Election day didn't feel like a school day.
From the moment students arrived in the morning, regular routine was gone. There were no formal classes. Teachers were present yes, but mostly as supervisors while the student council and faculty election committee ran the entire school like a live event. Even the school grounds had been transformed.
Campaign posters still hung in hallways though no more campaigning was allowed that day. Banners for student positions lined the assembly building. Volunteers wore badges and carried clipboards. Teachers stood near designated voting areas. There were hand-drawn signs pointing toward registration desks, ballot rooms and counting stations. People spoke in excited clusters everywhere.
At that school, student elections were structured professionally. Voting wasn't random. Each student had a voter slip issued through their homeroom. Before entering the voting hall, names were checked against a master register. Students lined up by year and section. Once checked in, each student received a ballot sheet listing all candidates for each office. No one was allowed to campaign inside the voting area. There was no discussing choices in line. Faculty monitors enforced it seriously.
It made the whole thing feel oddly important and somehow it was, because student council at that private school actually controlled budgets, club funding, event planning, disciplinary recommendations, festival management and other areas.
Winning mattered, especially to clubs and to students who wanted resources. In the school, voting started by groups and because clubs were treated as organized student bodies, major clubs often voted together first. Which was why when the cooking club arrived, rumors spread immediately. They came almost like a procession. At the front was Veneri leading them.
"He's voting?"
"No way."
"I thought he said he wouldn't."
Even Greshina heard about it from across the courtyard. Veneri had miraculously chosen to participate and everyone assumed they knew for whom.
"The cooking club's votes are going to Emberforge."
"She already has their vote."
"If Veneri voted, it's over."
One by one students checked in, received ballots, entered booths, folded papers and dropped them into sealed ballot boxes. When it was Veneri's turn, several students openly tried watching his face as if they could read election secrets from expression alone.
He looked bored, as usual. But when he stepped out after casting his ballot, one boy immediately whispered,
"You voted for her, didn't you?"
He only smiled, which was basically a confession. By lunch, people were speaking about "the cooking club endorsement" like some historical event. After voting, though, the cooking club did what it did best.
They ignored politics and took over the culinary lab.
Since no classes were running, clubs had permission to remain active. So the cooking club treated election day like a holiday feast. They cooked everything from pastries, savory breads, stews, rice dishes, stuffed meats and experimental desserts. Someone was making cakes. Someone else was hand-kneading dough.
And once food started coming out, they ate. Members sat around sharing plates, debating recipes and celebrating the contest win all over again. It felt more like a family gathering than school. Naturally students from outside the club began hovering, begging for some food.
"Can we get some?"
"No."
"Please?"
"Application denied."
One desperate student offered to trade exam notes for pastries but was rejected. The club's selectiveness had become legend. Not just anyone got fed. Only chosen people were allowed to like the candidates of the elections. Then sometime in the afternoon, Greshina wandered by, mostly trying to distract herself while votes were being cast and counted. Veneri was inside directing people while somehow also eating. He spotted her through the doorway.
"Hey Ember lady!"
Several heads turned. He waved her over while holding a plate of food.
"Come in!"
"I…I can?"
One boy dramatically gasped as she got inside the room. Students made room for her. Someone handed her a plate before she even sat. She looked at Veneri in shock.
"What is this?"
"Campaign recovery."
She looked around at the exclusive little world he had built in this club and for a second seemed almost touched. She tried the food, causing her eyes to widen.
"This is amazing."
Several members looked offended.
"Of course it is. We are champions."
Soon she was eating with them, laughing with people she barely knew months ago, listening to recipe arguments like she had always belonged there. The students outside the club windows stared in disbelief.
"She got invited?"
"Emberforge got into the cooking club room?"
The rumors worsened but inside, nobody cared. At one point Veneri slid a pastry toward her.
"Try this."
"You made this?"
He nodded.
"If you lose cooking to politics one day, that's disgrace."
"I could run both."
°°°°°°
By early evening the assembly hall felt like it was vibrating.
Every seat was full. Students packed the rows. Some were sitting properly and others were half-standing because excitement made sitting impossible. Teachers lined the walls pretending to maintain order while clearly just as invested. The candidates for each office sat in the front rows trying to look composed while everyone behind them whispered predictions, conspiracy theories and exaggerated vote counts.
