Chapter 8: Clapback

The silent whispers of conspiring are emerging from the audience in front of me. Everyone is looking at each other, and deciding whether they should believe in what I just said. I hold my head up a little higher, and look at everyone who's just staring right back at me. 


Eventually, the chatter dies down when the principal says, "Okay, settle down, everyone!" The chatter then comes to a complete halt, like someone just smashed a gavel on the desk in a courtroom. When everyone's back to staring at me, I clear my throat and start up again. 

"I'm not like that. I promise, if I am elected as your class president, then I will promise to build our student council up with a strong foundation based on good deeds. I will make our student council strong and bold. So, everyone, as you can tell, you should vote for Victoria Bell." 

With that, everyone starts to cheer, which is like the fuel in my fiery happiness. I feel it grow and grow, until it's warm and crackly inside of my body. I stack my note cards up again, and walk back to my seat so that I can watch to see the drama unfold a little bit more. 

I look back at Sophia, who looks like someone shocked all the color out of her face. Ray has a hand on her shoulder, probably whispering something motivational into her ear. She takes her note cards, a deep breath, and then walks up to the podium to deliver her speech. 

When she walks up to the podium, I hear some boos radiating from the audience. She rubs the back of her neck with her hand, causing her dark tresses to bounce up and down. 

She clears her throat, and starts with, "Good morning, everyone. As you all know, my name is Sophia Smith, and I'm here because I'm running to be your guys' vice president. Very briefly, I'd like to address the claims that my fellow candidate made when it came to the situation involving Raymond and I." 

Again, some more boos radiate from the audience, in which Ms. Robinson shushes the audience. Sophia looks back at Ray, who gives her a reassuring nod, and she looks back at the audience with a little bit more color in her face. 

"So, when it came to that, I didn't misunderstand anything that Ray did or said. I hate to be putting one of my closest friends on the spot, but he laughed and agreed with something that he shouldn't have. It was something that was a kind of sensitive topic for me. Some of you may know this. I didn't go crying it up to him, like Victoria says. I barely spoke to him, because I wanted to let him know how much he had hurt me by doing that. He noticed, and he apologized, and we made up. Simple." 

Again, the crowd erupts in whispers and conspiracy once more. Through my razor sharp hearing, I can hear, "Liar, she's right, Victoria, lying." 

My heart starts to beat a little bit faster than usual. I just fed the whole school with lies and rumors that I heard from a sort of unreliable source. At the same time, stupidity starts to consume my mind. What the hell was I thinking, just trusting one person when it came to this? I shouldn't have trusted Alison, and I know I shouldn't have. 

While stupidity also continues to consume my mind, another thing does. Hopelessness. I just lost the only chance to be closer to one of my close friends. I also just caused Ray to lose a lot of respect for me. I just ruined my relationship with one of the few people I trust in one speech. That's what hurts the most, because I've been friends with Ray for so long. Now, our friendship is never going to be the same. 

"So, yes, there was a little incident involving Ray and I, but it all ended up fine. And when it comes to running a student council, not only do I believe in good morals, but I also believe in two more things. Honesty, and teamwork. When it comes to running a student council, honesty is always the best policy. I believe that we should always let our school know our plans and be honest with them, because we want them to know what they're getting so that we don't have any apprehensions in the future. And on top of that, teamwork is also key. Since Ray and I are so close and we work so well together, we're definitely going to make our student council something special. We will work together to make the student council stronger than it is right now, and I assure that. If you elect me as your vice president, then I promise you that I will work with the president to make this year something special. So, it's really lit, you should vote for Smith." 

She finishes off the speech with her perfect smile, and everyone chuckles or says, "wowwwwww." With that, the audience erupts in applause, to which Sophia takes her note cards and walks back to where Ray is sitting. 

I hear her let out a huge sigh of relief when she passes by me, and then my principal says, "Up next, we have our candidates for president. So, can Raymond Richards please come up?" 

Ray takes his note cards as well, and then he walks up the podium. He adjusts his tie and blazer, and with that, he starts his speech. His stance is a lot more confidence than Sophia's, and his razor sharp good looks cause everyone to stare at him in slight admiration. 

