I am the Queen

Chapter 35 - 35

To say the rumors that Evangeline Heart was going out with Eric Phelps was shocking was an understatement as it practically swept the whole campus by storm.

The men lamented and were greatly disappointed at the turn of events. Some were angry as to why their Goddess chose a mere nobody, geeky, pauper man while some mocked and ridiculed her for having no taste at all!

Most of the women, if not all, found the whole thing hilarious. They were openly rejoicing that the Ice Queen had finally fallen from grace all the way to the bottom pit that she would even fancy a man such as Eric Phelps. That the untouchable Queen was now touchable. The once mighty daughter of a tycoon was disowned and no longer cared for. Her powerful backer who was her father was gone, and her greatest ally of a boyfriend dumped her.

With all this news and all these feelings going on around for days, one thing was for sure, everything changed for Evangeline and Eric.

Nevertheless, the two remained unaffected. They were the epitome of indifference as always.

Ever since two days ago that Evangeline took care of Eric, she was always seen together with him. Or to put it more precisely, wherever Eric was, Evangeline followed.

During class, Evangeline's attention was no longer at the scenery outside the window. She was now glancing at Eric most of the time. She even exchanged messages with him through sticky notes during class much to the teacher's annoyance.

And since it was rumored that Evangeline no longer had the protection of her father and Daniel, the teacher now had the guts to put her under detention for her inappropriate behavior.

But instead of feeling humiliated, Evangeline just smiled and accepted her punishment with all her heart. And since the students could choose their punishment like cleaning or doing apology letters, she decided to do the cleaning so she could be with Eric even after class.

But of course, Evangeline did no such thing as cleaning the school grounds. Instead, she was watching Eric did his janitorial job after school.

And for Eric, besides his usual janitorial job of taking out the trash and cleaning the garden and pathway, he now had to do Evangeline's detention punishment as well.

The charade didn't stop there as Evangeline even stayed during lunch break in the cafeteria for the first time ever. She no longer ate at her favorite Michelin awarded restaurants nor any other famous cafes for the reason so she could peep at Eric while he was serving the students meals. And not only that, she deliberately took her lunch thirty munities before the start of the afternoon class so she could eat together with him after he finished helping out in the cafeteria.

It was not extreme to say that the boys were envious that someone like Eric Phelps could get that much attention from a Goddess who they themselves couldn't get much as a single glance.

While the girls didn't know what to feel except irritation for Evangeline's lack of response to their taunting and mockery.

And like yesterday, Evangeline was sitting in silence at a corner near the serving center where Eric was working at, watching him with her usual pompous stare.

In fact, at first glance, nobody could tell that Evangeline likes Eric if not for her outrageous, out of the ordinary, unladylike actions of following the geeky man all around.

The students at the cafeteria had gone quieter when Evangeline arrived. Most of them were of the lower status, thus they didn't dare mock nor taunt Evangeline who was of a higher status than them even if the rumors said that she had fallen from grace. Just from Evangeline's sharp and ice cold intimidating self alone was enough to make them avoid her unconsciously, much less do anything to her.

And so, Evangeline quite like the temporary respite in the cafeteria. But not much could be said about the food. It was precisely why she decided to order take-outs from her favorite restaurants and ate it together with Eric.

"You know . . . you don't have to come here if you don't like the food." Eric watched Evangeline unpacked all her meals from the wrappers that he bet, she spent thousands of dollars ordering from world class restaurants.

Evangeline remained quiet as she beamed at Eric before she started to eat.

Shaking his head, Eric grabbed his spoon and fork. He ate his free leftover cafeteria food, waiting for something, and that something finally arrived.

"Eric, I can't finish all this food. Why don't you take some?" Evangeline placed a roasted lemon honeyed boneless chicken and grilled wagyu meat onto Eric's plate.

Staying quiet and pokerfaced, Eric knew what Evangeline was trying to do and was amused by her antics.

Evangeline was treading carefully at Eric's pride and ego, thinking he would feel less of a man if she casually bought him food from a restaurant that she knew he couldn't afford all his life.

Therefore, she always bought meals for two people. Always pretending that she couldn't finish the food so he could eat it together with her.

"Thanks." As always, Eric gave a polite smile, not one bit bothered by the distance of their status.

But he had to admit, he was beginning to feel that Evangeline was wasteful. If this continued, who knew how much she would spend in a day!

"Evange––*ahem . . . Eve." Eric changed the way he called her when she raised an eyebrow at him.

"Yes?" Evangeline asked with a sharp tone and fake smile.

It was really hard not to grin when he talked to her, Eric thought. "I'm only working here during lunch hours so I can eat for free. But, if you can provide for ingredients, I can cook for us. My apartment is only a ten-minute walk from here. And since our morning class ends at eleven and resumed at one, I have plenty of time to cook food for two people," he said in one breath. As he spoke, he maintained eye contact with her, gauging her reaction.

Looking at Eric, Evangeline's purple eyes met with silver irises.

Grinning, she bellowed, "That's a wonderful idea!" This way, I can come inside his house, and we can go shopping for ingredients together! Just the two of us!

"How do we do this? When shall we buy the ingredients?" she asked, trying hard to mask the raging excitement she felt.

Watching the eagerness on her face, a mischievous idea popped into Eric's mind. Actually, he already took upon himself to buy the ingredients alone . . . but if she wanted to come . . .

"Ingredients are always fresh in the morning. If you want, we can go shopping around five in the morning, and I can cook us breakfast while we're at it. Since our class starts not until eight, we have plenty of time," Eric said, fighting a grin.

Evangeline's smile grew wider, eyes sparkling. "That sounds nice. You live up to be a remarkable servant, Eric. Do come and fetch me in my apartment at five." Waking up early was no hassle to her for she always woke up four in the morning to do her routine walk in the park with her pets and do her morning yoga and exercise.

"Then it settled. I'll come and pick you up at five on Monday next week."

Eric threw a boyish grin at Evangeline, and the latter's heart leaped in her throat. She shot a peek around her to see if someone saw his smile.

Fortunately, all eyes were focused at her. *whew . . .

Eric's other facade and smile and silver eyes were for her and only her to enjoy. She didn't want to share what she considered hers.

That smile sure is dangerous. Even she, a woman who seen all sorts of beauty, was stunned in a daze.