Don't Let the Secret Out

"I heard Stanley's parents are suing the school for what happened to their son. The school is under a lot of pressure to fish out the suspects." Anna announced, pacing around their dorm room. Feeling disturbed, like she had been for the past three weeks since after Stanely's mishap.

"Where did you get all that information from?" Sylvia asked.

"Rumors… You know me, Sylvia. I listen to whatever both students and teachers are talking about. And there's a serious rumor going around about Stanley's parents are suing the school. I don't just understand why the Deaconess is still protecting Clinton and Pablo. She needs to drag them out… they must answer for what they did to poor Stanley. Sylvia, you needed to see how bloody and lifeless he was looking inside that van. It broke my heart!" Anna slumped into her bed, feeling as hopeless as the dry Saturday afternoon.

Saturdays were supposed to be fun, the perfect time for cleaning and catching up with friends. But things were no longer the same in Bishop Evangelical College since Stanley was brutally beaten by Pablo and his gang. The incident was all over the news and everyone in school was affected by it all.

But things were especially harder for Sylvia and Anna, who couldn't stop feeling guilty for not stopping Stanley from challenging their seniors.

"I feel really bad Anna, I never knew he liked me that much. I was stupid! I had my eyes set on senior Clinton, who only wanted to hurt me. He warned me several times about senior Clinton and I didn't listen. Is there no way we can see him and maybe I can apologize to him?" Sylvia muttered, wringing her hands, her pale face looking even sadder.

"We can't see him. He is still at the hospital, I guess. Since his parents are suing the school, I don't think the school will let any of us come in contact with them. They know we are his friends and they can't risk having any of us tell his parents the truth. If the school loses this case to Stanley's parents, they will lose everything. Parents will withdraw their kids from this school, and the school will pay heavily for damages. And they deserve that."

"Sylvia, I wish you could tell your parents about what happened to you too, so they can do the same. They need to know." Anna said in a kind tone, so as not to upset her fragile friend.

"No! Never! They can never know. Please, Anna, I can't bear the shame. My parents won't forgive me." Sylvia pleaded.

"But I plan to testify against the school if I am given the chance and I may have to talk about what happened to you. The story is not complete without mentioning you." Anna insisted.

"No, you can't be everyone's hero, Anna. It's best you don't get involved. But even if you want to, please, I beg you for the sake of our friendship; don't mention what happened to me." Sylvia pleaded, her eyes suddenly clouding with tears.

"I am sorry, Sylvia. Please, don't cry. I promise to keep your name out of it but I can't promise not to get involved in bringing Bishop Evangelical College down. There are too many secrets that need to be uncovered, too many evil things that have been kept hidden. I still can't believe that there is a secret gang in our school. They have to answer for what they did to Stanley and you. And I don't mind helping in bringing this school down." Anna swore, her eyes squinting in determination.

Saturdays were free days and students were allowed to move freely around the school compound until it was time for evening fellowship, after which they assemble for dinner, attend night class and wait for lights out. And Anna took often took advantage of the free time to stroll around the school with her friend.

So, after sitting for long hours inside the room chatting with her friend, who barely said any word, Anna took a stroll to the school auditorium. She wanted to ask Sylvia to come along with her but Sylvia was different now and she was always afraid to leave her room, especially at night. She flinched whenever a stranger touched her and was always on alert. Anna felt really sorry for her. Pablo and his gang had really damaged her friend… not only her, but Stanley. And she was going to make them pay, she swore as she walked towards the school auditorium to sit in silence or maybe watch the drama group perform their rehearsal without them noticing her.

She walked into the auditorium through the exit door and sat close to the door, in case the drama group leader caught her and asked to leave. Patiently, she waited for the drama group to troop in to start their usual rehearsals, but there was no student in the auditorium and no one was headed towards it,either. It was all quiet and all she could hear was the distant chatter of students from the schoolyard. So, she sat there in the silence, thinking about all she and her friends have suffered in the hands of the seniors. Still lost in thought, she was jolted to reality by the murmurings coming from outside the door. Being a curious person, she climbed the seat to peep through the top window of the auditorium to see who was talking and she saw Pablo and Clinton.

