Chapter 19: Let the revenge begin.
"Why don't we take back this day and make it all about loving ourselves?" NK concluded his speech with a flourish, a self-satisfied smile plastered across his face as he surveyed the seemingly receptive audience.
"So… we thought," NK continued, his voice booming through the loudspeakers, gesturing expansively with both hands, "why don't we seize this traditionally romantic day? Reclaim it from all those tired clichés! And make it a glorious celebration… of ourselves!"
Just then, as if on cue from some unseen conductor of chaos, a sharp, insistent digital "Ding!" sliced through the air, echoing through the hushed hall. It was followed by another, and another, until a cacophony of identical alarms erupted from the pockets and bags of every student present. A wave of utter confusion washed over the crowd. Instinctively, conversations ceased, and hundreds of hands reached for glowing screens. Gasps, confused murmurs, and bewildered glances rippled through the room as they unlocked their phones, their initial surprise quickly morphing into a collective intake of breath – a shared moment of digital revelation. Shock and disbelief spread like wildfire as eyes scanned the unexpected notifications, and students began to look at each other with dawning horror and a silent, dawning question.
Hannah stood near the back, leaning slightly against the wall, a small, knowing smile playing on her lips as she watched the unfolding pandemonium. The carefully orchestrated moment had arrived.
"Oh my god… his texts…" a girl shrieked from the middle of the crowd, her voice laced with a mixture of disbelief and betrayal. The sound cut through the general murmur, drawing the attention of those nearby.
"Are you kidding me right now?" another voice, this one male and laced with anger, erupted from a different section of the hall, adding another layer of bewildered outrage to the atmosphere.
Andrew, who had been watching NK with a growing sense of unease, turned to him, his brow furrowed in genuine confusion. His earlier amusement had vanished, replaced by a dawning suspicion. "What's going on, NK?" he asked, his voice low and demanding.
NK, however, seemed frozen, his confident facade beginning to crumble as he stared out at the sea of bewildered faces, his own paling slightly. He remained speechless, his eyes darting nervously around the room.
A girl near the front, her face a mask of fury, shoved her phone screen towards her partner. "Oh my God… he's absolutely terrible!" she hissed, her voice trembling with anger.
Another girl, her eyes wide with disbelief, gently turned to Ria, thrusting her phone into her friend's line of sight. "Oh my God, did you see this?" Ria glanced at the screen, her expression initially mirroring her friend's shock before a familiar roll of her eyes indicated a weariness with the predictable drama of high school relationships.
Hannah could no longer contain the triumphant curve of her lips. A soft chuckle escaped her as she shook her head, feigning astonishment. "Well, I must say, this is… quite shocking news!"
A wave of indistinct chatter now filled the hall, the initial shock giving way to a cacophony of whispered conversations and gasps of outrage. Several girls, their faces contorted with fury, glared daggers at Lila, the self-proclaimed "Instagram witch," whose online pronouncements of romantic superiority now seemed laughably hollow. Lila, realizing the sudden shift in the social landscape, quickly ducked her head and tried to melt into the surrounding crowd.
Nick, sensing the rapidly deteriorating situation and the palpable shift in the crowd's mood, grabbed NK's arm and began to steer him towards a side exit. "Come on, buddy," he muttered, his earlier enthusiasm completely gone.
"What an absolute ass hole, right?" Hannah called out, her voice carrying clearly through the rising din. Several girls nearby turned to her, nodding their heads in fierce agreement, their earlier shock now hardening into anger.
"Oh my god…" a chorus of female voices echoed throughout the hall, each exclamation laced with a unique blend of hurt, anger, and betrayal.
Sage, her eyes wide with dawning horror as she took in the collective outrage, stood up abruptly. The sheer volume of the escalating noise was grating on her nerves. She turned to her clique, her voice tight with panic. "Oh my God, cover me!"
Sofia and Clowe exchanged a panicked glance. "Cover you? What–" Clowe began, bewildered.
"Just cover me now!" Sage hissed, her eyes darting nervously towards the increasingly agitated crowd. "Feminist, my ass, you know?" Hannah muttered to the girls beside her, who responded with vehement nods of agreement.
Understanding the urgency in Sage's voice, Sofia and Clowe swiftly pulled off their expensive jackets and awkwardly raised them over Sage's perfectly coiffed head, shielding her from the potential storm. With Sage clutching onto their arms, they began to navigate their way towards an exit. As they moved, Sage risked a quick glance back, catching Hannah's eye and offering a fleeting, almost imperceptible wink before disappearing through the doors with her makeshift human shield.
"I can't believe NK is dating, like, all the girls in this school, and he literally told me I was the only one he's ever truly loved!" a girl sobbed, being comforted by a circle of her equally betrayed friends.
Lila, the Instagram witch, her face a thundercloud of fury and humiliation, stormed out of the hall, her loyal clique trailing protectively behind her. "We're casting some serious binding spells tonight, bitches!" she snarled, her voice dripping with venom. Silent, venomous glances followed her retreating back.
"Here's what I heard went down," a girl whispered conspiratorially to her huddled group, her eyes wide with gossip. "Apparently, one of his main side pieces finally figured out she was just a secret and decided to detonate the whole thing." The group gasped in unison. The guys nearby stood awkwardly, pretending not to listen too intently while absorbing every juicy detail, acutely aware that any comment they made could be twisted and used against them in the ensuing social fallout.
"He's also apparently been, like, hooking up with at least one girl from every single clique," one of the guys muttered to his friends, their faces etched with a mixture of shock and morbid fascination.
"Guys," a girl said, her voice filled with a bitter realization as she rejoined her friends, "NK's whole 'allyship' thing? It was a complete and utter act."
The hall was rapidly descending into utter chaos. Suddenly, a girl near the front screamed, "Hey! Rip 'em up, ladies!"
On cue, several enraged students surged towards the stage, tearing down NK's hastily erected banner with savage satisfaction. Some girls openly wept, their carefully constructed romantic fantasies shattered, while others huddled together, their whispers already forming the battle plans for elaborate acts of revenge.
Hannah simply stood back, a small, almost serene smile gracing her lips as she watched the carefully sown seeds of chaos finally bloom.
"No, we're in the library," Sage's muffled voice could be heard speaking urgently into her phone as she, Clowe, Sofia, Nick, and a still-catatonic NK huddled together in a quiet corner of the library.
Sage turned to her visibly shaken group. "Okay, this is… less than ideal. This is bad. Really bad. For all of us. How in the hell do we spin this?" She paced back and forth, her perfectly manicured hands fluttering in distress. "No, no, no, no. NK is… experiencing a severe emotional crisis and is in his safe space. Yes. Yes, that's what we'll say."
"Please… just make it go away," NK whispered, his voice barely audible.
Just then, Ris swept into the library, her expression a mixture of concern and brisk efficiency. "Baby," she said to NK, her voice surprisingly calm amidst the surrounding tension, "I'm on the phone with Dad's crisis management team. They're already strategizing." She looked at her distraught brother with a flicker of pity. "Nklodion, are you okay?"
"Fix it, please," NK pleaded, his eyes wide with desperation.
Sage's face suddenly lit up, a predatory gleam returning to her eyes. "Oh my god," she breathed, grabbing her phone. "Yes! That's absolutely genius. Thank you so much!" she exclaimed before abruptly ending the call.
NK looked at her with a glimmer of hope. Sage turned to her beleaguered group, a confident smile spreading across her face. "Okay guys," she announced, her voice regaining its usual authoritative tone, "here's the plan."