Chapter 23 – The Fifth Member – Holly Hayfield

It was hard to focus during class when my mind was on Valentina. How was I going to convince her to accept Naomi’s offer? She did give me permission to choose the last student council member. Did that mean anyone was fine? She might outright reject someone from Naomi’s group.

Val was concerned about finding a placeholder student before. They’d be unimportant in terms of actual functions. Each student council group had to have five members by the time the election came. Failure to fill out each role would result in disqualification. If all we needed was warm bodies then were the details important?

The obvious alternative was to tell Val about exactly why I was making a deal with Naomi. That would mean telling her about Malorie and the conspiracy. The question was which side of the fence would she sit on? Would she be in agreement with me and Sam who didn’t want to believe the story without further evidence? That seemed the most reasonable stance to have at the moment.

Or would she be like Lilith who was ready to believe the conspiracy as was and act on it. This was assuming she’d believe us at all. Sam, Lilith, Naomi and I hadn’t told anyone else. Was the story of the girl’s corpse in the basement even worth entertaining without further evidence? Of all the urban legends that had come out of this school this one was up there with the story of the Killing Cat.

In the middle of a class lecture I toyed with the idea of telling Valentina the theory. That was when the intercom came on in our classroom.

“Holly Hayfield, please come to the main office. Holly Hayfield, come to the office. Thank you.” A voice said over the intercom.

My teacher looked over at me and nodded. Everyone watched me as I gathered my things and prepared to leave class. Was I in trouble? It was rare for the room-to-room intercom system to be used to call out students. Normally the teachers would be called privately on their classroom phones.

This probably meant that the situation was urgent. That made me even more curious. Was the vice principal on to us? Did she already realize that we were planning something? It was too soon for that to be possible!

My walk to the office was slow since I wasn’t in a hurry to find out why I was being called. If Ms. Sampson saw me go to Naomi’s hangout using the hallway cameras then the jig was up. Alternatively, my first period teacher could’ve called me in after I was late. Would she do that? Students came in late all the time. What I needed was an excuse, a reason to be in the Old Science Wing that didn’t involve talking to Naomi about Malorie.

I racked my brain looking for an excuse. It turned out that I didn’t need one. I was met by Val just outside the office as she was walking out. Val looked at me with the most scandalous smile. She was wearing the same getup as before with her hair tied back into a ponytail and medals around her neck. She was carrying two lunchboxes. She had me carry her lunchboxes and put her arm around me. Together, we began walking away.

“Holly, I’m glad you could make it.” Val said.

“Wait, wasn’t Ms. Sampson calling me to the main office?” I asked.

“No, she’s out at a meeting with the superintendent or something.”

“Was... Was that you over the intercom?”

“Yep, I can sound pretty professional when I want to, huh? I needed a clever way of getting you out of class without any teachers getting in the way. It just so happened that front office was empty and… well… You can say I got creative.”

I let out a sigh of relief.

“You look like the weight of the world was just taken off your shoulders.” Val said, “What, did you think you were really in trouble? Were you anticipating a spanking? I can still do that, you know.”

“Ms. Sampson has it out for me.”

“Why?”

“It’s a long story.”

“Then it’ll have to wait. We’re heading to the library office room. You weren’t the only one I got out of class. Jay and Lilith are coming too.”

“Why? What’s going on?”

“We need to talk about the student council nominee assembly that’s happening this afternoon. I couldn’t wait for lunch to talk about it. There are a few details that need to be ironed out.”

“Oh? Is that why you brought these lunchboxes? You’re hungry enough to eat two?”

“Are you calling me fat? Here I’ve gone and made a lunchbox just for you but you’re only interested in making fun of me?” She said playfully.

“One is for me? Why…?”

“Because making lunch for someone is the type of thing lovers do, right?”

“We’re not lovers though.”

