NEW LIFE : A SECOND CHANCE

Kyle just sat there, looking at them both and didn't say a word for a full minute. Then he gave a slight smirk, the right lip was slightly curled upwards a bit and revealed his dimple. Somehow, that image in front of them didn't quite fit. A cute dimple on a handsome face with eyes was oozing with coldness.

"I? Need you?" Kyle asked, raising his head a bit to look at them, "Without you, I would know nothing?"

Kyle raised one finger, then shook it left and right, "On the contrary my dear Mr. President. The same President who had the Student Coucil collect donations to give to a dummy organisation created by his own cousin."

Hank's face went pale.

"Or how about the contract for the Fair last year was awarded to your family, Claude, even though it was overpriced by 50%? Such shabby sub-standard products, too."

Now Claude's face went pale.

"And let's not forget the .."

"ALRIGHT!" Hank said quickly, putting up his hands in front of him, "What do you want?"

Kyle blinked rapidly at him and said innocently, "Me? What do I want? Simple. I want nothing more than to get the police here to haul all your sorry ass to jail where you can rot and be the lovely toys of the lonely men in there."

"But ..." Kyle sighed dramatically. "Principal Godric doesn't agree. Being the stupidly soft-hearted person that he is, he actually believes it was all due to the bad influence of Ms. Dobbins and you were just misled and gullible."

"So, to compromise, here I am," Kyle said with his arms wide open, "Oh, and Beatrice too, of course."

"Did you really think I'm here for YOU to guide me?" Kyle smiled, "With what you had done, and what I had scored on the special test, it was more than enough to have me replace you immediately. Ah, but that was not to be."

Kyle sighed again, more dramatically than before, "All of that lovely speech the Principal gave about you guiding me and all that was pure bullsh*t. That was simply a cover story to everyone, to save face. Your face, that is. Actually, we are here as your official replacements while both of you, " Kyle said pointing to Claude and Hank, "are to be our lackeys."

"Us? Lackeys to you?!" shouted Claude, banging the table. Sure, Kyle is pretty scary and convincing right now, but what could this boy really do? They just needed to lay low for a while.

"Yes. Lackeys," Kyle replied, hardly perturbed, "Well, okay. I'll be nice. Assistants."

"It's quite simple, really. Assistants or Entertainers," Kyle continued.

The two guys looked at him in confusion. What? Kyle now wanted them to be idols?

Beatrice, who had kept quiet all this time and was standing just beside Kyle, rolled her eyes internally. How could those two actually be the Student Council top two members?

"Entertainers for the thugs in jail," Beatrice said evenly, wondering why she even felt the urge to explain.

Claude and Hank took a few seconds to process that while Kyle grinned wider. He turned to look at her and frowned, "Why are you still standing? Sit, sit!" he said, while pulling out the chair beside him. Beatrice looked at him and without another word, sat down with her back straight.

Kyle nonchantly placed his arm on the back of Beatrice's chair while leaning back.

"See, this is MY right-hand man ... er, woman. Er, no. Person." Kyle said then turned to Beatrice, "Sorry about that, but you know what I mean."

He turned back to face Hank and Claude, "Anyway, as I was saying, THIS is my trusted right-hand person. We are like Ceaser and Cleopatra! Oh, minus the relationship part ... like Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand! Eleanor and Franklin D. Roosevelt! Michelle and Barack Obama! Bonnie and Clyde!"

"Bonnie and Clyde were criminals, Kyle," Beatrice argued.

"Oh yeah. Right. But they were still so cool, don't ya think?" Kyle asked with a wink. Beatrice's eye twitched and Kyle grinned.

"Get to the point, will you," Claude said through gritted teeth.

"Ah, patience is a virtue, didn't ya know?" Kyle countered, not really bothered and grinned at them. "Wasn't it clear enough?"

Kyle turned to Beatrice, "I was quite clear, wasn't I?"

"Crystal," agreed Beatrice.

"See?" Kyle replied, looking back at them, with one of his eyebrow raised.

Kyle was feeling quite happy right now. Beatrice was truly a great fit with him and she got into the groove quite quickly. Beatrice had not known about them taking over the Student Council and what Kyle was going to do and yet, she supported him silently. Even better, she could even carry on the conversation as if they were a team long formed. His instinct about her had been correct.

