Halloween just ended and we're officially on December! The snow is already blocking the streets outside and we are all dressed up with scarfs and jackets, I also wore some long socks to prevent my legs from freezing.
Why am I even complaining? It's obviously normal to have 4 seasons in this country, I mean, I was born in a tropical country and we only have 2 seasons, dry seasons and wet seasons- where there are times that rains most of the time and the time that makes you feel like you live on a desert because of dryness.
"... and that ends our lesson for today" our last teacher for our morning class said and I sighed in relief before dropping my pen.
"Oh by the way, no classes this afternoon up til the countdown ends, see you next year everyone" he grinned before exiting the room.
I blinked in shock when everyone (mostly girls) started to celebrate, what does that mean? Next year? Isn't this a bit to early to be dismissed? 13 days more before christmas and we're all free?
"Eyo gentlemen, same routine as the past years" Louanne spoke up, catching everyone's attention.
"Is that really necessary?" James frowned.
"It's tradition bro" one of our male classmates added.
"Fine" James sighed in defeat.
"No peeking" Louanne reminded and they nod.
"Alright, see you tomorrow Sam" Icer kissed her on the lips before leaving the classroom, so are the other guys.
"What's up with that?" I asked, the rest of the girls giggled at our priceless reaction.
"Well you three haven't attended the christmas countdown for the whole 3 years so it's natural that you don't know" Louanne smiled.
"Every start of the countdown, the boys will be staying in their dorms to let 'us' girls, have fun for the whole day, and on the last day of the countdown, it's our turn to stay in our dorms to let them have their fun" she explained and I nod my head in understanding, well that's quite wonderful.
"And what do you mean by fun? Free day without them?" Liz asked.
"Not just that, we get to pick our outfit for the snowflakes dance and do everything we want without them bothering us!" They explained and I chuckled.
"Well looks like we need it" I said and they nod in agreement.
Just as what they said, we entered the mall and there's literally no boys around, Ace may have ignored me earlier when he left the classroom but he did sent me a message to have fun and don't overdo things.
"Salon?" Liz asked when I stopped infront of the said place.
"Well yeah, my hair is quite heavy now" I joked and they giggled before accompanying me inside.
The two did their nails and facial treatment while I get to be stuck on doing my hair, I decided to have it cut until my upper elbow and have it colored in red highlights.
While doing so, I took a mirror video of myself as the female staff started trimming up my hair. After that I sent it on our group chat with my cousins.
And of course I didn't expect some of them to see it immediately, Lemon chated first saying;
'Are you really cutting your hair?'
And my sister just sent a heart emoji making me smile and the rest of them started to flood comments about 'am I really serious about cutting my hair?'
'I'm also dyeing it with red highlights' I replied.
'Send us the final look later' Perry said and I gave them a thumbs up before turning my phone off.
I sat on my chair patiently as it got shampooed and bleached, colored, washed, and dried for the whole 4 hours. When I was done, I stole a quick snap on the mirror before paying for the service fee.
Sam and Liz were already done with their things so we walked off to find the rest of the girls, we spotted Sofia on one of the boutiques so we immediately followed her.
She was busy picking her gown but eventually noticed us right away when we got close to her, when we peeked to the side, the rest of her groups were scattered near the dressing rooms with Thea's group.
"Are you guys picking gowns?" Sam asked.
"Oh no, the Core already have their designated dresses every Snowflakes dance, we're just here to try it on so we can repair any damages" Sofia replied.
"Sofia, your gowns here" Miracle called her.
"Thanks Mir, come on, I bet the 1st Card already requested one for you" she said and led us towards the group.
"Looking good Thea" Liz complimented her.
"Yeah thanks, but I can't pull the zipper up, so I need to return it for some repairing" she frowned.
"Oh welcome!" A girl in her mid-twenty's approached us and suddenly eyes me up and down.
"Uh..." I trailed off, because the look that she's giving me is so uncomfortable.
"Oh right, she's Denice Jazel Aid, Death's older sister, and my cousin, Den, she's your sister-in-law" Thea tugged her sleeves.
Sister-in-law? W-wait, is this woman literally-
"Ohh, so you're the girl, looks like my brother got lucky" she frowned and hugged me, just as I thought, I'm not hearing things.
