The Next Day, After-School…
Huh. I expected their hideout to be a bit more… daunting.
Staring at the slightly dilapidated shed, Zack felt a bit disappointed. He was expecting the C.L.U.B headquarters to be something grand or stylish, or at least something more fitting for the ‘shadow organization’ image in his head. Nevertheless, he shrugged it off, pressing forward to investigate the building.
As he carefully sneaked up to one of the building’s warped windows, the journalist peeked his head up to look into the room. To his surprise, the room seemed to be in far better condition than what was observed on the outside, as if the two sights weren’t connected to each other at all. Inside, there were three desks, each one being placed on every side of the room, with the biggest one located by the far wall. A tall locker was positioned against the right wall, with posters plastered all over it alongside the rest of the room. The poster's appearances ranged from promotion for their own club to classic pop culture references.
Doesn’t seem that anyone’s here right now.
When Zack went to open the door, he found it to be a bit stuck. “Come on…” He jiggled and wrestled with the knob until the door abruptly opened, making him stumble into the room. At least I’m in… he assured himself.
Partially closing the door after him, the journalist went to investigate the space, focusing on the locker first. As it opened with a croak, all he encountered were various papers and belongings, but nothing incriminating. With a disappointed tsk, he closed the locker, turning his focus to the desks. Zack searched through the two smaller desks to no avail, the only meaningful discovery being small trinkets that were probably gifts from other clubs. With only one place left, he looks at the third desk with hope.
Walking around the desk, he found a couple of drawers on the other side. “Jackpot.” He mumbled to himself with a little smirk. This had to be where they’re keeping their secret documents, there was nowhere else! He started to reach down for the drawer handle…
“What’re you doing?”
Hearing the foreign voice ring through the air, Zack immediately stood upright, staring straight at the door. There, he saw a short girl with black hair and round glasses, carrying a couple of books under her arms. Panicked, he quickly tried to come up with an excuse. “Uh- I’m- I was just waiting for someone to come!”
“Really?” She replied suspiciously. “Cause it looks like you were trying to peek in MY drawer. Don’tcha know it’s bad manners to search through a girl’s belongings, ya creep?”
The journalist could only sputter in response, unable to come up with a lie. The only thing he could offer was a mere “Sorry.” She continued to glare at him, as if she was trying to burn a hole through his head. It seemed as if the tension between them would never disperse until, all of a sudden, the girl snorted.
“Snrk-” the girl started to burst into laughter. “Sorry, sorry! I couldn’t help it!” The boy couldn’t refrain from being befuddled by her strange reaction to the situation. Still giggling to herself, she walked towards the desk Zack was at, placing her books on top of the table.
“Don’t worry,” she began to say. “I’m not really mad. I’m just more surprised we actually had a snoop. Here I thought Oliver was being paranoid.”
Snoop… were they onto me the whole time?! Although he was sweating on the inside, Zack continued to play it cool. “I wasn’t trying to SNOOP, I just wanted to ask a couple of questions about you guys, that’s all.” The girl plainly stared at him in doubt.
“If you say so,” she replied. “Could we switch places, though? This is MY desk, after all.”
Interview 6: Seina Douglas, Freshman
Occupation: Vice-President of C.L.U.B.
“Hold it! You’re a freshman?!”
“Yep!”
“Aren’t you… a bit young to be a vice-president?”
“No need to be ageist about it.”
“I’m not trying to be- oh, forget it. Different question: What is your goal here at C.L.U.B?”
“Oh! Uh, give me a second!”
“What are you taking out of your pocket?”
“Nothing… Okay! What was the question again?
“What is your goal here at C.L.U.B?”
“Our goal here at C.L.U.B is to provide every club with the chance to grow and prosper. When they ask for our help, we pledge to always be there!”
“Wait. Are you reading from the paper?!”
“No.”
“You totally are! Look, all I want to know is why you guys did all of this in the first place.”
“Well as I said, our goal is to-”
“‘To provide every club with the chance to,’ I heard that part! But what about the name changes, the contracts?!”
“Oh… those?”
“Yeah, those.”
“...I’m not at liberty to say.”
“WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU’RE ‘NOT AT LIBERTY TO SAY?!!’”
“IT'S CLASSIFIED! I’m legally not allowed to tell you! At least I think so. You understand, don’t you?”
“No, I really don’t!”
While the interview continued to go haywire, the door to the shed swung open.
“Hey guys!” Seina called out to the two figures by the door. The tall student in the track jacket looked back and forth between her and Zack, who’s impatience is at an all-time high. “Uh…. What’re you two doing?” He asked.
“We’re just doing a quick interview! I’m not sure if it’s going well though.” She answered. Zack, on the other hand, got up from his chair and turned around in breakneck speed, shifting his attention towards the tall man.
“YOU! Name and occupation!” The journalist demanded. The student stared at him in puzzlement. “What?”
