Word of Honor

Chapter Eight: Critical

"Woah, your family's goin' real viral on internet y'know?" Chloe inquires for my confirmation. "I'd wanna famous one day but I've second thoughts about this type!"

It is another day that cannot be more normal in high school: the gossip girls, sports boys, people with a small friend group, and lonely ones. And anyone would know if there is ever a single day without any of these people, something is definitely wrong.

The balcony in school does not compare with the ones at home at all. The placements of the shared towels, brooms, and mops are placed on hooks sticking to the walls.

It feels as though a paradise with Chloe. The wide sky stretches with extra motivation with the gray clouds out of the way today.

I never dare to check the newspapers or the new technology for Dad's sake. If Dad ever comes across his own daughter reading those false words about himself, how would he feel?

"I never chose this, okay?" I ask, seeking the comfort of the stony texture of the railing. True, I did not have a choice for neither the family habit nor the ability to cover for Dad when he was on stage.

"Yeah, you mentioned that long enough. Never fancy being famous on the internet," Chloe replies while enjoying the magnificent view. She pauses for a moment, faces me and says, "Y'know I'll by your side whatever, right?"

Surprised by how Chloe could ask such a question with a deep meaning, I answer, "Of course. We'll always be best friends forevermore despite how childish it sounds."

Chloe smiles and comments, "Hope it stays that way.

"Put those aside for now. You have to see how cruel write about you and your family," Chloe pulls a piece of newspaper out of her pockets and spreads it open beside the railing. "Mind me reading to you?"

"Please do," I say, pondering on whether my answer means to tell her to read for me or not.

"Okay..." Chloe says. She clears her throat, resembling someone in my memories I cannot recall.

On September 3, 1986, a traumatic incident took place in Venue Scenario. What happened specifically? The truth of everything on this day will be revealed in this article.

This day is the official day for politicians to speak for their statistics they have accomplished these past months. The list of the politicians are as shown in the image on the right of this article. The last participant, Leon Glift, is the cause of this whole incident.

When it is his turn to speak, no one expects him to cross any lines as his appearance is somehow seemingly harmless. At first, this particular man speaks as if he is an innocuous man; his statistics are the best amongst the others as the quality is greater than quantity.

Nevertheless, as the speech proceeds, he changes his facial expressions in a grotesque way. Then, right after his statistics were shown to the audience, he abruptly changes his tone into a hollow weird voice. He talks about how us humans are considered 'dark' and many cruel things. To make matters worse, he lifts off the ground and gravity cannot contain him in place. Glift is a monster that creates chaos throughout the crowd.

When everyone is panicking, the master of ceremonies saves the day. He runs on stage and slaps Glift in the face to shake out his senses. Although Glift totally deserves this type of physical punishment, everyone was stunned by the master of ceremonies' actions at first. After a few seconds to absorb the massive scene, the audiences clapped and cheered for the master of ceremonies. The cameras quickly took pictures for breaking news.

However, after the traumatic event, Glift acted as if he did nothing wrong. He faked being the 'wrongly accused victim' and literally hurried to the backstage while crying. A young lady and woman sprinted and followed him.