Chapter 69 – The Student Corrections Authority – Holly Hayfield

Sofi’s determination to stick her nose into Ms. Sampson’s history left me with no other option than the nuclear option. If I couldn’t peacefully get her to stop her interference, then I was willing to invoke old school powers to see my mission through. The simple task that began as a single phone call to Val over the weekend about the situation turned into a campaign of phone calls. Soon we had the formation of a freshly formed committee.

The contacts that I pulled for this new group were the most helpful, capable people that had helped me with the Fall Festival. They were all remnants of the Fall Festival’s event committee. I wasn’t the only one making moves. Val was assembling her own assortment of hand-picked personnel to join our group. Most of Val’s connections were also the highest ranking members of her Meredith Solidarity chat group. All of those girls seemed to share Val’s frame of mind regarding school culture. However, many of these girls were rough around the edges, and lacked any sort of sense culture themselves.

These two factions married together to form what would become the Student Corrections Authority. The group, as mentioned by Val in our newly formed SCA ChatCat group, would be the instrument by which the student council orchestrated the school. People joining in would be like extended members of the student council. That being the case, we decided to hold our first meeting on Monday at the library during study hall. With my power as a junior member of the staff I was able to grant permission for all the members to leave study hall.

“Welcome everyone,” Val said as she address the group, “Thank you all for agreeing to join this Student Corrections Authority. I’m glad you all were willing to accept our invitation.”

The tables inside the library were arranged differently to accommodate this meeting. It was setup similarly to a public forum. At the front and main table, the student council members sat beside Val. The other tables were set up into two long rows facing each other. On one side of the room were the members that I recruited from the event committee. On the other side of the room were the members from Val’s Meredith Solidarity group.

“Let’s skip the formalities and get straight into business.” A girl from the event committee side of the room said, “Tell us exactly what this Student Corrections Authority is. So far all you’ve given us is virtue signaling and useless platitudes. Tell us what we’re really here for.”

Even Val was taken aback by this girl’s fiery tone and language. She wasn’t expecting someone that would put her on the spot.

“I’m sorry, you are…?” Val asked.

That was when I felt that I needed to chime in.

“This is Alison Yale.” I said. “She was instrumental in coordinating the Fall Festival. She took the lead over setup the night before and oversaw the finalization of the decorations that would be put up.”

Alison held her head high.

“It’s not that I don’t want to help you, Ms. Ivanovich, but I need real information to work with here. Tell me plainly what you plan to do with this Student Corrections Authority. As I hear, this school function was abolished several decades ago. Why reestablish it now, in your senior year?”

Val grimaced as she thought of how to respond adequately.

“I plan to install a set of new rules.” Val said honestly. “I need this committee in order to enforce them. Everyone knows our school is like the Wild West right now. I want to change that.”

“No disrespect meant, but that might be beyond your ability.” Alison said. “This situation has formed over the course of several generations of students.”

“And it will take several generations of students to fix, I know.” Val said. “We’ve got to start somewhere and I believe I’m the one that I can institute change. We’ve got a number of things going for us, but also we have Holly and Lilith who both have hopes of working here long after we’re done.”

“This committee is also made up from girls of different grades.” Jay added, “The goal is that we leave the next student council in a better position than we started in. They do so for the next, and so on.”

“Exactly!” Val said, “We can get the ball rolling.”

“I see,” Alison said, “I’m willing to hear you out then.”

Val went ahead and reiterated her mission statement for the Student Council Authority. In accordance with Alison’s wishes, she tried to leave out the fluff. After all, this wasn’t a random school crowd. This was the group we’d be working with. They needed to know what their job would entail. Val was honest and upfront about the shortcomings in her plan. She admitted that she wasn’t sure about what the best course of action was to proceed. She just felt that the SCA would perform a vital role if she was going to get anything done in her term as president.

“That’s the gist of it.” Val said, “Whether or not we can really make change around here will depend on how much cooperation we can get from the student body.”

