Everyone had secrets. Good thing Orchid Gray knew how to find them out.

She typed away on that old laptop of hers, fast and swift. She had her headphones plugged in at max to drown out the noises of the members of the school's newspaper club.

Registration ended in September and she hadn't joined, but the English professor, Professor Green, allowed her to write in his room since Orchid's roommate, Bailey Preston, didn't want her to write when her boyfriend was over. Which was always. She didn't mind it, it gave her more time to focus on her articles.

She sat at her desk, in the far corner, away from everyone else. Of course, when she started to write school exposés about students of Silverleaf Academy, she panicked since she was surrounded by others who could just see what she was writing about by looking over their shoulders.

But no one looked at her, so the panic and dread washed away as she started to write with ease. It was ironic that the current exposé she was writing about was about one of the members in the same room as her; Ivory Kee. Rich girl with that posh, glossy black hair that swished as she confidently walked down the halls of Silverleaf. Along with being in almost every club in school, she was just so perfect.

Orchid almost laughed.

RUNNING STUDENT BODY PRESIDENT EXPOSED:

Ivory Kee is not to be trusted and you should not fall for her campaign to better Silverleaf Academy. Ivory has been on the student council since junior year, the same year ex-student president, Stanley 'Stan' Crawford, was rumoured to be violating several female students. Because of these rumours, Crawford was kicked off the council and later expelled last month by Headmaster Roux.

And now, Ivory Kee is running for student president. If that doesn't alarm any bells, then allow me to ring them for, you readers. The rumoured victims of Crawford were Scarlett Mako, Lizzy Connors, and Ruth 'Ruthless' Barlowe. However, all three of these girls tie in with Ivory Kee.

Kee and Mako were both in the student council, but Mako soon dropped out after Crawford was expelled. In freshman year, Kee and Connors were roommates according to old records. Barlowe won the regionals for girls' cross-country for Silverleaf, but one of the event planners was close family friends of the Kees.

Take a look at a group chat exchanged between the four found on Scarlett Mako's phone.

ivory_like_gold: Hey, did you hear that Stanley's runner-up for being elected again for student body president? Like bro, what?

red_scarlett_x0x0: Stan? Yeah, I heard from Liz.

ivory_like_gold: Girl, why didn't you warn me?

lizzy_connors: Bc it's pretty obvi that Stan's gonna win. Brb, BTW.

ruthless_b!tch: Lol, Liz, you don't say that to comfort someone.

red_scarlett_x0x0: Lmao.

ivory_like_gold: It's not funny!!! I've been wanting to be president since freshman year! Stan's been student president for three fucking years, it's not fucking fair.

ruthless_b!tch: Stop dropping the f-bomb in the chat.

red_scarlett_x0x0: Can't you just cheat if you want to win so badly?

ivory_like_gold: The polls are online, can't change them.

ivory_like_gold: But you gave me an idea, we can just tarnish Stan's reputation, maybe he'll be kicked off the council or even expelled from Silverleaf.

ruthless_b!itch: For real? Damn. I mean, what's something that will ruin Stan's name?

red_scarlett_x0x0: I don't know, Ruth. Oh, wait, what about sexual assault or something? I saw a film about it or something, we can just pin a fake sexual assault on Stan. Not too hard, tbh.

ivory_like_gold: That's actually not a bad idea.

Ruthless_b!tch: S/A? How the hell are we going to fake that?

ivory_like_gold: We're girls, Headmaster Roux will take our word, Ruth.

lizzy_connors: Back from bathroom break, what happened while I was gone?

Isn't that ironic? Sexism is at its highest at Silverleaf Academy. After Kee and her three troublemakers made sure there was no trace of them being involved together—they made their claim on Stanley Crawford. Mako, Connors, and Barlowe chalked up a sob story that got Crawford in trouble for something he didn't even cause. Meanwhile, Kee was standing behind the scenes and watched as her malicious plan played out in her favour.

—Xoxo, @shades_of_gray

"Orchid." Professor Green's voice startled her. She jumped and immediately closed her laptop before she realized she might have not saved her draft. Stupid mistakes, she scolded herself. The English professor leaned against the wall, offering a tight smile.

He was a middle-aged man with graying brown mousy hair. He had red-rimmed glasses which Orchid always found a bit funky and odd. Green was Orchid's favourite teacher because of how supportive he was even when he tried to push you to your limits. Go beyond the limits that society sets for you, he always said. Be something original, something the world doesn't expect.

"Sorry, was I being disruptive? I'll leave if the club wants me to," Orchid said, but the professor shook his head, chuckling. Good, she thought. I'm not in trouble. She smiled as well, pushing up her black glasses.

"My offer is still on the table, I think you'll be a great fit for the Silverleaf Newspaper club," Professor Green nodded, puffing up his chest a little. The club was his greatest pride and joy. "I've read your essays, they're good. You always go above and beyond. The newspaper club needs someone like you."

"No offence, Professor Green, but the club's writing choices are limited and not my above-and-beyond style," Orchid said, avoiding his gaze. Translation: I can't work well with these people or risk exposing myself. "You may be the head of the newspaper club, but Headmaster Roux controls what we write. He doesn't want anything that will risk the school's reputation. Do you know the Stanley Crawford thing? Headmaster Roux didn't want the club to write anything about it."

Professor Green looked surprised. I guess no one ever stood up to the headmaster, Orchid thought. "While that's true... uhm, well..." The professor trailed off before clearing his throat. "You're still free to come here any time, Orchid."

"Thanks, sir." Orchid started to pack up. "I'm going back to my dorm."

"Have a good evening."

