Virtue | A TWENTY

I found myself in the elevator with that stylish French lady once again. I dubbed her by the name Mademoiselle.

I concluded she must've been staying on the same floor as me to cause this reoccurrence. Today she wore a black pencil skirt that spectacularly defined her slim waist line and a scarlet red laced blouse.

Her hair wasn't as artfully assembled, unfortunately. Its bleached blonde tips with dark roots were bounded in a sloppily done bun, the numerous strands of hair stemming were proof of this.

Her manicured nails clung to the coffee in her shaky left hand. It hadn't seemed to have been her first cup, in regards to the shiny silvery grains sprinkled on the firmly sealed plastic lid and her wristwatch.

She probably ordered the first cup from room service where cream and sugar were in irritatingly air tight packets. Along with the astonishing quantity that matched a pea. I didn't get it with posh places having miniature sizes. This being a perfect example of why it needed to change. The lady who clearly had a high consciousness to appearance and how other people thought of her, probably didn't want to be known by the staff as that person ordering numerous rounds. Even if she'd probably never see their faces again after checking out.

Presumably after struggling to open her sugar and only succeeding to make a mess, she opted for the easier choice of heading to the coffee shop three blocks down for a mega large that cost ten pounds less than what the hotel charged. I'd done the same a few times when seriously craving proper proportioned hot chocolate.

Mademoiselle somehow managed to be ranting on her phone with her free hand while a thick binder was tucked under her arm. Which had me wondering if multitasking came naturally or through a series of industries pushing overloads on their employees. Past her flawless make up, I could see it in her eyes she'd barely slept a wink.

The doors opened to reveal the lobby and as she strode out, I realised I'd spent the whole ride concerning myself about a stranger's troubles. Perhaps because I empathised them with my own.

When I wasn't tormented by Garren's words the other day, I would be up all night thinking about dad losing the bakery. To distract myself, I turned to reading one of the erotic novels Ben had sent me. It was surprisingly poetic rather than just foreplay. I saw the genre in a new light.

I knew dad still hadn't cashed in the cheque. I had uncle Louie's bank account credentials memorised and would check through my phone for any sign of particular large figure withdrawals. There had been no changes since the last couple of days that I'd looked. No matter how many times I'd refresh the page.

The weekend suddenly felt too far away. I was antsy to solve this matter already and contemplated on just skyving this morning. After all, Mrs. Harvey's linguistics class was a breeze, as was Home Economics of course and I knew nobody would miss me in PE.

The pros outweighed the cons in skipping and I was preparing to dash back to my room to change, when my phone alerted me of a new message. Ashton had sent a text filled with only emojis and grammatically erroneous amount of exclamations. Attached was a link to a clip which I gathered she wanted me to urgently see.

I played it and the picture came to screen a very pretty young woman. An embroidered band rested atop her brown curls and a cardigan over the shoulders which was how far the camera exposed her. It was decorated with pins and without the extravagant trophy shelf or spacious bedroom behind, I could tell she stood in a high class.

"Greetings, all. It's your faithful steed Virtue," she said with a smile. "Hope you had a wonderful day, if you didn't - tomorrow's another opportunity. Keep your chin up. Now, this vlog will be another personal read on current public affairs & events. I'll be centering this on the crimes of capitalism in today's society. It saddens me to say, my dear friends, it has only fallen deeper in influence and oppressive power."

I hovered my finger on the exit button. I wasn't keen on hearing arbitrary discussions when the bus out of the district would pass in ten minutes or so.

"It's targeted any kind of establishments lately. Businesses, politics or even... the education systems. I'll give an example of a pure bred manufacture of its effects currently around. I'm sure some of you have seen this wolf who wears sheep's clothing in the magazines or on TV not too long ago."

I was suddenly getting an unsettling feeling from where this was going.

"He goes by the name of Garren Adler."

**

I couldn't seem to arrive at the academy soon enough. Why had I gotten so bothered that I'd chosen it over the bakery? I don't know, I could never seem to understand myself anymore.

