"Angie, your hat." David's reminder reached Angela just as she was getting out of the car, relayed through the rearview mirror.
"Hat?" Angela touched her head. The white, wide-brimmed hat she rarely wore was already leaning slightly to one side. Without careful attention, it could easily slip off.
"Thank you, David." Angela smiled, straightened the hat, said goodbye to the driver, and hopped out of the car. Although she had arrived quite early, the campus was already buzzing with activity. Angela lowered the brim of her hat slightly, gave herself a playful glance, and cautiously strode down the path.
After covering a short distance, a sudden tap on her shoulder startled her, causing her to turn and meet Lily's smiling face.
"Whoa, Lily, you almost gave me a heart attack," Angela remarked with a hint of annoyance.
"Heart attack? Seriously? Were you being chased by villains?" Lily joked. "It's a rarity to see you wearing a hat to school. I thought you'd never do that."
"Does my outfit not work then?" Angela asked, locking eyes with Lily.
"Why on earth would I think that? Your fashion sense is always spot on and everyone knows it, except maybe Vicky and her gang," Lily shrugged.
Observing Lily's steady expression, Angela let her guard down a bit, though a trace of irritation remained. Well, middle schoolers aren't exactly avid newspaper readers, are they?
"All right, let's go, Lily. Time to go to class. What's our first class today?"
"French class."
"Oh, my goodness. I don't really like French class."
"No, no, no. It's not the French class you don't like, your French is better than the rest of us combined. You just don't like Miss Martha."
"Hey, dear, that's your opinion. I never said anything."
"Okay, I said it. I said it! All good with you?"
The two chatted their way into the main building and reached their classroom. Just as they were about to enter, a theatrically exaggerated voice came from behind them, "Whoa~ Whoa~ Whoa! Look here, folks! Did the sun rise from the west today?"
Without needing to be told, Angela rolled her eyes. Still, she turned politely and greeted, "Hello, good morning, Vicky."
Standing next to Vicky were Marcy, Anna, Sarah and Polly. The Beauty Squad, as their nickname suggested, had dressed exceptionally stylishly. Lily, however, wasn't as willing to exchange pleasantries as Angela. She gave them only a glance and remained silent.
"Allow me to correct you, Miss Angela, you've chosen the wrong phrasing. It's late morning now, the early morning phase has passed," Vicky said with her usual air of haughtiness.
"Well then, good late morning, Vicky," Angela shrugged.
Vicky didn't reply, but instead made a complete circle around Angela before saying, in her usual disdainful cadence, "How extraordinary, Angela, that you too are wearing a Moschino hat. However, the charm of this ensemble, attributed to an obscure brand, was completely obliterated. If I were in your position, I would hide it immediately."
However, Angela's next statement seemed to make Vicky almost vomit blood: "This is a Moschino hat? What brand is that?" She deliberately lifted the hat, examined it closely, and even turned it inside out.
Vicky's complexion turned pale with anger. With an audible huff, she turned, brushed past Angela and marched into the classroom. Her group followed suit, emitting mocking huffs as they paraded past Angela and into the room.
"Angie, I think you may have stirred up a hornet's nest," Lily observed, her voice tinged with concern. "Even though I'm not particularly fond of Vicky, taunting her about something she's proud of might not go over well."
"But," Angela raised her hands in innocent surrender, "I honestly didn't know what brand Moschino was."
"Really?" Lily widened her eyes in disbelief.
"Absolutely, why would I lie to you?" Angela shrugged.
"How about Alice and Olivia? Michael Kors? Vintage Ralph Lauren?" Angela's repeated shaking of her head made Lily look at her as if she were a strange specimen. "Good heavens, do you never go shopping, never buy clothes?"
"Well, to a certain extent. I'm familiar with a few brands, like Chanel, Versace or Armani..." Angela hastily explained, but Lily interjected without pausing, "If you don't know them, then you must be from Mars!"
After a short pause, she continued, "Angie, you are without a doubt the most peculiar girl I've ever encountered. You rarely, if ever, wear jewelry or accessories. You don't even have pierced ears. Even dresses seem to be a rarity. Yet you insist that you rarely shop, even though you have such distinctive taste."
Lily sighed, raised her hand to her forehead and continued, "To be honest, I'm at a loss for words when it comes to describing you."
