Evil Shall Not Prevail!!!

   

  As I approach the Vice President and our GCAM-S—the student who texted me last night—Donovan calls me over, his phone in hand. As a precaution, I brought two phones today, just in case they ask to scan my texts.

"Ethan, do you know what number this is?"

"No. Who is it?"

"This wasn’t you?"

"No."

      My heart is thumping. If the 10th grade doesn’t know yet, our plan can still be pulled off. If this doesn’t reach President Allison and jVn, we should be good. Only a few people know about the plan, so if worst comes to worst, SSA can scrap it, shred the files, and not get caught.

    I walk toward the GCAM-S area and ask them a simple question. "Okay, remember to keep this down. Oh, and where were y’all last night?" Summer looks confused. I try to keep my voice to a whisper while I lay out the new plan.

"Summer, I need a picture of you."

I take out my phone and snap a blurry shot with Summer partially obscuring her face.

"Clarissa, I need your collaboration."

"What's he talking about?" Maria asks.

"I also need Summer’s Snap information and…"

"You created a fake profile of Summer?!" Maria yells.

"Shh!"

      The pledges begin, "one nation, under God, with Liberty and Justice for all," I think, and after the announcements, we file out to our classes. I receive a text on my phone and check it after coming out of English.

@D: "Could I have a sample of your voice?"

I rush through the hallway, desperately trying to get a small recording of Summer on my phone.

"What are you doing?"

"Yeah," Maria chimes in.

I try to usher them out of the hallway and scurry into class, out of sight.

While in class, I log into the texting app’s web interface and get an AI voice cloning app running on my phone. Unfortunately, the app doesn’t support audio files, so I try to upload it to the cloud. Time is running out, and SSA may have to abort the plan.

     Before that happens, though, it’s time for Bible. I rush down to the theater and get ready for the news broadcast. I sit close to Damien and Donovan to see their reaction.

    "In sports news, our Hawks played wonderfully as they enter a three-game road trek."

     The camera pans to the crowd, briefly showing Summer’s face in the background before cutting back to the team.

Donovan and Damien don’t look surprised. Crisis averted—for now.

 At lunchtime, I keep my phone and the audio under wraps. From the texting application and the IP tracker I placed on the URL, I can tell the voice request hasn’t been opened yet. The plan may have faltered, but Damien is still interested in finding out who was behind the number.

I can sense that our allies in GCAM-S don’t want to help collaborate. Maybe they’re scared they’ll get found out, or maybe they’re occupied with other things, but it doesn’t make sense. GCAM’s national security—and the security state of the school—is threatened by capitulating to Damien’s insane demands. First Summer, then who? If he gains even more undue power and influence, what could he do next?

Sure, Summer had a below 50% approval rating with the constituency, and GCAM-S was sinking while jVn stayed steady, but they still had a little soft power. The most powerful spy agency in the school was allied with them, they held seats on StuGov and the news, and SSA would not stand for Damien’s imposition. Nor would we stand for incompetence.

    SSA kept trying to collaborate with GCAM, but they just didn’t get it, failing to provide the information needed for success. SSA planned on cutting contact with the number and coming up with a new plan. However, the unfortunate happened.

    As school was ending, I was in the locker room when I got tipped off that Damien was looking for me.

"Here we go again."

    I fled downstairs and hid outside. However, Damien had all day to search for me, and GCAM-S had already proven they were incapable of extraction.

Damien bursts outside by the bleachers, and I keep my distance.

"Ethan! Did you send that text?"

I’m fed up with this kid bullying Summer and other weaker kids—and now trying it on me. We circle each other as the others look on.

This is what I was made for. If GCAM-S falls now, so goes the school. So goes SSA. So goes freedom, democray, the American way. If Damien is allowed to invade GCAM, bully them into submission, and cause an inevitable breakup by Valentine’s Day, we will have failed. Factions of students will rise and fall, President Allison’s power will be threatened, jVn will be resurgent, Molly will be on the prowl. SSA must end this. And end this now.

I squint my eyes in defiance, in anger, and deflect.

"What phone?"

"You didn’t pretend to be Summer?"

"No."

"Stop playing with me."

"I don’t know what you’re talking about. Stop being a bully."

Damien storms inside.

    I notice Damien talking to GCAM-S at their table. I head inside, my rhetoric at the ready to own him with facts and logic.

"Ethan!!"

At this point, I’m fed up.

"Clarissa told me you were behind this."

He holds up her phone, showing my texts.

"Prove it," I say defiantly.

He scrolls up, showing a picture of the Texans game.

"Is this your house?"

"No."

He calls Maverick over.

"Is this your house?"

"No."

Unfortunately for me, he continues.

"That’s our cousin’s."

"Why did you tell him, Clarissa?"

"I didn’t want to lie."

"We had a plan! We had an agreement…!"

"Why did you lie to me, Ethan? That’s so weird—pretending to be Summer. Why did you do it? You’re so weird."

     We are circling each other around GCAM-S. They look scared and concerned, but I don’t care what anyone thinks. SSA is pro-glory and pro-GCAM. Damien’s reign of terror will not prevail.

     I notice Clarissa is recording the whole thing on her phone, but I don’t care. I’m going nuclear—playing for the cameras.

I yell at Damien while we circle the table.

"You're such a bully, and you think you can get away with it just because you're the star basketball player. But you can't impose your will on the students and force them into submission. No. That ends here.

I've seen this school bend to fear before—people too afraid to speak up, too afraid to stand against someone who thinks they're untouchable. But let me tell you something: power built on fear never lasts. You can try to intimidate people, control them, make them feel small. But real strength isn’t in threats. It’s in standing up for what’s right, for what is good, for what is true.

Mollyism failed. I stood up to her. I stood up to Valerie. I stood up for Denver. And I’ll stand up to you. Democracy will not fall, we will have peace through strength. You won’t gain control, and evil shall not prevail. Even when people say it’s hopeless. And yes, you should be thrown in detention. And no, you can’t have Summer’s number.

"I don’t even like Summer. But it seems like someone does. You’re weird for that, using AI—"

"Oh, cut that out. I do not have a crush on Summer. Stop being an idiot. Don’t you have a game to prepare for?"

"You’re so weird! You’re so weird!"

"Go practice for basketball! Go to your game. I’m tired of you bullies. You won’t get away with this. Evil shall not prevail. I’m tired of you."

The onlookers are shocked, but I’m more shocked. How could they stand there and not see the evil before them? How could Clarissa and Maria leak the plan? How could Summer not see the problem?

I storm off and report Damien to a teacher. Damien continues to make threats, saying he’s going to report me. But righteous anger burns within me. I know his threats are empty. I know nobody in this school can indict me for anything. I am uncancelable.

But it’s time to go nuclear.

I glare at the basketball game, the administrator taking note of my less-than-happy expression, capturing clips for the news as GCA falls 62-61.

It’s time to root evil out of this school once and for all!! With or without GCAM’s help!!