Chapter 55 – Off with the Ball and Chain – Holly Hayfield

My seat on stage in the gymnasium felt unfamiliar. Despite an academic history of excellence I had never been in such a relatively powerful position. Now that Valentina was officially about to accept the role of student council president in front of a crowd of hundreds, the weight of the situation really fell on me. Looking down from my seat on this stage at the many faces watching Ms. Sampson speak it really felt like I was in a whole new world.

“Now that the introduction is out of the way, I’d like to welcome your new student council president to the microphone. Please, everyone, give President Valentina a warm welcome as she delivers her victory speech.” Ms. Sampson said.

The room was filled with thunderous applause as Val came up to the microphone. Ms. Sampson clapped and backed away as Val took her place. Val, in the presence of supplemental stage lights, looked every bit the part. Her stride was regal. Her posture was firm. The way her face lit up as she smiled gave her a mythical aura, like a cartoon princess. As she stood in front of the podium microphone to address the crowd with confidence, I felt lingering doubts within my heart. Would she become everything I hoped she would, or fall back into old habits?

“Thank you everyone,” Valentina said to the crowd, “I’d like to take this time to thank you all for your support in the election. I know it may sound unnecessary since one candidate dropped out and the other was disqualified, but I want everyone to know that I still appreciate the gesture.”

As Valentina spoke the cheering and screaming of the crowd had yet to die down. Despite the circumstances that allowed Valentina to step into her new role unchallenged, people still felt strongly about her. As far as this crowd was concerned the other two being excluded from the vote was totally unimportant. They were as electrified as they had all voted for her themselves. For most of them that was probably the reality.

When it was learned that neither Megan nor Erica would be contesting Valentina, Ms. Sampson created a slight change in the rules. The race became a free for all with students being able to write in whoever they pleased. This would give the mere illusion that the race wasn’t a shoo-in for Valentina, even though it very much was. Most of the students, especially the younger students, likely didn’t have anyone in particular they wanted to vote for on mind by the time their turn to vote came. Valentina was the easiest name to write in.

“Long ago, our founder created this school with the dream of creating a place that troubled girls could go to heal.” Valentina said while reading from the script Lilith had made for her. “For much of our school’s history we have fallen far short of that dream. My dream is to revitalize Judith Meredith’s dream. Our student council may be limited in size, but we are not limited in goals.”

Valentina went on reading Lilith’s script line-for-line. It was fortunate that they both felt so similarly about the state of the school. Lilith was sitting beside me on the stage, with Sam and Jay sitting on the other side of her. She was watching nervously as Valentina delivered her speech. She was biting her nails, as though she was worried about how people would react to it. That was one thing she didn’t have to worry about at all. The student body had yet to stop cheering since the moment Valentina took the mic.

“As your new student council president I promise to uphold the values of the school’s founder and create a school she would be proud of!” Valentina was speaking much louder as she was getting emotionally involved with the speech, “Only together can we create the sort of exceptional of school we wish for. Only together will we be able to revive the founder’s dream. I’m asking you all to put your faith into me as we forge a path forward!”

Somehow, as Valentina spoke, the crowd became even louder. Lilith, no longer interested in the speech, put her hands over her ears to dull the shouting. Val looked at me.

“Now please listen to a few remarks from my student council vice president, Holly Hayfield!” She said.

Valentina backed away from the microphone as I stood up to take her place. As Valentina walked by me she gave me a pat on the back.

“They’re all warmed up for you,” Valentina said, “Knock them dead.”

“Thanks.” I said.

As I walked up to the podium the crowd felt twice as large from this new vantage point. They were still cheering wildly even as I peered over the podium to get a better look at the scale of the crowd. There were a few familiar faces I noticed, mostly Naomi’s girlfriends wearing easily spotted masks, but for the most part it was a sea of the unknown. I could feel the energy of the room as I listened to them cheer. It was like being at the center of a storm.

It was amazing to me that they were even excited to hear someone like me speak. For me, that was confirmation that I had achieved the goal I had when I accepted Val’s request to join her student council. My status within the school’s social hierarchy had skyrocketed straight to space. However, with that rising status came rising expectations. I didn’t want to disappoint them and make a fool of myself now that I had arrived.

The cheering died down a bit as I lost the words that I wanted to say. Unlike Val, I didn’t have a pre-written script to guide me. I only had the words that were on my mind and in my heart. Before coming up to the microphone I had some semblance of a plan. Now that I was faced with this enthusiastic crowd, a feeling of overwhelming anxiety set upon me. The room grew silent as people realized how nervous I was. That’s when I pulled the microphone closer to me.

“Hello…” I said faintly.