Amy Jordan was in attendance on the event committee side of the tables. She waved a hand to signal to Val.

“Is that why you formed the Meredith Solidarity group?” Amy asked. “I noticed that you didn’t start recruiting for that group until after the Fall Festival.”

“That’s right.” Val said. “Everyone was shaken up by Ms. Logan’s murder. I know it might look shady to progress my own interests so soon after her death, but it had to be done. This rare event of a teacher passing away had to be capitalized on. Few things can bring together a student body like that.”

“And that’s for the best.” A girl from the Meredith Solidarity side of the table said.

I knew this girl only in passing. Her name was Gayla O’Brien. Since Val’s ChatCat group was so large, encompassing almost half of the student body now, she needed assistants to act as moderators. Lilith, Sam, and I were busy at the time with our own pursuits, and Jay couldn’t moderate it all alone. Val recruited two people that she met after becoming student council president to fulfill this role. Gayla was one of them.

“Ms. Logan’s death gave us a chance.” Gayla said, “We may as well use it.”

Val nodded.

“The obvious problem right now is that eventually the group will run out of steam. Once things have normalized around here in the coming weeks the group chat will definitely lose participation.” Val said.

Charlotte, who was sitting not far from Alison, raised her hand. Val nodded at her.

“We could do more events.” Charlotte suggested. “The Fall Festival didn’t go as planned because of what happened to Ms. Logan, but it had a huge turnout.”

“That’s true.” Val said. “The event committee did a great job getting the word out. It’s why I’m glad so many of you are joining us now. As for events, I’d like to do something during school hours. A lot of people might shy away from an after school event after what happened to Ms. Logan. I want to do something uplifting.”

I tapped my chin in thought.

“At the school Amy and I used to go to we had spirit rallies to celebrate school spirit around this time.” I said.

Lilith, who was sitting beside me, leaned in with interest.

“It can’t just be a generic school celebration either,” Lilith said. “The school’s anniversary is next month in November. The school used to hold assemblies for the anniversary every year. My parents used to drag me to each one. Since we’re busy restarting old functions, how about we restart that one as well?”

Val thought about it for a moment.

“I think it’s a good idea. We’ll talk about this again later during a student council meeting.” Val said to Lilith, and then addressed everyone else. “Before we go on, we should talk about why we initially set up this meeting in the first place.”

Val raised a hand to me.

“Right,” I said. “I’ll be the one that explains the situation. There’s this club, an obscure club, which is refusing to back down from a serious situation. They were discovered handing out copies of this in the cafeteria.”

I raised a copy of The Night of the Killing Cat so that everyone in attendance could see it. They all looked at it with a bit of interest. They were probably asking themselves what sort of publication could land this small club into trouble.

“Continue,” Val said.

“The story itself isn’t of great importance.” I admitted. “The thing that Ms. Sampson is angry over is the author. It’s by Malorie Noelle, the girl that was reported missing during her high school senior year. It isn’t a secret that Ms. Logan was close friends with this girl. The rumor that this club, the Occult Club, is spreading is that Ms. Sampson had a hand in her disappearance.”

“Which isn’t exactly wrong,” Lilith whispered to herself beside me.

“In any case,” I said loudly to speak over Lilith, “I’d like to get them to stop, not for Ms. Sampson’s sake, but for their own. Ms. Sampson is still under investigation after Ms. Logan’s death. Everyone saw them fight the night Ms. Logan was killed. If the pamphlet the two girls of the Occult Club are handing out becomes popular they could be in serious trouble. I don’t want them to be sacrificial lambs in this situation.”

“I don’t understand.” One of the girls on Val’s side of the room said flatly. “Why not just go to their clubroom and clean them out. Burn the copies they have, and if they dare to make more, then promise that they’ll seriously regret it.”

