Chapter 32: Unexpected Countermove [II]

When Starlight claimed that she knew how to fix the entire mess, none of the girls in the room actually believed her. Setting up the AsterBuzz account felt like a gamble, but Elle helped her anyway, creating the username and walking her through the process while anxiety gnawed at her.

Elle couldn’t wrap her head around what Starlight was planning. She was well aware that if the student body realized who owned the account, they would probably report it until it got flagged and banned before she could even post anything on it. Once the account was set up and the profile was ready, Starlight asked Elle to join her on camera to record a video. Terrified and confused, Elle immediately asked what she was even supposed to do, only for Starlight to reassure her to leave everything to her, adding that Elle only needed to sit there and look worried.

That part wasn’t difficult. She was already worried. In fact, she was terrified. The two girls settled themselves in the dorm’s sitting area, using a stack of books to prop up a phone on the table in front of them. From the upper bunk, Chloe watched the entire display with open suspicion, while Ariel wasn’t much more optimistic. She sat quietly on the sofa nearby, observing everything with a mixture of concern and curiosity, unable to figure out what Starlight hoped to accomplish.

Meanwhile, Starlight adjusted the camera one final time, took her seat, drew in a slow breath, and began recording. "Hello... everyone," she began softly, her voice trembling slightly. "My name..." She paused, taking a shaky breath to steady herself as she stared into the lens. "...my name is Starlight Dawson. I’m the girl who has been falsely accused, and I’m here to speak out against the level of injustice being directed at me simply because I am human."

She lowered her gaze for a moment. When she looked up again, a single tear had welled in her eye, glistening under the room’s fluorescent light before spilling down her cheek. She didn’t wipe it away and continued. "Earlier today, I was simply walking to the dining hall with my roommates to have lunch like every other student in this academy when my friend here..." Her voice cracked as she gestured vaguely toward Elle, who sat frozen beside her with wide, terrified eyes. "...accidentally bumped into another student. She was about to apologize. She didn’t even get the chance to speak before a violent slap was delivered across her face."

Elle lowered her head on cue and instinctively touched the spot where she had been slapped earlier, looking every bit as miserable as she felt.

"Imagine a werewolf striking a human being unexpectedly with that kind of force. Do any of you have any idea how much that must have hurt? Do you have any idea how terrified she must have felt at that moment?" Starlight’s eyes glistened as she choked back a sob, her shoulders shaking as she lowered her head for the third time, placing a trembling hand over her chest as though trying to steady the pain there before forcing herself to look back at the camera.

"I didn’t care who it was at that moment. All I saw was someone striking my friend unprovoked," Starlight said, her tone thick with sorrow and indignation. "Without even thinking, I reacted. I slapped her back. Only afterward did I find out she was Beatrice Ironclaw, a Perigee princess. People in the comments are saying I was standing there looking for a fight, but that isn’t true. I was frozen. I was completely paralyzed in shock after realizing who I had just slapped."

She let out a weak, humorless laugh that sounded more like a broken sob than anything else and quickly wiped at one eye.

"I swear I wasn’t preparing to fight Princess Beatrice. I wasn’t challenging her. I was just..."

She paused and took a deep, shuddering breath.

"Luckily, before things could escalate any further, the Alpha Twins arrived and intervened." Her voice softened. "And for that... I am genuinely grateful. I am so grateful for what they did. They stepped in when the situation could have become far worse, and the way I responded afterward was very, very wrong."

Fresh tears streamed down her cheeks, her breath coming in ragged hitches. "I was overwhelmed. I was still in shock, confused, and filled with adrenaline. That is the only reason I spoke the way I did, a decision I deeply regret. If there is anyone I owe an apology to, it is Alpha Mikhail. I am so, so sorry for the way I spoke to you. It was never my intention to talk back to you like that. It was so unlike me, and I regret it more than I can put into words."

She clasped her hands together tightly. "Alpha Mikhail... if you’re watching this..." She swallowed hard. "I’m so, so sorry. It was never my intention to disrespect you. You stepped in to stop the situation from becoming worse, and instead of responding properly, I spoke out of confusion and fear. Please forgive me."

Starlight wiped her face with the back of her hand, sniffling as she gathered herself enough to address the online narrative.

"As for the articles that have twisted the entire story and are even claiming this isn’t the first time I’ve provoked Beatrice... what exactly do you mean by provoked? I didn’t even know who she was until today. I had just stepped into the academy foyer with my academic mentor, Mother Ezabel. When Beatrice started walking toward me, I moved aside to make way for her, but she moved in the same direction. I shifted again, and so did she. At first, I was confused. Eventually, I stopped moving altogether so she could pass first, only for her to walk straight into me. If I hadn’t spent most of my life doing hard labor just to survive, I probably would have fallen from the force of the impact."

She sniffed and wiped her eyes with the hem of her black T-shirt, revealing a yellow singlet underneath. "Mother Ezabel witnessed it. Dozens of students saw it too. But what I’ve realized is that whenever a conflict involves a human and a werewolf, everyone automatically takes the werewolf’s side and turns the human into the villain." Her voice grew muffled as she pressed the fabric to her face, dabbing at the tears streaming down her cheeks. She lowered her T-shirt and smoothed the wrinkled fabric with trembling hands.

Lifting her gaze back to the screen, Starlight’s voice rose slightly, carrying a desperate emotional intensity that seemed aimed directly at the hearts of every human student watching. "It’s as if people think humans don’t have feelings. As if our pain doesn’t matter. As if a human life has no value in this world. If someone bumped into you on your very first day at a new school and immediately demanded an apology, how would you feel? How would any of you feel if the person who wronged you aggressively demanded that you bow your head to them? You would be confused. You would be angry. So how am I the aggressor when she’s the one who keeps targeting me? How is any of this my fault? Why do humans always have to apologize even when they’re the ones being wronged?"

She leaned closer to the lens, her gaze raw and pleading. "Reading the comments today terrified me. People are plotting to hunt me down. They’re promising to make my time at this academy a living nightmare. How can you treat another person like this? We are all students here. We’re supposed to be learning side by side, yet the moment a human speaks up, we’re hunted. If anyone actually cares about the truth, then check the CCTV footage. There are cameras all over the foyer and the corridors. Review the footage and see who actually started these confrontations."

Starlight shook her head, a bitter, tearful laugh escaping her lips. "Or are you all just going to keep hiding behind your strength and picking on the weak? Does it make you feel powerful to bully someone who can’t fight back physically? Is that what being a werewolf is about?"