On campus, everyone was talking about Lara taking a leave of absence from school.
"Rumor has it she's seriously ill—something pretty bad," someone said. Naturally, classmates came to ask Sophie about it, since everyone knew the two of them were best friends.
"Sophie, do you know what's going on? What illness does Lara have that's serious enough for her to drop out?"
"Just a while ago she seemed totally fine! She even joined the university's etiquette club and got elected as vice president. The president was a senior in third year, and we all attended together—it was great, we learned a lot about practical social etiquette!"
"Come on, you must know some inside scoop, right? Spill the tea..." There were always plenty of gossip-hungry people in their circle.
Sophie felt really awkward. Not only did she have no idea about Lara's recent situation, but she also didn't want to reveal the conflict between them to everyone.
