[Discontinued*] The Darling Princess [A Twisted Wonderland Fanfic]

🐙 Chapter 83

'Shoot,' she thought. 'Now they're gonna get mad and-'

Y/N's eyes went wide as her eyes met bright hazel eyes. For once, they didn't seem malicious. Instead, they seemed worried.

"Are you all right?" 

Y/N righted herself and brushed herself off. "Yeah. Sorry for bumping into you."

The boy laughed and waved his hand as if brushing away a fly. "Don't worry about it. It's a crowded village! I can hardly go a day without bumping into someone."

Y/N bit her lip. "Still. Is there some way that I can repay you?"

"If you insist..." the boy smirked. "How about you join me and my friends for some coffee? We were just about to go to the cafe." He gestured across the street to where a cute little cafe was standing with a bunch of tables that were already crowded with people.

Y/N shrugged. "Sure. Seems like fun."

The boy grinned and wrapped an arm around her shoulder, steering her into the cafe. "Exactly what I was thinking. My name's Lan by the way." He held out the pin on his scarlet red jacket to show Y/N the unfamiliar logo of his school. "What's your name?"

"Y/N. Y/N Artem. I go to NRC."

Lan quirked an eyebrow at the girl. "NRC, huh? Maybe I shouldn't invite you to sit with my friends."

Y/N felt fear in the pit of her stomach, suddenly remembering the rivalry between the two schools. Maybe she should have left that part out...

Lan suddenly burst out laughing. "Don't worry about it, Y/N. We don't really listen to the rivalry. I'm pretty sure that it's just your school that listens to that."

Y/N rolled her eyes. "Of course. The school full of entitled boys."

"I am surprised that you're going there though. I thought it was an all-boys school."

"It is. Except for me."

"Really? You have the favour of the headmaster or something?"

Y/N shrugged, not interested in getting into the details of her odd scholarship-like acceptance into the school. Lan, thankfully, didn't press, and instead just steered her into the cafe, behind the large garage door that had been opened to let some of the sunlight and fresh air in. 

It seemed that most of the cafe had been taken over by Lan and his friends because the table that he steered Y/N to was certainly one of the larger tables in the cafe. Not to mention the booths that also seemed to contain more of his friends. Y/N glanced at Lan, who was eagerly waving to everyone. 

"Hey, Lan! Over here!" 

"Come on, Y/N." 

Lan took Y/N's hand instead, dragging her behind him as they wove between the tables, eventually finding a small booth where a few other boys were waiting for Lan. Lan slid into the booth first before pulling Y/N down next to him. 

"Y/N these are my friends. Lei, Liang, Yingjie, and Peng. Guys, this is Y/N."

All of the boys waved to Y/N, though Liang seemed to be stiffer than the others.

"Where's -" Lan was suddenly cut off by another boy with flaming red hair running into the room, panting heavily. He slumped over on the edge of the table, nearly hitting Y/N in the face with his hair.

"Y/N," Yingjie said, "This is our friend-"

"I can introduce myself!" The boy stood up, flipped his mop of hair over his head, and struck a pose, throwing both arms out to the sides while puffing out his chest. "I am the powerful, the pleasurable, the indestructible Ju-Long!"