"Hello dear, I'm Denice, but you can call me Den" she held her hand out with a gentle smile.
"Cursetine, but just call me Tine" I smiled in return and shook her hand.
Now that she mentioned it, they do have the same face structures and exactly looks like Ace- I mean, the female version of Ace but she has a thinner eyebrows and her hair is a lighter shade of black while Ace's hair is charcoal black.
"Oh by the way girls, where is the new crowned Queen, she should be here, I remember my husband sending me here personally to help her with her gown" she said.
"Ah Loraine, I'll get her" Sofia said and took two of her group to go with her.
"Your husband...?" I trailed off.
"The one and only Headmaster of this school, yes" she giggled before walking away just to get one of the bags on the side of the room, leaving me stunned.
No wonder Ace was this powerful, the connections are really strong in this school and he's one of those people that everyone doesn't wanna mess up with, and simply this is the reason why.
She asked me to try on my gown and I thanked her first before using the free dressing room, Sam and Liz also started fitting their gowns on the other room so I really took my time to dress myself up.
My gown was a maroon one, the design looks like it's pretty heavy because of the expansion of the gown but it's not, in fact when I took it out the bag, it already looks like I'm wearing a dozen of layers just for it to look like one of those princesses' gowns on movies.
And it's pretty easy to move around, the gown isn't that eye catching too, it's just an off shoulder one with a not-so-big ribbon behind my waist line and not to mention it's backless.
I smiled when it perfectly fitted me, I brushed my wavy hair over my shoulders before taking a mirror selfie and sended it to my cousins. After fixing the lower part of the gown, I opened the curtains and walked out the dressing room.
"Can't believe it, my brother's a genius, you look gorgeous" Denice chuckled and I smiled.
"Did he just guessed over my measurements?" I asked while she examine my gown.
"No darling, he ought to say that by just looking at you, he already knows anything- like everything" she teased and I blushed, partly true, knowing how smart that guy is.
"Samantha! Sheez that Icer really did finally said something true" she added, Sam rolled her eyes before laughing.
"That guy did everything to get my measurements" she commemted and by all means, we knew what it meant.
I can still remember when Icer was being too clingy to her and that really made her uncomfortable because of his sudden change of atittude but at the end of the day, he stopped and just ask for her measurements.
"Mine's a little too big" Liz commemted while showing her back.
"I see, alright I'll have my team fix it in no time" she pat her shoulder then we walked back to the dressing room to change into our normal set of clothes.
When I got out, Loraine was already there and I wasn't even suprise to see the 1st Card sitting patiently on the side while looking at her wife, who was taking Loraine's measurements.
"You should come home more often, the kids aren't happy with seeing just my face everyday" she suddenly said, awe they already have kids, how sweet.
"I will, things just got a little busier here that's why I need to work over time, considering how troublesome these kids are- especially your brother, he's always sneaking out at the girls' dorm" he complained, Denice grinned.
"Well aren't you like that 10 years ago? Would go to any trouble just to see this 'wife' of yours?" She teased.
"Shut up Denice" he blushed like a teenager.
"Weesh, no one literally can diss you but your wife, ne 1st Card-sama?" Mahiro laughed.
"Girls are so troublesome" he frowned.
"So you mean to say that our daughters are troublesome?" Denice glared at him with a menacing aura started to form around her and he froze on spot.
"I-I d-didn't say anything like that!" He exclaimed and just like that Denice smiled brightly with the heavy atmosphere disappearing.
"That's what I thought you said" she giggled before finishing her work on Loraine.
"I'm done here, I'll get your gowns ready in three days for repairs, and for Loraine, you should be able to get it a day before the final countdown" she spoke before gathering her things.
"Thank you Denice!" We said.
"No problem ladies" she uttered back with a gentle wave before she got escorted by her husband out.
"Annie!" I cheered when I saw her walked out the dressing room.
"Mine's perfectly fit" she commented.
"That's pretty obvious cause your fiancé is close to Death" Liz grinned and gave her gown to the staff.
I smiled when Liz looked at her left hand where a promise ring from Zen was set on her index finger, so she really moved on from Troy afterall huh?
