Today is Monday, April 25th. Managing to get Chloe, the first intended recruit, on our side was a good omen of things to come. But excitement was short-lived. One week later and the Blue Lily society hasn't gained a single additional affiliate. Two days ago, Sol said they should give up on recruiting for now. It wasn't because she was deterred. It was because they had gone through the entire student body. It wasn't exactly hard to do, seeing how few people there were at school. I would have thought that if Sol or Sapphire did the inviting, they'd get at least one member. It just goes to show how strongly opposed the girls were to reform. I was eating lunch in the dining hall when I notice Sol running up to me. She looked like a happy puppy.
"Seraph. Look at this," she orders me with a blinding smile. She handed me an A4-sized sheet of paper. I held my fork in between my teeth while I looked over it. "It's poor manners to hold your cutlery in your mouth," she tells me, taking the fork out of my mouth and setting it on my plate. My eyes first went to the graph, and I was baffled when I triple-checked the title.
"The Seraph Thorne Approval Survey?" I say with a tinge of disdain.
"What?" Sol was confused with my confusion. "Didn't I tell you?"
"No."
"I see... curious." Sol sat down, deep in thought. After a moment, she hit her fist into her palm with realization. "The early results were so bad I didn't show them to you. Look at the graph for the first survey."
I took a look. The line was just riding the horizontal axis.
"The student council conducts an impartial survey once a week, and publishes the results on Monday." Sol finally decided to explain to me. "That's why it will be our trump card. We can easily check any changes to your approval rating."
My eyes fall back to the graph. It's such a nice graph. The first and second polls both gave me just one vote. But the third poll was a sharp spike upwards. It's always nice seeing spikes in graphs.
"The polls are conducted on Saturday," Sol tells me. "So the second poll represents the eleventh through the sixteenth. You only had my vote then, too, likely because of the incidents with Chloe. But now everyone knows the truth of the matter. They also know that Chloe and Sapphire have become affiliates. I think that's what accounts for the change in the third set of results."
"I do have one concern, though..." I decide to play devil's advocate.
"What is it?"
"How many votes are there in total?" My question seemed to shoot down her mood. She slumped as she spoke dejectedly.
"Combining Intermediary and Final Course, it's... four hundred and sixty three."
A meteoric rise to twenty nine out of four hundred and sixty three, huh? What is that, almost 6.3% of the goal?
"W-Well, we've only just begun, of course," Sol looks on the bright side. "Really, you should consider this our starting line. All the negative criticism is gone. From here on, I believe we'll gradually pick up supporters. It doesn't need to be unanimous, after all. We only need two hundred and thirty two votes for a majority. When you think about it that way, it's rather close, isn't it?"
Oh, so it's only 12.5% of the goal. This is good progress that's currently being made. It'd be a shame when I do something incredibly stupid and bring it back down to one vote. I don't know how or when I'll fuck myself over, but I'm sure I'll find a way.
During break later that day, something incredibly rare happened to me: I got an email. Or a text. I don't know which one it is, I still haven't familiarized myself with these school phones. I didn't recognize the sender. I chuckle to myself while reading the subject line. It just read 'Urgent!' Yeah, okay, I'm sure it is. Intrigued and amused, I open the message. I chuckle to myself some more upon reading it. 'Chloe's in trouble! Come right away!' That was the entire message. Yeah, okay, I'm sure she is. This message may as well say 'THIS IS A SET-UP!' Do they take me for an idiot? Do they think I'll panic just because I've been given so little explanation? I'm sorry lady, but even I'm not that gullible.
This is most definitely a trap. Why am I still thinking about this? It's because Tabby once said that Chloe never really fit in, isn't it? It's only been about a week since Chloe joined the Blue Lily society, so her standing couldn't have changed much... There was also the slap... It didn't bother me, and with the misunderstanding resolved the matter should be closed... but what if? What if there were some girls who took that as an excuse to be even harder on her? The chances of that happening are infinitesimal... but what if, though?
Why am I still thinking about this? It's only making me needlessly worried. There is no possible chance of this message being legit. I am far more likely to win the lottery again.
. . .
But what if?
I mean... as unlikely as it may be... there can't be that much harm in checking... can there?