Just hearing that woman speak for a whole ten minutes on St. Sinclair's notorious prince of darkness in a far from appraising note had me stirred. My mouth hung in awe at every proceeding second. From how she proclaimed Garren's post as captain of Coeus was an injustice conspired by corporate greedy mongrels out to defile order all for the sake of their prejudice belief in ignorant, rich pigs as superior to all.

That wasn't the worst part. There were anonymous letters she read out from girls allegedly Garren harassed, bullied or called racial slurs and one he caused into almost committing suicide.

The mention of him being against donations and charity, even how he had only attended the game show out of obligation. Alongside making claims she suspected the boy of severe disorders that needed to be verified in case he actually should've been admitted to a psychiatric ward.

I couldn't argue on that one though, honestly.

Not once did this woman alter from her refined demeanour or graceful speech etiquette like a professor talking in a lecture hall, but the message was clear. It wasn't about capitalism or corporate greed. It was a big middle finger to solely Garren.

"The video is epic," enthused Liam. All years were migrating to the auditorium for the morning assembly scheduled every first Monday of the month. Today being that day.

It had completely slipped my mind since the only thing on it after leaving the hotel was the audacious video my friends were gushing over.

"I know right? The part where she compared him to a cabbage field was priceless!" chuckled Ashton. I supposed I would've let out a few laughs too if I wasn't thinking about the consequences. I appeared to be the only one conscious of that.

It was like they were forgetting just who they were dealing with here. Garren may have been one of a thousand spoilt, ignorant rich boys but he was also a diabolical brainiac and psychotic. That was a more dangerous combination than a flame on oil.

"I've watched it like, three times," stated Ashton. "This Virtue lady is my new hero."

Liam nodded. "It's a seriously thorough job too. Isn't she a uni student? How'd she get all that stuff?"

Those were my thoughts exactly. It was too in depth. Most of what she ranted was complete lies but only a fraction inside the academy would know that already. Specifically, those in Coeus who were around him to know that Garren never needed to stoop as low as gender or ethnicity to ridicule someone. The only thing that was definitely true was the unorthodox captain voting which made the margin of suspects limited to the members and board.

"It's not like it's a secret that people hate the arsehole," said Ashton. "I'm glad someone finally had the balls to address it to the world."

"It was a little over the line though."

Ashton's smile dropped. A taken aback look on her stare directed me, along with Liam as the words slipped out. I was surprised by them too. It was the first time I'd blurted something out instead of reviewing it mentally.

I cleared my throat. "I mean, outing someone is one thing, but she just went ahead to tell a bunch of stories that weren't true. Isn't that a bit wrong?"

The pair exchanged a glance. "It was just a piece, Steves. She wasn't referring to only Garren," replied Liam.

"Yeah and even if she was, what does it matter? It's only a short clip. Seems kinda little compared to him having sixteen years to get away with stepping over people and treating them like dirt. Why the heck are you defending him?"

"I wasn't-

"She wasn't defending him, Ash," Liam cut me off. "You know Steves is just sensitive about this kind of stuff."

"What? No." I interjected. "This isn't about defending or whatever. I'm talking about the objective. What point was she trying to prove with all that? Rather than an evaluation, it looked more like she was picking a fight and..."

At that, a certain blonde haired boy with warm brown eyes came into sights in an interceding line up ahead.

His eyes locked on to me with a beckoning motion. My legs obeyed. "Hold on one sec," I muttered to my friends as I shuffled past.

I didn't even wait for their response and advanced, ignoring the form teacher hollering at me to get back in place and ruining the orderly fashion.

Will had detached himsef also from his row and we camped by the radiators. "Hey."

"Hey."

It only just dawned on me this was the first time we'd spoken since he came to the hotel to try and convince me. It felt a little awkward, even if it was unintended.

I tried to brush passed it. "What is it?"

Will swiftly followed my lead. "Have you seen Garren?"

The unmistakable anxiousness in his tone made me frown. "No. Why?"

He passed me a look as if wondering if I were joking. "Cause of the video."

