"WHEN THE WORLD AROUND YOU IS BURNING, LOOK AT THE STARS."
Transfer student Minni Lee has a premonition. Not all is right at Newhurst University. Between a hateful blog post and the strange death of campus mean girl, Somin, exists a tangled mystery...
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MIN WAS IN THE LIBRARY WHEN SHE HEARD IT.
Shrill chimes traversed through the campus intercom system. She counted three in a row, all drawn out and continuous, before it repeated. She could hear it even from her isolated corner of the second floor. The line-up for approved Celebration of the Arts proposals had been announced.
Her grip tightened around the waxy papers with a sigh and she dropped her gaze back to the thick passage of fading ink. The title had stuck out to her a long time ago. She only just found the time, and the desperation, to investigate. It was a small newspaper article, not well-preserved but clearly significant. Especially now.
"1996 Celebration of the Arts Ceremony ends in scandal!"
She flipped a page, skimming the words with her fingertip. The Celebration of the Arts was an annual tradition at NHU, a chance to rise to stardom for anyone brave enough to take it. She, somehow, had mustered up the courage to apply with Kevin during their movie night which was now weeks ago.
Jisoo backed out. Since the Lucas incident, she had gone awol. Jennie was furious. Kevin was being more quiet than usual, and Minni was waiting for everything to blow over. Things rarely ever did though.
She was paranoid at the prospects of someone discovering her slumped figure in between the shelves of the NHU historysection. She had been followed too many times to count. While she had not noticed any shadows behind her since that day with Seonghwa, she still couldn't be sure.
She scanned the library, not finding any movement along the rows and rows of shelves to her left and right. Alone and quiet. Only her and the dust bunnies, just how she liked it.
She folded a corner, perusing another passage. COTA was notoriously competitive, especially when it came to the more physical arts–singing, dancing, theater. Winners were decided by a set of judges that were industry professionals without any association to the university. Despite the attempts to keep everything fair, the promise of money and fame led many into dark, spiraling obsessions.
"...including a female theater student, LS, who sabotaged her competition's monologue by spiking her water with rat poison. The victim was taken to the hospital, but did not make a recovery. The university held a press-conference on the seventh of May to address the issue, but refused to expel the accused student. It is our opinion that NHU students deserve to go to a safe, unbiased school. If action will not be taken, we must demand it...
The paper crinkled around Min's clenching grip. Scorched by the words that followed that sentence, she tossed the publication aside with a strangled gasp for air. The yellowed papers curled in on themselves at the corners, revealing the two lines that had made her flail with panic.
