The adrenaline rush came as I tapped vigorously, racing my last few passed pawns towards the eighth rank against the computer. From prior experience, I had familiarised myself with the fact that being aggressive first was very important.
My default was always defensive to start, and only being sneaky and coming in with full forces when I was certain my opponent was a beatable dud - it was a safe plan, to some degree, but I'd seen that it was also crucial to make sure your opponent knew you meant business.
Being aggressive forced your opponent to go defensive and block each attack. Sometimes the opponents did a counter-attack but being first always had some sort of advantage.
After all, it was a game of war - cold, calculated and ruthless, all while maintaining that facade of civilisation and refinery.
Soon enough, I promoted my pawn to a Queen. In a matter of a minute, the computer flashed a notice that pleased me greatly.
CHECKMATE.
My rating went up.
Angeline Whittaker gave me one of those Small Polite Waves™ as I plopped down beside her in the lecture theatre. Those waves, I knew well, since I used them too. Fake, sweet and introverted.
"Hi," I greeted while flipping the lecture table up and setting my laptop up on it, choosing to start off with one of those awkward lines because I literally did not know what to say, but just hated to break the social interaction chain too early.
"How's life?"
"It's fine... just stressful, as usual."
"Huh, same," I nodded, adjusting my butt on the chair, allowing the awkward silence to come between us. I stole a glance at Angeline's expressionless face, before turning back to my computer. Maybe I should go back to rearranging my Pinterest boards, or play some 2048 as sneakily as possible. Rianne and the rest of the prefects were three rows behind us; with this distance, she probably couldn't see my screen.
Or could she?
Angeline shifted in her seat, leaning forward a little as she cleared her throat, "Hey, Selene?"
I blinked once in surprise. What was this, the first time I spoke to her without eager probing and my awful conversation starter package?
"Yeah?"
"Don't you think it's kinda weird?"
Angeline? Talking to me about something being weird?
"What's weird?"
"So, you know how someone sent that message blast of Natalie calling someone? And then a while later, Gillian got into trouble for her post about Mrs Walters on Instagram. And now, Lisa's been reported for truancy of Mdm Lorenzo's class. Something's fishy about it. I mean, they were all friends and they got into trouble, one after another."
Well, shiitake mushrooms. What do they say, fake it till you make it?
"Fishy?" I frowned. "You mean, like someone set them up? But Gillian's post definitely emitted her vibes. No one would've - "
"No, not that kind of set-up," Angeline shook her head as her blue eyes flickered to the entrance of the lecture theatre, "Hey, look."
I looked - and I understood what she was talking about.
As Gillian, Lisa and the Castle twins entered, the rest of the cliques remained glued to their mobile devices or focused on their conversations. Normally, one or two wannabes or cliques would be all for acknowledging their presence, yet today, there was nothing. No Cass, no Julie, no one trying to please them with extra small talk besides the mandatory 'good morning' greeting. With their general reputations and disciplinary trouble, their clique had dropped in (unlabelled) ranking - all the way down to the status of any regular clique. They had been stripped of their titles and dumped into a world of commoners now that everyone no longer found a need to respect those who couldn't even stay out of trouble.
That was the tricky thing about being a 'cool kid'- while you were golden, upon the untouchable pedestals, getting away with everything, everyone loved you, worshipped you and egged you on to whatever daring escapade you had planned. But one slip up - just one, and the commoners would be just ready to stone you to death for their own gain.
Now that their natures had been unveiled and the Tyrannical Trio had been dethroned one by one, there was no cause for respectful fear any further.
The Populars acted normal, still looking pretty and glamorous - after all, acting perfect was their best talent - but anyone with half a brain could figure out that they were so not impressed by the situation that they'd landed themselves into as they went on their way through the school. Perhaps the single beneficiary of my handiwork was Addison, who seemed to have taken over as the boss, being the dominating, currently-not-in-trouble member of the clique. It wasn't much for a clique of their pariah status, but it was perhaps a promotion from being a follower to the others.
One, two, three. Natalie, Gillian, Lisa. The Tyrannical Trio was no more, just a fragmented, scowling, seething hot mess, revealed to be the snakes that they were, caught as they shed their skins.
I'd done what I'd once thought was impossible, beating them in three consecutive rounds. With this, I'd opened up a new world of possibilities and opportunities for myself and the other cliques.
I kept my face as neutral as could be, preventing a smirk from appearing on my face while Angeline was around. "Then what do you think happened?" I asked, feigning ignorance. After all, this was my chance to find out what the general public thought about this issue via Angeline, who was definitely more socially acceptable then I was.
"I think someone somehow sabotaged Natalie, reported Gillian... but Lisa... I don't understand," Angeline shook her head as she spoke. "Yeah, they're definitely not perfect people or anything but whoever the snitch is, they're really making an effort to humiliate them."
Damn, that obvious?
