Chapter 19: Chapter 19 - The Homecoming Discussion
As well-loved as Rosalie was – regardless of the fact her face remained expressionlessly beautiful – some random student had offered to help Xavier sort the sheets of designs that had fallen on the ground but he refused.
There was no need to risk it.
A beautiful girl Alice and Rosalie may be, but Xavier had no delusions in his mind – these girls were vampires. If there was one thing to know about vampires, it was their eternal taste for blood.
They had as much control of the instinct to drink blood as Xavier had a say before his Celestial Creator – he could never so no to such a God-like entity capable of creating new galaxies.
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Xavier snaked his way next to the upset Angela, and though she was displeased, the wormy way in which he wormed his way to her side made the girl smile a small bit.
"Sorry…" He laid the compliments thick, accentuated by a quick peck on Angela's cheek.
"Fine… fine!" She acquiesced immediately, fearing Xavier would take extreme measures to gain forgiveness.
The last time they had a fight in such a public setting, Xavier had secretly crawled under the table, forcefully relieved her of her panties, and indulged in the greatest unseen exhibition of the 20th century.
Honestly, Angela still didn't know if that was a punishment for herself and a reward for Xavier or vice versa.
"I forgive you…" Angela hastily voiced.
"Huh…" Xavier sounded a bit disappointed. "I mean... if you want me to…" He flashed his tongue a bit. "—before you forgive me… then, I am willing to do all it takes."
Angela was speechless.
COUGH
COUGH
COUGH
The loud sound of someone choking on the water came from the couple's right, and their eyes drifted simultaneously, landing on a blushing and choking Bella.
Bella was as if a deer caught in a headlight, uncertain of what to do or where to look. Her eyes locked with Xavier's and Angela's, desperately wanting to look away but wanting to appear ignorant as well.
Xavier felt the need to tell the girl that maintaining eye contact for so long only proved her guilt, but Bella was determined to remain a statue.
"Okay..."
Xavier scooted more into Angela's chair, raising his girlfriend to partially sit in his lap. Finally, Bella got the reprieve she required to start breathing once more.
As determined as she was, Bella had no doubt she would have held her breath to her death if Angela had not averted her eyes. The virgin girl shook her head at the graphic images floating in her mind.
The meeting commenced.
Seven people made their way onto the hastily elevated platform. There was supposed to be a retractable stage in the auditorium, but the pivots had long since rusted.
Brian – Student Body President…
Erin – his girlfriend and Vice President…
Yesmin – the black secretary that was supposed to be treasurer but nobody trusted her with the school's money…
'Racism starts early in these places…' Xavier mused.
Finally, Jason – the actual treasurer, and someone who could be seen spending the school's money on weed every Monday and Friday.
The only thing that kept Jason from being fired was the fact that he shared the weed with everyone, even Xavier could not complain about the generosity of the kid.
"I move to start this meeting," Brian announced. "Is this motion seconded?"
Xavier and Angela raised their hands.
"Let the record show that Xavier and Angela have seconded the motion…" Brian announced.
Jason scribbled the proceedings though, nobody could honestly say if he was writing the notes or fixing the expense reports to hide this month's purchase of hydro.
"Now… this meeting has been called due to a state of emergency!" Brian announced.
"It can't be a state of emergency unless there is a natural disaster…" Erin reminded.
"Homecoming is an emergency!" Yesmin voiced.
Everybody murmured in agreement.
Angela beamed since she was happy that Yesmin was finally getting the attention she deserved. It was no secret that Yesmin was the only thing holding discipline together at Forks.
Even Xavier had to defer to the strong-willed girl at times.
"Okay…" Brian continued rather awkwardly, already aware he wouldn't be voted back into the President's seat next year. "The matter has been investigated and what we have come up with is very simple to understand – the lack of funding for Homecoming! Jason will elaborate…"
Jason coughed, and everybody could see a few strands of smoke drift from between his lips – obviously, the notebook held in front of his face wasn't for writing, but hiding the fact that he wasn't sharing the weed.
Yesmin, being the goodie-two-shoes, she is, took over Jason's responsibilities almost immediately.
"The average Prom costs $300,000 – the average Fork's prom after major budgeting cuts comes up to $200,000. The school provides up to ¾ of that funding, roughly $150,000. Alas, the school cannot provide such funds this year…" Yesmin reported as detailed as possible.
Xavier was impressed, and a little pride swelled in his heart since Yesmin could be considered one of his girls – though, they only ever did butt stuff together due to her insistence on saving her virginity for her future husband.
"What about the donations received yearly from past graduates?" Angela interviewed.
She was in charge of the school's paper so it was natural for her to ask the hard questions, though the fire that burned in Angela's and Yesmin's eyes as their gaze met, told Xavier it was somewhat personal.
It probably didn't help that Xavier had stopped boning all his exes to dedicate himself only to Angela.
"That is factoring in the donations…" Yesmin reported in a business-like tone that screamed of challenge. "The Global Economy saw a period of widespread growth in 2004 due to eager parties witnessing the first signs of stability since 9/11, but now, in 2005… well, there have been signs of a recession of sorts. Graduates from Forks tend to drift into investment banking. Needless to say, the donations can't be as much if the economy is shit!"
A lot of what Yesmin reported went over everyone's heads, but they got the gist of the matter – the economy was bad, no money, and few donations for Homecoming.
Angela, being the diligent reporter, took down notes when necessary, circled suspicious phrases, and sunk into thought to see where the story truly was.
Xavier smelled blood in the water when Angela smirked.
"Now… if we can move on to address," Brian graced the center stage when he felt that Yesmin had answered all the difficult questions.
But clearly, he was mistaken.
