Chương 32: The Debate
After talking to the faculty members, I trained with Adrian again, then returned home. I headed to Leo's house to see if Leo is back yet.
"Uncle Evan, where's Leo?" I asked.
"Leo..." Uncle Evan turned his hands into fists. "Have been arrested."
"What?!" I exclaimed. "On what charge?"
"Arson and attempted manslaughter."
"But there's no probable cause!" I shouted.
"Yes. But the police can still hold a person for up to 48 hours before submitting to the judge the reason for arrest and the probable cause."
"So that's what you were planning, Mike." I thought, gritting my teeth. "You'll pay for this!"
*****************
[This section is written in Leo's POV] (Wednesday)
Leo waited for the whole day for the lawyer to come back. He was stuck inside a holding cell, alone. The lunch given by the police officers were unpalatable and malnutritious, making him starve. When Mr. Burner finally arrived, it was already 5pm.
"Mr. Burner, do you have any good news?" Leo asked in a hopeful tone.
"I'm afraid not, Leo." Mr. Burner replied.
Leo's face immediately turned ugly. "What happened."
"I was unable to get your release due to the fact that the prosecutors have not submitted the probable cause for the arrest yet." Mr. Burner's voice was stable, he reasoned with a slight sympathy.
"Then when can I get out of here?!" Leo shouted.
"Don't worry, the longest time they can hold you is 48 hours." Mr. Burner reassured.
"48 hours?!" Leo exclaimed.
"I'm afraid so. I'm already drafting a wrongful arrest lawsuit for you. We will file the lawsuit tomorrow morning, but it might take some time for the initial hearing with the judge. By that time, you would've already been released." Mr. Burner explained.
Leo laid on the hard metal bed inside the holding cell. The only thing in the cell was the bed and a open-air toilet. He was wondering what Hunter was doing to try to distract himself from his current predicament. He started imagining Hunter's ridiculously handsome face smiling at him, his magnificently sculpted upper body emnating a masculine charm, his erect c*ck that was thick and long leaking prec*m, his long legs and calves that were filled with strength. Leo immediately turned hard. He engaged himself within his imagination and lost himself to sleep.
**************
[This section is in Hunter's POV]
When I woke up on Friday, Leo is still not released yet. Since he was arrested 2 days ago at 9am, he must be released by 8:59am today. However, the debate will have concluded by the time Leo arrived. Therefore, I informed the teachers before the opening ceremony that I will attend the debate in Leo's stead.
I sat on my usual seat within the gymnasium, with the seat on my left empty due to Leo's absence. After a few announcements made by the teachers, the Student Council President candidates and I are invited to come up to the stage.
The debate occurs for 1 hour in total. It consists of the 5-minute opening speech, made by each candidate, with no interruptions allowed. Then come the debate, where each candidate are allowed to examine or criticize other candidates' policies. The final 5 minute consists of the concluding speech, with no interruptions allowed.
I was standing on my podium, which is located the third from the right, with Mike Alexson on my right and another candidate on my left. The right most candidate get to start the speech first.
All of our speeches were simply rehashes of our speeches from Monday.
When the debates came, I was instantly attacked.
"Hunter Lee, it is highly responsible for a Student Coucil candidate to be absent during the debates. Why are you representing Leo on his behalf? Is he in police custody as the rumors suggested?" One of the candidates asked.
"Leo has caught a serious flu a few days ago, preventing him from attending this event. Louis Wong, please refrain from engaging in rumormongering. The rumors that Leo is an arsonist is completely false and honestly insulting. For a presidential candidate to ignore the facts and engage in baseless accusations is disgusting. Is this how a president to act? Accusing a student of crimes he did not commit? A representative of the student body should not be this petty and unreliable." I rebutted.
Louis' face immediately turned ugly, however he did not make a retort.
"Wow!" Mike clapped from his end, "I must say, this might be unrelated but it's the first time I've seen THE Hunter Lee spoke so much, and it's for Leo as well!"
The audience started laughing.
"But it remains the fact that Leo Wilson is not here right now. Although you might be temporarily representing him, how will we know if any policies you say will be adopted by Leo? Can you guarantee that everything you say in this debate is the will of Leo Wilson?" Mike asked.
"I can guarantee it." I replied curtly.
"How?" Mike said.
"Because he is mine, so everything I say is what he will say as well." I reluctantly said. Although this isn't technically true, this would effectively make Mike shut up for good, so I said it.
The women in the gymnasium started screaming in excitement. The hype around my groundbreaking announcement made Mike drop the topic and continued on.
For the next 45 minutes, Mike repeatedly attacked Leo's policies. His mind was nimble and quick and was able to defend his own policies while attacking others at the same time. I was stuck in passive mode, since I do not know about Leo's policies in depth, causing me to be unable to say anything when Mike and the others struck at the weak points of Leo's policies.
After painstakingly enduring minute by minute, it was finally time for the closing argument. I simply rehashed what I said at the beginning and explained why people should elect Leo above others.
************
Although I have defended Leo's innocence in the arson case, there were still many people accusing him on the internet. However, posts of my 'declaration of love' to Leo quickly overran the school forum. There was actually someone who sneakily filmed my declaration and posted it online, immediately making it viral within seconds.
"At least this drowned out some of the unpleasant posts." I thought to myself.
After classes, basketball practice and training Adrian, I returned home to find Leo sleeping on my sofa in the living room.
"Leo?" I exclaimed. "What are you doing at my house?"
"I was released this morning and spent the whole day at my house already so I got bored and came here." Leo replied.
I took a look at him. Leo's pace was paler than before. There were dark circles under his eyes and he looked physically skinnier than before.
Seeing Leo's current state made me feel sorry for him and at the same time my hatred for the perpetrator deepened.
"What happened to you?!" I shouted.
"Hm..." Leo stared at me groggily. "I just didn't like the food that they gave me."
I immediately headed to the kitchen to make Leo some porridge to warm his body.
Leo simply watched me cook without moving.
"Hunter?" Leo asked for attention.
"Hmm?"
"I like you." Leo said softly.
"Mhm." I furrowed my brows.
"Go out with me on Sunday." Leo pleaded.
I stared into Leo's eyes and sighed. "Fine."
Leo's face immediately brightened, his pale face became a little more colored.
After I finished cooking, I handed the porridge to Leo.
Leo took a sip, then said. "Mhm... I still like Hunter's cooking the best." He smiled sweetly.
I could not bare to look, so I tilted my head away from him.
************
Leo was already very sleepy due to his lack of sleep from the previous two days, so after he finished the food he immediately went into a food coma. I washed the bowl that was filled with porridge and carried Leo gently up to my room. I tucked him in my bed and kiss him on the forehead.
Later, I entered the master bedroom and made a call to a certain number.
"Hello?" The voice said in a lazy tone.
"We need to talk." I said. "Meet me at the XX Training Center tomorrow."
"Certainly, Mr. Hunter. What is it you would like to talk about?" The voice asked.
"I'll tell you that tomorrow." I hung up the call.
I headed back to my room and slowly sneaked onto my bed, laying myself next to Leo. I wrapped my hands around him and stared at his face. I slowly drifted off to sleep thinking of Leo and revenge.
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