MesonHill’s Anem

Chapter 5: The preparation period

At around 4.30 pm, Celeste and Fawn left Axel in the canteen and headed back upstairs to the Jade common room. They were sat on the sofa, watching the television - something that Celeste never did. 

Celeste was beginning to adapt to the modern world, now that she had friends who were open to it. She didn't forget her original morals though, but instead, she just accepted the changes. How could she forget her morals when, in four weeks, they would be going to find the Zirkyan stone? 

She and Fawn were sat for around half an hour before Beck arrived in the common room. Although the television was on, the two of them didn't watch much of it. When the pair were together, they rarely stopped to take a breath from talking. Luckily, Beck was much calmer and could reduce the conversation to a slower pace. The second he entered the room, the atmosphere shifted and they scooted over on the sofa to make room for him to sit down. 

"Hey, Beck! How were lessons?" Asked Celeste, with a smile. 

"Alright, I suppose. Nothing special but nothing drastic, you know?" He replied. "Did you manage to sort out the trip after I left?" 

He was clearly eager to find out if they had planned it out like they said they would. At his question, Fawn pulled out her notepad, where she had jotted down all the details, and relayed everything to him, even down to how they would get out of school on the 25th. 

His expression was hard to read, but he didn't seem to dislike anything Fawn had said. Well, that or he had the world's best poker face. Once Fawn had finished, Beck finally shifted his emotionless face and appeared to sprout a smile on his lips. He seemed happy with the plan. 

"That's brilliant guys! You really thought about all the nitty-gritty bits. But, you do know that I can't let you both pay for me to go, right?" He asked, seeming to feel guilty that the girls expected to have to pay for him. Celeste didn't feel she was close enough to Beck to argue with over such a subject, so she allowed Fawn to do it for her. 

"Beck, let us pay. It's fine, honestly. You don't have any of your own money to pay for it and your parents spent their money paying for your living costs here. If you even try to ask for money from them, they will disown you and you know that. Besides, you've done enough for me in the past, anyway. Think of this as a way to repay that." Fawn said, speaking in a warm tone with her hand resting on Beck's shoulder. 

"Beck, honestly, I don't mind splitting it with Fawn. If it makes you feel any better, Axel said he'd chip in, too." Celeste exclaimed, hoping that a three-way split, rather than a split down the middle, would be more convincing.

"I feel awful making you pay, though," Beck said. He let out a huge sigh and tilted his head back to rest against the sofa. 

"Beck, it's fine! This is your only option, or you'd be staying here on your own. And I'd much rather you come with us, so please just accept our gesture." Fawn barely took a single breath in her last sentence as she said it with such passion behind her words. 

"Besides, if the stone really is there, we'll take that as collateral." Celeste chimed. She tried to make a joke out of the situation and it had seemed to work. Beck's face turned from upset to amused in seconds. 

"Fine." He said bluntly, but there was a smile tugging at his lips. 

The heated conversation was soon put behind them once they started to watch an American comedy series on the TV. Apparently, it was Beck and Fawn's favourite from a few years ago. Celeste had never seen it before, however. With not using much technology, she hadn't seen any of the things that Fawn had introduced her to like music artists and an item called an iPod (which was apparently quite old now but was still new in Celeste's eyes). 

Watching the TV seemed to make time go by quickly. Soon, 5 pm turned into 9 pm, so Celeste decided to call it a night. She skipped along to her dorm and clambered into bed, dreaming that night about how their trip to France might pan out.  

The next day, Celeste had to book the ferry tickets for the journey there and back to France, and she had to book a hotel for them all, too. She had offered herself up to book it all because she knew if anyone else had done it, it would've been left till the last minute. And, by then, all of the tickets and hotels would have become booked up with it only being a few weeks away. 

There was only one issue with Celeste booking it. That was that she didn't have the money available to her currently to pay for it there and then. Her money was still stashed in a drawer somewhere at her home. 

There was one person who did currently have money on them, however. Celeste wasn't keen on having to approach this person for their help, but it was her only option. Consequently, when the group arrived in the canteen for breakfast, Celeste asked Aria for a favour. 

"Aria?" Celeste asked, hating every second of it already. 

"Yeah? What do you want?" Aria replied, with a subtly harsh tone. 

"I need to ask a favour of you for the group." Celeste hoped that by saying the favour was for the group, it would persuade her to help. 

"You have my attention." She replied. 

"So, I have to book the tickets and hotel today, before everything gets booked up. The only issue is, I don't currently have any money on me and neither do the rest of the group. Do you think you could lend me your savings in the bank from your business to pay for us all until we can pay you back?" Celeste blurted out the question as quick as she possibly could. She supposed it would be easier. Like ripping off a band-aid. And, for extra luck, she crossed her fingers underneath the table. 

"What? Hell no!"  She snapped. The rest of the group shot several confused and irritated looks in Aria's direction.

"Come on Aria, I've already asked my sister to send me my money, so you'll be paid back by me soon. And, the latest you'll get any back is on the day, I promise." Fawn said, trying to convince her, but she still didn't look like she was going to change her opinion anytime soon. 

"And, how do you suspect I'm going to get this money to you? I'm assuming you don't have a bank account, because you're completely against technology." Aria scoffed, sounding completely insulting. 

Celeste didn't use to like the idea of technology, but hanging around with Fawn had changed her views since and had shown her that with a mixture of technology and magic, one could be supremely powerful. But, that didn't mean that Aria was wrong. Celeste still didn't have a bank account. 

