Chapter 77 Dean's Office

KIA

I was sitting in class doing my work when my teacher called me up to his desk and told me to grab my things I'm going up to the dean’s office. I was so nervous and scared and didn't know why I was being called to the dean’s office but then I suddenly remembered the offer they were offering to me earlier. Maybe she already wants an answer? When I arrived at the office it was a lady sitting at the desk calling other students' names to go meet and see the dean. I walked up to the desk and gave her my pass.

She took the pass and told me, “Alright, you may have a seat and get comfortable because you will be waiting a long time until your name gets called.” After she said that I got even more scared.

Calm down, self! Maybe they just want to congratulate me because of my performance in our recent midterm exam…

As I was sitting here waiting for my name to be called I started to think about everything I had done that week so when it was my turn to go there inside the dean’s office it wouldn't be a surprise why I was being called here in her office. About 15 minutes went by before she called my name.

“Kianna Myst Saavedra!”

When she called my name and told me it was time to go inside I didn't want to I really wanted to run out the door and go back to my class. When I walked into her office the look on her face was distasteful. She told me to have a seat and said she had a couple of questions to ask me.

“Okay, dean…” I murmured, trying to hide my fear.

The first following question she asked me was "what's going on? "

I didn't really know how to respond to that so I said "nothing is going on".

She opened her mouth to say something else to me, I'm hoping that it's about why I'm being called here. Before she could say anything I hurried and opened my mouth to ask why I was there.

“Is there some kind of problem, dean? If this is about the offer you told me about earlier, I am still thinking about it. I need some time to think about it, dean. I still need to consider a lot of things before deciding to take part in that competition.”

“It’s not about that Ms. Saavedra. I receive a complaint from your classmate and they also admit something from me. I called you here to tell me everything about that issue.”

“Um… I’m sorry, dean, but I have no idea what you are talking about right now. Can you please enlighten me about it?” I asked, scrunching my cheek in confusion.

She then sighed before speaking, “I have received a report from your classmates that something isn’t right with your achievement that you have right now…”

“What do you mean something was not right, dean?”

“Early this morning, after the recognition event that we held, there are students who came here to my office. They were accusing you of cheating, Ms. Saavedra—”

“Cheating?! But I have never cheated, dean. I would never do such a thing. This is all a misunderstanding. There should be foul play with this issue.” I hysterically said as I stood up and approach her desk.

“Calm down, Ms. Saavedra… Without solid proof and until proven guilty, you are still innocent. At first, I was shocked to hear that issue because it was a matter of time before we just congratulate you on your achievement. I was disappointed but since there is no solid proof for their accusations, you don’t have to worry about anything. I know you well, Ms. Saavedra… and I am believing you that you can’t do such a thing. You are such a great student since the first day you came here to this school. So, ease your mind because we will do our best to investigate this accusation.” The dean said as she smiled at me but then her moment was disturbed by a sudden loud banging from the door.

It opened and Vera and some of our classmates entered. I'm not sure if I saw it right, but it seemed as if Vera was smirking at me. What are they doing here? Are they the ones who accused me of cheating?

“Ms. Ventura? What are you doing here? I told you that I will just make a separate meeting with you. I still need to talk to Ms. Saavedra.” The dean said as Vera with four of our classmates head inside like they don't even care about what the dean is saying.

I’m right. It’s them who were making those issues about me!

“It’s you?”

“Well, hello there, Kianna! Have you already admitted it to the dean? — That you cheated on our midterm exam? You have such a hard face to receive such recognition even though you got it because of cheating. Aren’t you ashamed?” She even get her face closer to me as if she was so sure about her lies.

“Liar. You should be the one to feel ashamed right now. You are accusing me without a piece of solid evidence?”

“Don’t be too excited, Kianna. You thought we would just let you have that praise from other people?” She whispered. “Dean, I came here with my witness. I am now ready to confess everything. I can't sleep for the past few days because of this…" she even touched her head as if it was hurting so bad.

What a fake actor… No one would believe such lies…

"What do you mean by confessing, Ms. Ventura?" The dean asked. "But first, can everyone have a seat first?" She added. Everyone followed her and sat on the couch.

"Alright, let us hear that confession you are talking about, Ms. Ventura."

"Yes, dean… This happened before the midterm exam happened. Everyone was shocked to hear the news that the midterm exam will be our qualification exam for the next semester. We only have one week to get ready for that exam so we did such a terrible thing just to pass that exam, dean… We are truly sorry for our action dean…"

"We are sorry, dean…" said the four.

The dean narrowed her eyes as she was trying to understand everything she just said. "Terrible thing you said? What is that?"

"We planned to cheat the exam just to pass dean—"

"What?!" The dean asked in shock.

"Yes, dean… I am sorry… We hired a hacker to hack the school system and get a copy of the midterm exam. We successfully got the first page of the exam but we haven't had the chance to get the second part. After we got the copy, we thought about sharing it to some of our classmates since we wanted everyone to pass the exam but then Kianna saw us. She threatened to report us to you, dean…"

"Liar! What the f*ck are you talking about?!"

"Ms. Saavedra, I wasn't asking for you to talk so please be quiet and listen first. I will give you time to talk later." The dean raised her hand and kept me shut from talking. "Alright, Ms. Ventura, continue."

"Sh-she threatened us, dean… I was so afraid to get punished for what I did so she made an agreement with us. She wanted a copy of that exam… I don't have a choice, dean, but to give it to her. After the exam just like what we expected she ace it because of cheating. We know that our actions are wrong, dean. That is why we are here to make things straight."

"Is that true? Any comments from the four of you?"

"Yes, dean. Everything that Vera said is true. Kianna even asked me to make a copy of that exam and gave it to her in the restroom after class. You can check the CCTV, dean."

"Alright, how about you Ms. Saavedra?"

"Dean, I am just overwhelmed by all of those lies that they were saying. But one thing for sure is that I never cheated on the midterm exam. My friends can testify with the hard work we did just to study for it—"

"Duh! Of course, they will defend you. You are their friend!" Vera interjected.

"Stop lying, Vera! Everyone knows you were just doing this because you hate me. Is this Asteria's plan?"

"Me? A liar? You can't even prove that you are innocent which makes you guilty. Just admit it, Kianna. Stop embarrassing yourself for receiving the achievement you don't deserve!"

"Silence! — Alright, since we already heard everyone's side—"

"Expel her, dean. She deserves it for not telling the truth!"

"We can't do that, Ms. Ventura. Without any solid evidence that she cheated then we can't make any decisions. For now, while we are investigating the situation I want every one of you to stay in the detention room. This is such a serious matter and we can't let any of you hinder the investigation. I don't want any fabricated evidence or false accusations. — Guard! Lead them to the detention room." The dean said with her authoritative voice.