Chapter 28 – Presidential Subterfuge – Holly Hayfield

Erica was every bit the deceiver Val said she was. It was a toss-up if she could prove helpful. Erica’s true intentions were a mystery. The only thing I was certain about was that we shared similar feelings regarding Val. She was shifty about everything else we talked about.

Her feelings towards Val seemed genuine. It was the only subject I could trust her on. She felt genuinely remorseful, to a degree. Coming to this alternative school hasn’t changed her nature at all. The dream of Judith Meredith was once again going unfulfilled. Was it even possible for these girls to be reformed? Was it possible for me?

I walked back into the school from one of the side doors. It looked like the activities in the hallways had died down significantly. The walls were decorated with freshly made student council election posters. I even found a few handmade ‘Vote for Valentina Ivanovich’ posters that gave me mixed feelings. The pictures of Val on those posters were photographs that depicted Val in her absolute best light.

It was hard to digest Erica’s story when looking at them. How could such a proud, intelligent young girl be used like such a tool? How could she let herself be transformed into such a monster? The pity I felt for Valentina was laughable. I must’ve been coming down with a serious case of Stockholm syndrome.

Now that all that unpleasantness was out of the way I was planning on meeting up with Val and the others in the cafeteria. This plan was canceled when someone grabbed me by my wrist in the hallway.

“Holly! Holly Hayfield! It’s been a while!” Someone said.

I turned to see who it was. It was Megan Schwinn, another rival student council candidate.

“I’m sorry. I don’t think we’ve officially met.”

“Haha! What are you saying you joker?! We met a few years back at the regional high school girl’s track-and-field meet. My dad sponsored that whole event. I was the one that handed you the second place trophy, remember?”

“I…”

I had no idea. Now that she mentioned it she did look somewhat familiar. That was so long ago that I had forgotten all about it. The track-and-field event was privately funded, and I remembered some man giving a speech at the award ceremony. I didn’t know that was Megan’s father.

“I’m not sure that really counts as meeting.”

“Then allow me to introduce myself properly. My name is Megan Schwinn. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

She let go of my wrist, straightened out her dress, and curtsied like a princess. This girl was living life in another century if she was expecting me to curtsy back. Instead I gave her a friendly-but-awkward smile and half-assed wave.

“Yeah, I know who you are. Is there anything I can help you with?”

“There is! I hear that your student council election group is using the student council room already? Aren’t you all getting a little ahead of yourself?”

“Well… about that…”

“My group has set up in an unused classroom close the gym. Can I introduce you to my group?”

“I don’t know about that. I need to catch up with my own group right about now.”

“Seriously, I insist. Come on.” She said.

She took my wrist and began trotting off. She was like a spoiled little brat dragging her unwilling dog by the leash. She wasn’t that strong. If I wanted to break free I probably could. This rare opportunity to get a look at the competition might prove itself useful. Since she was the one insisting on it then it wouldn’t be impolite to take a peek. Val was probably going to be mad at me for being late though.

Things started getting suspicious the moment we passed the gym. She mentioned her group’s room was close to it. Yet, we passed it long ago and she was still pulling me along. I noticed she was gripping my wrist tighter and tighter the further we went. My patience had reached its end.

This was when I decided to overpower her hold and pull my wrist away. It was rare that I was able to overpower anyone. She stopped and glared at me. Her expression had gone from casually-friendly to outright anger. I backed away from her.

“I don’t know what you’re planning but if you want me to meet your group then you need to be clearer about where it is. I’ve still got to get back to the cafeteria. We’ve got to make this quick.”

“That’s too bad,” A voice I recognized said from behind me. I turned around to see that it was Candace. Before I could react, she slid a black bag over my face. “This is going to take a while.”

The two of them dragged me against my will. It didn’t occur to me that Megan was taking me somewhere more secluded. I made the mistake of underestimating her. I never would’ve imagined she’d be capable of such a thing. That was how they caught me.

The thing that scared me the most was that it was impossible to say where I was. I also had no idea where they were taking me. We apparently reached the target location when I heard a door bang open. They sat me down into a chair. Someone behind me removed the bag from my head.

“I’m glad you could finally make it.” Black Brittney said.

I looked around the room to try to get a sense of my surroundings. They chose the perfect room for this little interview. It was a generic looking classroom with no noteworthy features. At least half of Black Brittney’s gang was here. It looked like all the newer members were missing.

She only had people she could trust. This told me how important the details of this room’s location were to her. This also told me that this wasn’t going to be our usually little scuffle. She wasn’t going to risk a leak in this situation. Megan backed away from me and took her spot next to Black Brittney.

“Holly, I’d like you to meet my vice president. I think you may be familiar with her.”

Black Brittney’s egotistical leer was an unpleasant sight to be reminded of. Candace took her place beside Black Brittney also. Candace was wearing a cast on her right arm. I didn’t notice before she put the bag over my head. Angel really did a number on her and yet it wasn’t enough to deter them from kidnapping me.

Maybe, they wouldn’t assault me now that they knew there would be consequences. It was possible that they’d have to hold back. That theory was killed when Black Brittney pulled out a suspicious looking object. She brought it to my neck and shocked me with it. The taser was so painful that I fell out of the chair when she hit me with it. Two of her cronies came over to pick me up and put me back in the chair.

“You like it?” Brittney asked and waved around her taser, “It’s a handheld taser. It’s amazing the things you can buy online these days without an ID. I bought it with you in mind.”

I rubbed the place on my neck where she tased me. As I did that I noticed one major thing. Black Brittney grinned as she noticed my realization. I was learning the reason she bought a taser. It didn’t leave a bruise. As long as she kept it on a lower power setting it wouldn’t leave any long-term marks. She could torture me with this device as much as she wanted with no evidence to show.