I didn't need any clarification. My eyes widened. "He's seen it?"

"Definitely!"

"Definitely as in yes or you're assuming?"

"What's the difference?" He looked a few moments close to biting on his nails.

Okay, so there was someone conscious of it other than me.

"Will, you can't be freaking out when you're not even certain."

"I don't have to be. It's Virtue. I mean, I can understand the other sites and okay, the cabbage field bit was pretty funny but how could the university let her post that on the campus page? Aren't they strict on their monitor content?"

"...Wait, what do you mean other sites?"

I thought it couldn't get worse.

I had calculated there was a high chance it wouldn't reach him. The link was traced back to an exclusive school website of a prestigious university up north. There was only a thirty four percent chance.

I was mistaken. Will showed me that not only had the videos been up on the university, people had started uploading it on other mainstream video platforms.

You wouldn't have to be enrolled or connected to any of the neighbouring schools in the district to stumble upon it. Anyone in the country wouldn't even need to meet Garren to hate him. What was crazier, the video had only been put on the web just last night.

"You think he's pissed?" My voice barely above a whisper.

"Have you met Garren? I'm hoping pissed is all he's feeling," replied Will.

"Like he has any right to be," barked an obnoxious voice.

I had never seen a more pleased expression on that of the face of Philip Sullivan.

Philip stepped up to Will, hands in pockets. Chin tipped in exhibition of his elation. "Everything said about him was spot on. He can go ahead and be a no show, throw a tantrum- it's not gonna change anything. Do me a favour and tell that scum I told him he'd get what's coming to him."

Will snarled deeply at the senior but said nothing. Philip matched it with a smirk and proceeded to walk onwards, purposely bumping my shoulder as he passed.

Will's glare remained on Philip's back as he grew further into the multitude.

"I think it was him who fed the info on Garren to Virtue," I said. "There's no way any one outside the club-"

"Yeah, I know." nodded Will. "I didn't want to jump to the conclusions about the tool, but he didn't say all that to provoke me. It was to gloat. He doesn't care if we're onto him."

"I can't believe I didn't suspect him sooner," I muttered.

"Who were you suspecting?"

I shrugged. "Ewen?"

"What?"

"I don't know what goes through that boy's head. And all the other guys are too spineless to grass."

"... Fair point," Will agreed.

"Have you tried reaching him through the phone?"

"Yeah, but-"

A sharp buzzing from Will's pocket interrupted him and he retrieved the device, hastily answering. "Ben, hey." He straightened as the voice on the other end responded. "H-He's with you? Where?"

I followed Will's turning gaze as it swerved around the queued form of bodies until it landed on a particular brown haired boy emerging from the east entrance, phone by ear and waving over with the cause of our rising anxiety stalking closely behind. The impassiveness in his expression not what I expected from someone who got slandered all over the web.

"He looks... pretty calm," I commented.

"Yeah..."

"I-Is that bad?" I questioned.

"I have no clue."

Before either of us could attempt to approach, there was a loud holler from a very angry Mr. Anderson, vein bulging and tightened jaw sharp enough to cut steel. It wasn't a pretty sight.

We begrudgingly heeded and joined a line, not out of fear of detention but from the saliva foaming at the seams of his lips.

Once everyone was situated in their seats, Ms. Shepherd came onto the podium and commenced her speech. Throughout, I kept glancing to the section where Garren was seated. As were a few others, whispering to each other obviously in the spirit of gossip.

However, he didn't seem to notice or pay mind. He hadn't shifted from his laxed posture other than to yawn. How was he so calm?

Had he somehow been the minor percent of the community to not have seen it? Could such a miracle be possible?

**

I knew Ashton was going to bite my head off for rudely walking off, so I was glad when Ms. Shepherd announced at the end of her speech that all Coeus members were to report to her office before heading to classes. It gave me a valid excuse to dodge her and time to script a suitable apology.

I'd never really taken time to examine the drab interior of the headmaster's chamber. All my past visits had been emotionally stirring ones, my mind was preoccupied. This time, I intently admired every inch of the room because it spared my stomach the turmoil of meeting the ominous eyes of the woman sat in her chair before us.