On stage, the previous student council stood in formal uniform like outgoing officials handing over a kingdom. One by one results were announced. Winners hugged friends, losers smiled through heartbreak and supporters made enough noise to shake the hall. Every announcement sent a wave through the crowd.
Then came the final position, Student Council President.
Somehow the room got louder before going completely silent. Stepping up to the podium wasn't a teacher. It was Veneri. That alone got immediate reactions.
"Oh no."
"He's announcing it?"
"This will become a performance."
He took the microphone, looked out at the packed hall and leaned on the podium with the relaxed energy of someone who had absolutely no business looking that comfortable in front of hundreds of people.
He tapped the sealed results envelope.
"First of all, I would like everyone to note that this envelope is wax-sealed."
He held it up and narrowed his eyes.
"And because some of you are paranoid and may accuse me of forging election results for personal reasons…"
he turned the envelope around for everyone to see,
"…observe."
Laughter echoed through the hall.
"I have not touched this seal. Legally speaking of course. I was deliberately excluded from counting so none of you can accuse me of election fraud."
A student shouted,
"We still might!"
He pointed into the crowd.
"You're the reason democracy suffers in this world young man."
The hall was full of laughter. Even teachers laughed. He looked back at the envelope and sighed.
"Now then, will all candidates for president please come forward?"
The four candidates walked up with Greshina among them. Veneri looked at all four then said:
"I was given instructions to build suspense but I reject bureaucracy. I'm going straight to the winner."
He broke the wax seal, opened the letter, looked down and froze. He blinked, looked at the paper again and very slowly turned toward the outgoing student council president.
"Is this legitimate?"
The microphone carried every word. The whole hall exploded in confused noise. He held up the paper.
"This margin is absurd. Even I'm amazed by how much the winner got."
People started shouting.
"What is it?"
"How much?"
The former president, trying not to laugh, nodded.
"It's legitimate."
Veneri looked back at the audience and back onto the mic—
"With… 93.82 percent…"
The hall already gasped before he finished. No one had won by that much. He raised his hand for silence.
"With 93.82 percent of the entire school vote… the winner is Greshina Emberforge!"
The cheers were too much at this point. Students shouted. Somebody somewhere was banging a chair. The cooking club lost all dignity since they were on their feet instantly.
"WE TOLD YOU!"
"EMBERFORGE!"
"COOKING CLUB ENDORSEMENT NEVER FAILS!"
Greshin was genuinely stunned. Veneri stepped aside and as she moved towards him through the applause, he leaned toward the mic again.
"Now that you're president, please fire me. I am a slave in the student council so please, free me."
People were dying laughing. Even Greshina was laughing now. She took the podium after what felt like forever for the noise to settle. She took a deep breath, looked out at the students and began.
"I'm honored. I thank you all for choosing me as student council president. What I campaigned on is going to happen and I will assure it. The student voices will matter and I will make sure school life is worth remembering."
And every few lines applause broke out. She stopped and looked sideways at Veneri.
"And as for Veneri, he asked me to fire him as treasurer. I refuse."
Everyone laughed. Veneri looked personally betrayed.
"Instead, I'm promoting him. He will serve as my vice president. Does anyone have problems—"
"HELL YEAH! HE'S THE VICE PRESIDENT!"
Students lost their minds. The cooking club was screaming. Veneri stared in disbelief by the news but she wasn't done.
"He is not leaving the corporate student office until he graduates."
He slowly walked to the microphone, took it and sighed.
"I got promoted. Well, at least I get more money. In that case, Student Council President Greshina Emberforge, I accept your oppression."
She rolled her eyes so hard students noticed. Even she was laughing.
"Vice President Veneri!"
"All hail the treasury prince!"
The outgoing council members were barely holding themselves together. Teachers had given up restoring order. Greshina leaned toward him quietly while applause still raged on.
"You're welcome."
"You trapped me you succubus."
"Correct."
Students started chanting both their names together. Veneri looked at the hall full of chaos he had accidentally helped create and muttered into the mic,
"I would like it formally recorded that I attempted resignation."
The laughter nearly brought the roof down.
And as the cheering rolled on, with the new president smiling beside him and his unwanted promotion becoming public disaster, he realized something.
He really had been promoted. The weird fact was that he was kind of happy about it.