“Are you done with your food?” Alexander asked. Elise patted her tummy and replied contentedly, “Yes I am.” After having heard this, he called for the waiter and made payment with the digital wallet on his phone. As they walked out of the restaurant, she was in such good spirits after the full meal that she couldn’t help humming a tune.
She was absent-minded as she hummed, but he was able to immediately pick up on the melody and recognized it. Then, he deliberately asked, “I didn’t know you liked H, too.” Elise froze before the tune she had been singing died down. She rubbed her head sheepishly and answered, “Well, yeah, I guess I kind of like her.”
Then, she sneaked a sideways glance at him. “Do you like her, too? You recognized the tune immediately.” Alexander made a noise of affirmation. “Her music is really well-made, and—” He suddenly broke off and he looked like he just remembered something as he reeled in what he had been about to say.
After a pause, he continued, “And she’s edgy.” Edgy? Is H an edgy person? A small smile tugged on her lips as she answered, “Come on, drop me off at school. I need to work on a couple more questions this afternoon.” After checking the time, he replied, “Very well. Get in the car, then.”
He then dropped her off at school and she exited after uttering her thanks. However, she didn’t notice there was a camera in the distance snapping photos of her as soon as she stepped out of the vehicle. Elise had only just walked through the school entrance when Alexander heard a knock on his car window.
“Hi there…” Amanda began to greet him boldly, but she trailed off and found herself staring at him in awe the moment her eyes fell upon his chiseled face. What a gorgeous man! “Is there something I can help you with?” he asked in an icy drawl.
This pulled her from her daze and she flashed what she believed was a charming smile as she explained, “Hi. You see, I’m a friend of Elise’s—actually, I’m her roommate. We stay in the same dorm.” Alexander told her bluntly that he wasn’t interested and made to close the window, but Amanda was unexpectedly relentless as she tapped on his window.
“Hey, don’t go yet. I’m not done speaking!” “What is it?” She had wanted to bait him into a conversation about Elise being a sugar baby so she could record it as evidence, but she completely forgot about this plan at the sight of his handsome face. Then, she hastily asked, “Could I get your number?”
He eyed her impassively. “I don’t have my phone with me.” “That’s fine,” she pestered stubbornly. “Surely you know your own number by heart.” Upon the sight of Amanda, he was well aware of the type of woman she was. He would never have entertained her had she not claimed to be Elise’s classmate; he had no interest in women like her who had desperation etched onto their features.
That being said… “181XXXXX,” Alexander swiftly dictated a series of numbers, which Amanda hurriedly keyed into her phone. “Thanks. I’ll call you later.” She waved him goodbye and without further delay, he started the car engines and drove away. Presently, Amanda stared at the number on her phone with glee.
Who could have thought that a man as good looking as him would take Elise for a sugar baby? She grew wistful at this. If only he’d take me for a sugar baby, too. I wouldn’t even mind paying for my own stuff if it means I get to have him. “Miss Hudson, do you still want the photos from earlier?”
It was only then that she snapped out of her thoughts. “Yes. Have those e-mailed to me and I’ll wire you the payment.” “Very well, Miss Hudson.” The man who had taken the photos sent them to Amanda. She browsed through the shots perfunctorily and was pleased to see that Elise was clearly captured in her action of leaving the flashy car.
Although Alexander’s face was also in the shots, Amanda figured that she would do well in blurring his face, seeing as he could become hers one day. After having done all this, she registered a fake account and posted Elise’s photos onto all the high school gossip forums. “I’ll make sure everyone sees your true colors this time, Elise,” she mumbled.
Meanwhile, Elise had been garnering fame in school ever since the Mathematics Olympiad and Chinese Week. Her photos had found their way onto a certain social media platform, and her peers were close to becoming her devotees whenever school tests were around the corner.
Thus, it came as no surprise that a post with Elise’s name captioned in bold would spread like wildfire among all the prominent high schools, though the celebrity in question was utterly clueless about it. Riley had been the first to discover this post and she immediately called Samantha on the phone.