Not that I'm doubting their relationship though, Liz is the kind of person that is so hard to read but Zen totally looked over her and broke her attention from her heartbreak.
"So when's the wedding?" Loraine asked and hang her arms over Sam's shoulder, she blushed.
"S-shut up! It's not even an engagement ring!" She exclaimed, we chuckled.
"Alright, alright, calm down" Sam giggled.
We didn't stay there for long and bid our goodbye's to the others before walking off to shop for our christmas gifts, but while the other girls are using the comfort room, I brought some milkshake for the five of us and sat on the bench for a while to check any messages from my cousins.
'Your hair felt a lot more lighter huh?' Lemon joked and his siblings laughed at his statement.
'Looks good' Is all what Jiro had to say.
'It's rare for you to attend a party, got a date?' Perry confronted and I knew that I was in trouble, ALMOST.
"Should I tell them...? Probably not" I wondered and typed my reply.
'Nah, my friends just dragged me into this, besides it's my last year, I should experience attending at least one occasion' I replied.
'Sounds valid' Josh said.
'But you should tell us if someone did hit on you' Cyvore added.
'Come on you guys...' I complained.
'For safety measures Tinay' Yuhan said, I pinched the bridge of my nose and just agreed to it to avoid more arguements.
After settling scores with my cousins, I took my order and went off to find the girls, when I did, we sat on the food court to finish our drinks before walking into a few boutiques.
Of course we shop individually cause I'm gonna shop for their gifts as well- and I still wonder what should I give Ace for christmas.
Probably something he can use or keep for the rest of his life? But what could that be? Nevermind that for now, I should pick the girls' gifts for now, besides, dinner's almost up.
I brought an limited edision purse for Sam, a black pearl earings for Annie, a cute stuffed toy for Liz- since she's been complaining about wanting this Pikachuu icon for years and a Chanel winter coat for Loraine- which she can deffinately use because she loves travelling during winter times.
Now for Ace, I've been thinking that we'll be separating soon so I guess I should give him something more memorable at least, I suddenly remember what to give him when I walked past something.
So I guess I found one!
After shopping, I made sure that the girls won't know what gifts I brought them by simply buying a new black trash bag and tossed the paperbags in it- making sure that Ace's gift is safe inside.
"Who's c*rpes is that?" Annie joked.
"No one" I grinned and she obviously hid her gifts too inside that travelling bag of hers.
The others showed up a few moments after then we finally left the mall to have our dinner back in the girls' building.
When we got into the cafeteria everyone was so happy that they get to spend the day without boys, well I can't really blame them, a hectic schedule was up for us and we can't do anything freely cause most of us are dating and we would usually use our free time to spend time with them- lame reason but you'll know what I mean when you have one, if you have none then comment 'sanaol'.
"So where are you gonna pack the gifts?" Annie asked once I set the trash bag inside my closet.
"Here? Besides, you have a date with Pierce tomorrow right? So I'll take that time" I answered.
"Oh, when are you out?" She asked.
"Probably on Saturday, I need to meet up with my group to finish our projects" I told her and sat at the end of my bed and looked at the letter I always read from time to time.
She giggled. "So when are you gonna confront him about that?" She suddenly appeared behind me.
"Nah, it's not my thing to do the first move, he's a genius alright, he should be able to figure it out as a gentleman" I smirked then she rolled her eyes.
"Somehow right, I wish Pierce was like that to me" she muttered.
~
"Wow... really... just wow..." Troy muttered, Sofia smiled and tap his shoulder to get her boyfriend's attention.
"I can't even imagine you having you hair at that length" said Icer while pushing his eyeglasses up his nose and Sam grinned.
"She looks different tho" Pierce shrugged.
"I mean, why would that bastard faint if she didn't glow up like this?" Joseph laughed while pointing at the unconcious Ace on the couch of the conference room.
Everyone has been eyeing me since I stepped inside the room and I also didn't expect 'his' reaction to be like this, was it really too sudden to get my hair done? These people sure are over reacting on small details.
"He'll get over the bliss, anyways, let's start" Ashlyn smiled and took over the board and everyone's attention shifted there.
