[This section is in the POV of Mike Alexson]
Mike acted respectful in front of his fellow classmates as the crowd dispersed from the gymnasium. He headed towards the mostly empty school building and up towards his designated locker. After taking a look to the right and left to make sure there were nobody watching, he used all of his strength to punch his locker repeatedly until he squirmed from the pain.
If one could see him now, they would find that Mike is filled with anger, his face completely twisted and his eyes glowing red. After calming himself down by breathing deeply, he headed towards the principal's office.
Mike did not even knock on the door before slamming the doors open. He stomped in arrogantly and arrived before the principal. He was sitting behind his desk, working on something on his computer. When he saw Mike coming in, he did not even stand up. He simply took a glance at him before returning to his work.
Mike, who was being ignored, was furious. "What is the meaning of this Mr. Thomas?!" He shouted rudely at the principal.
The principal, who was disturbed, stopped working and stared at Mike nonchalantly. "I don't know what you mean, Mr. Alexson, didn't we do exactly as you asked?"
"I asked you to make me win the elections and the primaries!" Mike cried angrily, his face was completely red, his eyes looking down at the principal with fury.
"But you did win the primaries, didn't you Mike Anderson? Oh, and I would like to offer a belated congratulations for being a becoming nominee for Student Council President." The principal was calm, like he was dealing with trifling matters.
"You!" Mike did not know what to say at the moment. He was so furious that his mind cannot process the principal's snide remarks.
Mike took a deep breath, trying to calm himself down. "Then you better uphold your end of the bargain for the elections in two weeks, Mr. Thomas, or else don't even think about getting your $10 million, Hmph!"
Mike stomped out of the office. Just then, as he exited the door, he saw someone walking towards him. His face was dashing, giving him a youthful appearance. His school shirt was wrapped around his body tightly, exuding his strong muscles that give a manly charm. It was Hunter Lee. As he walked past Hunter, he tilted his head around and stared at Hunter's behind, narrowing his eyes.
"He must have done something!" Mike thought to himself. He couldn't believe that he was stumped by a junior that was younger than him. This made it the 5th time Mike lost to Hunter at something. He felt indignant. "How come I, an Alexson, am being stumped by that puny peasant! Just wait for me, Hunter, I'll make you pay for your insolence." He thought in his mind, planning many things.
***************
[This section is in Hunter's POV]
I was not surprised as Mike Alexson walked past me after school while heading to the principal's office. The fact that the Art Faculty voted for him proved that he must have made a deal with the teachers beforehand. Luckily, most of the teachers weighed the pros and cons and thought my deal was better than Mike's.
The door was already opened wide when I walked into the principal's office. I stood before the principal calmly and asked politely, "Mr. Thomas, may I sit down."
"Please." The principal gestured for me to sit in one of the two chairs located across of the desk from him.
I sat down on the right. I reached into my backpack and took out an envelope. "This is my letter of acceptance to enter my country's team for the International Math Olympics. I have already signed my name in it. Would you please stamp the school seal and sign your name before sending it to the Association?" I asked.
The principal stared at me, stating, "Aren't you afraid that I will renege on my promise and vote for Mike Alexson for the next elections, Hunter Lee?"
"I believe you would not do this with your reputation and stature, Mr. Thomas." I replied calmly. "Besides, now that you have offended Mike, based on his personality, even if you and the teaching body voted for him in the elections, he would still find a way for revenge against you. He's quite a vindictive person, after all. Furthermore, the pros of voting for me outweighs the cons."
Mr. Thomas nodded, taking my letter. "I look forward to your performance at the Olympics next summer, Hunter." He said amicably.
"Thank you, Principal." I stood up and walked out of the office, closing the doors behind me.
*************
[This section is in the principal's POV]
The principal clasped his hand, fingers crossed and placed them in front of his mouth, making a G*ndo pose. He took out the school seal from the drawer located beneath the desk and stamped it on the bottom left corner of the letter with red ink. He then signed his name below the stamp. He folded the letter and placed in on the envelope, placing it on the side for his secretary to mail it tomorrow morning.
He had already made considerations between Hunter Lee and Mike Alexson. Although $10 million sounded very lucrative, it would only increase the equipments and facilities of the school, not the quality of the students. However, if Hunter Lee wins the IMO next summer, many elite students will be scrambling to apply for his school, overall increasing the quantity and the quality of the next batch of students. Furthermore, this is a private academy, where students have to pay quite a sum to enter, the tuition fees earned made per year made the $10 million a small sum. If Mike would donate $1 billion, then he might consider, but a child would not be able to get so much money even with the backing of his father.
*************
[This section is in Hunter's POV]
I headed to Adrian's mansion with Leo. Leo seemed very cheerful the whole way, peeking at his nominee and first-runner badge once in awhile. When we arrived, he gleefully headed to Adrian's room and jumped on his bed, rolling around.
Adrian, who was surprisingly doing his homework, stood up and looked at me. "Hunter. I've done what you asked." Adrian did not stutter this time and looked at me with a new sort of conviction.
I was surprised by his change in attitude. "What happened these few days?" I wondered to myself.
"Mhm." I replied to Adrian. "What's the favor you want to ask for?"
"Um..." Adrian tapped his index fingers against each other, his eyes not daring to stare at me. "Can I tell you my favor in a few weeks... I don't wanna say it right now..." His voice grew smaller and smaller as he lost his confidence.
"Fine." I nodded, ignoring his plight.
Later, I still trained Adrian until he felt like he was physically dying. However, I felt as though he was more diligent than before. I did not like barging into other people's businesses so I did not ask. Leo, who was happily playing on his phone, was waiting for us as we finished our homework after dinner.
We headed home with Leo contently sleeping on my lap for the whole journey.
"Leo unexpectedly won." I thought to myself. "I must do something to reward him." With this in my mind, I allowed Leo to continue sleeping on my lap until we reached home.
I was invited to Uncle Evan and Aunt June at night today to celebrate Leo's win. Aunt June spent the whole day diligently studying the recipe to make a cake and baked it with love. Cake was always Leo's favorite dessert, even though he likes all sweet things in general.
Aunt June made a strawberry chiffon sponge cake. The cake was topped with a layer of whipped cream, with multiple strawberries placed on top. Inside the cake, there were two more layers of strawberries and cream. The chiffon cake was made with less sugar than the ones sold at a usual cake shop, making the cake more healthy.
Leo happily wolfed down half the cake by himself, much to the dismay of Uncle Evan.
"You'll get fat!" Uncle Evan shouted at Leo grumpily.
"Dear, it's Leo's big win today! Let him indulge in his favourite food." Aunt June coaxed.
"Hmph!" Uncle Evan pouted. Inwardly, however, he was quite happy for Leo as well.
I cut a small piece of cake for myself and ate it slowly. I am not a fan of sweets unlike Leo, so I simply gave the rest to Uncle and Aunt.
Afterwards, I headed to Leo's room to sleep, with Leo following behind. Both Uncle and Aunt were used to us sleeping on the same bed so they did not say anything.