fternoon physical education class.
The doctor advised Ellie against strenuous physical activities, so Ellie had already submitted a medical certificate to the school to be exempt from PE classes.
"Ellie, why don't you come downstairs with us? We can hang out after our activities," Aria said with a smile to Ellie.
"Okay," Ellie agreed.
The sun in September was still quite scorching. Ellie sat alone in the stands, her small face almost transparently fair under the sunlight, with clear apricot eyes like a deer in the forest, a small and a pretty upturned nose, and rosy lips.
She looked at the neatly lined-up class below and inadvertently made eye contact with William, who was standing in the last row. The teenager had sharp features and a stern expression, looking somewhat fierce.
Ellie quickly averted her gaze and lowered her head to read her book.
Class 20's PE class was at the same time as Class 17's, but they had different PE teachers.
Sarah spotted Ellie sitting in the stands and pretended to have menstrual pain to avoid running. She then sat next to Ellie.
Ellie, who had been reading with her head down and writing key steps in her book, was unaware of when someone sat beside her.
"Hey."
Ellie looked up and saw the girl in front of her, whose uniform had some unknown pattern, with chestnut curls tied into a high ponytail, beautiful features, and bright red lipstick.
She recognized her as the girl who had told her to stay away from William.
"What's up?"
Sarah suddenly leaned closer and said, "You sit with William, right?"
Ellie made a sound of affirmation.
"Then you must know what drinks he usually likes, right?" William often liked to play ball with the guys after PE class. Sarah didn't have the same PE class as him and had heard it from her best friend.
Ellie shook her head, "I don't know."
Sarah, looking at her bewildered expression, felt a bit bored. Why did she come to ask such a seemingly obedient student? She stood up to leave when Ellie grabbed her wrist.
Ellie looked at the red stain on the back of her shirt and said, "Your clothes are dirty."
Sarah pulled her clothes and saw the bright red bloodstain, cursing, "Damn it." Her period had come unexpectedly and left a stain on her clothes.
Ellie handed her the book she was holding and said, "You can cover up with this."
Sarah looked at the book in her hand, paused, and then said, "Thanks."
"Do you have a pad with you?" Ellie asked.
Sarah thought for a moment and realized she didn't because she remembered her period was supposed to come in a few days, so she hadn't brought any.
"If you don't mind, you can use mine. I have some upstairs," Ellie said, noticing Sarah's slightly distracted expression.
Sarah stared at her for a moment and didn't see any other emotions in her eyes. She really was a good kid. Sarah had previously threatened her, and yet she was so simply offering to lend her a sanitary pad. Sarah felt like saying thank you but still put on a tough facade and said, "Fine."
The two went to the restroom behind the playground together, and Ellie said, "Wait for me here."
"Okay."
In a few minutes, Ellie returned, slightly out of breath from running, with fine sweat on her nose tip. She held a jacket in her hand and handed it to Sarah along with a sanitary pad, saying, "The jacket can cover up the stain, and I'm not sure if you're used to this brand of pad."
Now it was Sarah's turn to be silent. She looked at the items in her hand and finally managed to say, "Thank you."
She saw Ellie smile, a very obedient and sweet smile, and she said, "You're welcome."
The three laps were quickly finished, and the PE teacher soon led the class in doing exercises.
Mr. Clark looked at the messy students doing exercises and was frustrated, "Can't you even do exercises properly? If you don't want to do them, then run laps. Each person runs ten laps, and if you finish, you don't have to do exercises."
The only response was silence.
"Can you do it properly?"
"We can," the voices responded loudly.
Mr. Clark, seeing the gradually neat rows, nodded with satisfaction.
"Assemble here," Mr. Clark blew his whistle, then looked at the people in front of him and said, "Dismissed."
Most of the boys went to play ball with their arms around the ball.
The girls either went to the supermarket or sat in the shade, chatting and laughing with their friends.
Aria sat next to Ellie and said, "I'm so tired, Ellie. I'm about to faint from the heat."
Ellie smiled and then reached out to fan her.
Sarah suddenly walked over, with a jacket tied around her waist, looking a bit tough. She stopped in front of Ellie.
Aria thought she had come to cause trouble for Ellie and immediately stood in front of Ellie.
Sarah glanced at her and said to Ellie behind her, "Here, for you."
Ellie looked at the item in her hand and said, "No need."
Sarah gruffly said, "I don't like owing favors. Take it if I give it to you." She didn't know what Ellie liked, so she casually grabbed a few packs of candy and a bottle of milk from the shelf.
"Okay," Ellie took the items from her hand.
Sarah moved her lips, wanting to say something more, but feeling it didn't fit her image. She looked at Ellie and then left.
After a few steps, she turned back and said, "I'll return the jacket after I've cleaned it."
Ellie said, "It's okay."
Only Aria was confused, not understanding what they were talking about.
Aria watched Sarah walk away, looked at the plastic bag in Ellie's hand, pulled out a few packs of candy and a bottle of milk, and felt even more puzzled. She said, "Ellie, why did she suddenly give you food? And what was the jacket about?"
Ellie's voice was soft and her tone slow as she repeated the events that had just happened.
"Ellie, she threatened you before. Why are you so kind? Lending her that today," Aria said, then muttered quietly, "If it were me, I would wish for her to embarrass herself with dirty pants."
Ellie said, "She didn't say anything to me before."
Aria looked at her serious expression and couldn't help but pinch her cheek, saying, "Naive Ellie, why are you so innocent and cute?"
Ellie looked at her blankly and a bit confused.
On the other side, Sarah stared at Ellie for a while, saw Ellie's gaze coming over, and pretended to be aloof, looking away.
When she looked back, she saw Ellie smiling.
What are you smiling at? If you smile again, I'll break your teeth, Sarah thought gruffly.
For no reason, Sarah found her somewhat cute.