CHAPTER 39
JB ft Shawn Mendes: Monster
~They're not haters, rather wannabes~
~Mina.
SERAPHINA'S POV
"The search team found it in Miss Del Varia's bag. Del Varia's bag, Del Varia's bag, Del Vari...
"Miss Del Varia!" I jolted up in my seat from Mr Harts thunderous voice.
"Sir, you've got to believe me. I have nothing to do with this. I didn't even know there was a marking scheme. Please, Sir."
"What a manipulative student! So then how did the paper found itself in a bag secured with a password or did it suddenly grow legs!" Mrs Smith hissed. Password! my bag has no password.
"My bag has no password, Mrs Smith, you can ask Miskha or anyo...
"Enough with the lies already! first you denied smuggling the answer sheet in your bag and now we're talking about you not recognising your own property anymore!. What do you take us for?! fools!" Mr Olsen, one of the bored members slammed his fist on the round table.
"And she expects us to ask her minions." Mr Bolton scoffed.
"More like a lion telling us to trust his Cubs." Mrs Smith snarled. The world swirled around me as I try to recollect everything that happened in the last two hours. My eyes stung from crying and my nose was blocked, not to mention blotched. Mrs Roberts stared at me with pitiful eyes and this made me break down even more. The boardroom door opened and a guy dressed in a suit walked in with a bag pack. The same bag Mrs Smith brought into the hall.
"The bag, sir." He placed it on the table and left. I stared at the object and couldn't help but notice a striking resemblance to my Versace bag pack.
"Miss Del Varia, since you claimed your bag isn't secured with a password, would you mind telling us how you open it then." Mr Harts calmly requested.
"My bag opens with a fingerprint and this shit has a God damned password! Can't you see? it's common sense!"
"Watch your tone, Miss Del Varia. You're dealing with people in no time away from destroying your future if you're proven guilty. " Mr Bolton menaced.
"And it so happened that it has a fingerprint lock as well." Mrs Smith declared after inspecting the bag.
"Place your index in the tab, Miss Del Varia. " Mr Harts ordered.
"This is ridicu...
"I won't repeat myself."
It's okay girl, this is your luckiest chance to prove your innocence. And for once, I listened to my subconscious and placed my index finger on the tab. The zips simultaneously drew backwards and the bag opened. For the thousandth time that day, I was rendered shell shocked.
"How?...but...bu
"Miss Del Varia, you're being ordered to remain silent, or anything you say from now onwards can and will be used against you. Meeting adjourned. " The chairman, Mr Miller, dismissed in an authoritative tone.
How comes my finger opened something that doesn't belong to me?
"Sir please, this isn't m...
"A verdict will be given tomorrow after the investigation team is done. You may see yourself out. We've more pressing issues to discuss." Mr Harts pointed towards the door.
I gathered the little left of my pride and walked out the boardroom with my head lowered, afraid of meeting the judgemental eyes of the crowd waiting outside.
"Cheater!" Someone yelled the moment I stepped out, and as if on cue, the word chorused in the air. I lifted my head and almost breakdown when I spotted what appeared to be almost the entire student body outside the boardroom with banners in their hands and the word 'CHEATER ' written in bold.
"You're such a fake ass!" Someone seethed. I increased my strides and maneuvered my way through the screaming students.
"Whore!"
"Manipulative bitch!"
"I hope you get expelled!"
"Fraudster!"
"I always knew you don't deserve those high grades!"
"Bird brained!"
I covered my ears and took off towards the dorms, unable to stand the remarks any longer. I reached the lobby and just when I thought luck was on my side, a larger crowd awaited me outside the door.
"You should commit suicide!"
"Cheat!"
"Cheat!"
"Cheat!"
"Cheat!"
"Cheat!"
"Cheat!"
"Kill yourself bitch!"
"Evict the fuck out of here, or so help me God I'll hire hitmen to hunt you down." A voice boomed, making the crowd disperse in the blink of an eye. Asher engulfed me in his arms and like the cry baby I was, I broke down.
"I didn't do it, Ash."
"I trust you." He kissed the side of my head. I felt a presence beside me and pulled away from Asher to see Severina with the rest of the crew, all with sympathetic looks on. I hate this, I don't want to be pitied.
"Don't look at me please." I sobbed and stormed inside. My cheek smudged in the fluffy pillow as I cried my sorrow out.
"I know my sister and trust me when I tell you she has no hand in this."
"Hundred per cent with you on this Ash, Phina's bag wasn't even outside the closet, and the mysterious password as well. Everything is just bizarre." Miskha asserted.
"Wait, there were rhinestones on the bag?" Miskha nodded in reply to Malu's question.