"Yesmin made it clear that the donations are less due to the economic downturn of this year, but…" Angela paused, ensuring everyone was listening. "All donations are received during the previous year and saved for Homecoming to combat exactly such an economic situation from impacting an important time in the student's high school lives. That means the money should be at Forks for Homecoming…"
There were murmurs and suspicious glances at Brian.
"Just shut up if you don't know anything!" Brian growled.
Everyone was surprised, but none more than Angela who briefly shook. Xavier, for all his faults, had never spoken to her in such a way, and Xavier was the unit she used to determine the delinquents from the diligent student.
Brian had been a diligent student in her book until this exact moment, and for some reason, it came as an even greater shock to her.
Brian paled when he realized what he had done – not as much as what he had done, but more like who he had done it to… alas, The President knew it was too late to back down now.
"Why don't you ask your cheating boyfriend to donate?" Brian mockingly voiced. "He is rich, isn't he? A mansion and all? That's better than all of our parents combined!"
Everyone in the room sucked in a breath of air, but the agreement in their eyes couldn't be hidden. In their minds, Xavier was indeed rich… and handsome, so why shouldn't he donate some of the blessings he was born with?
Xavier quelled the ideas germinating in everyone's minds with a few simple words that struck the absolute truth of the matter.
"Think about it," He said, slowly curling the corners of his mouth into a knowing smirk. "Do you guys really want to owe me any favors?"
There was no need to say more.
Even Jessie, standing a few feet away from Xavier, shook her head in a near-desperate manner. And if Xavier's best friend would not take his favors, why would anyone else?
Everyone had an idea of what it was like to owe Xavier Ikaris Aionios a favor – the warning stories had become myths at this point.
"Do you want to owe me a favor to get these guys their Homecoming?" Xavier turned to Brian.
Brian rapidly shook his head negatively.
"However," Xavier continued. "I do think we can work together to find a way to give us an awesome Homecoming."
"Any suggestions will be welcomed…" Yesmin voiced.
Brian didn't have the balls to speak anymore.
"Well… I am super good at writing music," Xavier announced, but he wasn't bragging. "And Mike is interested in learning, Simon knows a thing or two about… then, there's Tod, Amir, Ty, Beatrice, Daisy, and others. Between the group of us, coming up with something fun and catchy shouldn't be a problem."
"You point is?" Brian frowned.
"Rosalie is the best person at this school when it comes to designs, whether clothing, terrain, houses or anything in between. She is super gifted, and I dare say she can make something cheap look really fucking awesome…" Xavier explained, giving Rosalie her dues.
Everyone turned their heads to The Cullens, specifically Rosalie. The girl in question was surprised but managed to maintain a neutral expression.
Alice simply grinned in place.
"Rosalie has a crowd she teaches design to – let's put them to work," Xavier explained and continued. "I don't know better dancers at this school than Alice and Brittney… They can be our chorographers, and the flexibility of the cheerleading squad is undeniable – I should know, I have tested—"
COUGH
Angela coughed, giving Xavier a chance to skip whatever he would say next, but many people caught on.
Many of the football players nodded in agreement, while many of the cheerleaders blushed.
"Point is… we have our dancers. We can get the dance clubs involved as well…" Xavier had made his way to the stage at this point. "The photography club, led by my wonderful girlfriend – Angela, will make what we do into a beautiful memory that will stay with us when we graduate."
"And you're proposing a what? Dance competition?" Yesmin inquired.
"A music video…" Xavier announced. "Eric recently told me about a company that was looking for something, and he has the computer know-how to put everything together…"
Everyone turned to Eric.
Of course, as someone competing for Bella's attention, Eric didn't want to help Xavier one bit, but it would seem too petty if he refused at this point in time.
"There is this company that's making waves as a videography base for music videos, home videos, just any types of videos really. It's called YouTube…" Eric explained. "I have a cousin who works there and he is telling me that they want something fresh for their first stream when they go public in three weeks. Xavier has a bit of an online following, so if we can translate that into monetary value using YouTube – then, we upload a music video made by the students of Forks. As long as the music is good, and the video is good, we can make tens of thousands of dollars."
"But doesn't that still rely on Xavier?" Someone voiced, unwilling to owe The Eternal any favors.
"No… Xavier's confession to Angela has been uploaded online, making him fairly popular, but it was more about who uploaded the video than who sang in it," Eric explained. "Basically, it's misdirection. Xavier will be in the video, but the video will be the efforts of everyone here… and the proceedings will go towards Homecoming."
"So…" Xavier clarified. "Everyone shares the work, everyone does the heavy lifting, we smooth the details as we go along, and in three weeks, we see how much money we make. The team leaders: Rosalie, Angela, Eric, Alice, Brittney, and myself. Tomorrow, we will post a list of the people in our groups – you guys have the Student Council contact info. Message them if you want to participate… one week to get the details, another week to shoot, and a final week to edit."
Everyone nodded their heads, pleased with the arrangements.
"But where will the initial investment come from?" Brian inquired, not liking the idea one bit.
Xavier stepped next to Brian, leaning forward to whisper in The President's ear, ensuring that no one else would hear him.
"The money will come from your gambling, son of a bitch, father, of course. What? Do you think I don't know he is the principal? I keep tabs on the school and I noticed the $200,000 for Homecoming was there last week, but now, it's gone. How many days after Homecoming is canceled do you think it will be before rumors spread and people start asking how your mom gets an alimony of $10,000 a month?"
"But she didn't do anything…" Brian retorted in a strained voice.
"This is a lesson to be learned, kid. Innocents always pay for the sins of guilty men because smart men, while guilty, never keep the benefits to themselves."
"I'll handle it…" Brian acquiesced.
Xavier slipped an arm around Brian's shoulder, turned to the crowd, and demonstrated a united front – meaning, the plan for Homecoming had been cemented.