"I told you my dad has taken care of everything. All we need to do now is to stick to the story in case the school board questions us. We are not responsible for what happened to him. We are innocent, upright students!" Clinton assured Pablo, who looked disturbed, unlike his usual over-confident self.

"Your dad has handled it for you. What about us? Not all of us are from an influential, carefree family like yours. Not all of us have big names like the Bernard name. What happens if the school makes us take the fall? Tell me Clinton!" Pablo growled as he looked around the quiet auditorium to see if any teacher or students were watching them.

He wouldn't be surprised if their teachers were monitoring them. Ever since the investigation started, he couldn't walk around the school peacefully without being harassed by different teachers. They wanted him to take the fall! And he was afraid.

"I have told you already. My dad will take care of it! I don't know why you are getting worked up. Were you not the same person who told us to say we are innocent if we questioned? Pablo, We just have to keep our mouth shut right or just lie. It's all cool!" Clinton reassured Pablo, patting his shoulder in a friendly manner. But immediately he noticed Pablo was glaring at him and he withdrew his hands from his shoulder out of fear.

"The Deaconess has called me to her office more than once, harassing me with so many questions. She maybe planning to put everything on me. And I can't risk having any of this pinned on me. You don't know my father. He may not be as popular or as wealthy as your father, but he is brutal. And if he hears of what I did, he may beat me to coma or even death." Pablo mumbled, his face darkening in fear.

"What? Your own father would do that to you?" Clinton asked, shocked by what Pablo said about his father.

"Just make sure no one mentions my name or you won't like what I will do. Because If I go down, you go down with me! Bernard. Besides, it was all your plan! You are the guilty one!" Pablo threatened, his brutal side suddenly replacing his vulnerability.

"Calm down, Pablo. We just have to stick to the lie. If we are called by the school board, we will say he fought us. We will turn everything against him. He belongs to a gang, and he came to fight us and we fought back. We were only defending ourselves. I am not scared. My father is handling it." Clinton said.

"I will not take the fall alone!" Pablo grumbled.

"The school can't throw us to the wolves. If they do, they will only end up destroying the school with their own hands. Stanley is at fault. That is the only way to keep the school's reputation safe. Can't you see?" Clinton tried explaining to a troubled Pablo.

Just then, Anna peered from the window and saw Gloria walking towards the boys and Clinton saw her, too. And for a second he lost his attention watching her walk towards them, which made Pablo turn to see her. His face squeezed in anger when he saw her walking towards them.

When Gloria saw Pablo, she froze, probably thinking of turning back. But before she could make up her mind, Pablo had already seen her, so she had no choice but to continue moving towards the boys. Anna waited eagerly to see what would happen between Gloria and Pablo. She could sense the tension between them and Clinton's uneasiness when he saw her coming.

"Clinton, please, can we talk?" Gloria asked Clinton, sounding a bit nervous even as she refused to acknowledge Pablo. This was why he hated girls. Pablo grunted inside. They were so rude. He turned menacingly to Gloria, and she almost fled in fear.

" Come here! What do you know about what is going on? What are you doing here? Clinton, did you tell her anything? She's the Deaconess' daughter. Have you forgotten? You are feeding her information about me. Look, I'm aware of what you girls say behind my back. You are one of those who reported me to the Deaconess, right? Tell me now!" Pablo gripped Gloria's arms as he yelled into her scared face.

"I don't know what you are talking about. Leave me alone now or I will report to my mum!" Gloria cried out, struggling to free herself. Pablo left her then reluctantly. There was already too much heat on him and he didn't want to cause any more problems for himself. He glared at Gloria for some time before walking to Clinton.

"You better mind what you say about me to your little girlfriend! Keep what we did a secret." He whispered in Clinton's ear, bumping Clinton's shoulders with his as he walked away.

