Episode 28: The Downside of Social Media
Something’s off.
Ever since I walked into the classroom, I’ve had the feeling everyone’s been staring at me all day.
Even after I started working at Sweet Stella, I’ve kept up my full introvert armor at school — glasses, mask, minimal makeup.
I don’t think that alone fully hides my beauty or anything, but my classmates are almost entirely kids who’ve moved up together since kindergarten, so there was no reason for anyone to suddenly start paying attention to me now.
So why is everyone staring at me like this!?
It can’t just be me being self-conscious. Because they’re clearly looking at me and whispering.
Could it be that word got out about my parents’ company going bankrupt, or that tuition’s unpaid…?
I want to ask why, but if I had the nerve to just ask someone outright, I wouldn’t be an introvert in the first place.
I figured I’d escape to the bathroom for now and started to get up, when someone said, “Nanami-san.”
“Y-yes…?”
The one who spoke was Hara-san, who sits next to me. But behind her stood about four other classmates.
Realizing they’d probably discussed this together before coming over made my stomach sink even further.
“This is you, isn’t it, Nanami-san?”
The phone screen she showed me had my social media account pulled up.
My current username is “Ruri @ working at Sweet Stella.”
Wh-why did they figure it out!? My selfie self and my everyday self should look pretty different!
Too stunned to speak, she followed up by showing me Sweet Stella’s official video-posting social media account next.
The dance video I’d worked so hard to film, videos introducing the inside of the shop — all of it was there.
“I could tell from your voice. You looked different, but I thought, that sounds like Nanami-san. And once I looked closer, your face matched too.”
“Hii, hyeek…”
What do I do. Should I say it’s not me!? No, it’s already too late for that!?
Tsubakigaoka Girls’ Academy doesn’t actually have a rule against part-time jobs. But most of the students come from wealthy families, and I’d never once heard of anyone here having one.
I know it should be fine to just hold my head up about it, but…
“Nanami-san, you’re working at a maid café or something?”
Her voice carried unmistakable contempt.
“Are you really that desperate for money? Or did you just always like doing this kind of thing? Your account’s been up for a while now, hasn’t it.”
When she laughed, the classmates trailing behind her laughed along too, in that low, snickering way.
…I’m being made fun of. By all of them. Right now.
An introvert at school who secretly craves attention online with selfies, and ends up working at a maid café on top of it.
That’s probably exactly how everyone sees me.
It’s not like they’re wrong, exactly… but.
At the very least, Sweet Stella isn’t the kind of place that deserves to be laughed at. Möbius-san worked hard to prepare it and get it open, and Miyuki-san and Sora-san work hard there too.
Sure, being a maid means selling charm as part of the job, in a way. But what exactly is wrong with that?
There are people who come to see us, who leave in better spirits because of it. I genuinely love working at the maid café.
“Nanami-san?”
Seeing me go silent, she laughed mockingly again.
Don’t laugh at it. I do this job because I like it. Sweet Stella is a wonderful place!
I should have plenty to say, but my body was shaking too hard for my voice to come out properly.
The one who’d grown was only “Ruri” mode. The real me — Nanami Riri — hadn’t changed at all.
Pathetic. But right now, all I wanted was to run away from this.
“Riri!”
The moment I squeezed my eyes shut, I heard Maria’s voice.
Her footsteps rang out sharply across the floor as she strode into the classroom and planted herself in front of me, shielding me.
“Tsubakigaoka Girls’ Academy allows part-time jobs, and Riri’s workplace is a perfectly respectable restaurant. It’s not the kind of place any of you have the right to mock.”
“M-Maria-san…”
Maria’s a student council officer, and the wealthiest girl in the entire school besides. The moment she appeared, the classmates scattered in an instant.
But their eyes, still full of quiet contempt toward me, didn’t change.
“Riri. It’s okay.”
Maria whispered gently and gripped my hand tightly.
—Once again, Maria came to save me.
“Come on.”
Maria led me by the hand. Between the humiliation and the relief, I ended up crying.