“What do you want?” I asked her.

“She speaks!” Brittney shouted, “It looks like my investment was well worth it!”

“We want you to convince Val to drop out of the student council race.” Megan said.

I laughed painfully, still rubbing my neck.

“You’re out of your mind if you think Val will drop out of the race for you. Even if I really begged her to drop out she wouldn’t listen to me.”

“We thought that might be the case.” Megan said, “Which is why we want you to convince the other members of her group to drop out. You don’t need to flat-out tell them to resign from the race. Rather, I want you to tell them the obvious.”

“Which is…?”

Megan let out an annoyed huff.

“It’s the fact that Val isn’t the best choice for student council president. Someone like Valentina Ivanovich shouldn’t be allowed to be school president.”

“You mean, as opposed to someone like you?” I said sarcastically.

Black Brittney tased me for my sharp tongue. Maybe it was best that I didn’t speak after all. Megan winced at my comment. She stepped in front of Brittney. She got down on one knee beside me. She put her hand on mine in some sort of bogus display of sympathy.

She was easy to see through. That cheeky comment actually knocked her down a few notches. She knew that doing something like this put her on the same level as Val. To actually be called out on it wounded her. Her self-identity was being challenged by reality.

“Yes. I might do whatever it takes to win but that’s for the best. It’s for the best that I have the position than Val. I can make real change around here once I’m student president.”

“Changes…? What can you do to change any of the problems this school has? From my point of view people like you are part of the problem.”

“Mark my words. I’ve got the resources and the social influence to make change possible. Can you say the same thing about Val? Do you even know what Val’s plans are? Does anyone? Like me or not, you know I’m what’s best for this school.”

The only thing I heard from her was pure hogwash. Val was a sociopath. That much was known, but Val was the devil I knew. What did I know about Megan other than her narcissistic traits, her egotistical behavior, and now this kidnapping? I returned Megan’s fake smile with a fake smile of my own. Her smile went away.

“There’s a common saying that you may have heard. Better the devil you know than the devil you don’t.”

She stood up and looked down on me with an injured look.

“So you’re not going to cooperate with us?” She asked.

I didn’t respond to that. When she realized that a response wasn’t coming she looked at Black Brittney and gave her a nod. Black Brittney’s ugly leer turned into a disturbing grin.

“She needs a little more convincing,” Black Brittney said. “Everyone get out of the room and leave me alone with her.”

Judging by the look of glee on her face this was what she wanted. She was going to do this no matter what I said. No matter how cooperative I was she was waiting for that nod. All her cultists left the room just as she had demanded. Not a single one of them could stop to testament about how morally wrong this was. I already had little faith in my classmates. The faith I had in them as human beings was continuously dwindling.

What made it okay to treat me like this? Obviously they were bullies and didn’t care. Was that the end-all be-all of their behavioral patterns? It was frustrating to me to see them all turn their backs and walk away so obediently. Not a single person stood up for what was right. When they all walked out of the room Black Brittney came closer to me with her taser.

“What did I ever do to you to deserve this?” I asked her frankly

She looked genuinely intrigued by my question. She probably wasn’t expecting so upfront. I was searching for a way to buy time and perhaps try to escape. If her friends weren’t waiting immediately outside of the door then maybe I could distract her. If I could reach the door then I could make a run for it.

“Do I need a complicated reason? I just hate girls like you. That’s reason enough, isn’t it?”

“Imagine the shoe was on the other foot. Imagine I was the one holding the taser and you were the one with your back against the wall. Wouldn’t you want me to treat you with kindness?”

“With kindness…?” She asked in a laugh.

She broke into complete hysterical laughter. She laughed so hard that she nearly lost her balance while doing so. Then suddenly she stopped laughing, all at once. She gave me a funny look like she had just come up with something. She turned the handle of the electric taser towards me. I stared at it without moving. She took my hand and forced me to hold the taser. She brought the taser to her neck and leered.

“Go on,” She said. “I want to see you treat me with kindness now. Think about everything I’ve done to you and take this chance to get your sweet revenge. Isn’t this the opportunity you’ve been waiting for?” She asked.

The feel of the taser’s handle in my hand gave me a sense of how much she must’ve paid for this thing. It felt like a proper self-defense weapon. The front end was heavier than the back. It felt powerful to put my finger on the trigger, alluring even. Black Brittney braced herself in anticipation, waiting for me to pull it. She was still laughing. She really wanted this.

“You might hate me.” I said.

I tossed the taser off to the side.

“But that doesn’t mean I have to hate you too.”

Black Brittney gave me a dumbfounded look. She couldn’t process my response without looking over at the taser, then back to me. When she did, she snapped. She punched me in the stomach, and then slapped me across the face.

I absorbed the attacks without falling over. She was far weaker than Candace or Valentina. Her form was bad to boot. She was even angrier to see me still standing after her two-part attack. She pounced at me and put her hands around my throat. This was new territory.

“You think you’re better than me?” She shouted.

She tossed me to the ground, and threw herself atop me before I could get up. She put her hands back around my neck and tightened her grip. I fought her hold to break loose, but she wasn’t letting up. I started gasping for air. She had gone completely insane and lost herself to rage.

“I absolutely hate girls like you! I hate you! I hate you! I hate you so much! Why don’t you just die! You…! You little…!”

As it became harder to breath she seemed to realize just how far she had gone. She let go of me, both hands at once. She stood up slowly. She backed up, a couple of steps at a time, and then turned away from me. She straightened out her clothing, strode all the way over to the door at a brisk pace, and then looked back at me one last time. The look on her face was unusually grim. She winced at me as if she were in sharp pain.

“You can keep that stupid taser. Next time I’ll bring something much more painful.”