Andrew sat hunched in his corner, turning the same question over and over: should he go find Maya and confess now? Get ahead of it? Maybe if he explained himself, she'd hear him out given their history. Maybe she'd let him off easy, just this once.
He didn't need to keep debating. Maya had already suspected him.
The moment she'd sensed that Andrew's state was clearly off, she'd confirmed it. He had large-problem written all over him.
Consider how any normal girl would react to hearing rumors like this circulating through her entire school. She'd probably break down crying on the spot — grab her things, flee. Even someone with a strong constitution would hesitate, would want to wait for a quieter moment, fewer witnesses, before approaching the person responsible.
But President Maya? This was her territory. In this school, she ran things unchallenged. She had no hesitation whatsoever.
Embarrassed? Shy? Afraid?
None of that existed in her.
President Maya right now had exactly one thing: a full tank of anger, waiting to go off.
She crossed the cafeteria, walked to Andrew's table, and tapped the steel tabletop lightly with one finger.
Andrew jolted upright like he'd been shocked.
He looked up. Maya stood over him, expression exactly as composed and unreadable as it always was. Her voice, when she spoke, was just as clear and pleasant as it usually was.
"Tell me, Andrew," she said. "Is it you spreading rumors about me?"
Looking at Maya's face — that familiar face, those large green eyes currently building up some kind of energy that his brain could only describe as charging, like the Death Star's green cannon locking onto a target — Andrew had a sudden vivid mental image: a green beam of energy, a planet getting vaporized, his own skull in the crosshairs.
He scrambled to his feet.
The students sharing his table glanced at each other, then grabbed their trays and quietly evacuated the blast radius.
The cafeteria, which had been buzzing, went abruptly silent — then broke into an even louder eruption of commentary.
"Andrew?! He always seemed so normal!"
"He's actually kind of cute — good grades, good at sports. I was going to confess to him. Well. Let's see if he makes it out alive."
"If Andrew's the one who started it, maybe the lesbian thing has some basis. He grew up with her — he'd know."
"Maybe it's a 'turned bitter from rejection' situation — same as me, secretly in love with the President—"
"Are you saying you're also secretly carrying a torch for the President?!"
"I never said that. Even if she's never looked at me once, she's still my first love. She's still perfect."
"Get out of here—"
The crowd noise rattled Andrew out of any remaining composure. Before Maya could even say another word, he was already talking.
"Maya — it wasn't me, I swear. I'm innocent. Please hear me out before you decide anything. It's not what you think. I would never do this to you — you know what kind of person I am. It was Will, that's who it was — Will Whitfield. This whole thing is his fault. He's the one who told me you were a lesbian, and I was trying to defend your honor, I went to find him to get to the bottom of it, and then he started blabbing everywhere—"
Andrew hadn't finished when a tall, wiry figure with dreadlocks came flying across the cafeteria and slammed into him.
Will hit him at full force, knocked him to the ground, and started throwing punches at his head, yelling at the top of his lungs.
"You — lying — piece of — trash — you're the one who started it! You yelled it out loud! You chased me halfway across the school! And now you're sitting here pinning it all on me?! I'll kill you—"
Andrew, after a stunned second, came back to himself and fought back. He had the size advantage. Will had the experience. They grappled, rolled, neither gaining clean ground.
"GO BIG BROTHER—!" Jamal shouted from a nearby table, abruptly abandoning his earlier policy of non-involvement.
The cafeteria erupted. The peanut gallery was loving this.
President Maya looked at the two of them rolling around on the floor. Then looked at the cheering crowd.
Right. Nearly got pulled off track. Neither of these two is walking away today.
"EVERYONE. QUIET."
Her voice cut through the noise cleanly.
Two hundred students went still. Jamal's encouragement died mid-syllable.
Even the two combatants slowed.
Maya walked toward them with complete composure, raised one foot in its neat black leather shoe, and delivered two precise kicks — one to each of them, square in the lower back.
"OW—!"
Both boys went limp, gasping. The onlookers collectively winced.
Maya stepped back, folded her arms, and waited. She gave them the time they needed to breathe through it, groan, and gradually remember how to function.
When they'd finally managed to sit up and focus, she looked at them.
"Now." Her voice was pleasant. "One at a time. Tell me what happened, who was spreading rumors about me, and what you were thinking." She glanced between them. "Don't both talk at once. Andrew — you first."
Both opened their mouths simultaneously. Maya's gaze sharpened.
"I said one at a time. Andrew."
Andrew pressed a hand to his back, held up the other. "...Maya. Uh — President Hansen. I am genuinely, completely innocent. This morning, Will walked up to me at the gate out of nowhere and told me you were a lesbian. Of course I didn't believe him. I went to confront him about it — for your sake. And then things just... got out of hand somehow. President — Your Honor — Will Whitfield is the ringleader here. I implore you to see clearly and grant justice to the innocent—"