Jean held the tips of her fingers up to her twisted lips, and she was nervously biting at her fingernails. The once-intact nails were now jagged, with white powdery debris scattered at the edges.

When she noticed I had caught her in the act, she looked flustered. Her once-bright eyes were bloodshot and anxious, and she stepped back rapidly.

Jean backed up so far that her pink shirt nearly blended into the crabapple blossoms outside the window. After a while, she clutched at her chest with difficulty. Then, she turned away and refused to look at me.

I was overwhelmed by the stark contrast between her previous demeanor and now. My nerves were frayed under the weight of confusion.

I rushed forward and grabbed her hand. "What is it? What's wrong? Did I do something to upset you?"

"No, it's not you!" Jean cried.

Jean was normally bold and confident. Yet, she suddenly screamed and shook her hand away as if I were some menacing monster.

Tears welled up in my eyes as I turned my head away.

Why? Why was this happening?

I hadn't done anything wrong. I had always treated them kindly.

First Willow, and now Jean—they both reacted to me in the same way.

I pulled out a mirror and inspected my reflection from every angle. Try as I might, I failed to see if there was anything wrong with my face or features.

I wasn't beautiful, alright. But surely I wasn't repulsive either, was I?

As I thought about this, tears filled my eyes.

Upon noticing my distress, Jean initially seemed regretful and wanted to console me.

But suddenly, she jumped up in terror and frantically clawed at her back.

She screamed hysterically, "I'm sorry. I'm sorry!"

Then, without warning, she turned and ran. She headed straight for the window as if she intended to jump out!

I was startled at this. Along with a few other classmates who had woken up, I quickly pulled her back.

After that incident, I became genuinely concerned about her mental state. I decided not to push her as I had with Willow. Instead, I quietly observed her, worried she might harm herself.

One day during gym class, I noticed Jean was missing and anxiously searched for her everywhere.

I finally found her in the classroom, sitting at my desk. She had an unhinged look in her eyes, and she was frantically rummaging through my things.

"What are you doing, Jean?" I shouted, my eyes wide with shock.

Jean ignored me. When she finally found a piece of paper, she screamed. When she looked up at me, her pupils seemed to be trembling from fear.

Before the gym class had even ended, she stormed into the teacher's office and insisted on changing seats.

Our form teacher, Paulina Reed, was exasperated. "Your seat is perfectly fine—it's right at the front of the classroom. And now, are you telling me that you want to move to the middle?"

"Yes! I don't want the front or the back. Please… I'm begging you, Ms. Reed," Jean pleaded.

She spoke nervously while glancing toward the window.

Just then, she noticed me standing in the doorway.

She immediately broke down in tears and wailed, "Please, Ms. Reed. I'm begging you!"

Paulina, on the other hand, was losing her patience. "I have to consider the other students as well. You're asking for too much, and I can't accommodate it."

Jean froze like she'd been struck by lightning. Her legs gave out, and she collapsed to the floor. She looked utterly desperate to escape. But upon seeing me standing in the doorway, she didn't dare to leave the office.

With a heavy sigh, I turned and walked back to the classroom.

The seat beside me remained empty, as Jean didn't return.

The next day, Paulina announced that she had taken a leave of absence.

"Jean has requested some time off due to health issues," Paulina said. Then, she rapped the blackboard to get our attention and remind us. "You're in junior year. Still, it's important to stay focused on your studies. Environmental factors shouldn't affect you as long as you're calm on the inside."

Although what she said made sense, I couldn't stop dwelling on the situation.

As soon as class ended, I turned to Ramona, and we headed to the hallway to chat.

Clenching my fists, I declared, "I have to figure out what's going on. Otherwise, this will keep eating away at me."

Ramona sighed and rested her chin in her hand. "I don't know what's happening either, but if you want to investigate, I'll help you."

Ramona reminded me about the piece of paper on my desk that Jean had been looking for during gym class. "She must have had a reason for doing that."

