Chapter 12 — Elections and Hearts

After the successful debate, it seemed like all the storms had calmed down, but just three days later, a new wave emerged — this time not on Confession NTT, but through direct messages spread in classroom chat groups.

Trang was the first to discover it and called Ngoc as soon as she read it. "Ngoc, someone is sending a screenshot of something in the 12th grade chat group, saying it's 'evidence' that you and Khang colluded from the beginning to eliminate Huy from the race."

"What?" Ngoc was stunned, not understanding where this new rumor came from. "What evidence?"

"It's a screenshot of your conversation, the part about combining two projects," Trang explained, her voice urgent. "But it was cut and edited, only a short paragraph was taken, making it sound like the two of you were discussing a plan to use a common project to 'win' the hearts of the students, intentionally pushing Huy to the sidelines from the beginning."

Ngoc felt dizzy. "Who sent that? How did they get our private messages?"

"I don't know," Trang replied, her voice also filled with confusion. "Sent from a strange, unknown account, posted directly to the chat group and then immediately exited the group."

Ngoc immediately called Khang and told the whole incident. On the other end of the line, Khang's voice was also full of confusion and anger. "That message... I remember, it was the part where we discussed the strategy of presenting our joint project before the Idea Day. But how did someone get a screenshot of our private conversation?"

They were both silent for a moment, realizing the scariest possibility: only someone who had access to one of their phones, or had peeked over their shoulder at some point, could have had that message.

"Have you lent your phone to anyone recently?" Ngoc asked, trying to find clues.

"No," Khang replied firmly. "I always lock the screen carefully. How about you?"

Ngoc regained her memory, then suddenly stopped. "Wait... on Idea Day, when I was getting ready to go on stage, I left my phone on the backstage table for a while to test the mic. There were quite a few people backstage at that time."

"Anyone could have taken a picture at that time," Khang sighed, his voice heavy with worry.

"But that still doesn't explain it," Ngoc said, trying to reason more coherently even though her mind was still confused. "Taking a screenshot is not enough, the person must also know exactly which part to cut to distort the meaning of the entire conversation. That shows they have read the entire conversation carefully, not just taken a random moment."

"You're right," Khang mused. "So that means, this person not only had the opportunity to access your phone for a moment, but also had enough time to read, select, and plan a deliberate distortion. This is not a spontaneous action, but a calculated one."

Ngoc shuddered at that comment. "So this is much more serious than I thought."

"We need to notify Ms. Ha immediately," Khang said, his voice decisive. "This is no longer simply about the election, but could involve a serious invasion of privacy."

That afternoon, the rumors continued to spread, accompanied by malicious inferences that were further embellished with each re-share. Some students who once supported Ngoc began to waver, leaving suspicious comments under the previous response post of Truong Newspaper Club.

"Another rumor? It sounds like someone deliberately wanted to bring these two down," a student commented, accidentally hitting the truth without even realizing it.

Ms. Ha convened an emergency meeting with Ngoc, Khang and Phuc right after class, her face showing much more serious concern than last time.

"This is no longer a simple matter," Ms. Ha said, her voice serious. "The fact that someone has access to your private messages shows that this is not a random rumor, but an intentional action, possibly even a serious violation of privacy. I will report this incident to the school board for official handling."

"Who do you think could do this?" Khang asked, even though he had a certain name in his heart but did not dare to say it due to lack of specific evidence.

"I don't want to speculate baselessly without clear evidence," Ms. Ha shook her head, "but I will ask the school's information technology department to check to see if we can trace the anonymous account that posted the message. In the meantime, I advise you to be very careful and avoid overreacting on social networks."

Phuc, who sat quietly taking notes throughout the meeting, suddenly spoke up. "Miss, I think the Truong Newspaper Club can support the unofficial investigation first, based on public traces such as time of posting, style of writing, to narrow the scope of suspicion. Of course, I will follow the correct process, not accuse anyone without solid evidence."

Ms. Ha nodded in agreement. "Okay, but remember, everything has to be careful and grounded. We don't want to turn this into an unfounded witch hunt."

"I understand," Phuc replied, jotting down a few important points in his notebook. "I will start by checking the posting time to coincide with each class's class schedule, see if anyone is unusually absent during that time frame, combined with a typical writing style to narrow the scope. Everything will be carefully recorded, only reported when there is enough evidence, do not publicize any suspicions before being verified."

"Good," Ms. Ha nodded, satisfied with that caution. "She will also discuss with the school board about the possibility of reviewing the policy on using anonymous social networking sites related to the school, to avoid similar incidents recurring in the future, even though it is a longer-term story."

The meeting ended, Ngoc and Khang walked out of the room together, the atmosphere between the two became much heavier than the closeness that had been built over the past few weeks. Not because they doubt each other, but because they both clearly feel the pressure from an invisible force that is trying to destroy everything they have built together.

"I'm sorry," Ngoc suddenly said, stopping in the middle of the hallway. "If I had been more careful with my phone, maybe this wouldn't have happened."

"Don't blame yourself," Khang shook his head and grabbed her shoulder. "This is not your fault. The person at fault is the one who intentionally snooped and secretly took photos of other people's private messages for evil purposes, and together we will find the truth, no matter how long it takes."

Ngoc nodded, but the worry in her heart still did not subside. She looked at Khang, her eyes containing a question she hadn't dared to say out loud: was friendship — or perhaps something bigger — that Both are building, are they strong enough to withstand this increasingly fierce storm?

That night, Ngoc returned home exhausted. Mrs. Lan immediately recognized her daughter's strange appearance and put aside her unfinished sewing work.

"What's wrong, Ngoc?" she asked, pulling her daughter down next to her.

Ngoc recounted the entire incident, from the initial scholarship rumor to the edited message spread today. Mrs. Lan listened attentively, did not interrupt, just gently held her daughter's hand when she saw Ngoc's voice begin to tremble with emotion.

"I know you're under a lot of pressure," Mrs. Lan said when Ngoc finished, her voice gentle but heavy. "But remember, why did you start this journey? Because you want to help students with difficulties like you have experienced, right?"

"Yes," Ngoc nodded, her eyes red.

"So, no matter how many rumors there are, no matter how many people deliberately defame you, that cannot change the truth about who you are, about what you really want to do," Mrs. Lan continued, her voice firm. "Just keep your heart strong, do what you think is right. Time and truth will always be on the side of sincere people, Ngoc."

Ngoc put her head on her mother's shoulder, letting the tears she had held back all day finally flow. "I'm afraid, mother. I'm afraid all my efforts will be destroyed just because of untrue rumors."

"I understand," Mrs. Lan patted her daughter's back, "but you are stronger than you think. I have seen you overcome more difficult things than this. This time is the same."

Her mother's simple words of encouragement made Ngoc feel more stable. She wiped her tears, took a deep breath, and told herself that she would not let the hidden plots behind her defeat the determination she had pursued from the first days, even though the road ahead clearly still had many unpredictable thorns.