Before I even realized it, I was outside classroom 2-B. Chloe's classroom, if I'm remembering correctly. What could possibly be behind this door? I'm (almost) certain it's a trap. All I could hear beyond the door was the usual classroom chatter. There's nothing suspicious about it. Now I'm not even sure it's a trap. There's no trap. There's no danger.
But why are all the eyes in the hallway focused on me?! What the fuck is going on?! I'm panicking for no fucking reason! I've been at this school for three weeks now! There shouldn't be any reason they're staring at me like I'm a monster now! Why are we back to square one? Does it have something to do with the message? Does it have to do with whatever's happening behind this door? I'm sure the reason they're all looking at me is to watch what I do next. But why should it matter to them? I reach for the door, and the some of the girls let out gasps and cries of alarm. Some managed to look even more terrified of me than before. What's behind this door to illicit such reactions? The stress of not knowing is getting to me. I keep rereading the message on my phone to make sure I understand it. Crippling anxiety is tearing me to shreds. I'm being attacked by a relentless migraine. My stomach is churning incessantly. As I continue stressing, the clock continues ticking. The seconds go by. The past increases. The future recedes. Possibilities decreasing. Regrets mounting. WHAT'S BEHIND THIS DAMN DOOR?
THINK, SERAPH!
THINK!
"Salutations, Seraph." A small, curious voice called out to me amidst my distress. I look down towards it. The girl was so small, she barely reached the bottom of my sternum. Her black hair was very short and very spikey, and she had brown skin. She had to tilt her head far back to look up at me. Instead of being fearful, she looked at me as if she were studying me. "What are you doing?" she asks, intrigued by my demeanour.
"You are being rude, Adelaide," a boy behind her says. He was almost as tall as I was, and was also not a boy because I'm the only male here and she was wearing a girls uniform. She's the most handsome person I have ever seen. So slender. Such a calming, silky smooth voice that's deep for a girl. She looked a little tired with her short, messy ponytail. "This is your first time talking to him. You should at least introduce yourself before involving yourself in his affairs," the girl instructed her friend.
"I'm Adelaide," the small one introduced herself after her friend told her to without missing a beat. "That's Nina," she says, pointing over her shoulder at the tall girl with her thumb. "What are you doing?"
I take a deep breath in and explain to the stranger. "Okay, so I want to know what's behind this door-"
"Then open it," she tells me.
"I would, but I've been called to this room. Whatever's behind this door is obviously a trap set for me."
"It sounds like you already know what's behind this door," Nina says. "Why would you want to open it, then?"
"Because I could be wrong and there are dire consequences if I'm wrong," I say in one breath.
"Does it have something to do with what's on your phone?" Adelaide asked. Before I knew it, she had read the message I had open. "That's bad! That's really bad!" she says in alarm. Does she seriously believe it? Just like that? Is she stupid? "This is the room Chloe is in, right?" she asks, agitated.
"Uh... Y-Yeah," I answer, baffled by her gullibility. Upon my response, Adelaide burst passed me towards the door. As soon as she put her hands on it, I jump out of the way of the opening, just in case a massive round shot blows up everything in its path. Adelaide forcefully slides the door open.
"Chloe!" she calls her name with a massive sense of urgency. I see Nina grow shocked at the sight of whatever is in the room. She then held face in her hands and took a few steps away from the classroom, taking a moment to process what she just saw. Adelaide showed no such reaction.
"W-What is it?" I heard Chloe's voice from inside the room. She sounded bewildered with Adelaide's actions. I see Adelaide rapidly look around the room. Then her eyes settled on one spot.
"Are you all right?" Adelaide (presumably) asks Chloe.
"Yeah, I'm fine..." I hear Chloe say. Adelaide heaves out a sigh of relief at her answer and turns to me.
"She's fine. Come see for yourself," she beckoned me. I mean... it seems okay... I walk over to Adelaide and peek around the door.
"No, DON'T-" I hear Nina call out, but she gave up trying to stop me as soon as I looked inside. It's a classroom full of girls. Nothing out of the ordinary. Adelaide pointed to a spot in the room.
"There, see?" She said, pointing towards Chloe. It certainly didn't look like she was being murdered, but her jaw slightly dropped and she became horror-struck as soon as she saw me. So did all the other girls.
"It doesn't look like she's alright," I look down and tell Adelaide. She grew curious. She took my hand with my phone still in it and reread the message. Then she looked back up at Chloe.