"I know, but I have no idea why she did that," I said helplessly, showing Ramona the paper.

I added, "It's just a regular health check report showing that everything is normal with me."

No matter how I racked my brain, I couldn't figure out why Jean had rummaged through my desk for my health report.

Ramona was equally perplexed. "Could she have been worried you had some contagious disease? Maybe she was scared that you'd pass it to her or something."

I glanced at myself and remarked, "I don't have a skin condition, and I look perfectly healthy. Why would she think that?"

"Duh. Of course, I know you're not afflicted with any kind of disease," Ramona said, rolling her eyes.

The whole situation was just too bizarre.

Suddenly, I remembered asking the class monitor, Noah Fitzgerald, if I seemed strange in any way just a few days ago. He had looked me over with a puzzled expression and said I looked perfectly normal.

At least in his eyes, I didn't seem abnormal. Maybe I could ask for his help with this.

Just as I intended to go and talk to Noah, he appeared and looked like he wanted to talk to me.

"Are you okay, Ivanna? I hope you're not affected by the unfortunate interactions with your previous two deskmates," Noah said with concern.

I sighed, feeling frustrated. "It's been bothering me a lot. They were acting like I'm carrying some kind of plague."

Noah tried to console me. "It's not your fault. The teachers are even joking that maybe it's the seat itself—maybe it has bad energy. Perhaps the scent of the crabapple blossoms outside is getting to some people."

I knew he was trying to lighten the mood.

"It's fine. I know this probably has something to do with me, so you don't need to sugarcoat it," I said dejectedly.

Noah then asked, "Do you remember when their behavior started to change?"

I thought about it carefully.

Willow began acting strangely when the crabapple blossoms bloomed, which was right at the start of the semester. As for Jean, her warm and enthusiastic attitude became cold and fearful in the span of a single lunch break.

Noah seemed to latch onto something. "What were you doing when the crabapple blossoms started blooming? Did you do anything unusual?"

I thought back and replied, "Well, I dragged Jean and Ramona to the grove to see the crabapple blossoms. Does that count?"

"The grove? Isn't that area off-limits? What were you doing there?" Noah questioned, a hint of disapproval appearing on his face.

Moments later, his expression shifted to one of intense fear. He shot me a strange look, and his legs started shaking. Without another word, he ran back to the classroom.

Ramona raised an eyebrow. "The school bans us from going there because of all the bugs, right? Why is a dude like him so scared at the mere mention of the grove?"

I had a realization. "It's all because of the grove. We should check it out after school."

Ramona shrugged and said, "Suit yourself."

After lunch, I returned to my classroom.

Standing at the doorway, I saw Noah sitting at my desk and frantically searching through my things. His bloodshot eyes were filled with panic as sweat dripped down his forehead.

Finally, he pulled out a piece of paper.

The moment he read it, he froze.

Then, upon looking up and seeing me standing at the door, his legs buckled. To my surprise, he let out a terrified scream.

Startled by his reaction, I snapped, "Why are you screaming? Ms. Reed asked me to talk to you about my new deskmate."

"Go ask her about it yourself! I don't know anything!" Noah shouted back, agitated.

I was afraid that stepping into the room would make him faint since he was in such a panicked state. So, I turned and went to the teacher's office to look for Paulina instead.

"Ms. Reed, I really don't know what's going on," I said helplessly.

She tried to reassure me. "It's not your fault. High school students are always under a lot of pressure. It's normal."

Even so, I could sense from her tone that she was subtly suggesting that I should reflect on how I interacted with my classmates and be more accommodating toward others.

I felt wronged and frustrated, but I couldn't do anything about it.

"I have a suggestion, Ms. Reed. Since no one seems willing to sit with me, and Ramona is my best friend—why not move her next to me?"

At least Ramona wouldn't avoid me like the plague.

Paulina froze, and her fingers that were typing away on her keyboard halted abruptly.

With a puzzled expression, she turned to me and said, "Ramona? Who's Ramona? Do we even have a student by that name in this class?"