The staff lounge smelled faintly of stale coffee and old paperwork. Sunlight slanted through the blinds, catching dust motes in the air like tiny golden insults.
A cluster of teachers huddled near the coffee machine, voices low but sharp enough to carry.
"I still don't see why Principal Lorne went through with it," said Ms. Carrington, adjusting her glasses and tapping a pen against the counter. "A scholarship student from that… background? Honestly, it's reckless."
"Reckless is one word for it," muttered Mr. Donovan, leaning back in his chair. "He's brilliant, yes, but socially? He'll disrupt the balance here. He's… different. Too different."
Ms. Reyes snorted. "Different? That's putting it lightly. This is Star Academy. Our students are polished. Refined. Predictable. He's not."
"He's a liability," Carrington said, letting the words hang like a challenge. "We have carefully curated classes for a reason. The last thing we need is someone like him… dragging down the rest of the cohort."
Donovan shook his head. "And Principal Lorne just waved it all away. 'He's a bright mind,' she said. Bright mind or not, a scholarship kid like that can't just… blend in. He'll throw the whole system off."
Reyes leaned closer, lowering her voice. "It's not about academics. It's never about academics. It's about control. Order. Discipline. She's risking it all for him. And for what? Some statistic?"
Carrington tapped her pen again, sighing. "I don't understand her logic. We've built this school on excellence and refinement. A kid like him… he doesn't belong here. Not in the way she wants to pretend he does."
The room fell quiet for a moment. Only the hum of the refrigerator and the ticking of the wall clock filled the space.
Donovan muttered, almost to himself, "I just hope she knows what she's doing. Otherwise… we'll be cleaning up the mess."
Ms. Carrington sipped her coffee, frowning at the cup as if it held the answers. "We've seen this before. Bright kid. Different kid. The kind that makes teachers doubt the principal's judgment. And mark my words… the students will notice too. It'll be chaos if he can't handle it."
Reyes shook her head again. "He's got his work cut out for him. I just don't know why Principal Lorne insists on taking the risk."
The three exchanged looks, unspoken judgment hanging between them like smoke. Outside, the cafeteria buzzed with students, blissfully unaware that a quiet rebellion had already begun—one that didn't involve them, but would affect them all.
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