Val stopped me abruptly. She spun towards me and grabbed me by my shoulders. She pushed me back into the locker behind me and pinned me there. She did this so quickly that I nearly dropped the lunchboxes. I held onto them tightly out of fear of what she might do if I dropped them. The look in her eyes was vicious, yet her smile was as casual as ever. She came close to me, as close as she could without moving the lunchboxes out of the way.

“You said you wanted to change our relationship, right?” She asked.

“That wasn’t the kind of change I had in mind.”

“This is much better than before though, right? Would you prefer to go back to the way things were?”

This threat was so out of place that I became emotionally charged for just long enough to risk saying something stupid.

“If you think you can just bully someone into loving you then you’ve got it all wrong. You can’t use this sort of force against the person you love. How am I supposed to love you back when you don’t show me love in the first place?” I said.

It wasn’t until the words were out of my mouth that I began to fear physical retaliation. She looked at me like she was wondering how serious I was. She was no longer smiling. The dagger-eyes remained. Slowly she backed off and let me go.

She huffed out a sigh and took the lunchboxes out of my hands. I could tell she was frustrated by the look on her face as she turned and began walking again. That’s when I realized something absolutely monumental. She took my advice to heart. She had no idea how to treat me, the person she claimed to love.

Valentina was suddenly less of a monster in my eyes. In a way she was more like a child in one regard. She had always abused me, yet claimed to actually admire me. I thought that was weird. Now I was learning that her entire view of love itself was warped catastrophically.

Was she abused? I questioned that theory at first, but then something she said before came back to me. She said the only person that she ever loved before me was a monster. That must’ve been what the monster within her was born from. She was mimicking the person she had imprinted on, just like a child.

The rest of the walk to the library was made in silence. Lilith and Jay were already there. They were waiting on an explanation from Val. Val explained that we’d be going over the material she created for the assembly. We all sat down together at the table in the library office room.

Valentina handed me one of her lunchboxes. This time she did so more shyly. I accepted it. I didn’t accept it merely because I wanted to try creating a bridge of friendship. I accepted it because whatever she made would probably be better than whatever was being served in the cafeteria.

I opened the lunchbox to find a salad. She may have assumed that I liked salads because that was what I ate with her before. That salad from before was merely a safety measure. That safety measure was still protecting me now since I had no idea how well Val could cook. Val’s salad actually looked exquisite compared to the salad from school.

She sat down beside me and anxiously awaited my opinion. This was all in front of Jay who looked on with furious envy. Val didn’t notice Jay’s irritation. I could see Jay clawing onto the table like she was trying to hold back the urge to pounce across it. Lilith was busy reading Val’s nomination speech.

“It’s trash.” Lilith declared.

“Which part?” Val asked.

“All of it. This has to be the most generic student council nomination I’ve ever read. Did you just go online and print something out?”

“That’s the best way to make sure that I have something of professional quality.”

“More like, that’s the best way to get instantly disqualified.”

“Well little Miss Shakespeare, how about you come up with something since you’re clearly such a savant?”

“Maybe I will. Give me that pen you have in your uniform pocket.”

“This pen is just for show. It goes along with the medals.”

“Fine, I’ll get a pen from the check-out desk. I’ll be right back.”

“What do you think of it, Holly?” Val asked.

“I think the speech is fine. It may not be award winning, but…”

“No! Not that! I’m talking about the lunch I made for you.”

“It’s good. These vegetables all taste very fresh.”

She smiled and brushed my hair with her hand. Jay half-stood up out of her chair, in the second phase of her pounce stance. Val paid her no attention.

“I’m glad you like it. I bought the ingredients at the grocery store the night before.”

Jay looked like she was on the verge of a breakdown. Val was either completely oblivious to Jay’s feelings or simply didn’t care. My bet was on the latter. The main thing I learned from my earlier realization was that Val wasn’t sympathetic when it came to interpersonal relationships. The means she used to achieve her goals were often counterproductive to reaching the goal itself.

