New Ways

EIGHT

Sigrid

Thursday came faster than I did. Uh, I mean, faster than I think it would.

I had a whole day of Advanced Sculpting Techniques and the History of Sculpting today. I hated both of these subjects. I was more of a painting person. But Seth was more of a sculpting person, so I inevitably had fun thanks to his presence. I was sketching random stuff the whole time the professor was babbling about the person who started ancient sculpting and from time to time, I would laugh at the lame jokes Seth came up with about the professor's monotonous lecture.

When the school bell rang indicating the end of the last lesson in Parmont, I hugged Seth briefly and made my way to the Chamber of Secrets. I wish.

I yanked the door of the Student Union meeting room open and had twelve faces abruptly turn their attention to me at the same time. What are these people, motion-sensitive robots? I'm scared.

I recognised Mr O'Neille, who had interviewed me for the vice president position about a week or so ago. The bald middle-aged man wore a grey suit with a brown tie, the exact outfit I recognise from my second confirming interview. He was hovering behind one of the committee commissioners, pointing to something on a piece of paper which the commissioner was holding on when he noticed my presence.

"Welcome, Sigrid," he smiled graciously at me and gestured at one of the two unoccupied seats beside Jean-Pierre across the room. "Please, have a seat."

I walked over to the other side of the room and slid in to the leather chair beside Jean-Pierre. He held out his hand and winked, "Jean-Pierre Dupont, treasury president."

"Sigrid Sharma, vice president," I replied smugly and shook his hand firmly, trying not to laugh over this weird kind of formality that I never came across in the volleyball team.

"Ooh, don't get big-headed yet, sweetie," Jean-Pierre teased and we both burst into a small fit of laughter.

The door swung open and then came in Amery Tatcher. I could've sworn that her entrance reminded me of those kind of scenes you see in movies, where the evil queen barges in to a hall and all her subjects kneel down fearfully as she strides her way to her undeserving throne. Except that here, Amery's subjects rose from their seats and nodded at her when she passed by them.

When she finally reached her seat, which was beside me, she sank down to her chair and pulled it in, all the while not even looking me in the eye. The rest of the council followed suit, some clearing their throats to prepare for their own presentation this evening. On the other end of the table, Mr O'Neille stood in front of his chair, signalling for me to stay on my feet. I obliged in return.

"Today," Mr O'Neille started. "council, I present to you our new vice president, Miss Sigrid Sharma from the Fine Arts faculty. Sigrid will be replacing Mr Daniel Kim, who unfortunately will not be able to be of guidance to us anymore as of today, for reasons confidential. Hence, Sigrid here, will be taking over his duties and will be providing you with the guidance and assistance that you need for the coming year. The same amount of dedication and appreciation that Daniel has shown in his service, will now be shown in Sigrid's. Serve her well, she will serve you well, and together we will serve Parmont well."

The whole room broke out in applause as I thanked everyone for their endearing welcome. From the corner of my eye, I could see Amery not budging, her eyes fixed on a piece of report she was reading.