It felt odd to hear my own voice in the microphone. I wasn’t used to it. The crowd laughed at my opening statement. I laughed too. It wasn’t the epic introduction that I had planned for myself. I took a deep breath to reaffirm myself why I was here. I closed my eyes and gathered my thoughts. When I opened them I remembered just what I sat out to accomplish.

“My name is Holly Hayfield. I’m your student council vice president.” I said firmly. “What I want to talk to you about today isn’t about the election. I want to talk to you about that last thing that Val mentioned in her speech. I want to talk to you all about the path forward.”

I let the cheering die down some more before going on. The message I wanted to deliver was somber and serious. Before continuing I wanted to make sure that I had their attention.

“Recently, I got the chance to talk to another student here that went to the same former high school as me, Cherry Vale Public High School. We reminisced over our old school lives and talked about how we ended up getting here. It was the first time that I had met someone here that attended the same school as me. I thought that somehow, I was completely alone here. Somehow, my struggles were unique and isolated.”

As I spoke about this very serious topic the audience was completely quiet. I knew now that they were listening with interest.

“After a few weeks of being here I thought ‘this is it for me, isn’t it?’ like somehow being sent here would end my chances at a normal life. The distance between who I was and who I am now felt too vast. Then when I learned how clique-centric everyone here was the distance between me and everyone else felt even more staggering. It was like I was tainted from returning to who I was, but couldn’t make out my identity here in this new world.”

My voice was getting involuntarily emotional as I spoke. These were my honest feelings put into words and I could only hope they were resonating with the audience.

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“Then my world changed when Valentina made me part of her student council election group. Thanks to her, I’ve finally found a place to belong. However, Val has helped me realize something bigger. I’m not the only one who has been in this position of isolation. Some of you may have joined a clique that you don’t entirely agree with or enjoy. Even that sort of alienation can be as bad as isolation.”

This was something I had seen first-hand, after all. This school accepted somewhat troubled girls and churned out radically troubled girls. My first experience with such a case was Amber being forced to do Black Brittney’s bidding. The most extreme case was the story of Malorie being betrayed by her friends.

“I want all of you out there to know that you aren’t alone.” I said. “The path forward won’t be easy, but we will face these problems together.”

I looked back at Valentina without moving too far away from the mic. Her face was emotional, but not in the way I expected. I was expecting her political presentation smile. Instead, she looked to be tearing up.

“Valentina has put her heart into this.” I said to the crowd. “However, she isn’t the only one. She handpicked our group because we all feel the same way about this school’s culture. We all share similar experiences to the ones I mentioned. That’s not all, either. As you know, many of the teachers that teach here were once former students. They too believe in the dream.”

I straightened out my posture to deliver my closing message.

“Starting this school year, with all of us, this school is going to change.” I said. “We will make change happen. This school year we will create lasting peace for everyone here, no matter where they come from or who they are. This year we will reach across all our divisions to create a student body that isn’t a fragmented mess, but a single family of individuals.”

Clapping started as I came to my final point, but I had one last message to get across.

“Our student council will work as arbiters in this collective task. I want to take this moment to encourage anyone with thoughts on their mind to come and speak to me personally whenever they feel it necessary. Thank you very much.”

As I ended my speech and slowly backed off the mic I didn’t expect much. My speech was somber, and reserved in tone compared to Val’s speech. The crowd didn’t cheer like fans in a sports event. However, they did clap enthusiastically. As I backed away from the podium I noticed that many members of the audience who were sitting down began to stand up. It made me proud to see that there were people out there that felt where I was coming from.

Ms. Sampson replaced me at the podium to give her closing statements for the event. I went to where the others were sitting and took my seat beside Val. Val put her hand on my back and leaned closer to me to speak. Her steady hand on my back made me realize just how much I was shaking. I wasn’t used to handling crowds.

“You did amazing.” Val whispered. “You put that into words far better than I could have dreamed of. You were the perfect choice for vice president.”

I gave Val a heartfelt look in return. It was hard to find the proper words to respond. The feeling after standing in front of everyone like that was nerve-racking. When I thought that now would be my chance to recover from all that I was surprised by Ms. Sampson. As she was speaking, Ms. Sampson pointed back at me.

“Before we all leave here let’s just give Holly Hayfield one more round of applause for her heartfelt speech!” She said. “Her message of creating a path forward should be the resolution we all set for this school year. I want everyone here to internalize her message and ask this question. What can we all do to help create the path forward?”

Everyone clapped for me just as Ms. Sampson asked. I waved somewhat shyly. When Val put one arm around me and waved with me I straightened my back and tried to wave with equal confidence. Before that moment it never occurred to me just how naturally charismatic Val was. I always knew she was charming, but it seemed to come easily to her.

