Perjury

"Billings holds years and years of tradition. We worked hard to get into Billings. These girls," said Eliza as she pointed to the current Billings girls "worked extremely hard to get there too. It's ludicrous. You didn't even bother to contact us! I demand that you at least consider building Billings back up," finished Eliza. She sat back down in one of the front row benches and crossed her arms over her chest. She didn't have any kids, but she already mentioned if she did, she would've sent them here no matter what.

Everyone nodded in agreement. The Billings Alumni took up the first four rows, and the rest of us sat behind them. It has already been two and a half hours, and nothing was done. The current Billings girls refused to go back to school until the verdict was heard. So here I was, feeling my butt go numb from sitting so long, and really not giving a rat's ass about everything going on around me. The wrinkly old man who was head of the board kept arguing back and coming up with vague answers, making us huff and puff. Mr. Hathaway had kept silent except for speaking when he needed to. I saw him rub his head several times; poor guy probably already had a headache.

"Noelle, this is stupid. They're not going to give in. Maybe we should just wait for a while," I reasoned. Some fat, overly dressed lady had started to speak now.

"No! Are you out of your mind?" whispered Noelle. She sighed. "But you're right; Mr.-I-don't-take-Botox over there isn't budging. God, I didn't think it would be this hard," said Noelle.

I frowned. I wanted Billings back, but the board was defiantly not willing to move at all. What if…

"Hey Noelle? What if we did another fundraiser? Easton is all about money, and I'm sure we can make up more than 5 million dollars. You know, make this event more publicized, more glamorous, and the Alumni can help us," I added.

Noelle paused and looked at me. Her deep eyes penetrated me; did I say something stupid? It sounded fine to me.

She smirked and smiled. "Well, well, look who we've got here. Little Farm Girl just came up with a brilliant plan. It's great." She zoned off, probably already planning out the event. She turned to me. "Come on, let's say it."

I looked up at her in shock. "No, no I'm horrible at speaking up! Why don't you do it? You're president."

Noelle snorted. "Thanks for pointing that out, Captain Obvious. You came up with it in the first place. Besides, you've spoken against the board, remember?" Noelle looked over to the fat lady; she had just finished talking. "Let's go," she commanded while she grabbed my arm and yanked me up. I swallowed.

"Mr. Marshall and Headmaster Hathaway, we apologize for the inconvenience. To cut this meeting short, Reed and I have a proposition," said Noelle smoothly. I looked over to my side and saw all the Billings girls raising their eyebrows. I fiddled with my shirt buttons.

"Would you please explain it to us?" asked Hathaway. He sighed; his sigh was barely audible, but the guy looked flat out tired and pissed off.

Noelle smiled flawlessly. "Of course. We plan to do another fundraiser; this time, we will use the money to build Billings back up. With or without your permission," she finalized.

Mr. Marshall's face showed some interest, and he leaned forward. "The money would be appreciated, but I cannot guarantee that it will be used for Billings," he said.

What a selfish dick. He only cared about money, not for the welfare of students. I spoke up.

"I'm aware money is important to you, but what if we raised enough to satisfy both of our needs? You can get some of the share, and we have the rest to rebuild Billings," I explained. The whole room had eyes for me. Come on old man. You know this is a good plan, I thought.

Mr. Marshall cleared his throat. "It will take more than five million dollars to rebuild Billings, Miss Brennen and to satisfy our needs," he replied.

Missy clicked her tongue, showing her distaste. At least there was something we agreed on.

Mr. Hathaway then spoke up. "Ladies, we appreciate your concerns but frankly, you can't do anything about it. This isn't about money or about you; the reason Billings was torn down was because we saw it fit to do so. Please, you are wasting your time in this. We won't allow it."

I thought I liked Mr. Hathaway during winter break, but he was getting on my nerves. And why did they keep on saying tearing Billings down was a good idea?

