LIFE WITHIN THE HALLS

Victoria

Wednesday, 3rd March, 10:05 a.m.

On my way from the cafeteria to class, I spotted Jayden and Sandra heading down the stairs to the first floor. Since breakfast had ended minutes ago and I'd already sent a junior to deliver their food to them in class, there was no logical explanation for their direction unless... it was related to the message Jayden claimed he had received earlier.

"Jayden! Sandra!" I called out, waving my arms as I pushed through the crowded hallway.

They turned, looking back at me with a blend of fear and uncertainty.

"What's going on?" I asked, catching up to them. "Anything I should know?"

Sandra took a deep breath and recounted Jayden's creepy convo with someone who'd stolen the late Chloe's phone and was using her AnonymousX account. At first, I thought Jayden was freaking out for no reason, but apparently, he wasn't.

"...this new person behind the AnonymousX account is demanding Jayden find some guy named Kelvin Cooper, or they'll leak his video," Sandra said.

"Kelvin Cooper?"

"Yeah, no idea who he is," Jayden replied. "Sandra and I tried asking around, but everyone's rushing to class."

Kelvin Cooper... why did that name ring a bell? I racked my brain, trying to remember anything about him.

Then, it hit me like a ton of bricks.

"Wait a minute," I said, as the memory finally clicked. "Wasn't he the guy who left school in our freshman year because he was too embarrassed after getting busted for stealing exam papers?"

Jayden's eyes widened. "You mean there was actually a Kelvin Cooper here?"

I nodded solemnly. "Yeah, he was super controversial."

"What was his story?" Sandra asked. "Tell us about him."

"Okay, so Kelvin Cooper, aka KC, was a scholarship kid," I began. "He was determined to make the most of high school. Not only was he a total genius in the IT club, but he also had a talent for writing, which served him well as a member of the School Magazine Society."

"But here's where it gets messy," I continued. "Kelvin always showed up to class with bruises and scars, claiming the basketball team was bullying him. And then, the drama went down; He got accused of stealing exam papers, and the scandal basically ended his time at Hill Academy."

Sandra sighed. "Happy beginnings rarely have happy endings."

"Do you think he really stole the papers?" Jayden asked me.

I shook my head. "Nah, I don't think so." Kelvin didn't seem like that type, from what I knew. But since the papers were found in his locker, which only he had access to, it seemed like an open-and-shut case — he had to be the one who did it.

Jayden whipped out his phone and started typing away. He was filling AnonymousX in on what he had found about Kelvin Cooper during his stay in the school.

His phone buzzed with a new message after that, and his thumbs flew across the screen, tapping on it.

"What's the message?" I asked, leaning in.

"Good job on completing the first task!" Jayden read to us. "Now, for the second task; Prove Kelvin Cooper was framed for stealing those exam papers."

"Prove his innocence? It's been two years now, is that a joke?" I said.

"There's more," Jayden added, reading from the screen, "two of your classmates know the truth about what really went down."

"Two of our classmates?" Sandra's brow knitted as she repeated. "If they knew the truth, why didn't they stand up for Kelvin?"

The silence that followed was deafening.

Whoever those two were, they had the power to save Kelvin from total humiliation. So, what had stopped them?

There were only two possible reasons they didn't speak up. Either they were afraid of getting in trouble themselves, or they simply didn't want to associate themselves with Kelvin— just because he was on scholarship.

"We need to know more about him to prove his innocence," Jayden said. "Let's check the school archives and old yearbooks in the SMS room. He was a member, so there might be something there to help us."

Sandra and I nodded in agreement, and the three of us headed to the SMS room.

Proving Kelvin's innocence seemed like a daunting task, especially since it had been two years. Who would want to reopen a closed case?

The School Magazine Society room was positioned on the right-hand side within the library. There was a door in through the library and also another without passing the library. If we went through the library, the librarian would definitely see us and grill me in particular with questions, since she knew my class schedule inside out. So, we went in through the other door.

When we got there, two junior executives were busy creating flyers for the school's 30th-anniversary celebration. The senior execs were probably stuck in class.

Sandra whispered to me, "Think they'll let us search for information about Kelvin?"

I smiled slyly. "I'm the founder's granddaughter. I've got this."

I strode up to the junior execs, confidence oozing from my pores. "Hey, we're working on a school project about former students. Can we check out some old yearbooks and pics?" My tone was friendly but assertive, and I could tell they weren't sure about granting us access to their archives, especially since the rules book had been revamped after Chloe's death.

The list of "no's" was endless: no crashing society and club groups as a non-member during class hours, no roaming around in blind spots without CCTV cameras, no impromptu rooftop visits, no self-medication on campus without a doctor's note... it was all starting to feel suffocatingly boring.

After a moment of deliberation, one of them spoke up. "Why not? The room is all yours!" They even handed us each a bottle of water.

I could feel Sandra's warm breath against my neck as she sighed in relief. Did she really think they'd deny us access, given my ties to the school? Please.

We began to comb through the old books of the society, our eyes scanning the pages for any mention of Kelvin Cooper. We searched meticulously, flipping through yellowed pages and dusty covers.

My fingers brushed against a stack of old newspapers with the headline: "Freshman Year Student Accused of Stealing Exam Papers: Kelvin Cooper at Center of Scandal."

Those newspapers had come out when Kelvin was accused of the act. Even though he repeatedly swore he was innocent, no one believed him.

Beside me, Sandra's voice broke through my reverie. "What's this?" she asked, holding up an article clipping with the title: "A Fight Against Bullying by Kelvin Cooper."

"See?" I said. "Kelvin really made a lot of noise about bullying."

"But nobody still believed him even after this?" she asked.

"Nobody," I replied. "He even got into detention for publishing this article on the basis that bullying never happened in the school. He had no evidence or witnesses to support his claims, which made his allegations worthless."

His article had been taken down with immediate effect; they didn't want it to cross the school borders.

Sandra murmured, "Poor guy," and took a sip from her water bottle.

We were still reeling from Kelvin's story — or at least, his side of it. Then Jayden interrupted, "Guys, look at this!" He'd found a worn photo tucked away in one of the society's old gallery books.

In the photograph, three faces smiled back at us: Kelvin Cooper, Gideon Vanderbilt, and Pearl Adams.

Sandra coughed.