Chapter 5 The school President

LOUISA

I stood frozen, staring at him as our gazes locked. The hall had suddenly gone silent and I could feel different kinds of eyes on my skin.

My heart was still and it felt like air no longer existed in my lungs. I was fighting his cold gaze and the burning gaze of the entire school all alone.

He wasn't breaking that gaze and neither was I.

A whistle suddenly broke the tense air, and our locked gaze broke. I sighed and looked away in the direction of the queue formed in front of the serving counter.

“Is something wrong between you two?” Ken asked and I directed a glare at him.

He raised his hands in the air, his eyes pleading.

“He is my guide,” I muttered bluntly as I joined the queue.

“You're lucky,” he muttered. I turned to look at him, my brows raising.

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“Sebastian has never been anyone's guide since we got into senior year. All he does is lead the school as the president. He's never interested in a single student's affair,” he said, shrugging again.

I dimmed my eyes in suspicion, and after a thorough thought of his words, it finally hit.

Mrs Benedict knew my name and my parents. She must have known what they truly worked for and what that made me.

I finally understood why she assigned Sebastian as my guide. She wanted him to watch me closely, or worse kill me. Or she wanted me to kill him.

I leaned to the side to look at him again. He was sitting silently, listening as a blond-haired guy chattered to him and another dark-haired boy at the table.

He suddenly lifted his head and our eyes met. I quickly swing my head to the front, straightening up immediately.

Whatever the reason for this pairing was, it definitely wasn't good. Either way, one of us was in trouble and I had to make sure it wasn't me.

I sighed and ordered macaroni cheese when it got to my turn then followed Ken to an empty table at the back of the hall. I could still feel the eyes of students on me but I acted like I didn't care.

We ate silently, watching the other tables as students chatted and laughed while making sure to make less noise.

I could tell Ken had always been alone and that was why he stuck to me. He wanted a friend and he didn't want me to feel alone as he did.

If only he knew I wouldn't last here till graduation.

“You eat alone, right?” I suddenly blurted out the question in my mind.

He looked up at me, the fork of mascaroni hanging midway from his lips.

“Uhm… yeah?” He muttered, his cheeks flushing with embarrassment at the topic. Guilt squeezed my chest when I saw the pain that flashed across his eyes.

I smiled and parted my lips to blurt out promises that I wouldn't keep, but a cold hand pressed on my shoulder, stopping my words.

“We meet again,” a familiar voice spoke behind me. I swung my head back, my eyes widening and my lips stretching when my eyes fell on Clair's face.

“Hey!” I gasped, grinning.

She chuckled and placed her hand under the tray in her other hand, her eyes narrowing.

“You found your way around quickly,” she chuckled.

“I had some help,” I said as I placed my hand on Ken's shoulder.

“Oh,” she replied in a flat tone.

“Will you like… to sit with me over there? My friends are over there waiting,” she said as her gaze flickered from me to Ken.

I turned to look at Ken. His gaze was down and his hand gripped the edge of the table as he waited for me to make a decision.

I needed to be with Claire since she seemed to know a lot about Starfall Academy but I couldn't leave Ken alone.

I looked up at Claire and put on an obvious false smile.

“I'm sorry, Claire, but I was having an important conversation with Ken,” I said, and her smile fell.

She bit her lips in disappointment and shrugged.

“Okay, maybe next time,” she said but I didn't want to let this opportunity slip away.

I turned to face Ken, making sure my voice was loud enough as she turned.

“I don't feel comfortable with Sebastian Vlad being my guide!” I blurted out.

The people sitting down at the table close to ours turned to look at me while I listened to Claire's receding footsteps stop.

I held my breath, hoping she would come back.

And she did.

“What did you say?” She gasped behind me, gripping the back of my chair.

I swung my head to look at her, my eyes wide in shock.

“Oh no, did you hear that?” I gasped and slapped my hand over my lips. “I didn't know I was that loud.”

Before I could complete my words, Claire was already seated and waving at Ken.

I smiled sinisterly, satisfied that I was killing two birds with one stone.

Claire leaned in as she pushed her tray to the side while her eyes feasted on me with excitement.

The only way she knew everything about this school was thanks to her nosy nature and curiosity. I had to be careful with my words, or whatever I said would be told to someone else, craving some secrets as well.

“Is he really your guide?” She asked in a shrill excited voice.

I looked over to where he sat with his friends then back at her.

“Yes. He was assigned to me,” I replied, trying to sound as confused as possible.

She leaned back, her lips pursing and her eyes narrowing.

“But how is that even possible? The school president never gets assigned to a new student,” she muttered.

“I'm also as surprised as you are when I found out that he was the school president,” I replied. My brows raised as I waited for her to say more but she didn't. Instead, she stared at the burger in her tray, perhaps still processing what she had just learnt.

I leaned closer and pulled my hand in hers, staring right into her eyes.

“You think Mrs Benedict intentionally made him my guide for a reason?” I whispered and felt her stiffen against my hold.

She looked up, her brows raised in question.

“Why would Mrs Benedict do that though?” She scoffed.

I straightened up, shrugging.

“Perhaps she doesn't like the fact that he's quite more privileged than the others,” I said.

She scoffed, shaking her head at my words that she considered absurd.

“Mrs Benedict wouldn't dare get on the wrong side of the Vlad family,” she blurted out and my breath hitched.

“Huh?” I gasped. My heart was beginning to race in excitement and fear. I wanted to know more about the sudden mention of his family even though it felt like the knowledge of whatever this was would lead me into great danger.

She looked around and leaned closer, her hand gripping mine. I could see Ken lean close to hear whatever she wanted to spill.

“Actually, no one in the higher-ups of the school mentions it, but…”She paused again and looked around.

My heart was thumping more wildly and loudly. Whatever secret that was making her this uncomfortable was definitely a top, dangerous secret.

“I haven't told anyone this since I learnt it,” she gulped and bit her lips again before parting her lips to speak.

“The Vlad owns this Academy,” she whispered and my heart dropped.

“Wait… what?” Ken gasped. “Wasn't it built by a random wealthy man named Alexander Vough?”

“No, it wasn't!” Claire snapped as if she would cry. “That… is a fucking lie."

“I did my findings well and slept for weeks in the library. The founder of this school is Alexander Vlad, Sebastian Vlad's grandfather.”