"Well, I guess we should never underestimate the power of spite? Or jealousy? I don't know, dude."
"Well, whoever did this is definitely obsessed with this popularity stuff," Her volume dipped at the words.
Damn, she was actually mad about it?
Regardless, this conversation had clarified the unfortunate truth - Angeline Whittaker was not my friend, now or ever. Her worldview was so vastly different from my own, and she held a certain maturity or moral high ground that I did not possess or comprehend. She despised the Populars and social drama, and yet she still hated my snitching, viewing it as something low and despicable. Well, good for her that she believed she could simply ignore the world around her in its state and focus on herself - but I was not her, and a life of indifference and neutrality did not satisfy me.
In my books, the environment, no matter how much you ignored it, would always have an impact on you in some form. Ignoring the corruption present in the world did not mean it was not there; those who could likely wielded the privileges of talent and wealth in the palms of their hands. I had neither, and thus I could never see the world as she did.
"Yeah," I agreed, twisting my fingers together, "Wild."
Mandarin was one of the classes in which I didn't fail miserably in - which was a good thing, whether was it for my self-esteem or for saving my ass from getting whopped by my parents and relatives during Chinese New Year for not being able to top the class. (Socialising during Chinese New Year was possibly even more frightening as compared to maneuvering the social scene in school. It was even worse when they asked about school and I had to fake-smile and tell them how wonderful the culture was et cetera. As much as I'd learned a bit about being fake, I didn't quite enjoy withholding the true teas.)
Another good thing about Mandarin class was that my teacher could crack a good joke any time of the day and sort-of liked me - or at least I thought she kinda did. Thus, I always tried my best to pay attention in her class despite my limits. My limits reached till about twelve noon - my ability to comprehend school-related information after two was non-existent unless granted a nap or a cup of coffee. Even worse if I'd procrastinated packing my bag and doing homework the day before, leading to less than six hours of sleep.
Today, however, I was anxious not because I couldn't wait to get home and sleep for the rest of the afternoon... but because I was dying of curiosity to find out the tea about Rianne Clifford's boyfriend.
And time was passing oh so slowly.
3:27. Three. More. Minutes.
TIME, MOVE FASTER, I exclaimed internally as I twirled my Muji pen impatiently and continued to doodle on the edge of my paper. I had a shocking amount of inspiration for my essay today, where I'd given 王老师 a good usual dose of flowery language and general fluff about being a good person and learning the morals of the story, allowing me to finish early. I checked and re-checked the question just to be sure my hubris in this one subject wasn't going to cost me my marks.
Well, if she thought my stuff was wrong, then too bad, I guess. I'd given it my best shot and that was what mattered for now.
Finally, halfway through a doodle of a vampire girl, we were told to hand up our work - which I gladly did before quickly packing my stuff, shoving my books in almost by default action, my eyes trained on Rianne's behaviour.
God, she packed so slowly - could she just stop talking to Jamie and get on with stuffing those worksheets in? Moments like these reminded me that being a loner allowed me to be more efficient in some ways since I never needed to spend ten years doing small-talk. I took the time to pull out my phone and adjust it to mute - wouldn't want the phone to make camera sounds if I needed to get evidence, would I?
After what seemed like an eternity, I finally slinked out of class behind Rianne, all while keeping a certain distance - something that was pretty easy so long as I blended in with the crowd.
So far, so good.
Finally, we were out of the school gates.
Rianne looked around a little before she made a right turn to the narrow pathway beside the school. As her footsteps quickened, I tried to keep up while keeping my footsteps as quiet as possible, careful not to step on the grass as I played a game of balance on a small stone ledge, creeping up towards the turn she'd made... to the back of the school.
God, wasn't this just shady? I just hoped it wasn't one of those movie moments where I got busted or something - that would be bad. Like, really bad.
But I had not told anyone about what I was going to do... so I was safe, right?
Dude, maybe back out while you can, a voice whispered to me, this is wrong, and you could most certainly die a terrible death -
I was almost about to stop moving and go straight home - but then, I remembered. Why should I back out? I was currently a teenager - by the time I grew up, I would most likely be stuck in a dreadful 9-to-5 job. I was going to be stuck in a boring life and every little mistake I did would be awful and worthy of punishment. If I was going to do something wild, I was going to have to do it now before it was too late. YOLO and all that crap, right?
No, think simple. I'd come this far, and to chicken out... I'd regret not seizing this chance.
I'd taken down the Tyrannical Trio; a corrupt student leader shouldn't be a problem. She had never shown me an ounce of respect, only shoving me to the dust for her own personal gain while she appealed and bended her nonexistent values for those of a higher social status.
I was going to show her the price she had to pay, her mistake forgetting that I, too, was a Rifton Girl.
I was as capable as any of them - just as cold and ruthless in getting what I wanted.
And I was going to destroy her.
