May Peace Grace Us

Chapter 9: Attention

As Bella said those words, the whole group quieted down and took their own notebooks and pens. To an outsider, it really looked like they had a very tense, studious atmosphere. The truth might not be any further, but the topics they are going to discuss are more important than their education at the moment.

"I'll begin my piece this time around," Bella said as she glanced at everyone. "I suppose none will disagree with me today, right?"

Everyone got cold chills in their backs as they met Bella's oppressive eyes. They nodded to indicate that they had no objections. The last meeting was led by Liza, who called upon the topic of our group having relationships. It didn't end quite well, but it hurts Aila to remember that particular gathering. It reminds her of the future of her squad pairing with each other.

"To start off, I'll begin with the reason why we have this sudden conference. I'm sure everyone here is aware of why." Stated so plainly that Aila felt each and everyone's glare in her direction.

"I'm sorry," Aila said, as she had a scared look on her face. "As promised, I will fully answer everything five months from now."

"I'll address that later, Aila," Bella said, as she motioned her to shut up for a while.

"Due to the sudden changes mentioned by Aila, I will present my plans in regards to the current state of affairs." Bella said as she showed her timetable to showcase the plans she made.

"I have taken some summer classes to shorten my years of study as I had raised during our last conference, but because of the things presented, I decided that for the coming semester I will be overloading my schedule. Meaning, should anything arise, I might not take part in any discussions that will take place during the whole period." She then pointed out the subjects she would take and showed how busy she might become and the reason why she needed to accelerate her education.

"Aila stated that she would say her reason five months from now, so to counter that my education must speed up a bit to cover up how I will be gone for a while to address whatever Aila will be bomb us. With you guys knowing my parents, I will not be mentioning why I need an excuse. So any comments about my plan?" Bella said as she ended her presentation.

"I have some concerns." Felix raised his hand. " Your choice was reasonable and I believe that you can do it, but at the rate of yours, some of us might not be able to follow your pace and fall behind without your current goals. How will you answer that problem?"

"Good question." Bella said as she quickly opened her notebook to show a chart she made inside. "I wanted to be licensed fast, but to do so I need to be at least a masters’ degree holder to take the exam for a license to practice. Coupled with the various episodes that might happen in between, I might take a break some time after I have my bachelor's degree, for family reasons I cannot say at the moment. So, by the time everyone graduates, I will also be a graduate of my masters'. Any more questions?"

Everyone expressed that they had no questions. They understand their present situation as some of them are currently more or less facing the same pressure from their families. So they rather keep things open ended when such topics arrive.

Harry was the next one who reported. He says that he had no great changes in his plans at the moment, only that he might need to go to his grandparents' home a month from now. He apparently had informed his school of why and was allowed to miss classes for a whole two weeks.

"Due to my parents' connection with the school's principal, I was allowed to miss the school days. So, for that period, you might not be able to contact me at all." He said, then ending his piece.

Things went on until each and everyone disclosed their upcoming schedules, except Aila, who was left to the last.

"So this is my plan for the coming months," Aila said as she laid out her notebook. "It's not much, but I will be pouring my time into my current work as much as I can. For matters of my education, as I had said a month before this school year began, I will not be attending. But worry not, I will be doing some reviews so that when I enroll again I will not be falling behind from all of you..."

Aila presented her points as well as she could, even if it's unlikely that she will continue her education in the future. They didn't need to know yet, else they would be raising another fuss.

Alexa raised her hand to raise a point.

"You said that you would be answering us after the period you asked, but can we hear a little as to why you decided to drop out?" Alexa said as she looked straight into Aila's eyes.

Aila flinched a bit. Although Alexa looked so cute and harmless, Aila knew that the girl was like a real predator who would not let go of the prey she had set her eyes on. And Aila was her target at the moment. She wants answers now, even if it's not complete.

Everyone on the table fixed their eyes on her. They too wanted some answers.

Aila hesitated whether she should answer or not. But the hyenas are hungry, they want to be relieved from the ache they are feeling. Even if it means cornering one of their own.

"I suppose I can." Aila said as she took a sip of the coffee she had to ease her tension in her muscles. " Although not everything."

The group understood and they were satisfied to know a little at the moment. So they encouraged her to talk.

"I am preparing for something that might or will not happen in the next eleven months," Aila said to them. Even though she was certain of the event that will happen in the future, she cannot just release such statements unless there are signs of them currently happening.

" Can you share that made you leave us in the dark and make a huge decision without us? What is it that made you make a dent in our unified goals?" Jerome asked, as he had been racking his head about whatever reasons that made her defy their established plans. And it hurt his mind thinking even after he had a private investigator to look for anything unusual their friend might have encountered.

" I can't answer that question as of yet. I still don't have enough proof to prove a point." Aila said as she shrugged her shoulders.

"If I'm being careless of whatever I am sharing with you, this might be the last time we will be able to see each other. Bella's situation doesn't just apply to her but to all of you. No matter how long we are friends, your families have some sort of inherent repulsion towards me. We can only be at ease with our relationships because of this type of gathering. So please don't ask for more until the time I indicated arrives." She said, feeling all forlorn about how complex the webs were behind in their close-knit relationships.

If they are not as stubborn or willful as they are, they might not even be able to be friends at all. Their parents hated her at first sight. They tried various times to break their bonds, but they held on even though it meant some sacrifices on their part.