Basil the Emperor

Basil the Emperor

All of the textbooks are too heavy. Walking to class made everyone tired. The teachers are so damn annoying. The winter break homework is a killer of time. The expectations are too high and no one is really passionate about school. All those kids who kiss their teachers' asses and lick the boots of other students. Ass kissing and working for seven plus hours at school and doing work at home is frustrating. One student was done with it all. Basil decided to fun for student council principal to control the school and make it to how he wanted it. No one is going to get in his way. He wants to make this school his own paradise. This is not some normal school ordinary people attend. This is a private school. The top one percent of the class system join. Basil’s parents are filthy rich but he’s considered average amongst the other students. If the household is earning less than 150,000 dollars, the kids are not allowed to attend this school. Basil’s parents earn over 300,000 dollars a year combined. At this school, the government has no say. The school owners lobby off politicians to keep them quiet. It seems like heaven on earth. Golden stairs, toilets that are too cold to sit on because of the platinum design, and best of all, there are no principles. Only teachers and janitors are staffed at the school. Who runs the school? The student body principal who is elected every two years by the rest of the students. John has been the principal for two terms now but he is about to graduate.

The end of the semester is almost here. Next semester Basil will become president and turn this school around. No homework, servants to give us iced tea when it gets too hot. No textbooks that weigh a ton to be carried around. Showing up to school late and leaving early. Sports? No one has time for sports when their parents make them play golf or ride a pony and call is “Majestic”. Overall, no more bullshit. Through winter break, Basil will make the plans and probably have his dad give him money for the school domination project. It is a fool proof plan to help secure his title by right. The heir next in line. Having vassals who pay him in taxes and have very little to say in how the school will run. The peasants will praise Basil as god. It will be like the Pope over the entire school. The emperor with no kings. A council just for a show but they will not have any rights to challenge any final decisions. The teachers will kiss his ass every month asking for their paychecks. The preparations start now.

January 6th

“Vote Basil for president! He is the only one that can bring glory to our school!” A young boy holds a stack of flyers passing them out to students who pass by. Posters are being put up. Pictures of Basil wearing a suit and a serious face. Basil has long brown hair that he puts into a pony tail. A long narrow face with thin eyebrows. Olive eyes and very pale skin. Elections will start soon and there are no errors so far. All according to plan. Basil walks down the hall with no back pack. He wears a collar shirt to look professional. This is no time for school work. The only thing that matters now is winning the principal seat. Basil walks by the girls and they all smile and wave. The guys give him a fist bump giving him much manly praise. Basil chuckles a little and smirks. He already has big support on the first week back from break. Basil walks into class 30 minutes late. The teacher looks at him with a pissed look.

“You still have to show up for class Basil! I do not care if you are running for president but you are becoming a distraction.” All of the other students go quiet and stare at him. This is also his moment. He knew something like this was going to happen and have rehearsed this time and time again.

“Jimmy, how long are you going to wear that same stripped shirt to school. And those shoes? Are those the only dress shoes you have?”

“How dare you! Get out of here and learn some manners!”

“I’ll take my leave, don’t worry. But when I come back, your job will be mine.”

The teacher stood there silent while the other kids started to laugh. This was a quick and easy win for Basil. The peasants will no longer step all over him. He turned and open the door. Basil turned back at the teacher and smiled at him and soon walked out the door. Basil brushed his shoulders and fixed his collar to look good. He walked a way ahead and saw a group of people talking outside the window. Basil walked through the door that led outside.

“What seems to be the problem here?” They were silent at first but a girl stepped up to say something.

“Well. This open area here is a bit bland and we were thinking of turning it into a rest area. Chairs and patio maybe?”

“Don’t worry. I think that is a great idea. If you vote for me, I will sign off on that and give you guy’s a budget to do that. We can use patio here. A water fountain as well. We should also plant colorful trees to make it livelier.”