This particular girl was one that I was afraid to hear speak. Her name was Riley Webb. From Val’s explanation of her they used to be companions a year ago. That was until Riley joined a vicious clique that I wasn’t all that familiar with. I did know that she was recently kicked out of that clique, however. Her being in Val’s new group was less about solidarity and more about helping her old friend take control of the school.

“That’s not the type of solution I was aiming for,” I said diplomatically, “I don’t want to hurt or threaten these two girls. I just want them to fall in line because whatever punishment I can cook up for them will be nothing compared to whatever the vice principal does to them. Sofi is an interesting girl, albeit fairly temperamental. Alyssa is a caring friend to her. I’m not going to come out guns blazing.”

“Then what is the alternative?” Riley asked, “If they won’t submit, and you can’t convince them, then do we really have any other choice? We’ve got to put them in their place. That’s how this school works.”

“That is precisely what we’re here to change.” Val said authoritatively in a booming voice, “Holly is absolutely right. I picked Holly as my vice president because she has a gentle nature. She’s exactly what the school needs in order to change this toxic culture.”

Riley looked unconvinced by this. She was tapping her pen obnoxiously against the table she was sitting at. Even the event committee side was wondering if this was more virtue signaling or Val’s true ideology. Val was looking at the room, taking note of this. She addressed everyone as she went on.

“Some of you here are used to violence. It’s why many of us are here at this school right now. It’s easy to be stuck in the mindset of a veteran warrior. I think, if the school is going to progress like I want it to, then we can’t be a band of veteran warriors. We need peacemakers like Holly. How we deal with these cliques will set the tone for future SCA members after we’re gone.”

Riley flipped her pen around in her fingers.

“That’s well and all, but you and I both know that we’re not going to gain respect by sitting around singing Kumbaya.” Riley said, “If the SCA is really going to have any authority then they need to respect us. In order to respect us, they have to fear us.”

“I’m not against using violence altogether,” Val admitted, “But it should be only as a last resort and only in the most extreme of cases. If we’re going to change this school’s culture then we have to lead by example.”

Gayla shrugged.

“I don’t know chief. That sounds like a big ask. That still leaves the problem of handling Holly’s case.” Gayla said. “How are you going to get the Occult Club to take you seriously? Or anyone else for that matter?”

Valentina stood up and began pacing around near the front table. Then she turned and looked at everyone.

“We’re going to liquidate them.” Valentina said.

Everyone whispered amongst themselves, trying to decipher Val’s meaning.

“Liquidate them…?” Amy asked out loud, “How…?”

“They’ve got their club set up in the far wings. They use that entire area without challenge from any of the teachers. Their position has gone unchallenged for as long as there has been an Occult Club.” Val said. “Now we’re going to challenge them.”

Everyone stared at Val, still not taking her meaning. Even I was a little perplexed as to where this was going. Val stood in front of our table and leaned back against it.

“I’m going to serve them a cease and desist.” Val said. “They are using that hall, and their clubroom without any permission from anyone. Unless unofficial clubs register with the SCA then they’ll effectively be banned. If they refuse play by our rules then we’ll permanently lock up all the illegitimately occupied rooms. On top of that, we’ll put any items they’ve placed there back into storage where it belongs. From here on out the SCA will rein in all these unofficial clubs.”

Everyone was stunned to hear this. Val wasn’t just declaring this against the Occult Club. Every single club, or anyone using a room in an unofficial capacity. It would allow her to whip these organizations by holding their unofficial property hostage. Not everyone was happy to hear this, most of all someone sitting at the front table. Sam, who had looked half-asleep up until now, was suddenly wide awake.

“Umm, excuse me…?!” Sam shouted outspokenly, “You didn’t mention any of this to me. This changes the calculus of your plans massively!”

Val looked back at her with an annoyed glare.

“Maybe if you hadn’t run off with Naomi during our last lunch meeting then we could’ve got to this.”

Sam returned Val’s glare.