Interview 7: ‘Eddie’ Soriano-Vargas, Junior
Occupation: Member of-
“No way! I ain’t answering shit!” Eddie declared, digging his hands in his pocket. Zack, who is at his wit’s end, dramatically groveled at his feet.
“Please!!! I just need ONE answer! That’s all I’m asking for!” He begged, but Eddie just frowned at the pitiful sight. “Dude, no! Now get up, you’re freaking me out!”
The other student that was beside Eddie looked down at the defeated journalist with a shrewd expression. “You know…” she drawled. “I could tell you something.” Seina whined at the girl. “Nico! It’s supposed to be classified…”
“Yeah, to YOU. Technically I’m not part of the club. Besides, I always wanted to be a whistleblower.”
Zack slowly looked up to the puffy-haired girl, eyes nearly watering. “You would?” The girl chuckled a little, taking a knee to be at eye-level with him. “Sure!"
"If you got five dollars on you.”
Interview 8: ‘Nico’ Harris, Junior
Occupation: Whistleblower?
“Fine, here.”
“Thank you for your generosity.”
“Whatever. Just tell me what I need to know.”
“Well, C.L.U.B is how it looks. When clubs want to get popular to avoid getting shut down, they crawl over here.”
“THAT’S IT?!! What a scam! Give me my money back!”
“Hold on, I wasn’t done yet. As you know, this club is unauthorized at the moment, and they’re trying to change that. That’s why C.L.U.B needs all the good publicity it can get.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“What do you think? We need to make deals with all types of people, you know? Especially ones that can get the name out there.
“... Wait, you're not saying?!”
—OD!!!—
No, no, no! As Zack dashed back to the main campus and through the halls, he could only hope that he wasn’t too late. He knew that the C.L.U.B was full of crafty people, but he didn’t expect them to go THIS far! Not when he nearly had the smoking gun to crush their operation for good. Drifting around the corner, with the Journalism Clubroom in sight, the journalist pushed himself for one final sprint. Please, let me make it!
CRASH!
Barreling through the door, Zack managed to yell out one word. “STOP!!!”
However, it was too late. In his view, he saw his traitorous president already intermingling with the ringleader of this whole mess: Oliver Meriwether. “Zack! What the hell is wrong with you!” Anita hollered out, looking past the C.L.U.B president to scold her member. Oliver tilted his head from his seat, peeking over his shoulder.
“Wow ‘Nita, you sure have some fired-up people under you.” He said with an amused expression. Anita glanced back towards Oliver. “Yeah I do. Don’t know if that’s a good thing, though.”
Still on edge, Zack pointed his finger at the C.L.U.B head. “Anita,” he warned. “Do not be convinced by this man’s twisted words. He’s nothing but a fraud!” Oliver mockingly pretended to be offended by the accusation. “Fraud? Well, that’s a bit much.”
“Shut up!”
“Zack!” His president spoke up. “Can we not do this right now? We almost came to an agreement.” The spunky journalist felt a shiver up his spine when he heard the word ‘agreement.’
“W-what agreement?”
“The B.C Barker Expansion!” Oliver interjected. “We at C.L.U.B are going to get your paper circulating not only in this school, but schools around the entire town! All we ask for is an advertisement on the front page!”
Zack could only look at the two presidents in astonishment. While the sound of the B.C Barker being shared across town does sound good, the school newspaper doesn’t need to be spread around for popularity! It’s too humble for that! He smirked in scorn. “Oh please, there’s no way the president would ever agree to-”
“I am, and I have!” Anita declared quickly. “Meriwether, you have yourself a deal.”
“Thank you for your business!” He responded with a satisfied smile, getting up from his chair.
Zack could only stand there with his mouth agape, speechless over what had just occurred. Oliver walked over to the journalist with his hand out. “Well, it seems we’re going to be working with each other after all.” He said politely, but Zack could just feel the arrogance leaking out of him. “Here’s to future partnerships!”
Zack simply looked down at the hand in front of him, then right back to Oliver’s eyes.
—OD!!!—
“So you just quit?”
“I prefer the word ‘resign.’”
The now ex-journalist sat on the bleachers alongside his friend, gazing at the blue sky. His friend, who’s currently in a football uniform, looks at him in confusion. “Are you sure you didn’t just overreact?” He asked. Zack looked at him with an irritated expression. “No, Chase! I didn’t ‘overreact!’ I took a stand for something! For integrity!”
“Alright, alright! So what are you going to do now, since you’re out of the job?”
“Funny you should ask!” Zack stood up from his spot, dramatically pointing at himself. “You’re no longer looking at Zack Park, amateur journalist. Now, it’s Zack Park, Private Eye!”
“Private Eye?’ Chase questioned. “What’s that about?” Zack simply chuckled to himself.
“Don’t worry, I’ll tell you all about it at your house!” Chase then widens his eyes in remembrance.
“Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you: Veronica banned you from our house for a week.” Zack immediately deflated after hearing those words.
“What?! She’s still mad about that?!!”
END!!!
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