“Wow! Yeah that would be awesome! We’ll vote for you Basil! Right guys?” She turned around and the rest of the group claps and agrees in unison. Basil was receiving more praise. Basil needed to make promises that would make people happy and will not ruin his paradise at the same time. Basil sighed in relief and his confidence was quickly going up.

Basil walked through the school and closely examined how things were going. Suddenly he saw something from the corner of his eye. A poster. Basil lost his composure and began to feel frustrated. He fingers started to switch violently. “Vote Susan for president! Everyone deserves a proper education to get into a college! Susan will be our girl to vote for! Here. Take a flyer ma'am.” A younger freshman girl was handing out flyers for someone. Basil stormed over there to investigate. “Why are you passing out that trash? It’s a waste of paper!” He grabbed the paper and crumbled it up throwing it on the floor, “Where is this Susan”. The girl was very shocked and she froze up. After a few seconds Basil heard another voice coming up. “What's going on Lily?” There she was. Susan. Basil walked up to her and checked her out in person. She wears glasses and firmly wears where school uniform properly. Short black hair. No makeup at all. “So, you’re the one who is running against me? I'm going to win no matter what. You need to back down”. A crowd has formed around them already. “Is Basil getting bullied?” One girl asks.

“Everyone else is too scared to run against you but not me. I want to teach people the importance of school and that people need a proper education in order to get into a college. If anything, you should step down.” Susan raises her glasses up with her finger to look cool. The crowed starts becoming very talkative. Basil looked rather confused and took a step back.

“Making the school more comfortable will make the students motivated to show up every day. Making school easy is what's important in education. Not more vigorous studying.” Basil said with confidence hoping to draw people back to him. The crowd goes silent though. Basil started to break a sweat. Basil had not planned for any opposition. Susan than smiles. “Are you so sure of yourself? The students decide who becomes president. Not you. If you don’t mind, leave my advisors alone and put up your posters up somewhere else. Goodbye Basil.” She turns around to pick up the flyer Basil threw on the ground a little bit ago. The crowed starts walking away to their classrooms. It looked like Basil had just lost.

January 8th

The alarm clock went off and a hand flew down on it in order to shut it off. Susan sits up from her bed and looks around the room and yawns. “Still clean.” She throws off the covers and walked to her bathroom to clean up for another big day at school. Susan goes downstairs in her school uniform and saw her mom.

“Good morning”

“Hey sweetie. I made pancakes. Here.” She put the plate on the table where Susan was sitting at. Susan pulled out her phone to see Lilly had texted her a schedule and preparations. Susan ate her food and waved to her mom while she headed out the door. After a little bit she heard a voice from behind her. “Susan!” It was Lilly. She ran closer while Susan stopped to wait for her.

“Hey Lilly. I saw your text. It looks really thought out. Thanks.”

“Yeah, no problem.”

They both began to walk again to get to school. “You know Susan. I think you made the right choice to run for principal. We really need a principal like you to help students receive good grades.”

“It's no problem. A certain someone convinced me to do it. I felt like I had to do it.”

“Oh? Is this a guy?” Lilly smiled and leaned towards Susan.

“Yeah but I don’t like him. It’s the opposite actually.”

Lilly looked confused but shrugged. Susan look over to the other side of the road. Basil and Ronald are walking. She tries to figure out what they are talking about but effortlessly. Basil and Ronald were plenty loud.

“I won't lose to that Susan Ronald! I put too much time and effort into this already. Im beginning to spend my allowance money.”

“You won't lose. Your popular with the ladies and stuff. You’ll win!”

“Shut up you buffoon. I don’t care for the ladies anyways. It will also take more than the popularity to win this.” Basil looked at his phone and moved his face around and laughed.

Susan sighed and looked straight ahead again. Lilly looked at her, “Don't worry. If things get tough, I’ll help! I can lend you some money if you want?”

“No. That won't be necessary. I think we’ll be just fine.”