"Well then, don't worry about describing me. Let's just get to the classroom and not linger out here," Angela put her hat back on and pushed Lily towards the classroom.
Vicky, who was already seated and engaged in a lively conversation with her clique, quickly looked away when Angela came into view. Angela and Lily paid no attention, choosing seats on opposite sides.
"Here's a thought, Angie. What if we went shopping this weekend? We could hit Summerset Street. Even if we don't end up buying anything, just window-shopping might be fun," Lily suggested.
"Over the weekend? I have some commitments..." Angela started to refuse. Shopping for clothes and cosmetics wasn't really her cup of tea.
"Hi Angie, good morning." A girl approached, took a seat next to Angela and greeted her warmly.
"Hello, Sally, good morning," Angela replied with a smile. Lily promptly pulled Angela away, causing her to miss the fact that Sally was watching her with a lingering gaze.
"Angie, given your impeccable taste and your knack for coordinating outfits, if you had a deeper understanding of fashion, you could even become a fashion designer someday," Lily continued her persuasion.
"Stop flattering me, Lily," Angela playfully stuck out her tongue. "I'm just good at observing and giving opinions. If I were to design clothes, I'd probably be stifled. My fashion sense is probably not even a third as refined as my mom's."
"Is your mother a fashion designer?" Lily inquired.
"Well..." Angela pondered, "In a way, yes. She's kind of a fashion designer. She works on fashion designs occasionally."
"That's hard to fathom, Angie. Your mother dabbles in fashion design, you have personal chauffeurs, and you're not in poverty, so why don't you ever shop for clothes? And you can't even identify clothing brands?" Lily chuckled as she spoke.
"Why bother shopping in stores? Why not just have clothes tailored for you at home?" Angela shrugged.
Lily furrowed her brow, then a look of astonishment spread across her face. "Tailored at home? Angie, are you saying that all your clothes are custom-made?"
"Yes, my mom doesn't often buy clothes in stores either. She usually sends design sketches to some companies for alterations. Then they come to take measurements and make the clothes accordingly. That's how our family gets our clothes. Oh, that hat was a gift from my godfather," Angela nodded and explained. She noticed that Lily's eyes seemed a little distant and waved her hand in front of her, asking, "Hey, are you okay?"
"Me? Oh, I'm fine," Lily swallowed hard, her voice wavering. "Angie... those companies that make clothes for your family, do you know their names?"
"I didn't ask," Angela shrugged. "You know, I don't really understand those brands." Then she remembered something, tugged at her jeans, and said somewhat sheepishly, "Oh, and these jeans are Armani."
"Armani?" Lily was almost speechless. "Angie, don't you know? Armani never had a line of jeans."
"Really? But I have several pairs," Angela blinked, genuinely perplexed. She wasn't trying to be oblivious. After all, it was unrealistic to expect a self-proclaimed NEET to have a comprehensive knowledge of every brand. While she understood the value of custom-made clothing, she also took it for granted that most students at a private school were fairly well-off. Therefore, owning numerous such outfits seemed rather ordinary.
Lily felt like she was about to collapse. She had always thought of Angela as a typical middle-class girl, much like herself. Angela was sweet, kind, and incredibly likeable, which was what had brought them together as friends. However, her perception was now undergoing a massive revision. Still, the surprises weren't done.
Sally, who had been sitting next to Angela, suddenly tugged at her and inquired, "Angie, could you take off your hat for a moment?"
"What's the matter?" Angela removed her hat as requested and looked at Sally curiously.
Sally's eyes lit up as she examined Angela's hair from different angles. Finally, with palpable enthusiasm, she exclaimed, "You're Hollywood's Genius Girl, aren't you?" Her voice was so animated that it caught the attention of the other girls in the room.
"What are you talking about, Sally?" another girl shouted from across the room.
"Haven't any of you read the paper? The《Los Angeles Times》from yesterday!" Sally exclaimed with outrageous enthusiasm. She rummaged through her bag and then placed a newspaper on her desk with a solid 'thump'.
She hastily flipped to the entertainment section and held it up for all to see. "Take a look. If that's not Angela, who could it be?" The paper showed a clear photo of Angela, albeit with a few wrinkles.
