I knocked on the student council door and expected Arisa to answer, but I was greeted by a freshman instead. Her eyes were big and brown, and her hair long, thick, and silky. The uniform fit her small figure well but her young face could be mistaken for a middle schooler.
"Hello," she smiled sweetly. Her eyes fell to stare at the bag of books I was carrying. "I've been expecting you."
"You have?" I asked.
The girl nodded. "Arisa asked me to step in because Khaleel roped her into going on a date with him. She sends an apology and her thanks."
"Oh, okay," I said.
The freshman welcomed me into the empty council room and ushered me to one of the desks. I set the book bag on top and looked around the changed space. The walls were covered with political pieces painted by the art students. The bookshelves had been moved to change the ambiance of the room. There was a massive corkboard by the back wall, where a to-do list was posted with a list of odd jobs for the members to complete.
It felt strange to admit that my presence had completely vanished. It was inevitable but also a hard pill to swallow. Nevertheless, I promised Arisa that I would help her in any way I could. I couldn't change my mind because of a bruised ego. Arisa said she would start a tutoring service for the entire student body and that was exactly what she did. Even after her full term as a vice president, she didn't give up on her initiative and remained with the student council. She managed to get her hands on mock-up tests and exams from previous years as a reference guide. It was actually a pretty smart idea. A lot of Loyal's customers ended up asking her for help, which relieved some pressure off him to revamp his services. The more stubborn and privileged ones needed some convincing, but with Khaleel supporting both Arisa and Loyal, they eventually fell in line.
"Shall we get started?" the girl asked, taking a seat across from me.
"Sure," I replied. "But an introduction would be nice. I know Arisa picked you to assist with the tutoring services but I'm blanking on your name."
"It's Reyhanna."
It all came back to me. "You're a friend of Khaleel's," I said. "Aren't you?"
"Yes," came the sweet reply. "I'm also a good friend of Arisa's now. I'm really happy she decided to take me under her wing. I actually plan to run for presidency in my fourth term."
That was ambitious. "I see," was all I could really say to her. It seemed like she had a lot of plans for herself, as I once used to. It was smart of Reyhanna to utilize her connections in her first year and build a reputation for herself. By her fourth term, her peers would probably already have a good standing with her and vote in her favour.