"Headmaster Hathaway, Mr. Marshall…if you may, can you explain why you keep on saying tearing Billings down was good? What did we do to prompt this?" It was Constance who said that. She slowly got up to her feet. I was glad she asked those questions, because honestly, his vague answers were killing me.

Mr. Hathaway looked over at Mr. Marshall. He cleared his throat. "Billings is a wonderful place. But I am afraid ladies, you have taken advantage of it. Billings is not about being the…what is it? The 'it girl'? It's about getting rewarded for your hard work, and even more rewarded later on by getting into the best of the best colleges. So please, just drop it. It won't do you any good," finished Mr. Marshall.

"Wait a minute. What do you mean, 'taking advantage of it?' We have never felt that getting into Billings was just for fun. Billings means everything to us." All of us nodded in agreement. "You need to explain further." Noelle's jaw clenched in an effort to hold back her anger.

"Please, just listen ladies. You won't get it back. This is our final word. We truly are sorry for the inconvenience, but there's nothing you can do." Mr. Hathaway stood up, just as Mr. Marshall, getting ready to leave.

"No."

My voice was barely heard, but right when I said that, everyone stopped still. I gulped.

"We are going to get Billings back. Since you think we don't appreciate it, I'm going to show that we do. We are going to show you by raising enough money to rebuild it. With," I looked over to Noelle "'or without your permission.'"

Headmaster Hathaway only sighed, but Mr. Marshall was fuming under his breath. All the Alumni and all my friends were looking at me with admiration. My heart soared.

"Fine," snapped Mr. Marshall. "Just don't be upset when you realize it was a wasted effort. But…I am willing to give you a chance. If you prove your worth, we might consider. Till then, it's a no," he finished.

I nodded and the two men proceeded to head outside. Mr. Hathaway's head was cast down a bit, probably from sheer exhaustion. Right when they went outside, everyone started talking animatedly.

"Reed! That was great! We should have you every time the board members are here!" exclaimed Constance as she came over and wrapped me in a strong hug. I hugged her back, feeling extremely elated.

"Thanks! This means we have a lot of work now," I said while I released her. Suddenly, I forgot Noelle was behind me. After all, she was president. I turned around and faced her.

Her face was composed and she didn't say anything; for a split second, I thought I saw... jealousy? I swallowed. Was she mad at me? She smiled, making me feel stupid for even thinking that. "I taught you well," she said. I smiled back, a little shy with the amount of attention. "Good job Glass Licker," she added. Noelle then went over to the Alumni, thanking them for coming over and getting ready for the fundraiser.

I quickly realized that I was extremely hungry. The Alumni were talking to the new generation of Billings girls; for a second, I forgot Billings was torn down in the first place. It was a nice sight to see. I grabbed my coat and purse and headed for the doors before someone could talk to me.

"Reed! Wait!" I turned around and saw Katherine, Gage's mother. Unlike her son, she was a complete sweetheart. "Reed, it's so nice to meet you," she gushed out. She was a tall, slender lady; in fact, Gage looked just like her.

"You too, Mrs. Coolidge," I replied back politely. My hungry stomach was begging to leave and eat, but I kept my cool.

"Well, I just wanted to say that you did a wonderful job back there. You know, all of us are willing to help you. If you need anything, just call-"

"Oh no Mrs. Coolidge, I'm not the one in charge. Noelle is president; you might want to talk to her," I said. Didn't everyone know that I was no longer president?

"Oh, ok," she replied. She seemed a little put off. "Well, I guess I should go talk to Noelle then." I smiled at her. Katherine exhaled. "Again, it was nice meeting you Reed." She turned around and headed towards her friends, not giving me a chance to say good-bye. I shook my head. The chapel was getting louder and louder as everyone talked, and I headed out.

I was greeted with a blast of cold air. As I looked around, I saw students piling in and out of the cafeteria. It was already lunch time? I checked my phone; sure enough, it was lunch time. I hugged my coat tightly across my chest, and went inside.

