Stench Of Conspiracy

The next day arrived sooner than the students expected it to. But instead of complaining about how short the night was, they were all elated. They rushed to the dining hall for their breakfasts and when they were done, they all went to do one thing or the other. Among all these students were some that went to the school poling unit. This was one of the fun of the school, voting for a particular person during duels.

The night before, it was announced that the duel between Max and Nat will be taken place today and so this morning, they could not wait to start voting for their favourite person. As expected, they were all voting for Nat to win because they believed he would but except for one person. The short brown-haired boy walked to the front and cast his vote on Max, this act got the entire students around upset to the extent that some could not take it again.

"Hey, shortie! What the hell do you think you are doing voting for a loser? You are the only one wishing Nat to lose," one of the boys said in a bit of rage.

The short boy turned to look at the boy who just talked to him and seeing the boy, he sighed and made to leave. The other boy became furious that the short boy was ignoring him and so he rushed to him and dragged him back with force.

"Come back here! You don't walk away when I'm talking!"

The short boy now was already getting frustrated, yet, he knew there was nothing he could do. It was his choice to vote for Max and no one would change his mind about it. Just as he was getting tired and hopeless, a senior who happened to be passing away stopped in his tracks and approached them.

"Instead of causing ruckus here, why don't you do it this way..." The senior said staring at the boy who was boiling in rage.

"And what is the way?" He asked seeming impatient.

The senior kept quiet for a while as he thought of an idea and when he did get one, a smirk curved up at the end of his lips. "I've got one finally! I say you both should use all of your money and bet on the person you desire for him to win! If the person wins, the entire money will be given to any of you who bet on that person. How do you think of my idea?"

The two boys kept quiet as they thought about what the senior had said and in the end, they both agreed and did as he said. The two boys brought all their savings and bet on each of their champions and the case was solved. The only thing remaining was that they hoped that the person they vote for would win or else.... they'll become poor!

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Noon finally came, the school was supposed to be filled with students moving up and down but surprisingly it was empty with fewer students around. They all had gone to the Arena to wait for the duelling participants to arrive. With a mere glance at them, one would see how happy and excited they are and at the same how impatient they are as they could not wait for the duel to finally start.

Soon, Nat walked into the Arena followed by Kelvin who was grinning, then Harry and Matt who walked line by line. The crowd began to cheer for them, girls who were dying to be with them and the boys who longed to be like them someday. This made the four boys happy and proud.

"Come closer," Nat suddenly said to Kelvin who quickly moved closer to him. After whispering some inaudible things to Kelvin's ear, Nat smiled and adjusted his clothes with his eyes fixed on the giggling girls around. Chest up, head high, Nat walked down to the duelling ground and stood in the middle of the place, he glanced around at the cheering students and began to wave at them, as if that was not enough, he blew a kiss to the girls who screamed louder and began jumping around.

Everyone's moment of happiness came to an abrupt end when Max walked into the Arena followed by Zheren. They began to hiss and curse at him with a disdainful look on their faces.

"Will you be fine?" Zheren asked his friend with a saddened expression, he could see the hate being surged at him by all the students and it pained him greatly.

"I'm fine!" Max replied, trying to hold himself from yelling. He glanced at every one of the students, the look of disgust on all their faces, the mock-filled smirk on their lips.... these things he would not forget easily.

"Remember what I told you last night? Don't forget it," Zheren said, reminding him of what they both talked about the night before.

"I remember everything so you don't have to worry about me. Go and find a place to stay, you will watch me put shame on all their ugly faces," Max promised with a half-grin on his face.

Zheren sighed as he watched his friend go into the duelling ground 'I hope you don't get buried in your desire for revenge' He thought to himself and left to join other students.

"Hope you are ready?" Nat asked with a grin on his face when he saw Max approaching him.

Max didn't bother to answer his question, there was no need to do that and so he quietly walked and stood before him, giving him a meter gap.

"I see that you are ready," Nat said with a raised brow, he glanced over at Kelvin and they both made some eye contact. Kelvin who understood Nat stood up and came down into the Arena. "You are going to be our referee, so you better be watchful."

"Sure, I will!" Kelvin replied with a suppressed chuckle. No one knew the reason behind it but at a glance, Max could see him trying to suppress the grin on his face.

'Teamwork huh?' Max thought inwardly and clicked his tongue. With his current strength, he knew fighting the both of them wouldn't be a problem and as such he needed no reason to get angry at their conspiracy. It was useless in fact, to get upset at them. The best treatment to this is beating the hell out of them, so that next time they wouldn't dare do a thing like this.