May Peace Grace Us

Chapter 4: Meeting by the Playground

The scheduled meeting time had arrived. Aila wants it to be done with and have their approval of her choices. Bad friends they might be, she cherishes them enough for them to always have a space in her life.

The venue she chose for this get-together was a memorable one. Both before and after the apocalypse. It is the place they get to know each other and also the place where almost all of their memorable moments, good and bad, took place.

Located in a rather peaceful part of the city, a well-cared-for park that most children of their generation have played in. One of the untouched portions of the city from being completely urbanized.

She arrived in the playground where they played together as children and the same place where they seek comfort whenever life gets too hard. The night air gently brushed past her as she took in a gentle sigh.

In the apocalyptic world, tranquility is rare to find. This very place is their first refuge. And this was the last place she wished to see before she had stopped breathing in her past life.

Taking one of the swings as hers, she began waiting for her friends.

She made an observation of the many differences this place has with her memory. It's hard to imagine that the passage of years has made this crowded place into this tranquil space in the area. Children don't come here as often as the children of the past for there are many alternative places they could be.

The now almost deserted playground was a good choice for this particular talk. It's spacious enough for her to make an escape. Although the success rate is near to a null, there are various stalls at a distance after their talk to the scourge about peace offerings.

She didn't get to wait for long as one of them had arrived and almost made her reflexively counterattack with a painful punch in the face. If she doesn't stop herself from hitting others, she will be mourning the temporary loss of eye candy. But she will be feeling smug about it for a very long time, something she seriously thinks of as a good thing.

"Easy little maniac, it's just me!" An irritating voice of a male sounded in Aila's ears. She really hoped that among all of the hyenas she would first meet was anyone but this bastard. But what could she do? He arrived earlier than any of the others.

To calm herself, she took a deep breath with closed eyes to clear her mind. Then she opened her eyes and gave a blank look towards the newly arrived person.

Dressed in flamboyant casual wear was Albert Harrison, AKA SmilingLiger in their group chat. Green eyes that looked like glowing toxic chemicals and with those always smiling lips were his signature, something the guy placed too much importance on. Like some sort of a model of a fashion magazine, he proudly shows off his advantages to the world wherever he goes. Now he seems to be thinking that long hair will suit him for this season, so he has styled his red hair to match his clothes.

"You still have that shittiest sense of fashion as ever, aren't you Albert?" Aila said with a mocking smile. "No wonder you always get rejected by Liza every time you ask her out."

Albert's smile seemed to have momentarily frozen with that statement. He was provoked and irritated every time his failing courtship was brought up in their conversations. But clearly, his friends took pleasure in his failures.

"Says the one who up until now still didn't have a single suitor," Says Albert in an equal mocking tone. As if saying ' You are still too young to defeat me in a war of words'.

Aila was riled up as expected, but before they triggered another world war. A girl wearing a rather pure style of clothing arrives. Her brown hair was messy and she was sweating too much.

Panting, wiping her forehead from any sweat, she said, "Am I late?"

"No you're not, it's still the three of us here." Aila answered as she thoroughly pretended that Albert was just an air. Present but invisible in her eyes.

"Thank goodness. I thought I was late." The girl said as she took another swing as she moderated her breathing. Her glazy hazel eyes were misting almost as if they were forming tears from over straining them. Doing so, she started fixing her long brown hair into a ponytail.

"Why did you rush over?" Albert said as he amused himself with various scenarios about why his friend ran all the way. "I'm sure that the great and mighty Alexandria of the Kane family is not supposed to act as such."

Alexandria Kane- Alexa, for short, glared in his direction. She was mad over that statement but decided it was not worth bricking with him. The guy thrives in chaos after all.

"Ignore that guy." Aila said. "It's not worth fighting with him. There will be no clear winner if you look at our arguments in the past and present."

"Yeah, I have decided that too," Alexa said as she nodded in agreement. "By the way, are you guys fighting for words again when I arrive? It looked quite heated when I was a distance away."

"You know the usual. But back to the topic, this shift has happened. Why are you running over just now?" Aila said as she ordered Albert to buy some water for their dear friend. The other argued why, but still went anyway despite his complaints.

Alexa thanked Albert in advance for the water as the guy went to the stalls to buy some snacks along the way.

"Well?" Aila said as she motioned her to start speaking.

The girl rubbed her neck in nervousness as she began speaking of the event prior to her arriving in the park. Apparently she slept late last night after that fanfare in the group chat. True to her GC's nickname, KeyboardWarrior she was engaged in a very heated war on the internet about the newest ship she supported. So she woke up later than what she had set in her alarm. Not that was a problem as they agreed to meet in the evening, but she had some things she hadn't finished doing yet.

Thus, she had to race against time. With no choice, she took a taxi instead of her own vehicle to be faster and run all the way to the playground after she paid off the driver. If she took her own transportation without preparations, she is also bound to notify her parents about her coming here. They wouldn't be pleased if they heard of it.

Aila could only facepalm with her story. But she believed her story as she once lived with the girl before her to know of the other's bad habit of sleeping late, waking late and massive procrastination. She could only helplessly scold her of her unhealthy lifestyle and encourage her to not do it again. She knew it had little to no effect but she tried to correct her.

Although she acted like she used to, Aila is worried about Alexa. She remembers that in weeks now the girl will be subjected to family pressure. Now from the looks of it, that said event actually started even earlier than she knew. This time she will be helping others in some ways she wasn't able to in her last life.

"If things are hard, you can always come to me, Alexa." Aila suddenly said after she thought that her scolding was enough. "I might not help much, but I can lend an ear and shoulder if you need one."

Alexa was surprised by those out-of-place words of comfort. But she felt warm inside as she thanked her friend for her offer. Relieved even though she knew that the friend she valued the most cared for her.

"Here's your water, Alexa," Said Albert, as he threw a bottle towards the girl.

Alexa was able to catch it with one hand. She once again thanked the boy as she motioned Aila to the others' arrival.