I looked around and saw that it was mostly empty. The whole Billings table was gone, and I suspected that I would be eating alone. I went to the lunch line, and dumped a bottle of water and a turkey sandwich on my plate. I sat down on my table, ignoring the looks everyone was giving me. Just when I needed a distraction, I felt my phone vibrate. Looking at the caller I.D., I saw that it was a text from Upton. I smiled and read what he wrote.

How is your first day at Easton? Heard about Billings; I'm sure it sucks.

Aw, Upton cared about Billings as much as I did. I quickly responded back.

Not too bad. We might get Billings back, all because of Noelle's hard work. What about you?

I quickly unwrapped my sandwich, not wanting to delay my empty stomach. I quietly munched on my food for a minute when Upton texted back.

With Noelle, nothing is impossible. I'm doing fine, thanks. As cheesy as this sound, I miss you like crazy.

I smiled. Wait a minute. Hold on. Why was I smiling? Upton was not my boyfriend. We were just seeing how things were going to go. For some reason, I didn't like the way the conversation was going. Sure, we had some claim over each other, but I couldn't hold on to something as fickle as our relationship. I didn't want to be held back because of some guy. I set my phone on the table and sighed.

"Meeting over?" I snapped out of my thoughts and saw Sawyer standing next to me, a smile on his face. Instantly, I burned. I wish I hadn't drunk so much. And imagine what state I was in! I wondered what he thought of me now.

He looked very handsome standing right there, wearing a light blue collared shirt and some khaki pants. His hair was in a tousled mess, and he looked more boyish than ever.

"Uh, yeah. I was just really hungry so…" I looked down at my feet. I could feel a blush forming on my cheeks. I looked back at Sawyer and realized I was being very rude right now. "Sit down," I said a little too quickly. Sawyer quietly sat down.

Suddenly, I didn't feel like eating anymore. The anticipation was killing me. "Hey Sawyer?" I said while looking down at my feet.

I faced him. "Yeah?" He was staring at me intently, waiting for me to speak.

"Um…I wanted to say thanks, for you know, bringing me back safely. It was stupid of me to drink and stuff so…yeah, thanks," I rambled.

Sawyer slightly blushed. "It's not a big deal…" He started to toy with the wrap that came with my sandwich. "I meant what I said, Reed. If you ever need anything, just come and talk. You can count on me." He finally looked up at me, and his grayish-brown eyes peered into mine. I swallowed. I was no longer going to get that drunk.

Sawyer kept looking at me until I finally had to avert my gaze from him. Then ever so slightly, I felt a light, warm cover my hand. I felt tingles run through my spine. Ohmigod, I did not just feel tingles from none other than Sawyer. Ohmigod. Oh God.

I smiled at him. "I probably already count on you more than I should." I laughed nervously, suddenly realizing the amount of truth to those words. I stopped myself. Sawyer smiled back warmly, and his baby soft hand left mine. Don't you dare hyperventilate right now, Reed!

All of a sudden, my phone buzzed. I had forgotten I was texting Upton; in fact, I forgot to text him back. My phone was placed in between us and Sawyer just happened to see who it was. His stance stiffened and he stood up.

"I should go. I need to get my books from my room," said Sawyer and little tersely. I sighed.

"Ok," I said quietly. He gave a curt nod and left, leaving me all sad and pissed off. I didn't even get to finish my food. I slowly got up, and dumped my food. The place was deserted, and I was probably going to be late for school. As I turned around, getting ready to go outside, I saw Josh standing on the opposite wall. He was in the perfect position where he could see everything from where I was sitting. I looked at him for a second longer than I should have. I was about to raise my hand and make a small wave, but he had already ducked his head down, grabbed his books, and went outside.

I breathed a sharp breath. I was beginning to think getting stalked was better than this.


thanks for the reviews guys! they made my day, as always :)

i know this chapter is boring, but what do you think about another fundraiser? good idea or no? don't worry folks, there will be drama while everyone is getting ready for the fundraiser. again, tell me what you think.

reviews please! as usual, they're always appreciated. and thanks again for those who have reviewed!