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Council Meeting

The student council headquarters was located on the third floor of the Northern side of the Academy’s building, tucked quietly among the empty administrative offices.

Inside the room, a long, black table dominated the center, surrounded by sleek office chairs, and a whiteboard with a projector rested at the front.

Drew Harland stood from his seat at the end of the table, clearing his throat.

“And that concludes our upcoming launch for the community service program.”

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Natalie nodded and offered a small round of applause. Her eyes flicked toward the other member of the council, sitting across the group. Emma slouched against her seat, sucking on a piece of lollipop with disinterest.

Natalie clicked her tongue, shaking her head.

Yana raised her hand.

“Mr. Harland, may I suggest something?”

He gestured his hand over her to speak.

“Yes, Ms. Hawliet,”

“Would it be possible to implement this program for delinquent students as a form of rehabilitation instead of the standard detention?”

Drew rubbed his chin.

“It’s worth a shot. We can run a pilot test and monitor the results, and speaking of such….”

He clicked on the next slide. The screen flickered once, and then a set of photos appeared showing two students assaulting another, coming from a viral clip on the platform called Twatch.

Natalie gasped, holding a hand over her lips.

“Oh, my. This is horrendous.”

“Ms. Hawliet, the floor is yours.”

Drew nodded his head in her direction before he took a seat.

Yana heaved a deep sigh before standing up and confidently approaching the front while holding a stack of papers on one arm.

Yana straightened herself first before she cleared her throat.

“Recently, bullying incidents such as these have been damaging the Academy’s reputation. We need better measures to prevent students from breaking the rules so easily. In response, as a member of the Student Council, I am here to propose a major change in the Academy's disciplinary system.”

She handed out copies of her proposal with a bold title: Revising Disciplinary Sanctions.

“As you can see, currently, the Academy’s disciplinary actions involve a warning for first-time violators, then detention, and at most a maximum of five days' suspension. These are less lenient than punishing, which encourages more of them to violate the rules.”

She walked around the room in circles, pausing for a moment to take a deep breath. Then, her eyes gleamed with passion as she continued.

“In my proposal, I am suggesting a harsher punishment starting with a minimum of three days suspension for first-time violators, up to fifteen days depending on severity. Students under suspension are required to do community service and character-building activities, promoting improvement rather than stagnation.”

Yana finished her piece, smiling confidently as she returned to her seat. There was a brief silence in the room before Drew began clapping. Natalie joined him enthusiastically.

“Yes, girl. I’d vouch for that.” Natalie remarked, smiling.

“Wonderful idea, Ms. Hawliet,” Drew said with a warm smile. “I would like to propose this today in the meeting with the principal for quicker implementation.”

“R-really? Wouldn’t a test run be ideal first?” Yana blinked while a spark of joy gleamed in her eyes.

“Surely, but considering the students involved in this case, I wanted to hasten this.” He explained.

“Honestly, they deserved it,” Natalie spoke up, looking over her polished nails, holding them up against the light. “Mr. Callahan hasn’t finalized his verdict yet, so there’s still a chance.”

Yana nodded. “Yeah, it will be a good testing ground.”

While Drew and Natalie discussed further about the proposal, Yana turned her head towards Emma, the student council’s treasurer, watching her intently.

Emma. . . what does she think about this?

Emma remained silent, holding the piece of paper over her face and reading the contents several times. Then, her face slowly scrunched up into a scowl.

Yana watched Emma’s fingers as the grip tightened, crinkling the pages of the document. Then, she tossed it across the table, scattering the pages all over the place in a mess.

“Ugh. Honestly, Yana-jie… This is lame. I hate it.” Emma vocally expressed, slamming her fist on the table.

Yana flinched as her shoulders tensed up, but her gaze remained at hers, staring directly into her eyes.

“Hey!” Natalie called out, standing up from her seat. Her eyes flared out of anger.

“Are you crazy?!”

Yana held Natalie’s arm, wrapping it tightly before she could move any closer towards Emma, about to throw hands as she became enraged, starting an argument.

“How dare you disrespect Yana’s proposal?!” Natalie gritted her teeth.

Emma scoffed. “Can’t I say my own opinion? I disapprove of this. It’s a waste of time.”

“Oh? Who says you have – “

“Stop it, Natalie,”

Yana begged, looking over at Natalie as she pressed her fingers on her arm. Natalie tried to pry them off, flicking her arm, huffing her breath.

Then, the wheels of the office chair squeaked as it moved back.

Drew stood up from his seat as he slowly approached the two with confident strides. His face formed a serious expression, furrowing his brows and pursing his lips.

“I appreciate your opinion, Emma, but as the President of the Student Council. We need to push through, regardless.”

His words resonated in the room, bouncing off the walls.

Emma glanced up at his face before she rolled her eyes and scoffed.

“Hmmph. Then, I am no longer needed.”

She quickly got up, kicking the seat back as she marched towards the door. Her heels clicked hard against the tiled floor.

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As she reached the front door, she turned towards them one last time, tilting her head back as she stuck her tongue out. Then, she stormed out of the room, slamming the door shut.

“Seriously, what is wrong with her?” Natalie hissed, crossing her arms across her chest.

“Don’t mind her.” Drew dismissed the thought. “Besides, the majority of the council agrees to the proposal, am I right?”

“Absolutely.” Natalie agreed, nodding.

Yana smiled softly. “Okay.”

“Well, then, the meeting is adjourned,” Drew announced.

As the meeting in the student council room concluded, Drew quickly left the place to catch up with his next meeting, carrying Yana’s document in his hand.

Meanwhile, Yana reached over the scattered pieces of the document on the table, gathering them together.

“Hey, Yana.” Natalie peered right over her shoulders while she was in the middle of stacking the papers.

“Yes?”

“Gosh, I still need to edit my videos. You don’t mind if I leave you?” She perched her chin on her shoulders, pouting her lips.

Yana paused for a moment, sighing deeply as she looked at Natalie over her shoulders.

“Natty, you don’t have to ask me. Of course, you can.”

“Thank you, bestie.” Natalie grinned widely as she hugged her tightly behind. “Just bring me something for dinner, okay? Girl’s gonna be busy tonight.”

“Okay.” Yana smiled, watching her strut out of the room, her long waves of brown locks fluttering with every step.

“See ya, girl!” Natalie turned around, waving goodbye to her as she shut the door.

Yana nodded, raising her arm halfway to bid goodbye.

“Well, time to do some clean-up.”

Her gaze scanned around the room, seeing all the disarray of chairs after Emma’s walkout, and some pieces of candy wrappers were littered all over the floor. She sighed deeply. Then, she began picking up the mess, sweeping the dust on the floor, and arranging the chairs.

After a few minutes, she dusted off her hands before glancing once more at the overall appearance of the room. Everything had been tidied up.

She exhaled with a grin.

“Okay, I guess I am done here.”

She took her phone from the desk, switching it on as the screen flashed bright.

6:48 PM

Oh, right! It’s about time for dinner service.

She quickly grabbed her things from the nearby shelves, stashing them inside her gym bag. Then, she wore her swim team’s jacket, zipping it up.

Once she had everything packed up. She stood in front of the door, twisting the knob open. Then, her fingers reached the walls of the room, flicking the switch, turning the lights off.

The door slammed shut as she exited.