“We had business to take care of off campus! You can’t use that against me! You and Naomi had a deal!”

“And we still do,” Val said, “I plan to offer lenience to Naomi and her group’s use of the Old Science Wing as long as they stay in our grace, just like everyone else.”

Sam scoffed.

“You can’t hold these groups hostage like this!” Sam shouted. “I can’t believe you! We trusted you! Do you honestly believe that you can just waltz in and tear down group structures that have existed for years? All of Naomi’s girlfriend find their identity in her group! I found my identity in her group.”

“We have a school identity now.” Val said. “We’ll have a culture of unitary solidarity.”

Sam was about to fly into another round of disagreements when someone else interrupted.

“Ms. Quinn has a point.” Alison said. “If you think the entire student body is going to be loyal to you like that then you’re mistaken. Don’t hold any illusions that your unitary culture will have any grasp over what people do day-to-day. Even if you were able to ban all these groups, clubs, and cliques overnight then they’d still default to hanging out with their usual companions under another name. Let’s not become too mad with power.”

“Thank you!” Sam said. “You put it far better than I could.”

Alison laughed.

“I never thought I’d find myself agreeing with the She-wolf! What a funny world.”

Sam blinked in surprise at the nickname.

“She-wolf…?” I asked.

“You know my old nickname…? Wait… You’re from East Oak Academy?” Sam asked.

Alison smiled.

“I am. I’m surprised you don’t remember me. I remember you quite well. Then again, you did stand out quite a bit. Perhaps you should tell Ms. Ivanovich about the social system from our past school.”

Val looked between Sam and Alison.

“What about it? That’s a private school for wealthy kids, right? I’m not sure whatever happened there would apply to an alternative school.”

“You’re mistaken.” Sam said. “We had trouble with cliques, but it was on a totally different level. That school had a caste system where everyone fit into rigid boxes that were basically based on connections. At the very top of the caste system was the academy’s donor families.”

“A group that Samantha herself has ample experience with.” Alison noted.

“The point is that we have to be careful.” Sam said, ignoring Alison’s comment. “If we do it the way you’re suggesting then you might be creating that type of caste system here, but with each caste’s position based on how the SCA regards them.”

“Then what are you suggesting?” Val asked.

“We can still institute a process for recognizing these clubs.” Alison said. “We just need to be more tactful about it. We’re trying to take over a school, not a country. Instead of showing up at their door and demanding they follow our rules, we do it through official channels. Ms. Hayfield was allowed to give the morning announcements before. Maybe we could make an announcement of our own.”

Everyone turned their attention to me. Val walked back around the table to take her seat. She looked at me, just like the rest of them. I shrugged.

“I can’t make any promises, but I can try.” I said. “This school lacks any sort of official process for creating new clubs. It’s why we have so many unofficial clubs in the first place. We’ll start by fixing that. Instead of threatening these clubs to follow SCA rules or be stomped out, we’ll instead offer them the chance at legitimization and benefits that come with it, like financial support. We’ll have an in-school event for this. An afternoon totally dedicated towards club registration and recruitment.”

“We’re offering the olive branch instead of the whip.” Alison noted.

Val’s eyes widened at the suggestion.

“Then we can have them sign the papers about following the student council rules for official clubs without even threatening anyone.” Val said admiringly.

“And if they don’t follow the rules then we have a perfectly valid excuse to shake them down!” Riley said, “It’s subtle! I love it!”

“And it sets a precedent that no one will be shut down out of nowhere.” Sam said. “It’s better than the other version, but Naomi still won’t like it.”

“A lot of groups won’t,” Jay noted, “But it’s a start towards making the school a better place. I can’t believe I’m about to say this, but Holly is incredibly smart.”

That reluctant praise from Jay gave me the confidence to move forward with this version of the plan.

I stood up to get everyone’s attention for the full details.

“Here’s the plan I’m going to present to the vice principal.”