Chapter 233
“Alice, are you really just going to let people walk all over you like that?”
Seeing that everyone seemed convinced, Alice let out a quiet sigh of relief.
She put on a helpless expression. “Let’s just put up with her for now. I don’t want to upset my grandmother.”
“You’re just too kind for your own good!” Grace huffed in frustration, clearly wishing Alice would stand up for herself.
She exchanged glances with the others, silently agreeing: they’d have to find a way to stand up for Alice and give her some payback.
…
At school.
“Anastasia! Great news!!”
Anastasia had just parted ways with her cousin when Maggie came barreling toward her, eyes sparkling. ᴛʜɪs ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ɪs ᴜᴘᴅᴀᴛᴇ ʙʏ
Before Anastasia could even ask, Maggie blurted out everything in an excited rush.
“The results from the student forum vote are out! You came in first! You got selected!!”
“And get this—I just heard that the top vote-getter will have the honor of welcoming that legendary VIP guest!”
“Anastasia, you’ve made our department proud!!”
A small, delighted smile tugged at Anastasia’s lips. “Well, that’s not bad at all.”
She hadn’t cared much about this whole thing at first, but seeing how excited everyone was—and hearing the results-she couldn’t help feeling a bit happy herself.
Meanwhile, over at the Faculty of Arts-
“How could Anastasia possibly be first?” One of Alice’s friends gaped at her phone
in disbelief. “We rallied so many people to vote for you, Alice!”
Yet, when the numbers came in, Alice’s votes weren’t even half of Anastasia’s.
She’d still made it onto the ceremonial team, but in the end, she’d lost to Anastasia.
Alice’s expression soured.
Seeing this, Grace jumped in immediately. “There’s no way Anastasia got that many votes. She must’ve cheated! I’ll talk to my uncle about this!”
Her uncle was the associate dean. Whether or not Anastasia had actually cheated didn’t matter—if Grace said something, that would be enough.
Catching her drift, Alice’s mood visibly improved, and she nodded for Grace to hurry up.
But before Grace could even reach Mr. Pierce, a student appeared at the classroom door.
“Is Alice here? Mr. Pierce would like to see you!”
Everyone instinctively turned to look at Grace.
Grace shook her head. “I haven’t even called my uncle yet!”
So why was Mr. Pierce suddenly looking for Alice?
The student quickly clarified, “Mr. Pierce said it’s about some details for the school anniversary. He’d like to discuss them with you.”
Discuss? The respectful tone caught Alice’s attention, and her eyes sparkled with anticipation.
Later, during the break-
Anastasia and Maggie were just about to head their separate ways when a girl strutted into their classroom, nose in the air.
“This is the Department of Journalism, right? I’m here to let you know-Anastasia has lost her spot on the ceremonial team!”
The announcement sent a shockwave through the room.
“What? We worked so hard to get her voted in-how can you just take it away?” “Yeah! The whole point was that the highest votes win!”
Maggie was the first to protest, but the entire class was in an uproar. Even those who barely knew Anastasia were indignant-she was one of their own, and they weren’t about to let her be treated unfairly.
Besides, Anastasia’s victory reflected well on the whole department, even the entire school. This wasn’t just about her anymore.
Seeing her classmates rally so fiercely behind her, Anastasia paused, caught off
guard by a complicated surge of emotions she couldn’t quite name.
Her gaze hardened as she stepped past Maggie and the others, fixing the arrogant girl with a cold stare.
“I’d like to know, too-if I won fair and square, why am I being stripped of my spot?”