After the meeting we all headed out to enjoy our free time during this christmas countdown, Ace is just silent while walking with me until we got to the grand hall to have a break.
I sat with the rest of the girls since Ace is no where stable to talk to, did it change that bad? I mean does he not like my hair? Or it's another thing? I sighed and took a big bite on my burger.
"Calm down, he's always like that when he's shock" Thea explained, I look over to Ace.
He's spacing out once again and the other boys are trying to get his attention, and mind working once again, I don't know if I should laugh or get upset by this, cause honestly, it's too much reaction.
After taking our break we went back to the conference room to discuss a few more things- especially the three remaining events of our final year- the snowflakes dance, New Year's celebration and graduation ball- we're still thinking if we'll be able to celebrate true hearts waltz on Valentine's next year.
Of course we are all open about the student's tight schedules and we are doing our best to lessen the other activities for them to at least have fun before the mental breakdown on the upcomming results of our final assessment.
"Excuse me, can I speak?" I raised my hand and Drake nod his head.
"I think we should ban the field trips for a while, the staffs and coordinators are all aware of the incident on Xiena's class and I was hoping that we should just use the facilities here inside the campus for the mean time, for safety measures" I explained.
"She's right, we can't risk more accidents right now, especially we're about to graduate anytime soon" Kianna said seriously.
Yup she has confidence in terms of these things, totally different from outside right?
"Alright, let's follow Cursetine's idea" Drake said and eliminating the word 'field trip' on the white board using a red marker.
"Also the extra curicular activities, festival performances aren't necessary anyways, we should allow having the culminary activities and lessen the cheerdance and acapella contest since it's taking most of our time on practicing" Ace said while looking at his papers.
"Culminary and Green day should be allowed, I mean, it's about nature conservation right?" Thea added.
"Still, how about those students who already practiced for their festival performances?" Wendy asked, that thing too.
Everyone went silent for a moment when July raised her hand.
"Then we should let the event happen and after that we won't be having another one" she said.
"Alright, I think that's fair enough" Icer sighed in relief.
"Copy that" Drake said and erased the said events on the board.
"Okay, we're done, that's the last one on the list" Ashlyn clapped her hands.
"Joseph, you say it" June grinned.
"Tsk! Meeting ajourned, happy beach?" He said sarcasly while we chuckled while fixing our things.
Clyde, Icer and Kyle closed their laptops and were the ones who stood up first while we followed, we all looked at each other then the four b*stards- Pierce, Lucas, Brei and Ten ran out the door.
"Those cheaters!" Troy complained before running after them with the rest of the guys following him.
"Should we?" Angela asked.
I grinned before running out the door, I heard them complained but I didn't stop running, I ran down the stairs to the second floor before jumping off the balcony once I took a glance of a thick piled snow.
Good thing I'm wearing my coat right now so it wasn't as cold as I expect it to be. My landing didn't hurt though, I sat up from the snow to see nothing because the snow was still covering my sight so I stood up.
"That's not fair!" I heard them shout then i glance at the second floor.
"It's a short cut" I snickered before walking off the snow before I catch a cold.
Wait- my files are gone! I halted for a second and look back at the snow where I fell moments ago and was relieved when I saw the folder lying in there, I immediately took it and left the place to join the others.
Everyone else is enjoying thier christmass break while here we are, still working nonstop, good thing that we don't have any classes right now so we were able to have a lot of break time before another meeting.
The 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 9th Cards are all busy as well and they are the ones who giving us more works- only those things that is concerning us and our schoolmates.
"Hey..."
I immediately look up to meet a very familiar dark orbs that always warms my heart, I look around if anyone is standing near me or next to me which is no one so it's surely 'me' that he's calling.
"Hey" I gave him a light smile and he suddenly hugged me, my eyes widened.
"What's wrong?" I asked and pat his back.
"You look so beautiful, but don't you think it's a little eye catching?" He mummbled, I giggled and push him off me.
"It's a once in a lifetime oppotunity, come on" I flicked his forehead and he smiled at me.
"I'm sorry if my actions offended you" he suddenly frowned and his ear started to turn to red.
"It's okay" I hugged him for a bit before taking his hand as we headed off to the others who are now playing snowball fight in the whole field.