"Hello, President!"
"Morning Della!"
"Hello, Della!"
Della returned all the greetings with a polite smile. As usual, Della as the student council president had to come early to school to supervise the picket line that caught students who dared to violate the rules set by her school. Della stored her school bag in the classroom before she returned to the gate to accompany her student council colleagues to start their morning picket.
"Della, there's no need for you to come this early every day. You must be exhausted. School in the morning and tutoring in the afternoon must take a lot of your time."
Della smiled as her vice chairman, Adam, started to comment as their eyes had to focus on the students who started to enter the school ground. "I'm used to getting up early. I'm not tired. So, you don't have to worry about me," she said confidently. Adam looked away after that. He gave Della a long look, with slightly furrowed brows.
For many people, Della's habit of joining the morning picket, even if it wasn't her schedule, was a common thing. It's because she's the student council president, who was directly elected by the teachers. Della was used to being seen as a perfect figure in people's eyes. Smart, kind, and diligent. She was always the idol of the people.
However, Adam always felt that behind her smile and polite words, Della always hid her true feelings. The girl never complained, even though her duties were harder than everyone else's. Not to mention that her family was also too demanding of the poor girl. Adam wanted to help his friend. But, he didn't know what he must do if Della didn't seem to want his help.
"Della-"
Adam swallowed back his words as Della suddenly stepped forward to stop a student, who had just entered the school ground with his friends. Della's usually smooth and patient face squirmed in annoyance when she saw the group of students. The friendly smile that was usually always on Della's face disappeared, as she faced the group of students in front of her without any fear.
"Colorful shoes, shirts were taken off, hair too long, and black socks. If all the points are combined, you can get twenty-five minus points, which is enough to get you a first warning letter if you don't also want to change your appearance."
Della stopped talking before furrowing her brows even worse.
"And you all smell like cigarettes. The disciplinary teacher wouldn't let you off so easily if he knew what you did today."
The teenager who is the main target of Della's reprimand is a student who is quite famous in their school that is very strict about the rules that bind all its students. Austin was an idolized student before any kind of mischief tainted his record as an outstanding child. At the moment, the teenager's eyebrows were slightly raised and added an air of disdain that did not match the proportions of his good-looking face. The teenager with the towering height needed to look down slightly, as he stared at Della, who was only at his shoulder height.
Although Della was quite short for a girl her age, the momentum she had was no less than Austin's tall and intimidating momentum. The proof was that the girl could stand her ground in front of Austin, while her other friends probably wouldn't have been able to stay as brave as Della.
As a popular guy, Austin was also never short of people walking behind him every time he went to school. When Della had stopped Austin's movement, the people who entered with Austin automatically stopped and saw the two imposing existences facing each other.
As someone who had always earned whatever he had, Austin was never used to being reprimanded and looked down upon by others. His gaze implied obvious mockery, as he asked the girl in a mocking tone.
"As rumored, our school's student council president really likes to meddle in other people's business, doesn't she?"
Hearing the man's mocking words, Della's brows furrowed even deeper. The girl's lips pressed together to form a thin line. People who were familiar with Della knew that the girl was angry at the moment. Her normally friendly face actually looked cold, as she continued her task with great dedication.
"Your name and class," she said briefly. Della was too lazy to argue with the teenager as she knew she would only be wasting her time. However, even after Della decided to end the argument, Austin didn't seem to want to budge at all, even though he was clearly in the wrong here. Austin had always hated girls who pretended to enforce rules like Della. And this opportunity, he would use to teach the stiff girl a lesson.
"I've often seen that some student council members sometimes break the rules you always praise. If school law enforcers like them can break them, why can't we do the same?"
"I've recorded them too."
Della calmly showed him the point book that proved that the girl didn't hesitate to write down her colleagues' names if they did break school rules. Austin could hardly believe his eyes when he saw the report book. The teenager was silent for a moment, before laughing derisively.
"Ah ... As expected of a teacher's helper, you don't even hesitate to punish your friends. I wonder why there are still people who want to be friends with a stiff and boring girl like you."
"Hey, you just need to tell us your name and class, not insult Della like this!"
When Adam saw that the argument had started to attract the attention of the other kids who had just arrived, Adam immediately tried to reprimand Austin, who was getting more demanding in front of Della. The man's face didn't look friendly either, as he tried to posture in front of Della, who wasn't affected in the slightest by Austin's earlier remark.
"Insulting a student council member on duty. Another 5 points deduction," Della said with a calm face. Austin's face changed when he heard Della's words. The girl stood firm like a concrete wall. All his provocations didn't affect Della, who was still staring at him without too much emotion.
"You're disrupting the student council's picketing process. Quickly tell me your name, or I'll report your unwillingness to cooperate to the disciplinary department."
Feeling that Della had wasted too much time dealing with the unruly man, the girl looked at the watch on her hand before looking at Austin again as if she was waiting for him to answer her question quickly. As Della expected, Austin and his friends' faces changed slightly when Della started mentioning teachers in their conversation. Austin seemed to be annoyed that the student council president wouldn't compromise with him even a little bit. The teen took two steps forward. His gaze turned serious, as he looked at Della with cold eyes that looked scary.
Almost all students knew that before Austin suddenly decided to quit, the teen was a gold-winning athlete in karate martial arts. With his towering height and well-proportioned body, Austin's mere presence could usually suppress the presence of others. However, this time his opponent was Della. The girl calmly only slightly raised her head, as she stared at Austin's face without the slightest feeling of fear.
"Continue to be a fake person as if your existence is the holiest compared to others, and see if you can still pretend when they get fed up with your whole attitude and start throwing you aside."
Della's expression changed slightly after she heard Austin's low-pitched words. Austin was quite satisfied to see the change in expression on the face with the thick mask. The man smiled back casually, as he pronounced her name very smoothly.
"Austin Arya Osvaldo, class 12 B. Now, let's see if I'll really get into trouble if I get a warning letter because of you."
Della no longer listened to Austin's words as she focused on writing the man's name in a notebook. After that, Della immediately stopped Austin's friends, who were intending to sneak away after their friend was caught by Della. Her face remained as stern as ever, as she joined in asking their names one by one.
Only when they had left, could the daily picket routine finally be carried out normally again.