Life Within The Halls

Chapter 22 : "Kelvin Cooper's Story"

LIFE WITHIN THE HALLS

Victoria

Wednesday, 18th February, 10:05 a.m.

On my way from the cafeteria with my bag, I spotted Jayden and Sandra descending the stairs to the ground floor. Breakfast had ended five minutes ago, and I had already dispatched a junior to deliver their food to them in class. There was no logical explanation for them to be going in that direction unless... it had something to do with the new AnonymousX account that had texted Jayden earlier.

"Jayden! Sandra!" I called out, waving my arms.

I quickened my pace to catch up with them. The banging of lockers filled the air as students rushed to grab their books for the next class.

"What's going on?" I inquired, noticing the apprehension written on their faces. "Anything I should know?"

Sandra took a deep breath and recounted a conversation Jayden had with the person using the late Chloe Wilson's account—AnonymousX. Initially, I thought the account was fake, but it turned out it wasn't.

"...the new AnonymousX wants Jayden to find someone named Kelvin Cooper, or they're going to release his video."

"Kelvin Cooper?" I echoed.

"Yes! We don't know who he is," she replied. "We tried asking around, but everyone's in a hurry to class."

Kelvin Cooper... Why did that name sound so familiar? I paused, wracking my brain, trying to recall any shred of memory associated with it.

Then, like a bolt of lightning, it hit me.

"Wait a minute," I said slowly, as the memory surfaced. "Wasn't he the guy who left the school in our first year out of embarrassment for stealing exam papers?"

"There was a Kelvin Cooper in this school?" Jayden asked.

I nodded solemnly. "Yeah, he was very controversial."

"Tell us about this Kelvin Cooper guy," Sandra requested.

"Kelvin Cooper was known as KC. He was on scholarship," I began. "It's no doubt that he wanted to make the most of his high school life. He was a whiz in the IT club, outshining everyone else, and he even had a knack for writing in the School Magazine Society. Those were the bright spots in his otherwise tumultuous high school story."

"But here's where it gets interesting," I continued. "Kelvin had a habit of showing up to class with bruises and scars, always claiming he was being bullied by the basketball team. It was like something out of a movie—secret meetings, whispered threats, the whole nine yards."

"And then, the climax," I lowered my voice. "He was accused of stealing exam papers. The scandal rocked the entire school and, just like that, Kelvin Cooper's chapter at Hill Academy came to an end."

"Me being a novel fan, stories with happy starts never end well," Sandra said. "Anyway, do you think he truly stole the exam papers?"

"For me, No," I replied honestly. "Kelvin Cooper wouldn't steal exam papers. He wasn't that type."

Jayden pulled out his phone and sent a message to the new AnonymousX, letting them know that he had found out who Kelvin Cooper was and what had happened to him during his stay in the school.

The phone buzzed within seconds with a new message. His fingers moved swiftly over the screen as he tapped on it.

"What did they say?" Sandra peered over his shoulder.

"Well done on your first task!" Jayden read aloud. "Now, for the second task; Kelvin Cooper was framed for stealing those exam papers. Prove his innocence!"

"Prove his innocence? It's been two years now, is that a joke?" I exclaimed.

"There's more," Jayden added, reading from the screen, "two of your classmates know the truth."

"Two of our classmates?" Sandra repeated, her brow knitting. "If they knew, why didn't they speak up in Kelvin's defense?"

A palpable silence enveloped us. Whoever those two were, speaking up in Kelvin's defense wouldn't have brought any harm to them. It could have saved Kelvin from humiliation. So, why didn't they do that?

"We really need to learn more about Kelvin Cooper," Jayden suggested. "Maybe there's something in the school archives or old yearbooks in the SMS room. Especially since he was a member."

Sandra and I agreed to it, and the three of us headed to the School Magazine Society room.

Proving Kelvin's innocence seemed like an insurmountable challenge. Given his history and the time frame, who would want to reopen a case from two years ago?

Upon arriving at the SMS room, we found it occupied by four junior executives who were busy printing copies of flyers for the school's 30th-anniversary program. The senior executives were likely in class.

Sandra leaned in close to me, her voice barely above a whisper. "Do you think they'll let us search for information about Kelvin here?"

"Don't worry," I replied in the same tone. "I'm the founder's granddaughter, forgotten? Just watch my lead."

With that, I walked up to the junior executives of the society, my posture radiating authority. "Excuse me," I said firmly, "we're here to do some research for a school project, particularly on former students. Would it be possible for us to look through some old yearbooks and pictures?"

They exchanged hesitant glances, clearly unsure about granting us access to their archives. After a moment of deliberation, one of them spoke.

"Why not? The room is all yours!"

I could feel Sandra's relieved sigh against my neck. Did she actually doubt they would let us in, especially with my connection to the society? Hilarious!

Jayden, Sandra, and I combed through the old books of the magazine society, our eyes scanning the pages for any mention of Kelvin Cooper. We searched meticulously, flipping through the pages.

My fingers brushed against a stack of old newspapers with the headline: "Student Accused of Stealing Exam Papers: Kelvin Cooper at Center of Scandal." The newspapers had come out when Kelvin was accused of the act.

Beside me, Sandra's voice broke through my reverie. "What's this?" she asked, holding up an article clipping with the headline: "A Fight Against Bullying by Kelvin Cooper."

"See?" I said, pointing at the article. "He made a lot of noise about bullying."

"So after he published this article, no one still believed him?" she inquired.

"No one," I replied sadly. "He even got into detention for publishing that article on the basis that bullying never happened in the school. He had no evidence or witnesses to support his claims, which made his allegations worthless."

"Poor guy," Sandra remarked.

Just as we absorbed the injustice of Kelvin's situation—that was according to him—Jayden called for our attention. He had stumbled across a faded photograph tucked away in a corner. In the photograph, three faces smiled back at us: Kelvin Cooper, Gideon Vanderbilt, and Pearl Adams.