Thursday, August 26, After School

Xavier Uzual

Who pays attention during school tours? Show me one, and I’ll show you a liar. I would know. I’m a great liar.

Though, the biggest issue with not paying attention during school tours… is that I had no idea where the student council office was. And I wasn’t about to ask anyone for help. So I spent about twenty minutes milling about trying to remember where it was.

There it was. I pushed my way through the door. I had no one to blame but myself.

There was only one person in the office, a girl with long black hair and large glasses, working at a laptop. There were several pieces of paper printed out in front of her, with essay questions. She glanced up at me.

Neither of us said anything.

She kept throwing occasional (and increasingly incredulous) looks at me.

Finally, she took a breath and asked, “What do you want?”

“I’m looking for Kotone. Or Judy.”

The girl raised an eyebrow. “What do you need them for?”

“I’m a new student,” I said. “I was told to come to them to pick up paperwork and schedule stuff.”

“Wasn’t Kotone supposed to give them to you in the morning?” she asked.

Oh, so she knows something about the process. I take it, this could be Judy. The other girl.

“She overslept.”

The girl covered her mouth. “Well, you’re in luck. I happen to be Judy. Vice Chair of the Social Committee.” So I was right. I like being right.

Judy extended a hand. After a minute, I decided to take it.

“Want to come with me? I’ll go print it out for you,” she said.

I don’t really have much of a choice, now I do I? I just nodded.

She slipped her laptop into her bag and threw it over one shoulder. “Follow me.”

As we walked down the hallway, I noticed something about Judy and Kotone. Something a little bit odd. “Hey, you’re a senior, aren’t you?”

“How did you know?”

“The Common Application essay questions were printed out on the table,” I said. I’d noticed them when I walked in.

But, ‘how did you know’ isn’t something you say if the person asking the question is wrong. Which means I’m probably not. That’s odd. I had assumed Kotone was the same age as me, but perhaps she wasn’t? Or, for whatever reason, Kotone, the junior, had a higher position than Judy.

Judy stopped walking. “Do you think it’s weird?”

How was I supposed to answer that? I rocked my head from side to side. “A little.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“This morning’s interaction with your boss was her sleeping through an assignment,” I said. I think that’s more than enough reason to start calling someone’s credentials into question.

She placed her hands on her hips. “That was because she was working hard. Is that not an admirable trait to have?”

“Maybe,” I said. “It would depend on how you frame it.”

Her eye remained on me. I did not continue. “Care to elaborate?” she said.

“Not really.”

“Humor me.”

I don’t really feel like answering, but I also feel like it’d be the easiest way to get this girl off my back. I walked past her. She followed, and kept leading the way.

“Oversleeping because you stayed up late getting work done might be admirable to you, but I would never want my sister doing that,” I said. “It can’t be good for you.”

She leaned in. “Just your sister?”

“What?”

“Oh, no. I find your phrasing curious. It just sounds like you wouldn’t mind it happening to you, but you wouldn’t want your sister partaking in it?”

I mean, that wasn’t wrong. I didn’t see anything all that strange about it. “You have any siblings?”

“A brother and a sister, both older,” she said. :Both were student council presidents in their time.”

“A lineage of politicians, huh.” You can all be in on the embezzlement scandal together. A two for one of good old fashioned nepotism and corruption. “Well, I don’t suppose you would understand, then. It’s kind of an older brother thing.”

Judy tilted her head and shrugged. She stopped in front of a small room with a printer and pulled the door open. “As the child of the bunch, heed my advice. No one likes a helicopter parent. It’s suffocating.”

Framing it that way is unfair. All I’m doing is looking after her. That’s all. So I just shrugged. “Sure.”

She stared at me over the top of her glasses. Judy shrugged.

“Wait here.”

Thursday, August 26, Late Afternoon

Kotone Koizumi

It was a long and grueling day, but I finally finished the Club Carnival paperwork. I sent a copy to Carla, and printed out another for record-keeping.

My laptop closed with a satisfying ‘clack.’ It was an ancient model. I knew some of my friend’s computers used magnets to snap shut, but mine still used latches. I could save money for an upgrade… but I had more important things to save for.

Whatever works, right?

Propelled by the force of adrenaline and the body high of knowing that something was out of the way, I stepped out of the computer lab at a brisk pace, and strode towards the student council office. No stairs this time, no. Both rooms were on the second floor. I did have to cross the bridge from the Old Building to the main building, though.

As the adrenaline subsided, though, I paused.

Had I done it right? I must’ve. I had Sophia read the assignment out for me. Oh jeez, I didn’t make a mistake, did I?

I unslung my backpack. I should double check, before I submit. No, I should’ve double checked before I submitted the soft copy to Carla.

The work is already done. Club Carnival is tomorrow. There’s no time for another redo of the paperwork. If it’s correct, or if it’s not, I need to turn in what I have. I had a sinking feeling in my stomach. Without the body high, suddenly, every step I took made it feel that much worse.

No, it’s not too late. I need to double check.

But can I check my own perception? How do I know I’m not misreading it now?

I swallowed, and froze. I don’t know. I can’t prove it. I can’t even deduce it, because anything I’m deducing will be based on my perception. Which, I can’t trust.

Oh my god. My hand clutched at my shirt. Oh my god. I…

I turned the corner.

Calm down, Kotone. Power through it. I can… Power through what? I can’t… I can’t exactly ‘just work through’ something like this.

I took a deep breath. I was approaching the student council office. Just… file the paperwork, and it’ll be done. Wash your hands of it, and there we go. Move on to the next assignment…

What else did I have to do? Right, the new club applications. I’d already gotten the instructions.

But… will I-- It felt like I was choking.

I stopped in front of the student council office. There were voices coming from the inside.

“I’m against it.” It was a boy’s voice. I recognized it as the Assistant Activities Chair. Carla’s assistant. I didn’t remember his name, though. “Regardless of what happens, I don’t like the idea of kicking members off the Executive Council. It’s unprecedented.”

Kicking someone off the council? Did something happen?

“It doesn’t matter to me if there is no precedent.” This was a girl’s voice. It was Carla. “She’s been falling seriously behind schedule since the semester began.”

“But there’s nothing in the handbook that says you can remove members for that reason,” he said. “Besides, you can’t deny that she’s a hard worker. I can’t think of anyone who comes close. That’s probably why Wendy picked her.”

Wendy… there was no Wendy in this year’s Executive Council. The closest I could think of was… last year’s Social Committee Chair, who graduated. The one who had selected me to succeed her.

“I’m not saying I question Wendy’s judgement. But, I never did think very highly of it. Also, I am saying the quality of the work speaks for itself. I’ve lost count of the number of assignments I’ve needed her to redo because Kotone misread the instructions. I don’t need someone like that on my council.”

The assistant did not respond.

Oh my god.

I took a step back, quietly. This is…

“Besides,” Carla continued, “she’s got another year to get her act together. She’s only a junior. Even if we ask her to step down, I’m sure her replacement will ask her to take up the position again, anyways.”

I didn’t notice that the stack of papers had fallen from my hands. The clattered to the floor. The conversation cut off.

“Is someone there?”

Footsteps approached. Step, step. My body was frozen.

I can’t… I can’t be--

Step, step. Two sets of footsteps, for two people. George and Carla. But can I trust that I was hearing correctly?

Step, step.

No, I can’t. I absolutely can’t. What can I trust? I can’t--

In front of me, the doorknob started to turn. It was like a stun spell, being lifted from my body. I ran.

I ran away.