January 22nd

It has been a few weeks after Basil got dissed in front of that crowed by Susan. “It might take a while to recover from that”. Basil keeps getting stares from the other students. No more smiles. No more fist bumps. “Damnit!”

“Woah! You okay Basil?”

“Yeah. Ronald. We need a plan to secure my victory no matter what. The posters will not work anymore. They’re boring and starting to make my eyes hurt. We need something better.”

“How about we do some sort of rally?”

Basil looked at him for a while. He was startled by this and began to lighten up “Ronald you genius! I can hype myself up for the people to get them motivated! We can also serve food while I give a speech! This will be awesome!”

Ronald began to write on a piece of paper to record everything. Basil stood up, “I will give a speech about how the students will be better comfortable and how I will start funding on making the school look better. I will make sure that the water fountain is installed outside. No! I want a waterfall! I want a waterfall with pool chairs outside and patio tables with umbrellas. Every student will get to use it whenever! This will surely give me the votes I need. It is almost perfect. It will be like walking throughs heaven's gate. Yes. I will make a golden gate around the school and only the richest of kids can walk inside through the gate. My preparations will begin now.”

The next day, Basil’s supporters pushed over a stage outside to the field and started to set up the chairs. Everything was looking good. The cooking class was also backing Basil up to prepare food for his supporters. They prepared deserts and exquisite cousins for an all you can eat buffet. “The peasants are already waiting to hear their Emperor talk. Let them in!” Basil gave the signal and rushed behind the stage. Around 100 people showed up and they are already digging into the food and sitting down. One by one they will bow down to Basil. Enough people are sitting down. Basil grabbed the mic and walked up the steps onto the stage and people began to clap.

“Hello! As you all already know. My name is Basil. I am hoping to be your next president. I am out here talking with the most important people of our school. The students that make the school operate and run of course.” Basil looked down and started to chuckle away from the mic, it was becoming harder for him to hide his true intentions. “I want to make school renovations that will make school life easier to attend and make you guys the most comfortable. A park to rest outside and to get away from class to ease your stress. A waterfall that will be so beautiful that you do not want to leave. The cafeteria will have more food and more sitting space with better lighting. More air conditioners in the hallways and classrooms. A huge golden gate that will be made of gold outside the school!”

The kids jump up and start cheering. That is what they wanted to hear. All of this is to gain support but Basil also wanted his own things as well. “Are you guys willing to vote for me?!” Basil started to feel uneasy and thought something was wrong. He heard less clapping. The front row is clapping and cheering but he looked even farther back and noticed people leaving. He almost choked. “We will take a little break. I will continue my talk in 10 minutes. Please gather more food and stretch out and thank you again for coming out here.” He ran down the steps and put the mic up and rushed to Ronald who is behind the stage waving.

“People are leaving already!?” Basil was now pissed and very confused.

“Well Basil. Your speech was good but people are going to see Susan's show right now.”

“Show?!”

“Yeah. I went there earlier and she has the drama and music club playing music and dancing. It’s actually really cool!”

“No! That isn't cool at all Ron! That’s lame! Get more people here now. I'm going to sabotage her little dance thing. Where is it?”

“It’s in the Gym. Wait. Sabotage? I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

“Shut up. I'll be back!” Basil ran past Ronald hoping to get there and be back in time to give his speech. Basil ran past students who were out and about. “I have to ruin her show somehow. I have to get people to vote for me!”

Basil continued to run and made his way inside the gym. The show consisted of bands who have a passion for music. The gym was dark and flashing colorful lights illuminated it. Almost 100 people filled the gym, dancing and chatting. “I have to start my plan”. Basil rushed past the crowed and dove into the shadows. He creped along the wall and dashed to the curtains Susan and her group set up for the stage. “A music festival. This is totally dumb. There! I see the rope.” He climbed up the ladder and tied the rope around his waist. Basil looked down on the stage and no one can see him. It was a pitch-black area where he was “Perfect. Now all I have to wait for Susan to show her face.” Basil grabbed his water bottle from his back pocket and looked back at the stage. The crowed was fired up and the band was playing a heavy metal song. The room was very loud but Basil looked focused. His eyes were focused. A burst of energy came to him. “There she is!” Susan comes out from the other side of the stage.

