The Night Tournaments

13 - Bree

"Hey, guys. I got notified by Ethan Whitlock - the new president of the Student Council - that we have a general meeting in their office in a few minutes," I told Scythe and Nadya when they arrived in the JDC office on Friday morning.

"Got it. Time to get things rolling!" Scythe said enthusiastically. He dumped his backpack on the couch, and the resulting dust made Nadya cough.

I was the first one to travel up to the top floor of the school and enter the meeting hall in the Student Council office. I was blown away by how majestic it was - if I had thought that the JDC's office was impressive, I was clearly being proven wrong.

"Hey, Bree," Flynn Armani greeted, saluting me. I felt myself relaxing when I saw his face.

"Good morning, Cheesebrain. I didn't hear from you yesterday - how has your experience being the vice-prez been so far?" I asked, grinning.

"Well, today marks its beginning," he said, sighing. 

Soon, the rest of the JDC, as well as the other members of the SDC and the Student Council, filed into the room, and a tall boy with swept-back black hair and gray eyes assumed his position at the head of the massive conference table.

"Thank you for attending our first general meeting of the school year, everyone," he announced, clearing his throat. "I'm Ethan Whitlock, president of the Student Council, and I'm joined by my fellow members Flynn, Anna, Kimberly, and Rori. The first thing that I wanted to discuss was the preparations for the school festival in November -"

All of a sudden, the Student Council office door swung open, and a girl with long, luxurious black hair and intense green eyes rushed inside.

"I'm sorry for interrupting, everyone, but I have an emergency!" she cried, her gaze glowing with wild alarm and mild fear.

"H-hold on. Before we listen to what's going on . . . what's your name?" Ethan asked, quickly standing up and furrowing his brow. The rest of us warily looked around at each other, unsure of what was happening.

"I'm Thea in 9th grade!" the girl answered breathlessly. "A-and . . . I came here to make a report because . . . someone's been stalking me!"

There was dead silence. The only thing that I could hear was my own heart pounding, and a faint ringing sound echoed through my ears. However, the weird sensation was interrupted when Scythe Madden jumped up in his seat, slamming his hands down on the table.

". . . W-what?" he demanded, his voice shaking ever so slightly. I blinked and looked at him - this was the first time in our one-day acquaintance that he had ever sounded so unconfident. He was supposed to be the fearless captain of the wrestling team, so what had suddenly gotten into him? "Someone's been stalking you?!"

"Scythe?" Thea said, seeming to recognize him. Her brief surprise quickly turned into desperation, though, and she looked into his eyes, whispering, "Please . . . help me."

"I'm Bree, president of the Junior Disciplinary Committee," I told her, standing up as well. "If you don't mind . . . could you explain what happened in more detail?"

Ethan offered Thea a seat at the conference table, and she let out a shaky breath as she looked down at her hands.

"I . . . it all started with a note on my desk in Social Studies class," the girl began, swallowing. "It just had a random lovey-dovey message on it, so at first, I simply assumed that I had a secret admirer, or that it was someone's stupid idea of a prank. But something else happened a few days ago, at my locker: the same person had decorated it with a banner written with a similar message, and they'd even put fake roses inside. By then, I had already begun to grow cautious of everything that was happening. But this morning was the final straw - an expensive designer bag with no signature or return address was sent right to my front door, and I freaked out. That's why I came here as soon as I set foot in the school building."