𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟎𝟖: 𝐆𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐒𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬

                                    

                                          

                            

                                
                            
                              
                                  
                              
                              
                                
                                  
                                  
                                
                              
                             
                            
                            
                          
                          
A sleepless weekend went by, thinking of all the ways things could play out after her confrontation.
The goal of the confrontation was to have Damon feel threatened, and make him think that whatever agenda he had for her wasn't going to work in pushing her out of the school. She was hoping for him to exhaust his best plots against her, and when that didn't work, he'd give up. However, he was neither threatened nor feeling a lack of satisfaction from her refusal, now that he had the green light to turn up the pressure, there was more opportunity for fun.
He and the students had a relentless nature when it came to plotting activities for the designated Red Card holder. Presented with someone who was equally unrelenting, the thrill of driving her out was more entertaining. Unfortunately for her, they had a very long list of plans and she was the perfect subject to unleash them on.
Alaina groggily walked towards her bathroom, flipping on the light and staring at herself in the mirror. She looked like someone having a midlife crisis, and a crisis there was, choosing between her happiness versus something for the sake of her future and her father's. She turned on the faucet, cupping her hands and splashing the cold water on her face, appearing somewhat less like a zombie.
After a long and hot shower, she dressed herself. For the eye bags tainting her presentability, she put on some makeup, fitting the profile of someone who received a reasonable amount of sleep. She gave herself a half-convincing smile in the mirror, strolling out to her kitchen and grabbing a granola bar before heading out the door. Alaina was ready to face a new day, she'd made it through one week, and another week couldn't be much worse.
When she arrived at school, Alaina was immediately approached by a couple of faculty members, asking her to head to the front office. She had no idea what it was about, but there was only one person who could have organized this. The way her lips formed a straight line as she folded her hands on the desk told her that this was not a friendly invitation. She nervously wondered if this was going to affect her scholarship. She was trying so hard to keep this Red Card thing out of her academic lifestyle, yet Damon just had to drag it into it.
"We had an anonymous report this morning claiming that you cheated," the principal began.
Alaina stood, slamming her hands on the desk. "Bullshit! I didn't cheat!" She had one pop quiz and a couple of homework assignments in the past week, and she, for a fact, didn't cheat on any of those.
The principal cleared their throat, giving her a stern look. "Language, Ms. Montez. You wouldn't want allegations added to the list."
She took a deep breath, sheepishly shrinking back in her seat. "What exactly is the anonymous claim? What class did I supposedly cheat in?" she pried, trying to spot a bluff. Seeing as the whole school was under his control, it would be no surprise if the principal was too.
Money gave you a different kind of power, and she didn't put it past the faculty to accept a bribe to mess with her for a day. "We cannot disclose those details, however, there's an ongoing investigation. It's standard procedure, if we have a report, we're obligated to look into it," the principal proceeded to explain, folding her hands on the desk between them. "If you are innocent as you claim, you will be able to return to your normal routine once it has fully been conducted. However, you are on academic probation until this investigation ends, and because it is so sudden, we will allow you to stay here until we're through."