Claude flinched as he remembered where he had heard Len say that name. Right, Ryan Keller was among the people Len brought to pick up Claude and Eugene that night. His lips pursed into a line, and he felt strange. He whispered, "Why do I feel like Psi Saint Alpha is making everything too easy for me?"
Instead of denying it, Joshua just sighed. "I'll tell you some other time. I'm just the chapter president. All I know is that I should take note of you and find ways to get you out of big trouble."
"Huh?" Claude flinched again, but they had already arrived in front of the SCB's office. Joshua ignored him and knocked on the door.
The knob twisted, and Ryan opened the door with a crack. Upon seeing Joshua and Claude, Ryan frowned. He opened the door and exited the office. "We're in the middle of a meeting. Joshua has sent me a text, but I haven't seen it yet. Is this important?"
Joshua nudged Claude, and the latter handed the letter to Ryan. The recipient read through it, only to sigh and massage his forehead. He glanced at Claude. "You came at a very wrong time, Lavallee. We're discussing what to do with those six students. They haven't reported to their dorms yet, and everyone saw those photos. Campus security hasn't involved the police yet, but it might come soon."
"Is Eugene in so much trouble?" Claude's eyes glowered at the floor.
"Not really." Ryan folded the letter he held. "We got people talking about Gracie's plan. She seems to be after Eugene Roth from the very beginning. We also have the nurse's testimony about Eugene's injuries. If we're lucky, the school will rule it as Gracie and her friends running away to evade sanctions."
"That's good to hear." Joshua patted Ryan's shoulder. "We'll help in any way we can. For now, file the dean's recommendation. You should ask Lavallee to show up tomorrow morning instead."
Ryan nodded and glanced at his watch. He looked up at Claude again. "I'll expect you to show up here at the office tomorrow around seven. We have to organize a few things before classes start. I also come here an hour after lunch break. The SCB is not a relaxing place, Lavallee. I hope you know this is indeed a sanction for those who didn't want to be here."
Claude nodded. Ryan could only dismiss him after receiving Joshua's paperwork. The person came back inside, the argument sounded out for a few seconds.
"You can head back now. I still have to deal with that thug you kicked." Joshua chuckled and waved at Claude. He then jogged toward the nurse's office at the other end of the hallway.
"What exactly is happening?" Claude murmured before heading back to his dorm.
…
The melancholic song of the violin echoed inside the room and out the open window. Claude had his eyes closed, letting his fingers move just from his muscle memory. He didn't know what Joshua meant by his words earlier. Psi Saint Alpha seemed to have picked him out in particular. However, even the chapter president had no idea what made Claude special.
Ping! Claude's phone rang with a notification. Claude finally opened his eyes and ended the song prematurely. He brought the violin down and checked the message.
[Len: You should sleep now. SCB needs you at 7.]
[Me: How did you know about that so fast? Did Keller tell you?]
[Len: I have my methods. Sleep now. Don't be like me who sleeps in class. (Wink-Wink)]
Claude smirked and shook his head. He didn't reply to the message anymore. He packed up his violin and prepared to sleep. Len was right. Claude had to meet Ryan around seven in the morning. Playing the violin past midnight shouldn't be allowed.
When Claude sat on his bed, he looked at Eugene's side. The roommate was already sleeping deeply like a starfish on a rock. His light snoring didn't even faze Claude's sensitive hearing.
"I hope it stops after SCB rules it as their fault." Claude lay down and closed his eyes. However, he opened them just as fast after a stray thought hit him. "Could they have put me as SCB's student assistant to help me keep track of the case? No, that's too much. This is confusing. Does Len even know why they are doing this? Is he in on it?"
[Me: Do you think Psi Saint Alpha caters to me too much?]
Claude grabbed his phone and texted without thinking. He had already sent it before realizing that Len could be sleeping. He just sighed and thought of putting his phone down. However, a reply came.
[Len: It's natural. Everyone goes through the cage before getting let out into the free world.]
[Me: ???]
[Me: Never mind. Good night.]
[Len: Good night, baby.]
Claude figured Len answered with only half his mind. Still, it made him giggle. He could imagine Len fighting off his closing eyes just to reply. In the end, his reply didn't make sense to Claude's question. He would just tease Len about it tomorrow.
A smile curved Claude's lips as he closed his eyes. At the thought of seeing Len tomorrow, he fell asleep.
…
The school felt so serene before the students flooded in for class. Claude walked the school proper a few minutes before seven. He reached the SCB's office and knocked on it. He didn't even know if anyone was already there before him.
A bespectacled maiden opened the door for him. Her hair was long and braided into plaits to wrap around her head. The glasses on her face were too big, deterring Claude from looking into her eyes. His vision would get distorted, which might hurt his head later. It was different from Len's glasses that only blurred his vision. It didn't help that Len would normally take his glasses off when looking at Claude.
"Hello, I heard you'd be joining us as Ryan's assistant today." She allowed him inside the room. "Please help me with the clutter. Last night's meeting went on for so long they decided not to clean up. Don't read anything. Just… erase the board and clear the table."
Claude nodded and started attending to the two tasks given to him. However, he still froze at what he read off the board at first notice.
The girl bumped him from behind, causing him to stir awake. She took the eraser from his hand and cleared the board. "You failed."
"Sorry. You should have realized this is about my friend." Claude sighed and attended to the small pieces of food wrappers left on the conference table. "I also didn't think they could put me on the scene. Is it safe for me to enter this place?"
"As long as you kept your eyes off their things, yes, you can stay." The maiden watched him clean up trash. She smiled. "Do you mind taking out the trash, too?"