"Are you sure this is the only room left?" Nora asked in a calm voice after submitting her file. The warden on duty frowned as she heard the repeated question.
More than that, she could not trust the golden letter in Nora's hands. She had known all the top students of the school for a long time, but she had never heard Nora's name.
"The room had your sister in it and other top ranking students. What happened, why do you not like the room? Or have you thought that you would get a separate room for yourself?" the warden mocked Nora as she passed the keys.
"And the room is temporary. I will confirm your letter first. If I found that you are faking an official letter, you would be in a serious mess." Nora closed her eyes and nodded. She did not blame the warden. But that did not mean she gave a cold look to her name plate and memorized that name.
She would not act for now, but she would not let it go if she created trouble for her in the future.
Carrying her luggage, Nora walked to her dormitory on her own. Even though she had never lived in the dormitory, Penny had lived there since the start to leave a good impression on her parents and spend time with her friends. She only visits on weekends to torment Nora.
Nora had visited Penny often to give her assignments and submit her homework.
"Penny, I have read the news lately, what is your cousin playing this time?"
Before entering her dormitory, Nora heard the cold voices of girls. She squinted her eyes. The moment Nora pushed open the door to the dormitory, the noises stopped abruptly, as if she was a pause button. Everyone looked at her.
"And now she has followed you even here." A girl in a black dress eyed Nora with contempt bringing everyone out of their trance.
They blinked a few times and looked at each other.
"What are you doing here?" Penny's shrill voice echoed in the room. But once she noticed their eyes, she covered her mouth and started wailing. "My family has taken care of you for a decade. We Made sure that you do not end up in an orphanage. My father treated you more like his daughter than me. Yet you are like this! My mother can not forget the trauma even after returning." Her tears swept the emotions of the room again.
"But what is she doing here in this room? Isn't she bad in her studies and hardly submit her assignment on time?" asked another and they all nodded and then looked at her with narrowed eyes.
Nora did not pay any attention to them. Not yet, she still needs Penny to believe that they were close. So, she ran to Penny and wrapped her arms around the girl and started crying.
"I did not say a word against my aunt or anyone in the family, sis. The doctors believed it and I was then taken to special care because my food poisoning worsened." her sobs made everyone confused.
She had food poisoning and doctors? Penny pushed Nora away, thinking that everyone was at her side.
"You ate something bad and got food poisoning. What does it have to do with us? Quickly take the report back or my family will not take you back." Penny demands holding Nora's hands too tightly.
Nora winced. And closed her eyes but in her mind she smirked. She had thought it would drain her energy to be with Penny in one room. But it could go in her benefit since she could see confusion in the eyes of everyone.
This room belonged to top students and others do not know the real face of Penny. She had always acted as a model student.
"Ah! Of course, I will do as you say sister." Nora bowed her head humbly and only then did Penny let her go. She hurriedly took out her phone and dialed a number.
Then she passed the phone to Nora. Nora trembled when she noticed it was her uncle on the other side of the call.
"Uncle." a soft gasp and then chuckling sound came from the other side.
"Ha! So after seeing the notice you ran to the school? How did they even let you meet Penny? Anyways, since you have decided to apologize and return, come home immediately and we will sort this out. As long as you are not unreasonable, I will listen to you." The voice was kind and full of authority at the same time.
"Yes uncle. I will come tomorrow." she nodded and the call was cut. She passed the mobile back to Penny.
Everyone was looking at the pair of sisters curiously. But they did not ask when Nora bowed her head and stood silent.
"Sister, shall I make your bed or help you with anything?" There was something wrong with the tone. She sounded more like a maid than a sister.
"It will be better. Make bed for all of us tonight. We all are exhausted." Penny winked at her friends. For a long time, she was trying to gain more of their appreciation. Now that Nora was here, she was going to use her.
Nora nodded and ran to make the bed while the girls stood there clumsily. One of them picked up the file Nora had let go.
She read it carefully and her eyes widened. Others noticed her strange expression and followed her.
"What is it?" asked another looking at their pale faces.
"She had not gotten good marks in every exam yet she is here on scholarship because she had cleared the latest olympiad competition with full marks."
"...." Penny was the first to gasp and snatch the papers from their hands. She did not remember Nora giving an olympiad.
"These are fake. I can not believe that she made such fake papers. Trust me, she was at home sleeping when the exam happened."