Chapter 42: Chapter 42
As more people began to vote, and the more it seemed like the bill was going to pass, more and more students at Harrison came forward about being laibah. Slowly, some of the students would announce to their classmates that they were laibah. Per each classroom, there was usually only two or three students who were laibah. Each of them thanking their classmates for giving them this chance to live their lives like the rest of them. At first, the students were discomforted by the sudden exposure of the laibah students. Eventually, the school began to accept it, as it made them feel like they had something to be proud of. Supporting their classmates felt like something they could hold onto as a dear memory.
Eventually, the day came. Friday, February 7th, 2020. The day the voting period for the bill ended. It was announced in the morning that the bill was to pass, and discriminatory acts between the two races would from then on be punishable by law. The students were relieved, however, their victory was short lived. For when homeroom class started, until the end of the day, they all had to have mock tests for each class. It seemed like a drag, but the day would only get worse from there. During lunch, on that Friday, someone from the school board came down to Harrison University to speak with the school. Over the intercom, throughout the school, this man from the board of education announced "The bill your principal passed was a success. However, this school still lacks funding, and thus it will still be shut down as planned". The students began to panic.
"What is he talking about?" Rose asks as she sits in the office with Ryan, next to the man in a suit from the board of education.
"I figured you'd try to pull a stunt like this, Jason Miller" Ryan says.
Jason turns off the intercom and says "I've told you this school is going down. I don't care about your bill, I have no patience to deal with these laibah around this city. Schools can still choose to refuse their entry based on any other standards they see fit. In case you thought they had a chance here, I will update the standards immediately. Your bill changes nothing".
"Wait!" Sarah says as she charges into the room.
"Sarah!?" Rose asks.
"I came here to congratulate Ryan" Sarah says, "but then I heard this... little shit talking on the intercom, so I couldn't help but to point of a flaw in his plan".
"There's nothing you can do to save this school" Jason says. "You lack the money to keep it running".
Sarah snatches the intercom microphone from Jason's hands and says over the intercom "That's not true! We have the funding! The supporters for this bill not only pitched in to pass the bill! We funded the money for the campaign! We have enough left over to keep the school running for at least two more years!".
"Get off of that thing!" Jason says as he snatches the intercom and pushes Sarah to the floor.
"Why you" Rose says as she stands. "Don't touch my sister, you asshole!".
"Or what?" Jason asks with a smirk. "You'll do something that'll force me to remove you from your position, strip you of your certification for teaching, and leave you jobless?".
Rose stands still and grits her teeth, as Ryan says "You're a fool if you think we didn't have a back up plan".
"I've been handling the other side of this campaign" Sarah says as she get up from the floor. As she gets up, her shirt was lifted from the fall, exposing several bruises on her back. "I'm sure gramps is more than capable of handling something like this on his own, but I owe him for a lot of things. Your silly board can eat shit. This school stays open!".
"I'll make you eat those words, you brat" Jason says.
Sarah laughs and says "I'm probably older than you are. Watch how you speak to your elders, you sneaky piece of crap!".
"Why you!" Jason says as he raises one hand, as if to prepare to slap Sarah.
"Jason Miller!" Ryan shouts. "That will be enough. I'm going to have to ask you to leave my office immediately".
Jason slowly lowers his hand, straightens up his suit jacket, and scoffs. "This place wreaks of trash anyways". As Jason walks out of the door, he says "You will be seeing me again, Ryan Schafold".
As Jason walks down the hall, Wyatt, Emma, Jackson, Aeris, Jessica and Emily were rushing towards Ryan's office. The group of Rejects pass by Jason on their way there. Jason pauses as they pass, and stares at the students. When Emma sees the man in the suit, she stops running as well. "Y-you..." Emma says, her voice shaking, and her ears popping out in surprise and fear.
Jason turns his head away and says "Disgusting..." and begins walking away.
