped her out. "Teacher, she is Leila, and she belongs to this class."
"Really?" The Sexy Witch asked again. "I've never seen her before." Then she continued, "Okay, out of thirty students, sixteen had one head, and the remaining fourteen seem to have two, but forgot one at home, right? Now, all fourteen of you, come with me to my office!"