“Thank you all for being here today people!” She waves her hand at the huge crowd and the people start to cheer. “How did she get so many followers?” Basil started to tremble. He looked down on her and began to laugh. A sudden burst that changed the laugh into something deeper. “They should all worship me!” Basil dolphin dove outwards and opened up the lid to the water he has. Basil starts to swing after falling lower to meet Susan at head level. The crowd gasp and others scream. Basil’s facial expression changed and he started to look panicked. “This is dangerous. I'm going to fast!” He let out a scream and flew towards Susan. He waved his arms and legs around trying to slow down. The lights are now flashing in Basil’s eyes. He closed them and opened them back up over and over again in order to see.

Susan looks up shocked and stepped backwards. “The water!” Basil tipped the bottle down at her to spill it but it flies back into his face. “Why! This cannot be happening!” Basil drenched himself with the water and wiped it off his face. As soon as he opened his eyes, a cement wall appeared to him. His eyes were wide now and his face turned paler than he already was. “When did they put this here?” Basil crashed at full speed into that wall. Basil saw nothing but black.

February

“Oh my! That’s hilarious!” a few girls were laughing when Basil passed by. “Shh. That’s him.” The girls quickly moved away from him.

“My neck and back hurts so much. Slow down Ronald!”

“Sorry man, we gotta get to class soon.”

Basil had hit rock bottom. Not only did he lose the election by a landslide but now he’s in a wheelchair. Classes have been going on just like usual and Susan won. She made homework required and gave all the teachers a pay raise. A bonus as well if they hold tutor sessions over the summer. Which was required for students who made a grade lower than 80.

“This is awful.”

“Don't worry Basil. You can run again Junior year!”

“You know what. I can! I'm going to beat Susan next time and it'll be different. Okay Ronald! Let's go to class! I'm getting really pumped up now!”

Ronald pushed Basil into the classroom and everyone began to snicker. Basil did not pay them any mind and was deep in thought. Ronald pushed him to the front and went to sit down. Basil’s hand rests on his cheek as he watched the clock on the wall. “Alright people. Let's start!”, the teacher walks in and starts to teach the lesson. Basil has his head down the entire time.

Class finished up and people began to leave. A girl walked up to Basil and looked down to see him. “Hello. Umm, I can push the wheelchair. If you like?” She got closer to see his face and saw him grinning. Basil began to laugh out loud and the young girl backed away and ran out the classroom. “Oops, I didn’t see her there.” Basil picked up his back pack and sat it on his lap. He pushed himself to reach the door and he noticed a familiar face.

“Susan?!” He stopped the wheelchair.

“Basil. You look like shit.”

“Well I'm constantly on pain meds. So yeah.”

“Anyways. I just wanted to thank you. If it weren't for people like you. I would not have been motivated to make the school work for everyone.”

“People like me? What's wrong with me?”

“Don't take it personal. You know what. I'll help you get to your tutor session.”

“I wouldn’t have to if you never signed the papers to enact it!”

“Well you lost. Terribly.” Susan grabbed the handles of the wheelchair and walked forward. “You can run again if you like. I'll win easily again. You'll be doing me a favor.” Basil laughed and pulled out his notebook.

“Don't worry. I have two years to plan this one out. Not one semester. We’ll also have more competition.”

“Looks like we might need a ceasefire to knock out the others.” Susan commented. Basil smirked and started to write. “That sounds very interesting. You have a deal Susan.” Susan kept pushing and looked out the windows. The sun was already setting and the clouds sat right above it.