"Emma?" Wyatt asks as he turns around. When he stops to look at Emma, she was frozen, yet shaking. "Emma, are you okay?".
"Do you know him?" Emily asks.
Emma nods her head without speaking. "Did this man hurt you?" Wyatt asks.
Emma looks down, still shaking. She recalls the day she went out with her friends from high school... the day they betrayed her. The voice of one of her female friends saying "My parents said they were going to take their friends and have a 'little talk' with her parents out in the forest!" rang in her head as she continued shaking. "M-M-Mr. Miller" Emma says. "When I was in high school, I had a friend named Veronica. W-well, I had... 'friends'. She's the one who ended up pushing me into a dump site, over the fence onto a bunch of trash bags. Mr. Miller is her f-father. B-before those students left me at the dump site, I heard her saying her parents and their friends were going to have... a talk with my family out in the forest on the border of the city".
"E-Emma?" Wyatt asks as he kneels in front of her, looking up at her face. Tears were flowing rapidly from her face as she recalls what happened again.
"After I got out of the dumpsite..." Emma says in a shaky voice, "and when I got home... that's when I found my h-home... on fire".
"You're kidding me..." Emily says. "So he's the one who did this!?".
"H-he and some others" Emma says. "I-I didn't know her father was... was... leading these schools! I didn't know he had that position!".
"That little bastard!" Rose says as she stomps out of the office. Rose runs into The Rejects right outside of the office. "What's going on here? What did he do!?".
"Ms. Weber" Wyatt says, "who is that man?".
Rose sighs and says "Jason Miller. He's one of the heads of the board of education. He and several others run the school system throughout the city. Why?".
"This man..." Emily says, "he's done some terrible things, hasn't he?".
"He's done more than his fair share, that's for sure" Sarah says as she also walks out of the office. "Oh... crying children. What happened here?".
"That man..." Emily says as she and Wyatt try to comfort Emma. "He's the reason for this school's situation, for all of our worry about this bill, but moreover, he's the reason Emma is...".
"Emma is what?" Rose asks.
"Ms. Weber" Wyatt says as he stands up, "Emma lost her home and family before". As Wyatt speaks, his face only grew angrier as he spoke, tears beginning to form in his eyes. "That man is the cause of all of this!".
"She was homeless?" Rose asks. "Why didn't you tell us!? A-and that man, Jason... he did this?".
Emma nods as she looks up at Rose and Sarah. "I've met him before when I was in high school. I visited my friend, Veronica at her house, and he's her father. T-they burned down my home in the forest... and my mom and dad with it".
"Are you sure!?" Rose asks. Emma nods her head as tears continue to flow. "Oh hell!" Rose says as she walks back into the office.
"C-can we speak with Principal Schafold?" Wyatt asks Sarah.
"Sure" Sarah says. "You guys look like you have a lot to talk about. I'll get out of your hair".
As The Rejects enter the office, Ryan looks up at Emma. "I've heard already" he says. "From Rose, just now, about your situation with Jason. Why didn't you tell us you needed a place after all?".
"B-because I don't!" Emma says. "I have a place to stay... I am where I want to be!".
"Can you confirm what Rose had said earlier?" Ryan asks. "About this man being behind an attack on your home?". Emma nods her head. Ryan sighs and says "I'm sorry you've been through a lot. I can see you still have troubles maintaining your forms when overwhelmed with emotions. Your ears are still sticking out".
Emma continues looking down at her feet, without even trying to change back into her human form. "Principal Schafold" Wyatt says, while holding onto Emma, "is it true? Are you guys going to be able to keep this school open?".
"Indeed" Ryan says. "Don't worry about that much. We have it taken care of, thanks to Ms. Weber's sister, Sarah".
"Are you certain about that?" Wyatt asks. "We don't need to worry anymore?".
"The only things certain in life are death and taxes" Ryan says. "However, rest assured, you don't need to worry. We will handle this".
"One more request?" Wyatt asks. "If that man shows up again... keep him as far away from Emma as possible".