"Good morning, everyone. I'm Raymond Richards, and I'm running to be your president of student council. So before I start, I would like to address this to my vice president candidate, Sophia Smith. So, yes, there was a bit of an incident when it came to something kind of sensitive. I said somethings I shouldn't have, and agreed with some things I really shouldn't have. I think when Sophia was avoiding me because of that, it really taught me the value of friendship and how I shouldn't take it for granted. She taught me that, and I'm grateful for her because of that. But also, I wanted to take this moment to publicly apologize. Sophia, even though I already apologized, I wanted to say it again. I'm really sorry about the things I said. I shouldn't have, and it was a douche move. You taught me the value of friendship, and I now know not to ever take that for granted. So, thank you, and I'm sorry again." 

The crowd erupts in, "Awwww," and Sophia and him exchange warm smiles that only makes some hearts in the audience melt. 

Ray faces the audience once more, and says, "As Sophia said, since we're both such close friends, we will work together beautifully in making this year perfect when it comes to student council. I can assure you of that. Also, we promise to make this year fun filled and enjoyable, since it's our last year, and we want to make it the best year we've ever made. So, if you elect me as your president, then I will do just that. Just you wait. So, do it the right way, and vote for Ray." 

Everyone erupts in chuckles again, and they all cheer for him. Ray takes his cards, and walks back to his chair to sit down. Sophia smiles at him, and when he sits down, she places a hand on his shoulder, and says another motivational message in his ear. 

I sit back and watch Kenneth Lester, the other candidate for president, give his speech. I don't pay attention, because I'm wallowing in my usual pool of self pity. I can't believe I just ruined any chance of a good senior year with this one speech. 

I ruined my chances of a decent friendship with Ray, a chance to be closer with him through being vice president, and the chances of a little bit more respect from the entire school. All I want to do is dig a hole and bury myself in it so that I don't have to face anyone else because of how bad everything went today.

After Kenneth is finished giving his lousy speech, Ms. Robinson steps up to the podium, and says, "Everyone gave such wonderful speeches today. I'm proud of all of you today. You did fantastic. And that concludes our speeches for this year. Everyone, you are dismissed, and you can go to your third period classes and vote for the candidates there on your phones or on the computers you may have there." 

With that, everyone gets up, and shuffles out of the auditorium. I take my note cards, and get up from the chair. I drag my feet off of the stage, and start to walk over to my third period class. I go slowly, because I want to disappear with everyone else and not be talked about at all. 

I don't want to talk with anyone at this moment, and all I need right now is to go home and take a nice, long nap in my bed. As I'm walking back to my third period class, I hear whispers coming from the people walking around me. "Oh my gosh, Victoria's an awful person. I can't believe she would lie about that to the whole school." 

At this rate, I don't care. I just want to be put out of my misery with the news of my loss. I don't want to spend the next hour tuning out people's opinions of me. I just hope they get the results out soon.

*******

Two minutes to go. I'm putting my things in my backpack, ready to take it and bolt out of the room so that I can go to my other classes. Throughout class, I've heard nothing but sly whispers about how bad of a person I am, and how I should be ashamed of what I did. 


Fine, yes, I'm slightly ashamed. But honestly, you have to form a thick skin. I can't let those whispers get to me, because it will just ruin my entire mood for the rest of the day. Right when I zip my backpack up, I hear Ms. Robinson come over the intercom. 

"Good morning, everyone. So, we have our results for the election. For treasurer, we have Sylvia Perkins. For vice president, we have Sophia Smith. For president, we have Ray Richards. Congratulations to everyone. Meet me in room 63 for a meeting on what we'll go through for the rest of the year." 

A slight weight is lifted off of my chest. I know that I wasn't expecting to win, but now I know that I didn't win. It stops my worrying for now. But, that means not only did I ruin any chance of a better friendship with Ray, but I just ruined everyone's opinions of me.

It can't get any worse from here. Can it? 

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Well, it looks like Victoria's plan completely backfired on her. Do you think she got what she deserved? Let me know in the comments.

Hi, my dears! How are you all doing today? How has your week been? Mine has been reasonably okay, I guess. I have a question for you guys. Do you guys have any celebrities that you think would fit in the role for our 3 main characters? If you do, then I would love to hear them! I want to see how you guys envision the characters. I guess that's all. I hope you guys liked this chapter!

Please vote/comment/follow/message/share if you like my work! I'll see you all next week with a new chapter of I Never Imagined! Have a great week!

Love you guys,

S.V.T.S

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