In reality, Jillian and the other two hadn't gone far. They lurked just down the hall, completely unwilling to let Mira bask in the glory all night.
Mira couldn't sing forever. The moment the performance ended and the spell was broken, they fully intended to swoop back in and reclaim the spotlight.
Inside, Mira finally let the last chord fade, though her classmates were still clearly desperate for more.
"I co-wrote this song with Lania Brooks," Mira announced. "This is the very first time it's been performed publicly, but I've already locked down the copyright.
You guys are free to sing it for fun, but if anyone wants to use it commercially, you'll have to go through my manager, Kieran Holt. Otherwise, our legal team will have a field day."
Mira felt too guilty to claim sole credit since she wasn't actually religious, but leaning on Lania Brooks' known spiritual inclinations provided the perfect cover story.
She had no intention of milking the hymn for profit, but she had to lay down the law to keep any opportunistic vultures from stealing it.
Next on the agenda was distributing the orientation uniforms. The newly elected class president, Reece, had already dispatched a few guys to haul the boxes over, leaving the rest of the class waiting inside.
While dozens of students swarmed Mira, begging for autographs, that shrill voice rang out from the hallway once again.
"The Campus Belle has graced our class!"
"What a psycho. Why can't she just stay in her own class instead of strutting around here?
Just proves she's totally fake,"
Harvey muttered as he helped Mira organize the stack of notebooks thrust at her.
A fair number of students standing nearby nodded in agreement with Harvey. However, the majority still flocked toward the door, eager to rub elbows with the famous Luna Lance.
Love her or hate her, Luna undeniably carried massive social weight on campus.
Jillian shot a triumphant smirk in Mira's direction, only to deflate when she saw Mira utterly unfazed. Mira was either chatting amiably with her peers or looking down to sign her name, completely ignoring the spectacle at the door.
When the boxes of uniforms finally arrived, Vanessa noticed Reece taking charge and realized he had been named class president.
Shouldn't that position be mine? A university class president held real power. It was prestigious, and more importantly, it was a direct way to assert dominance over Mira.
And she had completely missed the election because she was busy hunting down Luna.
"Reece, right? Step down as president, and I'll cut you a very generous check,"
"You... ugh! Just you wait!"
Over at the door, Luna had graciously signed a few autographs and swapped numbers with some of the more prominent students, clearly satisfied with her ego trip.
Seeing the uniforms being passed out, she decided the photo op was over and prepared to leave.
But her eyes snagged on Mira, and an ugly knot of resentment flared in her chest. Unwilling to retreat without drawing blood, she and Vanessa marched straight over to Mira's desk.
"So, you're Mira? I've heard all about you."
The crowd surrounding Mira hushed, their eyes darting eagerly between the two girls, sensing the imminent collision of campus royalty.
Mira found the aggressive posturing baffling. Without pausing her pen, she replied, "A lot of people know who I am. You're just one more."
Facing off against the pampered heiress of Aethelgard's most powerful conglomerate and the universally adored Campus Belle, Mira's sheer icy indifference left the surrounding students deeply impressed.
Reece seized the moment to form an alliance. "They just tried to bribe me into handing over my presidency."

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