"Fine, fine, I'll explain since the both of you seem to have trouble comprehending such a simple and basic concept," Kyle said as Hank and Claude appeared to still be confused, "Beatrice and I will be the ones running the Student Council but to everyone else, it would be you guys. You will do what we tell you and help when we need you. Otherwise, I just need to call the police and have both of you arrested."

"Understand this," Kyle said in serious mode now, sitting up properly and taking his hand off the back of Beatrice's chair.

"I know you got away with a lot of things because you had Dobbins backing you. She is gone now. Fini. Kaput. You have NOTHING but the grace of the Principal Godric keeping me at bay. He has decided to give you one last chance to redeem yourself. Prove your worth in the last few months and your records will be clean. You can enter college with a nice, sparkling certificate of wonderful achievements as members of the Student Council."

"Or..."

"You can have your future as the best toys of men be fulfilled."

"As for me?" Kyle snorted, "I find Principal Godric to be really, really naive."

"But, what can I do? He's the Principal." Kyle said with resignation, putting two hands up in the air as if in surrender.

A slow smile then started forming on Kyle's face as he leaned back on the chair and tilted it on two legs as he said, "I just hope you prove him wrong. I would REALLY, REALLY love it to have you prove him wrong."

Hank and Claude gulped. For some reason, that seemingly innocent 13-year-old didn't look so innocent anymore. He looked like the Devil himself sitting on his throne and looking down at his lowly subjects. They had absolutely no doubt that Kyle would do what he threatened and was waiting for them to mess up.

As for Beatrice, well ... she was just in total shock. From the moment they walked in through that door until now, all she could do simply go with the flow as Kyle dominated the entire room and situation. She responded when he asked and she actually agreed with his actions. She was appalled to find out what the two had been up to and she felt that jail was the best place for them.

Right now, to Hank and Claude, they looked at the two with wide eyes and an aggrieved heart. More so for Claude, who was of a more fiery temperament. He could not stand the fact that these juniors had his future in their hands. He clenched his teeth and though outwardly, he showed as if he was accepting the change, he was not happy about it.

Hank was much more rationale and he realised that this was a golden opportunity for him to repent. He didn't like the fact that Kyle had threatened him but he was also aware that he was still safe. The moment he found out that Dobbins had been arrested, he had been living on tenterhooks. Will they find out what he had done? Would they come for him next?

"How do we know that our slate will be wiped clean after this?" Hank asked.

"You don't," Kyle replied straightforwardly, "You only have our word for it that we won't pursue the matter. So long as I am President or Godric is Principal, the matter will never be raised. You can breathe easy after seven years, when the records are destroyed as according to standard ISO procedure."

"You want us to have this hanging over our heads for seven years?!" Claude asked in disbelief.

"What?" Kyle asked back, "You want it to be forever? I can do that."

Hank restrained Claude and shook his head at him, "Be reasonable, Claude. They could have had us out the moment we were found out. We don't have any bargaining power."

Kyle smiled, "See? That's why Hank's the President. He has a good head on his shoulders. Normally."

Hank couldn't rebut that. Kyle was right. In reality, the money he had siphoned from the fund had just been that one time but it was still a criminal act. If caught, he would be in jail for several years and the scholarship he secured to University Y would be cancelled. This was his final year and everything hinged on it. He had been foolish, greedy and stupid.

That one mistake had cost him more than he ever thought at the time. For a mere $3,000 he then became Dobbins slave. She had also used that as blackmail over him to help her do things within the school. He had been party to some of the students being framed and eventually expelled. Luckily, he had done all of that in his capacity as a Student Council President, so it couldn't really be said to be wrong. Even though he lied about their character and kept pushing or supporting the move to have them expelled.

"But wouldn't Dobbins reveal all of this to the police or in court? Wouldn't we still be in trouble?" Hank asked worriedly. After all, Dobbins had always used it against him.

"What you had done, is not connected at all to what she is being charged for. Even if she starts talking about it or accusing you of those crimes, the police wouldn't follow up on it. They are more interested in finding out whether what she's accused of is true. They can't investigate unless there is a formal report or complaint by the School," Kyle explained.

"Now that we have cleared the air and that is out of the way, shall we start again?" Kyle said, sitting back up properly.