“Sam, go on Reddit right now! Someone has uploaded Elise’s photo.” Samantha hurried to log on to Reddit and her eyes immediately fell on the number one-trending post. The bold caption which read, ‘Erudite Elise Caught Moonlighting as Sugar Baby—Pictures Included’ and the series of photos which followed were enough to stir up a controversy, even though most of the readers had no idea what was going on.
There was no narrative attached, but that didn’t stop the gossips from having a field day as they bombarded the comments section with exclamations and mean opinions. The person in charge of the platform apparently decided that there was nothing wrong with a good drama once in a while, which explained why the post was right at the top of the listing.
After having seen the post, Samantha spat out furiously, “Which son-of-a-b*tch did this?” Riley, on the other hand, instantly thought of Amanda. “Could it be Amanda?
It has to be, don’t you think? That b*tch has always been picking on Elise for no reason!” Now that her blood boiled at an all-time high, Samantha snapped, “What the hell does Amanda think she’s doing? She’s crossed the line this time! Come on, let’s hunt her down and make her delete the post right now!” The air seemed to crackle as Samantha and Riley stormed out to look for Amanda and make her take down the post.
While this was happening, Mikayla was in class when she came across the post on Reddit. As she was seized with rage, she abruptly pushed her chair back and stood up while seething, “Damn it, how dare this a*shole try to give our Elise a bad name?” As soon as she said this, a hush descended upon the classroom and the Math teacher was especially affronted as he barked, “Miss Mikayla, just what do you think you’re doing?”
Now that she was close to throwing a tantrum, Mikayla explained angrily, “Someone is trying to tarnish Elise’s reputation, sir. I can’t just be calm about it!” At the mention of Elise, the Math teacher’s expression softened. He walked up to Mikayla’s desk and asked, “What is it?”
Mikayla paused and slowly kept her phone. “Nothing, sir. You may resume with class.” An irritated look passed over the man’s face once more, but he didn’t want to disrupt the rest of the class, so he responded, “See me in my office after this.” Without another word, he returned to the lectern and went on with the lesson.
Although class had resumed, she was already far too distracted as she joined the comments section beneath the post, typing away furiously on her phone. Her username was Mika, and she commented, ‘What the hell are all of you talking about? Accusing someone of being a sugar baby is defamation, so take care that you don’t get thrown into prison soon!
The car belongs to Alexander, as in Alexander Griffith. Elise happens to be a relative of theirs and she lives with them, so all of you better shut your pieholes. As for the person who made this post without fact-checking, you should watch your back; you could get sued for ruining someone’s reputation like this!’
Mikayla was still simmering with anger when Danny, who sat in front of her, turned around and asked, “Hey, what happened to Elise?” When Mikayla saw that it was Danny who had asked, she hesitated. After a pause, she decided to tell him everything. Upon learning that Elise was becoming the victim of cyber-bullying, he bristled and instantly texted his friends. They rallied in support of Elise as they flooded the comments section, with Danny taking the lead as he typed, ‘I’m Danny Griffith.
The person who made this post must have been bored out of their minds to look for trouble like this. All these photos are a clear infringement of portrait rights; I can smell a lawsuit coming. You should take the post down before you find yourself biting off more than you can chew!’
One of Danny’s friends whose username was Riversnake commented, ‘Guess the person who made this post has nothing better to do than fabricate stories. Everyone in Eden High knows that the four Griffith boys are giving Elise a ride to and from school every day.
The sugar baby trope is a complete lie! Take down the post right now; offending the Griffiths will only make your life in Athesea hell from now on.’ Another friend of Danny’s by the username of CryingCresentMoon added, ‘To the unassuming audience who all live for drama, I suggest you all ignore this post. As it turns out, the person who made it is just desperate for entertainment and has resorted to deceiving everyone.’
