Matteo quickly brought out his phone. He saw the anonymous post on their school's Facebook page. There were pictures of Rosalie and Matteo at the stairway when Matteo was packing Rosalie's hair. It seemed quite intimate but the message attached to it was more stirring.
He scanned through the text.
"Rosalie, a new student at Santa Maria, was caught kissing a school prefect within the school vicinity. She was viewed as a timid and innocent girl but that was her charm to lure unsuspecting guys.
Recently, she was found coming out of the school prefect's home, suggesting an illicit clandestine relationship. Rosalie is a bad example, a lecherous bed climber and disciplinary actions should be taken promptly to avoid the perpetuation of matters like this."
By the time Matteo looked at where Rosalie sat, a crowd had already gathered around her.
Greta saw that Matteo was about to get up and held his wrist. "Going there will suggest you're the one in the picture with her. You shouldn't let your pity for wretched things get you in trouble."
Not many had a tasteful model-like back and ruffled blonde hair. It was him.
A loud maniacal cackle permeated the whole cafeteria, and everyone turned to see who it was. Lisa laughed even louder, staring at the message on her phone.
The message was first on their class page before it spread throughout the whole school. She had checked the admin's activity and saw that the girl who posted it to the school's main page was one of Greta's minions. She was also the one who posted it in the group, making herself Greta's sacrificial lamb.
"Greta, you're only the most feared because I don't want to make things hard for my crane of a brother. This has to be the most childish thing I've seen you do. Are you now a paparazzi?"
"What are you saying bitch?"
Gretta gave a nervous laugh, trying to raise her chin even higher to hide her now quivering eyes.
"Matteo, should I still be a good girl for you?" Lisa asked with a hint of smugness, her lips curved in a sly smile, as she wiggled her eyebrows.
"Yes," he replied, blinking cutely. Lisa, understanding his cue, stood up from her seat.
Lisa didn't go for the admin girl; she wasn't interested in hosting a show of undying loyalty. She went straight to Greta. Holding up her hair from behind, she rammed her face into her food. Gasps filled the cafeteria, and everyone momentarily forgot about Rosalie.
"Rick, make sure no one comes in or goes out," Lisa told their party-animal classmate, who had suggested they start the year with alcohol.
Greta struggled to raise her head under Lisa's iron grip but failed.
"Otta, she probably told you she'd tell her daddy to protect you, right?"
"What are you talking about? It wasn't me!"
"You probably don't know there's such a feature. Just shut up and answer my question. The more you delay, the more her face burns."
"Yes, I did it, please let her go now."
"That wasn't my question."
"Yes, she told me to write that."
"And was Rosalie kissing the prefect?"
"No, no, it was just the angle that it was taken. Rosalie is innocent."
"Did you see her climb out of the prefect's bed?"
"No, I don't know if she was at Matteo's house. Greta just told me to write that."
"She did go there once, this morning. Her uniform was wet, so we went together, and she changed into my clothes." Lisa explained.
"I'm so sorry, I didn't know."
"Why are you apologizing to me?"
"Rosalie, please forgive me." Otta ran towards her, falling on her knees with a loud thud before her.
Rosalie just nodded with her head bent.
Lisa finally released Greta's hair.
"Greta!" Otta screamed as she ran towards Greta, whose face was now half-cooked. Greta was a pampered child, so she was powerless without Otta and her other minions.
Ottavia was more or less Greta's maid. Greta's father was a big businessman, and Otta's mother was a maid so he was indebted to her for taking care of Greta after her mother died. He was funding Otta's education, hence Otta felt she was at Greta's mercy.
Greta was embarrassed beyond measure, her body trembling with anger. As Otta came closer to help her, Greta gave her a hard slap across her face before pushing her and running away.
Matteo wanted to go meet Rosalie, but Lisa shook her head, signalling for him to stay behind. If he went, it would be as though there was more to their acquaintance than Lisa just proved.
Lisa went to Rosalie.
"Hey, cupcake," she said, giving Rosalie a cheeky grin and offering her hand to her.
Everyone watched the two girls walk out of the cafeteria. As they left, the tension in the hall slowly dissipated.
"Woah, don't tell me Lisa is back being Lisa," one student said.
"I can't believe I get to witness it. She's so badass," another squealed.
Lisa was far from being a model student like her brother. Right from elementary school, she had been fierce and troublesome and vehemently fought against injustice. She was smart but hated to study, so she just kept her grades good enough to keep her scholarship. As they grew, people started to insult Matteo because he had a fighter as a sister, saying he wasn't suited to be a model student. Both twins always fought for each other, but Lisa, finally seeing that the issue was her, stopped getting into fights with the bullies, hence the rich trampling on the poor culture continued.
They got to a quiet place close to the field. Lisa looked up at the lean, scrawny girl in front of her.
"Why are you so easy to pick on? You're giving my brother a hard time," she snorted.
"I'm sorry."
"You look very distasteful with your massive black hair covering your face. You look malnourished too. You keep showing up at school looking shabby. Arrgh, this won't do. You're so hopeless and pathetic."
"I didn't choose to be this way," Rosalie suddenly burst out, raising her head. "I'm not pathetic!" she yelled, glaring at Lisa, her eyes blazing with fury like an angered lioness.