Estel taps and clicks buttons on her laptop with the speed of a running train and by the time she’s done, her grin has transformed into a totally devious smile, “So, are you going to tell me who’s helping you behind the scenes?”My eyes fly wide in alarm and my mouth opens to give an excuse but Estel gives me a look that tells me she won’t buy it. When I shut my mouth, she smiles as she goes on, “The evidence here is extensive and well collated, so don’t lie to me.I doubt you had enough time to study AND take shots of Levi and Cassie in hotels all on the other side of the city, or take pictures of them engaging in substance abuse, or take closeups of Levi’s thesis and highlight the issues with it. Hells, there’s even evidence on here of Cassie and Levi intimidating and bullying employees at hotels, stores…Someone’s helping you. And they did a damn good job at it.”Estel is really smart, and caught red-handed like this I can’t deny it or lie, so I admit, “He’s… He has the same intere
When I meet up with Estel and tell her of the current situation, she looks red-faced and furious after hearing it."They’re doing what?!"I wish I had the same fiery reaction she’s displaying right now but I don’t. Not right now at least. So my response is more mellow than I would like it to be, “They’ve already done it. They secured spots for their names on the honors list. Come graduation, they’ll be called out and recognized as honor graduands.”Estel looks like she wants to scream from rage, but we’re in the library and there’s a “NO LOUD NOISES” sign right ahead of us.Estel’s gaze meets mine and there’s something furious burning in her eyes. Her tone is clipped and violent as she responds, “We can’t let that happen, Lyra.”She takes a deep breath in a clear effort to calm down a bit more before she continues, “I… I already know the names of the people on the honors list. Don’t ask me how I do, but there are only four names. Only four students will be graduating with honors this
It doesn’t take me much time to apply for interviews to the various companies I have on my list.As my hands type in the email addresses and I hit the send button of every application I make to each company, something heavy and light settles in my heart at the same time.Many students wouldn’t normally think of getting a job so fast after graduation, preferring to rest instead before jumping into the employment pool, but they don’t have to because they have the luxury to. I don’t, and each application I send out seems to remind me of that.It also reminds me of how much things could change for me if I get the right job andmy earlier ecstatic state of mind dies down, replaced by a more melancholy feeling.My mind wanders idly for the fiftieth time to Cassie and Levi again, how they might never have to work a job in their lives, and I feel sick.The fact that I can’t seem to get them out of my head makes me feel even more sick, and I blink back whatever emotion wants to roll through me
When I step out the doors to the main college building, I see Estel is waiting outside under a tree, an obviously worried look on her face.When I approach her I realise she’s holding onto her phone a bit tightly. Her eyes catch mine but her tone is a bit glum as she asks, “Did Dean Howard give a judgement in your favour or did Cassie and Levi win this round too?”My mind stutters.What other times could Cassie and Levi have won? Yet the moment I think about it I realize those moments would be too much to count if I actually wanted to.Cassie and Levi have been prominent faces on campus for as long as I can remember, and it seems their prominence and influence reaches even people like the Dean of the University. I want to wonder just how much trouble they must have gotten out of because of who their parents are and the names they bear, but there’s something more important I have to do than wonder.Estel is still waiting for a response, a look of genuine concern in her eyes as she does
As Christian responds curtly to Levi’s questions, an odd feeling of pride starts to fill me.I always used to think Levi worked closely with his brother.The way he seemed obsessed with whatever was going on in Christian’s life made me feel like they worked or existed in the same circles, but the lecture Christian taught made me realize I had it all wrong. The search I made on him confirmed it even further.Levi’s father owns a company which Levi works at, but that company is not in any way close to the real magnitude of the group of companies all under Christian’s management.The company Levi works at is like a drop in the ocean, while Christian is God and he dictates the flow and ebb of each wave, each droplet of water as he controls the sea itself.I chuckle to myself at the comparison.At least Levi already has a job, even if it’s only because of his father. I don’t have a wealthy father and if I do not leave to focus on job hunting, I won’t have a job either.I turn to leave but
It’s like the world stills the moment the words are out of my mouth, and that look of righteous offense on Cassie’s face falls from the implication.A look she has often been the one to cause and describe as pathetic afterward sits firmly now in her eyes as she stares at me blankly.Cassie looks like a deer stuck in the headlights.She looks between me and Levi, who still stands firmly beside her, and then she turns back to me, her eyes searching my face like she’s trying to see what’s inside my head.For a moment, I feel tempted to let her…For a moment, I feel tempted to let her see the emotions behind my eyes whenever I look at her, to let her see the disbelief and disgust, the confusion and pain.For a moment, I feel tempted to let her see the truth, except Levi interrupts and disrupts the moment.“Oh, for God’s sake, Lyra.”Levi’s face is scrunched into an expression of fond but exasperated annoyance, like he can’t believe what he’s just heard but he’s also amused by it.Wearing