With that justification made, I stealthily (okay, I tried to be stealthy) crept up behind Rianne to the back of the school, where there were a bunch of potted plants that some kids were using for a project - and also a dude. In a Hawthorn uniform.
For whatever reason, he looked familiar.
Oh, yeah, that guy. That guy at the gate with Nathaniel Kingsley.
This was Jason Whitmore for sure.
I retreated a little as I noticed the girl look around twice. When she strode ahead, seemingly happily, I inched forward slightly and peeked from behind the wall as Rianne Clifford ran towards the dude, who smiled widely.
My heart hammered against my ribcage as I pulled the dark black hoodie over my head and opened up my phone.
Just as I was about to take a picture of her heading towards him- enough to raise suspicion, but not enough to reveal identity- Rianne leapt into brunette Hawthornian's arms and gave him a passionate kiss. Like, on the lips.
The open-mouth, tongue-wiggling type.
Oh boy. Oh boy, I did not need to - tone it down on the PDA, hunties, even if it's a (sort of) Private Display of Affection!
Well, guess who just signed up to watch some gross R-rated stuff. But well, this is the sacrifice I make for good blackmail-worthy intel.
"Hey babe," I heard her say in a flirty voice that made me shudder. Rianne being girly? And flirting? Flirting was the Populars' thing, not for someone who was part of the Prefects' clique! I took another shot of her in his arms and turned around, checking for any sign of someone jumping up at me.
"Hey, Riri, how was school?" Her boyfriend responded in a soft, endearing voice as his fingers curled around her tie and pulled her nearer to him. Suddenly, I was worried that I had signed myself up for a viewing of R-rated material.
"Ugh, so much work to do." was the response that made me want to laugh. Rianne complaining about homework, who'd have thought? Didn't she adore writing essay papers and lab reports?
"I'll be sure to make your day better," he said as she let out a giggle that hardly matched up to the girl that patrolled the hallways. He whispered something else as he whipped out a box.
Not just any box - one of those that carried little sticks of lung cancer.
Jason helped light Rianne's cigarette before doing so for his own as I adjusted my phone.
Boyfriend and smoking behind the school? Never knew she had it in her; this would make for good tea. I steadied the phone camera to focus on their faces, and the cigarettes snapped between their fingers as smoke left their lips in wisps.
"Ah, much better," I heard Rianne sigh.
00:06, 00:07... and done. I was just putting my phone back in my pocket when -
Plink.
Shit.
Shitshitshit!
For a second, I just glared at the broken piece of pavement at my feet.
Shitshitshit, time to yeet out of here.
"Hello?" Her voice was loud, accusing.
Shoot. Shoot. I stepped out of the way, albeit slightly loudly as my leg found footing on the grass after that nervous wobble, and began to run because my life depended on it.
Shitshitshit, of all things!
I turned swiftly around the corner of the brick wall, back through the side gate and stagger-ran down the relatively empty school hallway, a burst of relief rushing through me when I saw the toilet sign.
Yes!
I dashed into the nearest cubicle, locked it, slung my bag up on the hanger, pulled off my skirt together with my shorts and sat down on the toilet to pee, my heart thundering as I watched my shaking hands.
Holy crap, holy crap.
And no joke, some pee did come out from my nerve-wrecking adventure.
Like all school toilets, the toilet paper was always outside, and I hadn't taken any for obvious reasons. While I did have the good practice of keeping tissue in the front compartment of my backpack, I now had my excuse.
And the footsteps came. My heart rate didn't go down.
"Hello?" Her voice was now more uncertain, more fearful, though the edge of anger and resentment from being spotted had not faded. I noticed her approaching my cubicle. She must've seen the red colour of the lock, dammit.
Now, Operation Convince Rianne.
"Hello, who's that out there?" I called out on purpose.
"Selene? Is that you? It's Rianne!"
"Oh, thank God!" I replied, "I forgot to take toilet paper. Do you mind helping me out?"
"Oh! Sure, hang on," Rianne's voice was tinted with some sort of embarrassment and surprise as I heard her fumble with the dispenser. Soon, her hand appeared from underneath the door, a neat square of folded toilet paper in it. "Here. Hey, by the way, did you hear anyone run pass the toilet just now?"
Oh, crap. Toilet paper in exchange for information? No way.
"Thanks! Uh, no? I've been in here for a while and I would've heard someone running since the walls are so, uh, non-soundproof," I replied, trying not to sound funny as I reached down and took it, and added as an afterthought, "Periods aren't fun."
I mean, I did have an irregular cycle, so she couldn't possibly try to bust me a month later if I wasn't having menses, could she?
"Oh, I feel you," She muttered, "Bye, I'm going off now."
"Bye, Rianne!"
I waited for a few more minutes, retrieving my phone to watch the video on mute. In the silence of a cubicle, I couldn't help but let out a little bit of laughter.
Selene Chan takes the win once again.
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