In the large conference room of the administration building, Nicholas and his gang stood lazily in front of the school board, looking completely unbothered.
The principal cleared his throat. “We’ve already looked into the situation.”
“It’s true that Nicholas and his friends were in the wrong, but since we intervened in time and no real harm was done, let’s not make this bigger than it needs to be.
“Let’s all take a step back and put this matter to rest.”
A classic move—sweeping everything under the rug.
I smiled. “Is that so? Then I’d like Nicholas Scott to apologize to me. That’s not too much to ask, is it?”
“Apologize? To you?”
Nicholas let out a laugh, as if I’d just told the funniest joke in the world.
“You think you deserve that?”
I leaned back casually. “Well, I do have the security footage. If that’s the case, let’s just call the police and let them handle it.”
The tension in the room spiked.
Neither of us backed down.
On one side was Nicholas, the so-called golden boy of the elite circle, backed by wealth and power.
On the other was me, the top-ranked student in the grade, someone who not only excelled but had also helped lift an entire class of underachievers.
If this incident escalated into a full-blown police case, it would be a disaster for the school’s reputation.
The principal couldn’t afford to openly offend either side, so he signaled for a teacher to pull me aside for a private talk.
“Lucy, we understand that you’ve been wronged. It was our oversight not to step in earlier.
“As compensation, the school will award you this year’s highest academic scholarship.
“Additionally, we’ll be implementing stricter policies to ensure that no student in Class Thirteen will get mistreated again. Would that be acceptable?”
