Chapter 6

KACE walked her way to their office walking past the field. While walking, she suddenly saw Luke watching intently on the side as the soccer players warmed up. She sighed deeply before taking the courage to go up to him. “Luke.”

The guy got startled when he heard his name being called. He turned beside him and saw Kace approaching. He was about to leave but then, she stopped him.

“Wait!”

He didn’t move and waited for her to speak.

“Uh… w-were you just watching the players?”

“Why are you asking?” He asked in monotone.

“I just thought… maybe you wanted to join their team?”

“No.” Luke turned his back at her and was determined to march his way out.

But then, she spoke again. “If you want to join… I can help you.”

But he didn’t respond and just walked away from her. Kace was pissed because of this. How rude! She still owed him for giving back her ID card so she just let that pass this time.

Out of nowhere, the soccer ball came flying towards her way, bouncing on top of her head. Kace fell on her butt. She touched her head and tried to stand up but she felt dizzy by its impact.

The group of cheerleaders practicing on the field were now looking at her and laughing at her misery. She tried to ignore them and continued to stand up instead.

She was about to pick up the ball that hit her but then, someone from behind her kicked it back into the field. She was stunned, seeing how the ball accurately landed towards the players.

Luke turned to Kace who was still standing behind him. Then, he decided to move towards her. “Next time, you should watch out for the flying ball.” He left those words before walking away from her.

"W-wait!" She tried to call out but he already disappeared. "I... haven't thank him yet,” she mumbled to herself.

DURING the afternoon, the meeting of all the clubs was held inside the student council office. Kace wasn’t planning to attend the meeting at all. She knew that her presence wouldn’t even be important and they wouldn’t listen even if she’d suggest something so it was better to just stay out of it.

She was busy writing something when suddenly her phone rang. She picked it up and realized it was Stephen. “Stephen? Why’d you call?”

“Kace, aren’t you gonna attend the meeting?” he asked.

“No,” she answered bluntly.

“But Kace…”

“Stephen, you know I don’t like attending meetings like that.”

“Yeah but… my brother said you need to be there.” Stephen convinced her again using his brother.

“I don’t know Stephen…” Her voice trailed off.

“If you won’t go, then I won’t go.”

“But Stephen…” She felt bothered. Stephen was the captain of the baseball team so he also needed to be there.

“I don’t even understand why we have to be there. Baseball isn’t even a club. It’s a sport,” he complained.

“Y-yeah…” was all she could answer. She knew that he’s just using it as an alibi for himself.

“So, you’re really not going?” Stephen asked again.

“No.”

“Even if I drag you out of your office?”

“W-what?” She got alarmed. When she scanned the room, no one else was there. She stood up and opened the door.

Stephen was standing there with a thin smile on his face. “Hi Kace!” he said with a wave.

“Stephen, why are you suddenly appearing like this? You know that I get scared easily.”

The guy chuckled. “That’s why I need to do this. To convince you to come.” He grabbed her arm and pulled her out.

“Stephen…” She tried to release herself from him but she couldn’t,  so she just gave up.

THEY were now walking at the hallway with Stephen still holding her wrist. They walked past the doors of the seniors’ class until they reached the SC office. When they entered, everyone looked at their direction.

“OMG! Look who’s here.” A girl’s voice echoed inside the room.

 Kace looked at the direction of the voice and saw Jules raising a brow at her. She totally forgot that she’d be there as the captain of the cheerleading squad. She bowed her head because Kris was also there and he was already giving her a weird look. 

She shouldn’t let him know anything. She just followed Stephen and sat across Jules and Chandler who were sitting next to each other.

“All right, I see that everyone’s already here.” The SC president started to speak. “First of all, good afternoon! Thank you for coming to this meeting. Our agenda for today is the Acquaintance Party that we’re gonna be having next week. So as you noticed, I’ve called everyone because I want each one of you to have their own committee. Last year, we didn’t do this so we had a hard time. But this time, I’m asking everyone to cooperate.”

Jules raised her hand up. “Wait. Mr. President, may I be allowed to ask, is the publication still an existing organization here?” She eyed Kace who was looking at her with a raging look.

“What do you mean Jules? Of course they’re a part of the school,” JM answered.

“Oh is that so? Cause I don’t think there’s even a need to have a publication anymore. Besides, they don’t even have enough members. How can they function as a unit? Right guys?” Jules asked for the others’ confirmation. They nodded at her.

Kris cleared his throat catching everyone’s attention. “But I don’t think that’s valid enough to get rid of the publication. Don’t you think, Mr. President?”

JM nodded. “Do you have anything to say Kassandra, as the Editor?”

She was clenching her fists the whole time Jules was speaking. She was trying to control herself.

Stephen noticed this so he gripped her hands to calm her. “I agree with Kris. We shouldn’t get rid of the pub,” he answered.

“Okay, how about this? Who among you are in favour of letting it stay?” JM asked the body.

Kace closed her eyes not wanting to look. Why are they suddenly voting for this? This isn’t right.

Stephen whispered beside her. "Kace, don't lose hope. Look."

She looked up and saw some raising their hands. Kris was the first one who raised his hand. She smiled at her brother. She was familiar with the others especially those from the Honors' Society and the Chemistry Club. But most of them, who belong to the Popular’s like Theodore (from Martial Arts Club) and Alex (from the Dance Club) were not raising at all.

Even Chandler was not on her side. Of course, she expected it. He would be siding his girlfriend. “So, what do we do? It’s half versus half.”

Jules stood up again. “I’ve got an idea. How about a proposition? If you can complete the line-up of the editorial board… then we can consider keeping your org.” She ended up with a smirk.

JM thought about it for a while. Then, he looked at Kace who was looking far away.

Kace bit the insides of her cheek before answering, “All right. I accept it.”

The SC president turned to her. “Really? You think you can convince anyone to join the pub?”

“We can. We will. Just don’t remove the pub,” Kace said, though at the back of her mind, she was feeling a lot of pressure already. 

How can she convince anyone to join them when in fact, nobody wants to be a part of The Loser’s Society? 

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