My Romance Life System
Chapter 34: She Is Incredible

Chapter 34: She Is Incredible

I finally let out a slow, tired breath and lifted my head.

She was leaning forward, her chin resting on her hand, looking me up and down with an expression of intense curiosity, like I was a puzzle she was trying to solve.

"What do you want, Selma?" I asked, my voice quiet.

Her aggressive posture seemed to deflate a little at my directness. She sat up straighter, shifting from intimidation to something that felt more like an interrogation.

"I’m not trying to start anything," she said, her voice even. "I just want to understand what’s going on. One minute, Nina is dating Tyler, the next she’s walking into school laughing with you. It doesn’t make any sense."

I just looked at her, saying nothing.

"Look," she continued, leaning forward again. "I’m her friend. I worry about her. Nina has a certain... image. A reputation. And being seen with you, especially after all this drama, isn’t good for it. People are already talking."

"We’re just friends," I said simply.

She let out a small, frustrated sigh, as if I’d given a completely nonsensical answer. "Kofi, you have to be realistic. She’s a popular girl. She needs to be with people who are on her level, people who can help her stay popular. It’s just how things work. She should be with a guy like Tyler."

The moment she said his name, something inside me went still. The tiredness I felt, the simple annoyance at being bothered, it all just evaporated. It wasn’t a flare of anger, but a quiet, steady sharpening of my focus. I sat up a little straighter in my chair.

She must have seen the shift in my expression, because she paused.

"What?"

I met her eyes directly. my voice was calm and clear when I spoke. It wasn’t loud, but it had a weight to it that made her lean back slightly.

"You don’t know what you’re talking about," I said. It wasn’t an accusation, just a statement of fact.

"What do you mean? Tyler is—"

"Tyler," I interrupted, my voice still quiet but cutting through hers cleanly, "is not on her level."

I held her gaze for a moment longer, letting the words settle between us. There was no anger in my expression, just an absolute, unshakeable certainty that she couldn’t argue with.

Then, I broke eye contact, deliberately turning my attention back to my phone. I picked it up and started scrolling, my posture relaxed. The conversation, as far as I was concerned, was over.

I could feel her staring at me, her mind probably racing to process what had just happened. She was used to people reacting to her with fear or defensiveness. She wasn’t prepared for quiet, complete dismissal.

She turned from me and looked back to Nina, who was just staring at her from her chair in front, an angry look on her face. Nina clearly wanted her to go, but Selma was not about to let this go. She resorted to bullying.

"Seriously, Nina? What are you doing?" Her voice was loud now, for the whole class to hear. "I know you feel bad for him, but are you running a charity now? You don’t have to hang out with the broken loner just to prove you’re a good person."

I just watched her. The words didn’t hit me. They were just noise, pathetic attempts to get a reaction.

"He got punched in the face in front of everyone," she continued, a cruel little smile on her lips. "And you’re still walking into school with him? Don’t you have any self-respect? Everyone is laughing at you."

I saw Nina’s hands clench on her desk. She didn’t look at me. She kept her eyes locked on Selma.

’Here it comes,’ I thought. I expected her to yell, to cry, to get flustered.

But she just took a slow breath. When she spoke, her voice wasn’t loud or shaky. It was calm and cold.

"Get away from his desk, Selma."

The entire room, which had been buzzing with whispers, went completely silent. Selma blinked, thrown off by the lack of a dramatic outburst.

"What?"

"I said," she repeated, standing up from her chair slowly, "get away from his desk. You’re bothering my friend."

She said the words ’my friend’ with a quiet, unshakeable emphasis. It wasn’t a defense. It was a declaration.

Selma just stared, her mouth hanging open a little. She looked from Nina’s cold, calm face to my own neutral one. She was looking for a crack, an opening, but there wasn’t one. The power dynamic had shifted completely, and she was the only one who hadn’t realized it until this exact moment.

"You’re choosing him over us?" Selma finally stammered, her voice a mix of disbelief and anger. "Over your own friends?"

Nina took a step forward, closing the distance between them until she was standing right in front of Selma. She was shorter, but right now, she seemed a foot taller.

"You and Becky stopped being my friends a long time ago," she said, her voice still impossibly calm. "You just want a doll to dress up and show off. I’m not a doll, Selma. And Kofi is a better person than you or Tyler will ever be."

"Now," she said, her voice dropping a little lower. "I’m going to say this one last time. Leave. Him. Alone."

Selma’s face was a mess of red, blotchy anger and humiliation. She looked around the silent classroom, at all the eyes that were now on her, watching her get completely and utterly dismantled. She opened her mouth, but no sound came out.

Defeated, she turned and stormed out of the classroom, slamming the door shut behind her.

The silence held for a beat. Then, the quiet chatter of the classroom started to return, a little tentative at first, then back to its normal volume.

Nina just stood there for a second. She took another slow breath, then turned and looked at me.

Our eyes met and she didn’t smile this time. She just gave me a small nod. A look that said, ’I got your back.’

I nodded back.

’Wow,’ was the only thought in my head. ’She’s incredible.’