My eyes wandered to Olivia, the vice president, when she walked in.
She looked composed as always, her sharp gaze scanning the room briefly before landing on me. For some reason, I felt an inexplicable tension and quickly looked away.
I wasn't sure if she noticed, but if she did, she didn't say anything. She simply took her seat near Vivian and crossed her legs, flipping open her notebook as if nothing had happened.
Once everyone was present, Vivian stood up and clapped her hands lightly to get our attention.
"Thanks for coming in early today," she began, her voice clear and steady. She paused briefly to make eye contact with each of us, her composed demeanor instantly commanding the room. "I wanted to take this opportunity to go over some updates and get everyone on the same page."
She gestured toward a stack of papers on her desk, but instead of handing them out, she leaned against the desk and continued speaking.
"This year's joint sports festival will be happening next month. It's going to be the largest one we've ever hosted, and we'll be collaborating with two other schools to make it happen."
Her tone was professional, but the slight furrow of her brows hinted at the stress the event was already causing.
"As you can imagine, the preparations are a lot more complicated this time around. Most of the major tasks are being handled by the staff, but we've been asked to take care of the smaller details, the ones they've decided fall under 'student autonomy.'"
She smiled wryly at that last part, and a few members chuckled softly, clearly just as used to the school dumping menial tasks on us as she was.
Vivian let the reaction settle before continuing.
"Anyway, I'll need a headcount of how many of you can consistently arrive early to help with prep work over the next few weeks. Some mornings might get busy, so having people here on time will make things easier."
She clasped her hands together and looked around the room, her expression calm but expectant.
Hands went up one by one. I raised mine without hesitation, and Vivian nodded in acknowledgment.
By the end of the roll call, about eighty percent of the members confirmed they could come in early, a better turnout than I'd expected.
Vivian checked the clock. Only five minutes left before the morning bell.
"Well, that's all for now," she said, straightening up. "I'll send out updates in the group chat if anything changes, but for today, just focus on your assignments. Dismissed."
As everyone began packing up their things, Olivia glanced in my direction again.
This time, her expression was unreadable, and I quickly busied myself with organizing my papers, pretending not to notice.
Vivian, meanwhile, was already back at her desk, typing away again like she hadn't just led a meeting.
I lingered for a moment, watching her work, before finally standing up and heading out the door.
And just like that, the hectic schedule of the sports festival preparations had begun.
At noon, I went to look for Vivian in her classroom to ask about a decision I didn't feel comfortable making on my own. However, her classmates informed me that she was most likely in the Club room.
Even as Club members, we rarely spent time there since it was a bit far from the classrooms. Going back and forth meant carefully timing everything to avoid being late for the next class.
Still, this was the second or third time I'd had to go all the way to the council room to find Vivian. It seemed she spent more time there than the rest of us combined.
When I stepped into the room, it was noticeably dim, the lights off, and the air felt stuffy and warm. Vivian was seated alone at her desk, her focus locked on a stack of documents.
Hearing the door creak open, she glanced up and greeted me with a slight smile.
After I explained why I'd come, she leaned back slightly in her chair, listening calmly before giving her answer.
"I think you can make the decision yourself," she said easily. "I'm just a student too. It's not like my judgment is automatically better than yours."
Just like that, the responsibility I'd been agonizing over for hours was tossed back to me.
Honestly, I'd been hoping for a clear answer so I wouldn't have to wrestle with the pressure of making the call.
This wasn't the kind of situation where handling it well would earn me praise, but messing it up would definitely result in criticism.
But since Vivian had already pushed the matter back to me, I couldn't exactly back down.
"Got it," I said, giving a firm nod. Then, tugging at the collar of my uniform to loosen it a bit, I shifted the conversation.
"Why is it so hot in here?"
Vivian sighed and leaned back in her chair. "They're rewiring the floor above us. Apparently, this building is going to be without power until school ends today, so the air conditioning is out."
"So no computers either?"
"Nope," she replied, flashing a resigned smile. "If the heat's too much for you, you should probably head back to your classroom early."
I noticed the faint beads of sweat on her forehead, though she didn't seem particularly bothered by it. Vivian always carried herself with such composure that even the uncomfortable heat didn't seem to faze her.
Watching her sitting there like that made me wonder, she was always calm, always collected. I couldn't remember ever hearing her raise her voice at anyone. What would it take to rattle someone like her?
"Wouldn't it make more sense to head back to class instead of sitting here and sweating?" I asked, leaning casually against one of the desks.
"I'm used to working here," she said with a small smile, brushing a strand of hair away from her face.
~~~~~~~
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