Maybe when I spent so long calling Val a psychopath I was more correct than I knew at the time. She was a sociopath in a literal sense. The only thing she had in mind was what she wanted from people, not their considerations. That was a painful fact for me. It must’ve been painful for Jay as well. If Val were more personally considerate then maybe I’d have no problems with her.

I pushed the lunchbox across the table to Jay. I wanted to try practicing a little consideration myself. Maybe I could show Val this good deed as an example?

“Would you like to try some, Jay?” I asked.

I hadn’t even finished my sentence when Jay picked it up and started scarfing it down. She didn’t even care that she was using the same fork I used. Val sighed.

“Jay, you pig. Here Holly, I’ll share mine with you instead.”

Jay stopped immediately and looked over in jealousy as Val opened up her other lunchbox. Lilith came back in.

“Someone’s coming. It’s a girl with white hair.” Lilith said.

“You might not recognize her since she looks different. That’s Sam. She’s going to be our fifth member. I’ve been meaning to talk to you all about that…”

“She is? That’s great. I was hoping to talk to her again.” Lilith said.

“Who’s Sam?” Val asked.

“About that…” I said to try softening the blow.

Before I could continue Val got up to go to the door. Sam approached the door to the office room casually. Val got one good look at the black surgical mask on her face before making up her mind. Val slammed the door shut on her before she could enter. Val glared at me.

“If you think I’m going to let one of Naomi’s creatures join my student council group then you’ve got it all wrong!”

“That’s what I want to talk to you about.” I said, “Sam isn’t really a full member of Naomi’s group.”

“What?”

“It’s true.” Lilith said, “Sam is a new transfer student. She helped us on Friday when we went to the discipl-…”

I put my hand over Lilith’s mouth before she could spill the details. This caught Val’s attention more than I wanted it to. It was obviously suspicious as hell.

“She means to say that we spent some time with her when she transferred in.”

“You went where with her?” Val asked.

Sam knocked on the door.

“I’ll tell you if you let me in.” Sam said in a muffled voice.

“She can hear us?” Jay asked.

Val opened up the door and glared at her. Sam took off her black surgical mask and stuffed it into her pocket. She smiled at Val and then winked at me. Sam stepped a foot in. Val stopped her by grabbing onto her uniform. In return, Sam returned the gesture by grabbing Val by her uniform. Both of them looked ready to snap. I ran over to get between them.

“You two, don’t fight! The assembly is right after lunch! You two can’t go there looking like a mess.” I said.

“Tell her that.” Sam said, “I’m just upholding the terms of the deal.”

“What deal?” Val asked.

“The deal Holly created between Naomi and the future student council. You all still plan to win, right?” Sam asked.

Sam pushed her way in past Val. Val let go of her out of intrigue for what she had to say. As I closed in on Sam to try to silence her Val stopped me by grabbing me by the arm.

“What is this deal about?” Val asked.

“On one hand it’s about working together to get the necessary votes to win the student council.” Sam said, “On the other hand it’s about Lilith’s dead friend.”

I tried to break free of Val but she wouldn’t budge. Lilith jumped out of her chair in excitement.

“Holly told you about what we found out over the weekend? Does that mean Naomi will help us search for a way down into the school basement?!”

“Over the weekend…? School basement…?” Val asked and then looked at me, “Well, it sounds like you’ve been busy. I’d like to know what all this is about.”

“You will.” Sam said, “Only if you live up to the deal.”

“Which is?” Val asked.

“Let me join your student council group and Naomi will help you win the election. The number of people she can have vote for you is more than just the number of girlfriends she has. She says she has influence in this school outside of her group.”

“That sounds nice for me. What’s in it for you and Naomi?”

“What’s in it for me isn’t important. I’m just here to see things through with Holly and Lilith. As for Naomi, she wants insurance that an enemy doesn’t end up as the student council president, like before.”

Val let out a half-hearted chuckle.

“That’s strange. I never considered myself her ally.”

“That’s why she sent me to extend the olive branch. Do we have an agreement?”