Chapter 10: Rumor (4)
Everyone in the room looked at the dean and teachers in expectation. It had already been nearly a minute since they walked into the room but they had yet to do anything. If anything, it seemed as if they were analyzing a situation and the longer they looked at it, the more amusing it got.
The students were all understandably confused to see the gradually increasing amount of smiling faces among the staff and as Emma saw it, she became slightly disturbed. In order to prevent the situation from going out of control, she sent a message to someone she had contacted in the audience saying the teachers were probably amused because they knew nothing would come of this.
She expertly pointed out that the dean was still frowning and seemed to be unlikely to have his mood improve any time soon.
Several moments after she sent the message, whispers started to pass through the crowd as what she said smiled and an increasing number of people got knowing looks on their faces. They were all prepared and waiting to be told to return to class and their dorms and that the situation would be handled privately.
Among the students, there were at least a dozen there on scholarship who were especially enraged by this. At a school with such high expectations, it looked like all you needed to have was a large amount of money in order to do whatever you wanted to.
This wasn't the first time the students were forced to make this realization, but the fact that even the dean known in the academic community as one of the least corruptible figures who always held his principles highly was about to participate in the act made them all feel slightly sick.
One student who had seen their best friend get expelled for failing a single class was fuming. He knew that if his friend had had the money to pay off the school, he wouldn't of had to leave and lose a huge opportunity.
As they expected, the dean soon cleared his throat and walked to the podium with the rest of his group following behind him. When he reached the podium, he made his way up to it and then completely shattered the expectations he had just raised.
"Due to the severity of this matter, all involved parties have been gathered here to make an argument for their side and provide evidence on the matter. It will be decided by vote among the experience staff behind me so that no biases are involved."
A wave of shock spread through the crowd and the students who were there for drama or interesting gossip perked up while the students there on scholarship all felt as if a huge weight had been lifted from their shoulders.
Before leaving to let anyone speak, the dean interjected.
"The first presenter will be Miss Laws and anyone who she calls on for support. This was not decided by who arrived first, but by Miss Song choosing to go second because she said she is confident in her innocence. Finally, I speak on behalf of Maple-leaf Academy and guarantee that this will be done as fairly as humanly possible and I sincerely hope the truth comes to light."
With the end of his statement, a number of students in the crowd cheered. Almost all of the scholarship students were included in this group, along with a number of the gossip mongers and those who felt compelled to participate.
When everything calmed down, Sarah walked up to the podium and turned on the large screen on the back wall. Gasps echoed through the room as countless photos of Aria with a mix of older men and men their ages who were wearing new watched or in new cars appeared on the screen one after the next. She then proceeded to detail everything she new about Aria and 'all of her men.' before bringing up the final pieces of evidence.
The first was a photo everyone had seen before, a screenshot of her text history that showed Aria threatening her to be quiet or pay the consequences.
The second one was the evidence she had teased earlier in the morning, a picture of Aria and an old man who appeared drunk walking towards a dorm room door. With closer inspection of the picture, it became clear that the room number was Aria's and that the girl in the picture was wearing a highly revealing dress.
As the audience was in an uproar, several of the teachers looked completely convinced and were glaring at Aria while the dean shook his head in disappointment.
At the same time in two different locations in the room, Sarah and Emma both sneered, thinking to themselves about the success of their plans.
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