Anna lowered her head as she watched Pablo walk away with rage surging through every part of his body. He kicked a dumpster on his way out before turning to look at Gloria and Clinton one more time before walking away.

"Why are you looking for me, Gloria? I told you Pablo can never know I told you about what we did. Do you want to get me in trouble?" Clinton asked a flustered Gloria, who was still rubbing the part of her arms where Pablo held.

"What do you want? Everywhere is hot and I don't have time to mess around with you. Besides, it's daytime…" He paused, staring at her lustfully. "Fine, maybe we can hide and do it in the auditorium." He said.

"Shut up Clinton. That's not why I want to talk to you. Idiot…"

"Don't call me an idiot ever again in your life!" Clinton snapped at her, twisting the same hand Pablo had injured.

"Or what? You will beat me like you beat that poor boy. Leave me alone now!" Gloria winced in pain before Clinton finally let her go. "How could you do such a thing, Clinton?"

"Really? So, now you are condemning me? You seem to have forgotten who started this whole revenge scheme. Gloria, you are as guilty as I am. Just pray the Deaconess follows my father's instructions and keeps my name out of all this or you will go down with me." Clinton growled.

Gloria looked around the back of the auditorium to see if anyone was watching before she moved closer to Clinton to whisper in his face.

"I never asked you to rape that poor girl for gossiping about me and you. I simply told you to deal with her. You could have done anything but something so horrible. But you did! And you didn't even stop there, you went on to beat her poor friend because he challenged you. Tell me why a sane person would beat a fellow human into unconsciousness? You guys are beasts!" She snarled at him. Angry with herself for ever getting involved with a notorious gang. If her mum finds out she has a hand in any of this, her life will be over.

"Shut up Gloria! You better not tell anyone these things or we will all be exposed. My father is handling it all. No one knows what we did to his girlfriend or why we beat him up. And no boy in the hostel will dare speak up for fear of…" He paused, as he watched Gloria condemn him with her eyes.

"I don't care if your father is handling it! I just don't want anyone mentioning my name in front of the school board. They will be calling on witnesses and suspects to say their own side of the story. Few of your guys are suspects and I came to tell you to tell them to avoid mentioning my name."

"Wait, how do you know all this? I thought my father said he would take care of everything?" Clinton asked, looking confused.

"You seem to have forgotten I am the Deaconess' daughter. There are some things I am privileged to know before others. The school is trying to pin everything on the poor boy you guys beat up. But his parents have refused to let it go like that. Hence, the school board is desperately looking for who to take the fall. They have fished some of you guys out. And I am afraid they might make the mistake of mentioning my name while being drilled by the school board. Do they know I asked you to deal with that girl?" Gloria asked, feeling agitated. She bit her lips as she waited for Clinton's answers.

Clinton said nothing because he didn't want to let Gloria off the hook. Getting no answer from Clinton, Gloria assumed Clinton had told his gang about her having a hand in it, which he didn't.

"I can't believe you told them. Please, just tell them not to mention my name." Gloria warned one last time before walking away.

Clinton was left alone. Anna watched as he paced around the back of the auditorium, his jaw clenched in anger as he looked around, probably for something or someone to take out his anger on.

They had gone too far with everything. Why did he go through with what crazy Gloria and vicious Pablo plans? Why? He wanted to scream, but he couldn't because other students might hear him. So, he walked off angrily, hoping that the school would succeed in pinning everything on Stanley.

After listening to all of their conversations, Anna had a clearer understanding of how everything had started. Gloria was the mastermind; Clinton and Pablo were the executioners. But Pablo had no idea the part Gloria had a hand in everything. 

Unconsciously, she bit her fingers while still glued to the seat in the auditorium, her eyes widened in understanding. It all finally made sense to her. She was going to make them pay! Even her filthy missionary school will pay, too! She swore as she walked back to the hostel to check on Sylvia.