"Yes, but they're only visible on close up observation. "
"There's only one possible explanation to this f...
"Framed. She was framed." Severina completed Caleb's statement.
"Exactly my point. If not, why else steal an Examination marking scheme and hide it in someone else's bag?" Leila piped.
"Whether Seraphina stole it or not, it doesn't matter anymore because what's done is done, and a verdict will be given tomorrow. Our priority right now should be on how to prove her innocence. " Severina commanded, and the rest nodded in agreement.
You'll think I was engaged in the conversation going on around me but trust me you're having it all wrong. Call it crazy, but all I see when I close my eyes, are me, a destroyed future and death.
"This is the problem because that bag pack is the spitting image of Phina's," Lalia argued.
"Not to mention her fingerprint opened it," Ace added.
"Like a doppelganger or something?"
"No, Leila, doppelgangers relate to humans." Nathan corrected.
"Okay then, Mr Grammarly." She rolled her eyes.
"We need time to th...
"Time? are you nuts, time is what we don't have Maya. The board will give a verdict tomorrow by eight am latest, and you're talking abou...
"Just shut your trap and listen the fuck up Asher! Do you hate me so much that you can't bear allowing me to complete a simple sentence!" Maya's outburst cocooned the room into a profound silence.
"You know what, I'm done with this shit." She stormed out and slammed the door. Severina glared at Asher and smacked him upside the head.
"Well fucking done in adding to your list of haters."
"As if you like her." Asher scoffed.
"I don't hate her either."
"You're both unbelievable. " Miskha scolded.
"Twenty-five minutes already wasted and we've few hours until the verdict is given." Asher checked his wristwatch.
Malu cast him a dirty look and retaliated.
"You infuriated possibly the only brain amongst us, and you dare to mention time." She frowned.
"The disrespect Malu," Lalia mumbled, feigning hurt.
I noticed that with their presence, my mood had taken a complete 360° turn compared to my previous pensive one. I would never replace them for the world. They're more than what the universe has to offer.
"So what's the plan?"
"About time Nate because we have just the perfect one." The door barged open and Kabia emerged from the threshold with a sly grin, followed by Sophia and Bia.
************************************
My head pounded furiously making sleep impossible at the moment. I yawned and checked the time.
8:30 pm!
What in the?! how long have I slept for? I jumped out of bed, only to shriek and leap back up when my feet came in contact with something soft.
"Break my head, yeah," Severina grumbled. I exhaled in relief and switched the lamp on.
"You scared me, bitch."
"That was the intention. " She winked.
"Don't tell me you were present the entire time I was sleeping and didn't even attempt waking me." Her goofy grin was enough answer.
"Severina Kia Del Varia, do you have any idea the tons of assignment I have to submit!?" I feel like slapping that grin off her face.
"Yes, I actually do, mother." Sarcastic fuck.
I sighed and flopped back in bed.
"I'm fucked." I covered my eyes with my arms, thinking back to the previous afternoon's encounter with the board members.
"You'll come out clean. We've got your back."
"I don't know anymore, sis."
"What did they say?" I don't need her to tell me whom she's referring to.
"Dad handled it well, but you know mom and drama."
"Just be positive. "
"I wish I can," I muttered.
The door barged opened and the annoying sound made me want to cuss the intruder but halted when my gaze shifted to the entrance. Call this my luckiest night, note the sarcasm in block letters.
"Well, well, what do we have here? a family reunion with the Del Varias or should I say cheaterias." Zara taunted, with a provocative laugh.
"Man, I don't know how Kaitlyn must've felt knowing that she now has stiff competition."
"I'm leaving now, or else my next destination will be jail." Severina gritted out, her face reddening in fury.
"Mom taught us not to associate with the dense, remember? " I smirked in satisfaction when Zara's veins popped in anger. My words did what my hands were forbidden to, as I swore an oath to never lay them on dirt.
"Good thing you reminded me, else I would've been the first NYU student to commit homicide. " She bumped Zara's shoulder hard on her way out, making the bitch topple and fall on the bed.
My sis y'all.
I stood there smiling like a proud mother watching their kid ravage an award-winning competition.
"You may enjoy your final hours of being bitchy for it's only a matter of time until your ass kisses the school goodbye. The world hopefully." Her lips curved into a devilish grin before she disappeared under her covers.
I tried calming my erratic heart, but it was rather unfortunate as Zara's words suddenly secured their own space in my head.
I switched off the light, about to visit dreamland but for my phone beeping with a text. I unlocked the phone and my blood ran cold on reading the message.
"Just the tip of the iceberg."