"Angie, your hat." David's reminder reached Angela just as she was getting out of the car, relayed through the rearview mirror.
"Hat?" Angela touched her head. The white, wide-brimmed hat she rarely wore was already leaning slightly to one side. Without careful attention, it could easily slip off.
"Thank you, David." Angela smiled, straightened the hat, said goodbye to the driver, and hopped out of the car. Although she had arrived quite early, the campus was already buzzing with activity. Angela lowered the brim of her hat slightly, gave herself a playful glance, and cautiously strode down the path.
After covering a short distance, a sudden tap on her shoulder startled her, causing her to turn and meet Lily's smiling face.
"Whoa, Lily, you almost gave me a heart attack," Angela remarked with a hint of annoyance.
"Heart attack? Seriously? Were you being chased by villains?" Lily joked. "It's a rarity to see you wearing a hat to school. I thought you'd never do that."
"Does my outfit not work then?" Angela asked, locking eyes with Lily.
"Why on earth would I think that? Your fashion sense is always spot on and everyone knows it, except maybe Vicky and her gang," Lily shrugged.
Observing Lily's steady expression, Angela let her guard down a bit, though a trace of irritation remained. Well, middle schoolers aren't exactly avid newspaper readers, are they?
"All right, let's go, Lily. Time to go to class. What's our first class today?"
"French class."
"Oh, my goodness. I don't really like French class."
"No, no, no. It's not the French class you don't like, your French is better than the rest of us combined. You just don't like Miss Martha."
"Hey, dear, that's your opinion. I never said anything."
"Okay, I said it. I said it! All good with you?"
The two chatted their way into the main building and reached their classroom. Just as they were about to enter, a theatrically exaggerated voice came from behind them, "Whoa~ Whoa~ Whoa! Look here, folks! Did the sun rise from the west today?"
Without needing to be told, Angela rolled her eyes. Still, she turned politely and greeted, "Hello, good morning, Vicky."
Standing next to Vicky were Marcy, Anna, Sarah and Polly. The Beauty Squad, as their nickname suggested, had dressed exceptionally stylishly. Lily, however, wasn't as willing to exchange pleasantries as Angela. She gave them only a glance and remained silent.
"Allow me to correct you, Miss Angela, you've chosen the wrong phrasing. It's late morning now, the early morning phase has passed," Vicky said with her usual air of haughtiness.
"Well then, good late morning, Vicky," Angela shrugged.
Vicky didn't reply, but instead made a complete circle around Angela before saying, in her usual disdainful cadence, "How extraordinary, Angela, that you too are wearing a Moschino hat. However, the charm of this ensemble, attributed to an obscure brand, was completely obliterated. If I were in your position, I would hide it immediately."
However, Angela's next statement seemed to make Vicky almost vomit blood: "This is a Moschino hat? What brand is that?" She deliberately lifted the hat, examined it closely, and even turned it inside out.
Vicky's complexion turned pale with anger. With an audible huff, she turned, brushed past Angela and marched into the classroom. Her group followed suit, emitting mocking huffs as they paraded past Angela and into the room.
"Angie, I think you may have stirred up a hornet's nest," Lily observed, her voice tinged with concern. "Even though I'm not particularly fond of Vicky, taunting her about something she's proud of might not go over well."
"But," Angela raised her hands in innocent surrender, "I honestly didn't know what brand Moschino was."
"Really?" Lily widened her eyes in disbelief.
"Absolutely, why would I lie to you?" Angela shrugged.
"How about Alice and Olivia? Michael Kors? Vintage Ralph Lauren?" Angela's repeated shaking of her head made Lily look at her as if she were a strange specimen. "Good heavens, do you never go shopping, never buy clothes?"
"Well, to a certain extent. I'm familiar with a few brands, like Chanel, Versace or Armani..." Angela hastily explained, but Lily interjected without pausing, "If you don't know them, then you must be from Mars!"
After a short pause, she continued, "Angie, you are without a doubt the most peculiar girl I've ever encountered. You rarely, if ever, wear jewelry or accessories. You don't even have pierced ears. Even dresses seem to be a rarity. Yet you insist that you rarely shop, even though you have such distinctive taste."
Lily sighed, raised her hand to her forehead and continued, "To be honest, I'm at a loss for words when it comes to describing you."
