Alison awoke the following morning, and as she attempted to sit up, every muscle in her body protested as though a truck had mercilessly run over her during the night. The deep ache in her limbs was relentless, akin to a heavy weight pressing down on her. Every movement sent jolts of discomfort radiating through her muscles, and it felt as if her body had been pushed to its limits.

Even the simple act of lifting her arm to reach for a glass of water seemed like an impossible task, and she couldn’t suppress the groans of pain with each movement. Glancing at her wall clock, she saw it was 5:30 AM.

“I still have four and a half hours left before I have to go to school,” Alison thought.

She managed to sit up, grabbed a glass of water, then opened her drawer, retrieved two painkiller tablets, and washed them down with a glass of water before slipping back into slumber.

Alison was roused from her sleep with a jolt, feeling someone shaking her while calling her name. She opened her eyes to find her mother, who was diligently trying to wake her up.

“What’s wrong, Mom?” she asked, groaning and pulling her blanket over her face, attempting to return to sleep.

“Did you check the time? It’s already 9:15,” her mother exclaimed while trying to wrest the blanket away from her.

“What? Oh, no, I’m running late,” Alison said, quickly getting out of bed.

“Quickly, take a bath and get ready for school. Ella and Ethan are waiting for you downstairs,” her mother instructed while folding her blanket. Alison hurriedly gathered her clothes and rushed into the washroom for a quick shower.

After showering and dressing, she realized that she had forgotten to bring her makeup and concealer into the washroom with her. Peeking outside the washroom, she confirmed her mother was not in her room. She hastily ran out of the washroom, closed her bedroom door, and began applying concealer and makeup to her face. When she noticed that she was running out of concealer, she made a mental note to purchase more on her way home from school.

“Alison,” her mother called after knocking on her door. “

Coming, Mom,” Alison replied while hastily organizing her bag.

“Hurry up, or you’ll be late for school,” her mother said from behind the door. Alison packed her bag quickly and rushed downstairs.

“Where are the twins?” she asked her father, who was engrossed in reading the newspaper while sipping his coffee.

“They are waiting outside for you,” he informed her.

She dashed outside her house, and her mother inquired about her breakfast. Alison quickly grabbed a piece of toast from her plate and rushed out of the house.

“I’m sorry for being late; I was so tired yesterday that I couldn’t get up on time,” she explained while getting into the car.

“We thought so. Why don’t you skip your training and workouts since you’ve been investing your time in street fighting? This way, you won’t get so tired,” Ella suggested, expressing concern for her best friend.

“She can’t, it will affect her fighting performance,” Ethan chimed in.

“My parents would also find it suspicious if I suddenly stopped working out,” Alison said to her friends.

Alison’s friends, Ella and Ethan, expressed their concerns about her chosen path to earn money. “Can’t we just find another way to earn more money? Seriously, all this stuff makes me worry about you. I am afraid it can affect your health and study,” Ella said, clearly concerned for her friend’s well-being.

“No, this is the fastest way to earn money besides illegal activities like drug dealing and others,” Alison replied, defending her choices.

Ella offered an alternative, “There are other ways too, like writing books, like me.”

Ethan chimed in, “Or you can try hacking, like me?”

Alison smiled at her friends’ suggestions but humbly declined, “That’s a great idea, but I’m not a genius like you guys.”

“Oh, come on,” Ella said with a blush on her face, appreciating Alison’s potential.

Ethan, always quick with ideas, proposed another solution, “Oh, I know. Since you don’t want to borrow money from us, we can hack into some silver spoon brats’ bank accounts and transfer the money to your account.”

Ella’s eyes lit up with excitement as she jumped up and down on her seat, “Oh, that would be a great idea!”

Alison, however, cautioned against it, shaking her head, “No, it’s more dangerous than street fighting. Those rich people usually have IT experts working for them. If they trace it back to us, it will not only put me in danger but you guys as well.”

Alison experienced a mix of emotions as she observed her friends’ deep concern for her. She couldn’t bear to see them pouting like that, so she decided to change the topic. “Well, talking about bank accounts, did you open a bank account for me?” she asked Ethan.

Ethan responded, “Actually, I was thinking of doing it after school. Would you like to come with me?”

“Sure, I was also thinking of heading to the mall to shop for necessities,” Alison replied.

“Great, then we’ll go to the bank and the mall after school,” Ethan said, pulling into the school’s parking lot.

Alison and her friends entered the bustling corridors of Ridgeville High School. They were in high spirits, chatting and laughing as they made their way to their lockers.

“Well, well, look who we have here,” Amanda sneered, her clique gathering around her. “The twins and their charity case.”

Alison, Ella, and Ethan had encountered this kind of animosity before and had learned to handle it with grace. Initially, they ignored Amanda’s taunts, choosing not to engage in the negativity. They went about their locker routines, focusing on the tasks at hand.

But Amanda, not one to be ignored, was determined to have her say. “You know, it’s funny when you think about it,” she continued, feigning deep contemplation. “I mean, the twins could have had any friends they wanted, but they chose to hang out with poor and tomboy losers like Alison.”

Alison could feel her heart racing as Amanda’s words cut deep. She had a hunch that Amanda’s anger and bitterness stemmed from her envy of their friendship. Amanda’s friends snickered and laughed, further fueling her ego.

Alison clenched her fists, a burning desire to confront Amanda rising within her. However, before she could react, Ella stepped forward, her voice unwavering. “Amanda, we choose our friends based on who they are, not their bank accounts. We value qualities like kindness, loyalty, and respect, which seem to be in short supply here.”

Ethan nodded in agreement, adding, “Our friendships are built on trust and shared experiences, not superficiality.”

Amanda’s smirk began to falter, she was not the one to give up so easily. After all, how can she lose to nobodies like Alison?

"You know, now that I think about it birds of a feather flock together. The geeks and nerds only deserved to hang out with nerds," Amanda commented on the twins and her companion sneakers on them, which angered Alision and she wanted nothing more than to punch her, but Ethan stopped her from doing that by grabbing her hand.

"You are right, Amanda and you know what we are proud to be geeks and nerds. Do you know why? Because they make new gazettes and rules, while the common people like you just follow them." Ethan said with a smirk on his face, making Amanda agape in.

"You nailed it, bro," Ella said with a huge grin on her face.

"Did you see her face, it was hilloriuos," Alison said and three of them burst laughing.

"Serves her right," Ella said as the three of them walked out from there with a victirous smile on their face.