"You're not being bullied, are you?" she asks again, to make sure. This time, Chloe only answered with a disbelieving, slow shake of her head. It seems like she's fine. "It looks like she's doing fine," Adelaide parrots my thoughts. I nod in agreement, pocket my phone and slide the door close. I was worried over nothing. I turn around and see Nina looking at Adelaide and I as if we were a festering pig carcass. I don't know when, but Alexis and Astrid arrived, too. The two of them were looking at us the same way. It's a lot more menacing coming from them.
"Seraph..." Alexis says my name, her voice dripping with disappointment and confusion. It seemed like she wanted to say more, but was speechless.
"Miss Alexis?" I call out to her. I know I'm in trouble, but I don't know what for. Alexis places a hand on her face in disbelief. Astrid shakes her head disapprovingly. Nina facepalmed. I look down at Adelaide, hoping to get an answer out of her. She looked up at me, hoping to get an answer out of me. It seems we both don't know what's going on.
"Seraph. Come with us." Astrid was in work mode and ordered me to go with them. Astrid and Alexis each took me by an arm and started dragging me.
"U-Um, wait a minute now." Chloe came out of her class in her sports uniform. She was very flustered, seeing me be taken into custody. "You don't have to be so rough with him..."
"What's the matter with you?" Alexis asked her.
"Aren't you the victim here?" Astrid asked her.
"Hey Nina, why is Seraph in trouble?" Adelaide asked Nina.
"Because you and Seraph are both stupid," Nina answered Adelaide.
"What's going on here?" Sister Clementine asked, entering the scene. Alexis answered her.
"We received a report from a student that Seraph Thorne entered a classroom, knowing that the girls inside were changing."
. . .
Oh. Come to think of it, the girls were in the middle of changing when I looked. So this was the trap.
"Ooh!" Adelaide let out an exclamation when she realized why I was being arrested. "Ooh..." Adelaide let out another exclamation when she realized she was partly responsible for my arrest. "Uh oh..." she uttered, realizing I'm innocent and that, if she hadn't jumped the gun, I wouldn't be getting arrested.
"Is what Alexis said true, Seraph?" Sister Clementine interrogated me with her usual, calm smile. She didn't look mad, or even the least bit stern. I think she believed I was innocent. Her sentiment melted my heart.
"...About half of that is," I tell her, crushing her belief in me. Moving only my arm under the elbow, I offered my phone to Sister Clementine, a little embarrassed. "I got a text email thingy a little bit ago. Look. Just don't read it out loud." Sister Clementine took my phone and navigated through it.
"Is this the classroom where the trouble occurred?" Sister Clementine asked the guards.
"Yes." Astrid answered her.
"And Chloe was with them?"
"Ah, yes," Chloe answered. Alexis got curious and let go of my arm to peek over Sister Clementine's shoulder and read the message. Sister Clementine lifted it up a bit towards Alexis so she could read it better. It was easy to tell when she finished reading, because she started to stifle her laughter.
"Oh, Seraph..." She clearly wanted to laugh, but she stopped because she saw that I was about to cry. Alexis was no longer in work mode.
"What does it say?" Astrid asks Sister Clementine, getting out of work mode. Sister Clementine showed her the screen. Astrid took her reading glasses out of her breast pocket and put them on to read. She read the message. Then she simpered at me. I'm seriously going to cry at this rate.
"Oh, Seraph..." Astrid brought me into a hug and started stroking my head. "Oh Seraph, you stupid little thing," she insulted me with motherly affection.
"Aww, group hug!" Alexis joins in on the hug, and wraps Astrid and myself in a bear hug. I can't determine if I should feel loved or patronized.
"I believe we should ask the sender directly," Sister Clementine tells the two off duty guards.
"But how do you know who sent it?" I manage to ask, still being sandwiched between hugs.
"It tells you who the sender is," she tells me, treating me for the fool that I am. "The sender of this message is Karen Klein, of class 2-A. Are you acquainted with her?" I shake my head. "I see... Very well. Then let us go." At her words, Astrid and Alexis let go of me. Sister Clementine turned on her heel and began marching. Astrid followed, then Alexis followed, holding me by the arm. We left a bunch of confused bystanders in our wake.
I guess we're off to confront Karen.
Karen you buffon
Thanks for the chapter.