The nine of us sat as she studied us for a whole minutes in silence. Then she spoke.

"I'll just jump right into it; I'm guessing you've all seen the video online."

Murmurs of concurrence went around the room, excluding one. "What video?"

Astonished gazes met Garren's look of genuine perplexity.

"The video Virtue made," started Fraiser. Garren only look more puzzled so the other boy elaborated. "That's her vlogger name. Her real name is Esme Ivanov. She's a second year in Parr University, she graduated from St. Sinclair too. She uploaded a video uh, mentioning you."

Garren lifted a brow. "Oh really?"

"You know Gary," piped Ben. "The one I sent you last night."

Immediate recognition flashed in Garren's visage at that. "Oh, right. That one."

"You sent it to him?" Will's eyes saucer wide at the other boy. I too, along with the others was equally gobsmacked.

Ben shrugged. "The cabbage part was really funny."

"I couldn't bother watching the whole thing after she started saying something about capitals, was it?" Garren's brows knitted, seeming to try to recall. "It was hard to listen with that hideous cardigan she was wearing. God, it was terrible. Looked like something a grandma would knit-

Ms. Shepherd raised an eyebrow.

"No offense," He added. "Wait, is that what we've been called in here for?"

I saw tension leave Will's shoulders. Evidently relieved that there was no need to panic about a hurricane arriving any time soon.

"This young lady has made a lot of serious accusations about you, Garren," Ms. Shepherd said.

His remoteness didn't shift. "I'll let you pick whatever lawyer you believe will be suitable to handle it but I won't speak to them until after four. I've got football practice today."

"You won't be required to get an lawyer, Garren."

"Oh. Well I'm not sleeping with her either. Katherine Walsh was the final straw."

Ms. Shepherd sighed. "Garren she isn't doing this to gain sexual favours or to sue you. Miss Ivanov disapproves of you being captain of Coeus and has made claims on the decision being foul play. Along with several other ones that I feel might be... hard to separate your name without blurring some lines and could easily stir misunderstandings at the intentions based on solely a goodwill."

I fought back a scoff. The head sure had an interesting way of saying she was going to lie.

Garren finally seemed to be taking this serious by the narrowed gaze he bore. "... Are you sure she's just not doing this so I'll sleep with her?"

Silence ensued. I saw Will suppress a chuckle.

If it were possible for Ms. Shepherd to seem more weary and jaded than old age had burdened her with, it was apparent at that moment. "No."

"Positive?"

"Her last two relationships were both with women," Amina supplied. "So yeah, we're positive."

"Right... so why are we discussing some unfashionable broad's opinion of me?" He questioned. His first relevant question.

"She might not hold any power to forcibly have you removed but she has high appeal in social statistics. Her vlog has more than a half of the nation's top schools as viewers. The number has doubled since this video came on. Doubled." The emphasis vividly clear. "I need every public faction on Coeus' sides. I don't want even a pebble like this smearing it. How long has it been since the director assigned you to be captain?"

Garren thought momently. "Roughly three weeks."

"Three weeks," She parroted. "Three weeks and there's a ruckus."

"This isn't a ruckus-"

"In the three decades since this academy was founded, there has never been a problem in Coeus. Not a single one! We've never even had members ousted. If you don't sort this out then I will. Is that understood?"

Garren nodded. "Yes, ma'am."

I didn't believe it for a second and I was bracing myself for another slap. It didn't happen and Garren calmly rose to his feet.

"I didn't say you could leave yet. I'd like to hear from your fellow members on who gave Miss Ivanov that confidential information-

"No need. It was probably that prick Philip. This lot are too spineless for that."

Will couldn't hold back his chuckles this time. "Stevie said the same thing."

Unwanted stares fell on me and I wanted to throw a glare at the boy for the unneeded mention. I was perfectly intact with being invisible. Until I saw the pleased grin from none other than the person who was comparable to cabbage.

I really shouldn't have came in to school today.