“Thank you all for participating in this year’s election.” Ms. Sampson said. “With that being out of the way, I’d like to reiterate my earlier message. I know many of you have already heard about the school basement before today. You all need to know that the school basement is completely off limits. It is structurally dangerous and generally unsafe. Anyone found trying to enter it will be suspended at best, expelled at worst. This is your only warning. Now, I want you all to have a great weekend!”

The crowd cheered since they were excited for the weekend, paying little mind to her harrowing warning. The student body had been excited for this Friday ever since it was announced Erica and Megan were dropping out of the race. The structure of the day has changed to accommodate that. Since the outcome of the election was already known by the staff the conclusion assembly was being held on the same day it ended.

Now that the assembly was concluded we had the remaining hour or so to ourselves. Most students would probably call their guardians to be picked up early. That wasn’t an option for me or the other members of the new student council. Val was planning to have our very first student council meeting. It would be our first time using the student council room as the legitimate student council. It was an event worth commemorating. That was why Val said she had a little victory party planned.

On our way out of the gymnasium a group of girls began to surround us. Naturally this type of situation made me anxious after dealing with the likes of Black Brittney’s group so often. However, they weren’t here to assault me. They were here to praise me. At first I thought they were interested in Val, but I was wrong. I was the one they wanted to talk to. They were mostly freshmen girls with whom my speech most resonated with.

“You can stay here and talk to your new admirers.” Val said. “We’ll meet you in the library for the after party.”

“Okay, I’ll meet you there.” I said.

The others left without me as Val insisted on. From there I got the chance to talk face-to-face with the people that I had an effect on. It was an enlightening experience. Many of these girls were just as I had been on that faithful first week of school, lost and afraid. The girls I talked to opened up enough to talk to me about the hardships they faced when acclimating to this new environment. I listened to each of them with an open mind and open heart.

My opinion of this school’s inhabitants was changing. Before, it was easy for me to dismiss virtually every student here as hopeless delinquents. There was even a time I considered myself a hopeless delinquent for being amongst them. Talking to these girls, my opinion was evolving to something much more idealistic. They believed in my dream and Val’s dream.

These girls weren’t delinquents or even troublemakers. They, like Amy Jordan, were just average girls put into unfortunate circumstances. To hear them confess their ‘so-called’ crimes that caused them to wind up here made me feel anger. It wasn’t anger towards them I felt, however. I felt anger at the system that brought them here.

Sidelining any thoughts Amy had for my reasons for being here, for some of these girls it was truly unfair. It was hard not to pity them and their individual stories. I could tell from the way they talked to me that they weren’t looking for pity or forgiveness. However, I couldn’t help to see the injustice burdened upon them. They were cast out and exiled from their former lives for only meager acts of human nature. Could we not create a better system where these girls weren’t thrown out?

Their stories caused me to revisit and confront a lot of dark thoughts from my own life. Merely being sent to this alternative school was a brand on our permanent records that jeopardized our future. The tribal culture of this school created an atmosphere of general distrust between people and fostered dangerous, anti-social behavior. It was this very chain of events that led to the tragedy of Malorie Noelle’s murder mystery. None of these freshmen girls knew it, no one knew it, but our school culture was absolutely lethal in nature.

My solitary walk to the library was filled with these thoughts. Did I have it in me to live up to that larger-than-life speech I gave? Could I be the change that I wanted to see in the world? Would I live up to the hopes and dreams of those underclassmen students? I didn’t have any solid answers for the time being. All that I knew was that I was going to try my best. These precious girls, no matter their internal damage, were worth saving. That was why Judith Meredith built this school.

When I made it to the library the after party was already in full swing. Naomi’s group was there as well. Maybe Sam invited them and Val accepted them for their support? Either way, it was quite lively in the library, to Lilith’s apparent dismay. I felt like a stranger walking into this joyous celebration with such gloomy thoughts haunting my mind. Everyone looked over at me as I walked into the library.

“There she is!” Naomi shouted. “There’s our lovely vice president!”

Everyone wooed and cheered as I made my way in. I gave another one of my famous waves. Val waved me over.

“Holly!” Val said excitedly! “I’ve got a massive surprise for you! Sam says you already know Perri?”

Val pointed Perri out, and Perri waved at me.

“I’m familiar with her. She helped us last weekend.” I said.

“It turns out that there’s a way to deal with your ankle monitor.” Val said. “Perri here is going to help us.”

“No way, really…?” I asked in disbelief. “You can really get it off of me without triggering the alarm.”

“These old ankle monitors are tricky.” Perri said. “But they aren’t without their faults. They can be outsmarted. We can get it off with Val’s help.”

“My brother is to thank for this.” Val said. “Apparently he had a similar ankle monitor put on him back in my home country. I’ve got everything we’ll need in my bag. Are you ready?”

I looked down at my leg and saw the bump hidden just beneath my sock. I looked back at Val and nodded.

“I’m ready.”