"I can promise that I'll try" Ryan says, "but I can't promise that I'll be successful. That man comes and goes as he pleases".
"Right..." Wyatt says.
"Do you guys need some time before returning to class?" Rose asks.
"Yeah..." Wyatt says. "That'd probably be for the best".
"You guys can stay at your club for now then" Rose says. "I'll have your homeroom teacher bring your work so you can do it there, separately, until you're ready to return".
"Thanks, Ms. Weber" Wyatt says.
"T-thank you" Emma says in a tired voice.
As The Rejects begin to leave the office, Ryan suddenly calls out to Emily. "Emily Bernnigan" Ryan says, "Can I ask a quick question?".
"What's up?" Emily asks as she turns around.
Ryan waits for the door of the office to close before he says "Look, I know we've spoken a few times before, and we haven't been on the best of terms. I just want you to know that I try to look out for the students... but most of all, I try to look out for you. I've arranged for you to arrive at the school whenever you were ready, I've overlooked missed work... point is, I just want you to know that I care about you".
"Why does any of that matter?" Emily asks.
"Because, I'm not sure how to feel about this when taking your feelings into consideration" Ryan says. "I just wanted to know, what if I told you that I know your real mother? What would you want to do?".
"Why would I need them?" Emily asks. "I have my family... biological or not, they're my REAL family. I've gotten this far without 'em, so I figured I didn't really... need them. Why?".
"I just wanted to make sure I wasn't hiding anything from you that you'd want to know" Ryan says with a smile. "That'll be all for now. If you don't mind it, I'll keep it to myself".
Emily stands still, confused for a moment. "Alright, I guess" she says. "If you don't mind... I have a crying friend to attend to, so...".
"Sorry for taking your time like that" Ryan says. "Take care of yourself, Emily".
"Alright, whatever, old man" Emily says as she leaves.
As the small group of Rejects sit at the tables on the roof, Wyatt holds onto Emma's shoulder and says "Are you gonna be okay, Emma?".
Emma nods her head and says "I-I'll be fine. It's just... that man scares me... and because of that, it brings back bad memories".
"I know..." Wyatt says. "You've told me about it before, and I'm really sorry that happened to you. I promise I won't let anything like that happen to you again, Emma. If anything, I'll protect you".
"You're not alone this time" Jackson says. "You've got us here, Emma".
"Yeah" Aeris says. "Real friends stick up for each other".
As Emily enters the roof, she says "Emma! If that man shows up here again, I'll kick his ass!".
"That was a solid mood breaker" Jessica says.
"What?" Emily says as she looks at the others, who were staring at her. "I will! I won't back down from a good fight!".
Emma laughs a little and says "Thanks, Emily".
"Take your time, Emma" Jessica says. "Don't feel bad about having to sit out of class. We'll be right here with ya in case you start feeling lonely".
"Mhm" Emma says as she nods her head. "Thanks, guys".
"To think someone would actually go as far as to do something like that to a family" Jackson says.
"No... I know why he did it" Emma says. "Their family has always lived a comfortable life. Their lives have never been challenged before, and because of that, they were outraged when they thought that something would even challenge that a little. If anything, they as scared as they were angry...".
"That's no excuse!" Wyatt says.
"I know that..." Emma says, "and I'm never going to forgive him... but I at least think I understand why someone would go that far".
"So the man has money" Aeris says, "he has power, and he has a comfortable life style. Because of that, he felt the need to... extinguish any probable cause of anything even barely changing that... To me, it seems like he's the type of man who won't let this new law slide with the school systems".
"Yeah, he definitely seems like the type of man to put up a fight" Emily says. "If he was willing to come out here to personally try to put the school down with mere words, then I wouldn't put it past him to try other things".
"Like what?" Jessica asks.
"No idea yet" Emily says. "However, I can't imagine anything going well as long as he maintains his influence over the school system".
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