"You're right, I don't. I was hoping that we could - uh - maybe - do the booking together? Then you could pay, and I would sort it all out." 

Celeste was stumbling on her words. Not even Jaxon intimidated her as much as Aria did. There was a heavy silence over the group and Celeste could feel the glares that Aria was getting from the rest of them. Perhaps, it was the pressure that made her cave in. 

"Fine. I'll go with you at lunch to the Library and we can do it on the computers in there. I'll meet you there." Aria snapped, barely showing a single expression when she spoke and rather just sitting, examining her nails. 

"Thank you so much!" Celeste beamed. She tried to show her appreciation, but Aria still paid her very little attention. 

Minutes later, after a rather awkward silence, the bell rang for the first lesson. Celeste didn't have a lesson for the first hour, so she planned on going back to her dorm to study. She thought that everyone else had lessons that period, so when it was just her and Axel who remained at the table, after the bell, she was shocked. 

"Oh, I thought you had a lesson, too. I was going to study in my dorm, but I guess if you don't, I'll stay here." Celeste stammered to him and he laughed at her.

"Gosh, Cely. If you don't want to sit with me, just say!" he sarcastically taunted her. She couldn't help but roll her eyes at him.

"Oh, shut up! You know what I mean," she said, with a giggle in-between her words.

"Well, I'm glad you're staying, actually. I wanted to talk about the day we leave for the trip. You're all going to have to leave separately and with different excuses. It'll be hard for you because you can't go home twice. That seems too random. The monitors would be suspicious." Axel rambled on. 

It was surprising to Celeste that he wanted to have a serious discussion with her because usually, he would just want to tease her and act playful. She wasn't opposed to the conversation, though. He made a good point. 

She would be going home to her house on Friday night,  just to tell the monitors, at the gate, that she was going back again on Saturday night. It didn't make sense. 

Then, she had an idea.

"I can just tell the monitors that I'm going to my Auntie's house on Friday and then when we leave on Saturday, I'll say I'm going to my house." She said. 

Axel nodded in agreement. Now, they just had to think of excuses for everyone else.

"I don't need an excuse, because I won't be coming back into school. I'll be waiting in the minivan with my brother about a block away from school. Beck and Fawn could have the same excuse because Mr Dayholt knows that those two usually do everything together." Axel exclaimed. That was two people with an alibi, now. 

"Couldn't they just say they're going to Fawn's house to see her Mum? And, Aria is already telling Jaxon that a family member is ill, so she can use that excuse for the monitors, too." Celeste relayed her plans for the other three.

"Yeah, that should work. That's it then." Axel produced a thankful smile almost like he needed the clarification. 

The rest of the period was spent with Axel's usual playful self back in action. They chatted the whole time and, at points, made up their own games like they had done with the grape the other day. This time, they tried to get as many pieces of food into the year seven’s hood, until they noticed. Celeste won when Axel placed a large piece of celery too close to the boy's neck and he ran out of the hall crying - much to their amusement. 

...

It was now three weeks before the trip. Celeste and Aria had managed to book the trip as scheduled. Fawn's sister had sent her money to school and it arrived that day, so someone was finally able to pay Aria back to stop her from having one up on everyone. 

That morning, at breakfast, Fawn presented Aria with the money. As they were all sat down, she reached into her pocket and pulled out a small drawstring bag. She placed it on the table in front of Aria.

"That pays for me and a third of Beck's place." She said. 

Aria opened the bag discreetly. There was a wad of cash rolled up, and a few loose bits of change clanging around in the bottom. 

"Thank you," Aria replied, tucking the bag into a separate compartment in her bag.

On the same day, Axel had received a text message (on his mobile phone) back from his brother. He stopped just before the main hall to read the message. He pulled the small touch screen out from his pocket, unlocking it with a swipe to reveal the message. He opened it, and it read:

" 'Axel, mate,

That sounds like a brilliant idea. Sod the stone, I'm in this for a holiday. I'll be sure to bring the minivan, as you've requested, seeing as there are five of you coming. Thank Aria for paying for us all, will you? And, tell her I'll pay her back as soon as I see her. Can't wait to see you again, mate. We're going to have a banging time! Did you know, it's actually warm in the South of France this time of year? 21°c average!! Pack some shorts, mate and I'll see you soon!' "

Axel grinned at his phone and locked it again, before shoving it back into his ripped jeans' pocket and entering the main hall. When he arrived at their table in the hall, there were a few puzzled faces. 

"Ax, where've you been?" Asked Beck. He appeared to be quite concerned. It wasn't like Axel to be late for breakfast. After all, he had the biggest appetite of the group, so was always there first so he could get the first pick of the best food. 

"Guys, I'm like two minutes late, okay? I'm sure there's still plenty of good burgers left for me to eat. I was just checking the message River finally sent back." Axel replied. 

River? Celeste questioned herself. That must have been Axel's brother. 

"He said he's up for it! Aria, he says thanks for paying for us and he'll pay you back the minute he sees you." Aria looked at Axel with a weak grin on her face that didn't meet her eyes. 

"It's no problem, really." She lied. It was clear that she found it a problem after the huff she went in when being asked to pay. 

Once they had finished their breakfasts, the bell rang for the first lesson and all of them went on their way. Celeste had History class, which was one of her favoured subjects, so unlike her friends, she was rather looking forward to class. In fact, for the next two weeks, all of her classes were enjoyable, knowing that she had something to look forward to. And, before she knew it, the two weeks had passed swiftly and it was time for Celeste to go home.