CHAPTER 114: DISCIPLINARY ACTION?

{Elira}

~**^**~

The cafeteria buzzed with the usual Monday morning chaos—chatter bouncing off the walls, the clink of trays, the scent of fresh bread and spiced eggs drifting from the serving counters.

My roommates and I had managed to get out usual table by the wide windows, sunlight spilling across our plates. For a moment, it felt like an ordinary start to the week.

Then the speakers above crackled.

"Good morning fellow students of ESA!" The voice boomed, sharp and clear. The cafeteria immediately hushed. "This is your Student Council President speaking. The following students, first-year student Elira Shaw and second-year student... are to appear at the office of the Student Council for disciplinary action during lunch break. Have a good day."

The announcement cut off with a faint buzz. For a heartbeat, silence hung like a weight over the room. Then whispers broke out everywhere, rippling from table to table like wildfire.

My fork slipped from my hand, clattering against the plate. "Did... did I hear that right?" I seriously wanted to be proven mistaken.

Nari’s eyes went round. "You did. They called your name. Elira Shaw. We all definitely heard it."

Juniper leaned forward across the table, her voice low but urgent. "Elira, did you clash with anyone from the council? Maybe you offended someone without realizing it?"

My mouth went dry. I forced myself to think, to sift through the blur of recent days. There was only one name that rose unbidden in my mind—Regina. But I swallowed it back, keeping her shadow locked behind my teeth.

I couldn’t drag her name into this. Not yet.

"No," I said quickly, shaking my head. "I haven’t."

Tamryn set down her cup with deliberate calm, though her eyes gleamed sharply. "It’s like the entire student council is drunk on power. Announcing this in front of everyone? Childish."

Cambria’s brow furrowed, her voice tight with indignation. "How could they choose to embarrass you like this? On a Monday morning, no less—when you’ve done nothing wrong."

The murmurs grew louder around us. I could feel them—the stares, the whispers, the sideways glances from every direction.

For the first time in days, the familiar burn of humiliation crept up my spine. All eyes, heavy and probing, landed on me as though I were a spectacle. I was now one though, all thanks to the Student Council President.

My chest tightened. I clenched my fists beneath the table, fighting the urge to shrink. ’This cannot happen again. Not like before.’

Fury simmered beneath the discomfort. The Student Council had no reason to summon me like this. Unless... unless Regina had found another way to snake her claws into my life, even after all the warnings I had given her.

Because definitely, I haven’t done anything to warrant their attention since after that Monday I honoured their invitation.

Cambria touched my arm gently. "Elira... do you want us to go with you?"

I drew in a steadying breath and shook my head. "No. This is my problem. I wll handle it."

But Nari slammed her palm on the table, her voice bright and stubborn. "Absolutely not. You’re not going alone. We will escort you."

Juniper leaned closer, whispering, "They probably won’t even let us inside. Those ingrates will keep you boxed in and claim it’s protocol."

"Regardless," Tamryn said firmly, her gaze sweeping the table, "we are walking you there. All of us. They won’t see you walk in alone."

The others nodded without hesitation.

Something in me softened, though the knot in my chest didn’t fully ease. I let out a long sigh, pressing a hand against my forehead.

"Fine. But I just... I can’t wait for lunch to come already. I need to know what this is about. What I supposedly did to deserve their ’disciplinary action.’"

The cafeteria noise swelled around us again, but it all felt far away. My food sat untouched on the tray. The only thing I could taste was dread.

And Regina’s smirk haunted the edge of my thoughts.

The rest of breakfast passed in a blur. My roomates tried to change the subject, but my mind stayed shackled to that announcement, replaying it over and over like a curse I couldn’t shake.

By the time I sat down in the wide stone hall for Combat Tactics & Pack Defence class this morning, I could barely focus on the instructor’s booming voice.

The class was one of the toughest in ESA’s schedule. We have three hours of combined classes drills and theoretical combat strategy today, but the words slid past me like water through cupped hands.

"Eyes forward, Shaw," the instructor barked once when I hesitated in formation, and I snapped to attention, heat flushing my face. Still, my movements were wooden, my thoughts elsewhere.

Every time my fist struck the padded dummy, I imagined whispers following me. Every time I ducked, rolled, and rose again, I felt eyes watching, waiting.

Lunch loomed like a guillotine blade above my neck, its shadow stretching longer as the hours crawled by.

Around me, the other students sparred with precision and focus, but I caught Cambria glancing my way more than once, her brows drawn in concern.

Nari gave me a subtle thumbs-up when she thought the instructor wasn’t looking, as if to remind me I wasn’t alone. Even Tamryn’s sharp gaze softened for the briefest second.

But none of it could steady the coil of dread in my stomach.

When the final whistle finally blew, relief and dread collided in me all at once.

The instructor dismissed us, and I practically fled to the locker room with my roommates.

Nari slammed her locker shut and turned toward me from the distance. "So? Did you get another red envelope this morning like last time?"

Her words hit like a spark, dragging old memories of humiliation to the surface. I forced myself to shake my head. "No. Nothing. Just the announcement at the cafeteria."

Juniper, bent over tying her shoes, looked up with a sharp frown. "Then it looks like the Student Council President just wanted to humiliate you first thing on a Monday morning."

I froze, her words sinking into me like stones. She was right. That had been the point. Not fairness, not rules. Just spectacle.

My throat tightened as I closed my locker gently, the echo of its metallic click ringing louder than it should have.

I didn’t say it out loud, but Juniper had spoken the truth I hadn’t wanted to admit—this wasn’t about discipline. This was about dragging my name back into the dirt.

Immediately, I felt the sting of being that girl again—the one everyone stared at for the wrong reasons.

The bell for lunch had barely rung when we left the locker room together, shoulder to shoulder.

The hallways of ESA were already filling with students, streams of uniforms moving toward the cafeteria, chatter bouncing off the vaulted ceilings.

But as soon as I stepped out, I felt all eyes on me. Finger-pointing and whispers stirred the air, curling like smoke.

"That’s her."

"Elira Shaw, right? The one they called out."

"Why the Student Council though?"

"Maybe she broke a rule. Maybe she—"

I clenched my jaw, staring straight ahead, every word a pinprick against my skin. Nari looped her arm through mine and tilted her chin proudly, daring anyone to stare too long. Cambria walked close on my other side, her steady presence a quiet shield.

Juniper muttered just loud enough for us to hear, "Cowards. They only whisper when they think you can’t hear them."

Tamryn’s eyes swept the hall, sharp as blades, silencing more than a few with a single look.

"Ignore them," she said softly to me. "Their curiosity isn’t worth your breath."

But it wasn’t so easy to ignore. The attention pressed in like heat from a fire—too close, too bright.

It had been so long since I’d been the center of ridicule that I had almost forgotten what it felt like. Almost.

’Is this really Regina’s work again?’ The thought gnawed at me once again, heavy and persistent.

She hadn’t promised to stay away despite my threats, instead she had been more furious more than before I had practically challenged her.

This sudden summon and public humiliation this Monday morning, reeked of her.

By the time we reached the cafeteria, conversations dipped and rose like tides around us. Tables full of students looked up, and the ones who didn’t stare still let their silence speak louder than words.

---

The walk across campus to the Student Council’s wing felt endless, each step echoing with judgment.

When the large double doors of the Council building came into view—carved with the emblem of ESA’s wolf crest—my heart gave a hard, steady thud.

Cambira squeezed my arm tighter. "We are almost there."

The others straightened, giving me assured glances. I released a deep breath and squared my shoulders.

If the entire members of the Student Council wanted me humiliated, I would at least walk in there with my head high.