"You too," she said as Professor Green went back to his desk. She grabbed her charger and wrapped up her headphones, tucking them neatly in her laptop shoulder bag. Before putting her laptop in, she made sure that her draft was saved. Thank God, Orchid was relieved that it was. She swung the bag over her shoulder and headed out of Professor Green's classroom.

Sundays were boring at Silverleaf Academy for the dreaded and upcoming Mondays. Orchid Gray took a sharp left and found herself at the stairwell, going to the Girls' Dorms. The female dorms were on the left side of the second floor, the boys' on the other.

Orchid went to Room #204 and unlocked the door with her key. She was surprised to see her roommate and her boyfriend in it. "Orchid!" Bailey shouted as the girl immediately backed out of the room, slamming the door shut. Gross, gross, she shuddered.

What did I deserve to have such an obnoxious roommate like Bailey Preston? After a few minutes, Bailey, dishevelled, opened the door. Robert Reuters, Bailey's boyfriend, was sitting on her bed, his cheeks red. Robert wasn't that bad, he just came to their dorm so much that he became an eyesore.

"Hey, Orchid."

"Hey, Rob." Orchid put her shoulder bag on her bed. She didn't like the idea of sharing a dorm, after all, Bailey could easily discover that she was @shades_ of_gray for stealing her laptop, but Bailey was too absorbed in her own life to care.

"Sorry about that," Rob said sheepishly as Bailey averted her gaze.

"Whatever, as long as you stay off my bed," Orchid muttered. She wasn't one for socializing with others. She wanted to keep her 'quiet and nerdy girl' status so people didn't find out she was the one who wrote school exposés.

Shortly after, Robert left and Bailey took a shower. During this time, Orchid sat on her bed, laptop once again opened. She never used school wifi since it could be traced, which was costly, but the views of her exposés helped pay for that. Turns out, people would pay to know someone else's secret.

On the Shades of Gray website, where she kept all her articles, she finally uploaded the Kee exposé. After that, she was sure that none of her work could be traced back to her—she hid her laptop in a slit in her mattress. It was somewhere Bailey or the Dorm Monitor couldn't find it.

Orchid looked at the clock on the wall. 8: 15 PM, meaning it was almost payment time.

┉┈◈◉◈┈┉

Orchid waited at the roof of Silverleaf Academy for her two sources. Yes, while Orchid herself would sleuth around for dirt on the pure evil students of Silverleaf, she couldn't do it all.

"Hey, Gray," Saira Levine said, arriving on time as per usual. She had sunkissed skin and blond hair with pink-dyed roots. She wore the school uniform—a dress shirt, a blazer with the Silverleaf crest, stockings, and a white pleated skirt. Of course, she took 'fashion liberties' and wore black chunky boots.

"Hi, Saira." The one and only Gossip Girl.

Saira was not a part of the newspaper club, her writing skills were horrible, but her sleuthing skills were off the charts. She could find out so much, earning her the nickname 'Gossip Girl,' but not to be confused with the TV show. "Did you hear about Stanley Crawford?"

"That's who my exposé is on," Orchid replied.

"Oh, good, that guy is a creep for what he's done."

"Oh, no, no, you misheard me. I'm exposing the supposed victims, they actually faked the assault and Stan is completely innocent," she explained and Saira blinked. "It was actually the idea of Ivory Kee."

Saira shrugged. "You'd be a pretty damn good lawyer or private eye."

"I'll stick to being a journalist, thanks though."

The sun was setting and the two girls stood there waiting for the last person to arrive. Finally, Stoll Finnegan showed up, panting. "Oh, hey, Gray." He nodded at Saira. "Levine, looking as bossy as ever."

"Oh my gosh, Finnegan." Saira shook her head.

"You're really late, Stoll," Orchid mumbled, crossing her arms.

He threw his hands in the air. "I'm a janitor for crying aloud, I'm busy all the time." Stoll wasn't a student at Silverleaf, but his older brother, Sam, was the groundskeeper of the academy. By default, Stoll would be a janitor during the day and take some classes at night. "And Sam thought I was sneaking out to make out with a girl or something. He's becoming more unhinged, I swear."

Saira snorted and Orchid sighed again. "Okay, whatever, Stoll. Here's your cut," Orchid handed them both twenty bucks. It wasn't much, but there was a silent payment between all three of them.

They had signed a treaty that Orchid produced, a treaty that needed them to reveal a very, very dirty secret that could ruin all of their lives. No one at Silverleaf was clean, they all had secrets, some more than others. By Saira and Stoll passing on solid info to Orchid, and her returning some hard cash back, their secrets were safe.

"Only twenty dollars? C'mon, shouldn't you give me an extra ten for my hacking skills? I got you that screenshot of Scarlett Mako's deleted texts to Ivory Kee," Stoll complained and Saira narrowed her eyes.

"You two were sleuthing without me?"

"It was an online thingy, more of Stoll's expertise unless you got his hacking skills," Orchid said coolly. Saira didn't look very offended, but smirked, glancing between the two. "Jesus, Saira. Seriously?"

"Maybe Stoll's older brother was right," she mused

Stoll choked. "Seriously? Me and Gray? Damn you, Levine."

"Yeah, he doesn't even use my first name, only my surname." Orchid scoffed and brushed Saira off. She had to remind herself that Saira and Stoll weren't friends, they were payment.

They could destroy each other. Better not to think about it though.

"It's getting late." Stoll was a master at changing the subject. "I got nightly courses to take, and Orchid? We're talking about my extra ten dollars next time. Later, guys." He went off, pocketing the twenty bucks.

"That boy is going to be the death of me," Orchid muttered.

Saira turned to Orchid. "I'll look at the Shades of Gray website tonight."

"Good, I expect the next morning to be buzzing with talk about Ivory Kee."