"Well then, don't worry about describing me. Let's just get to the classroom and not linger out here," Angela put her hat back on and pushed Lily towards the classroom.
Vicky, who was already seated and engaged in a lively conversation with her clique, quickly looked away when Angela came into view. Angela and Lily paid no attention, choosing seats on opposite sides.
"Here's a thought, Angie. What if we went shopping this weekend? We could hit Summerset Street. Even if we don't end up buying anything, just window-shopping might be fun," Lily suggested.
"Over the weekend? I have some commitments..." Angela started to refuse. Shopping for clothes and cosmetics wasn't really her cup of tea.
"Hi Angie, good morning." A girl approached, took a seat next to Angela and greeted her warmly.
"Hello, Sally, good morning," Angela replied with a smile. Lily promptly pulled Angela away, causing her to miss the fact that Sally was watching her with a lingering gaze.
"Angie, given your impeccable taste and your knack for coordinating outfits, if you had a deeper understanding of fashion, you could even become a fashion designer someday," Lily continued her persuasion.
"Stop flattering me, Lily," Angela playfully stuck out her tongue. "I'm just good at observing and giving opinions. If I were to design clothes, I'd probably be stifled. My fashion sense is probably not even a third as refined as my mom's."
"Is your mother a fashion designer?" Lily inquired.
"Well..." Angela pondered, "In a way, yes. She's kind of a fashion designer. She works on fashion designs occasionally."
"That's hard to fathom, Angie. Your mother dabbles in fashion design, you have personal chauffeurs, and you're not in poverty, so why don't you ever shop for clothes? And you can't even identify clothing brands?" Lily chuckled as she spoke.
"Why bother shopping in stores? Why not just have clothes tailored for you at home?" Angela shrugged.
Lily furrowed her brow, then a look of astonishment spread across her face. "Tailored at home? Angie, are you saying that all your clothes are custom-made?"
"Yes, my mom doesn't often buy clothes in stores either. She usually sends design sketches to some companies for alterations. Then they come to take measurements and make the clothes accordingly. That's how our family gets our clothes. Oh, that hat was a gift from my godfather," Angela nodded and explained. She noticed that Lily's eyes seemed a little distant and waved her hand in front of her, asking, "Hey, are you okay?"
"Me? Oh, I'm fine," Lily swallowed hard, her voice wavering. "Angie... those companies that make clothes for your family, do you know their names?"
"I didn't ask," Angela shrugged. "You know, I don't really understand those brands." Then she remembered something, tugged at her jeans, and said somewhat sheepishly, "Oh, and these jeans are Armani."
"Armani?" Lily was almost speechless. "Angie, don't you know? Armani never had a line of jeans."
"Really? But I have several pairs," Angela blinked, genuinely perplexed. She wasn't trying to be oblivious. After all, it was unrealistic to expect a self-proclaimed NEET to have a comprehensive knowledge of every brand. While she understood the value of custom-made clothing, she also took it for granted that most students at a private school were fairly well-off. Therefore, owning numerous such outfits seemed rather ordinary.
Lily felt like she was about to collapse. She had always thought of Angela as a typical middle-class girl, much like herself. Angela was sweet, kind, and incredibly likeable, which was what had brought them together as friends. However, her perception was now undergoing a massive revision. Still, the surprises weren't done.
Sally, who had been sitting next to Angela, suddenly tugged at her and inquired, "Angie, could you take off your hat for a moment?"
"What's the matter?" Angela removed her hat as requested and looked at Sally curiously.
Sally's eyes lit up as she examined Angela's hair from different angles. Finally, with palpable enthusiasm, she exclaimed, "You're Hollywood's Genius Girl, aren't you?" Her voice was so animated that it caught the attention of the other girls in the room.
"What are you talking about, Sally?" another girl shouted from across the room.
"Haven't any of you read the paper? The《Los Angeles Times》from yesterday!" Sally exclaimed with outrageous enthusiasm. She rummaged through her bag and then placed a newspaper on her desk with a solid 'thump'.
She hastily flipped to the entertainment section and held it up for all to see. "Take a look. If that's not Angela, who could it be?" The paper showed a clear photo of Angela, albeit with a few wrinkles.
