A Private Talk

 

T

ony pushed Ace away. 

 

It happened with a loud slam as Ace hits the headboard of the infirmary bed.

 

Tony pulled me up from the bed and placed me behind him as he glared at Ace. Tony was ready to drive Ace up a wall, he was seething in anger. On the other hand, Ace let a small smile slip on his face. 

 

Ace was still calm, he looked at Tony as if he was such a big joke. This got on Tony's nerves because I saw his fist bald up again, this time I was sure he was ready to punch Ace. 

 

I held his arm. 

 

"Don't, It's not worth it."

"How is it not worth it? Why were you under that jerk?" Tony lashed out on me. I was shocked at how angry he was, I have never seen him this mad before. 

 

I gulped before I could reply, "I'll explain everything later. Let us just go for now."

 

Tony was standing his ground when I tried to pull him away, he was glaring at Ace with the intent to kill. I sighed before I moved behind him and started to push him out of the infirmary room. He reluctantly let me push him out. 

 

"Thank, Ace, we'll talk again soon." 

 

That was the last thing I said before I closed the door leaving him alone inside. 

 

"Thanks, Ace? We'll talk again soon?" Tony mocked my words. 

 

"Why would that guy ever deserve thanks from you?" Tony's voice grew louder as we both made our way towards the backyard of the school. The event that was being held right now was the flower arrangement competition. Anne was competing, she was paired up with someone I was unfamiliar with from Beta. 

 

"Will you calm down?" I sighed. I did not have the guts to be angry at him because I knew he had every right to be mad at me. 

 

"I'll calm down when you explain everything Cana," he shook his head. I could see small veins on his temple grow. I stopped on my tracks and heaved a sigh again. I was planning on explaining what had happened when the day finally concludes but it seems that it could not wait any longer. 

 

I began to tell him everything that had happened. Of course, with minor details excluded like how Ace and I congratulated one another and all his flashy remarks. 

 

"So, you're telling me that you two ended up in that position because he was trying to prevent you from leaving so that you can rest?" 

 

"Ye-"

 

"Bullshit," he did not even let me finish my sentence. 

 

I raised my hands up in defeat, "You know what. I give up, go, and believe what you wanna believe."

 

I started to walk again, and he trailed behind me. He did not say anything else, he just followed. He probably realized I was going to explode if he pushes on the topic any further. 

 

Anne was so focused on the flower arrangement when we arrived, she did not even notice us.  Her long grey hair was tied up in a bun on top of her head. She was still wearing the same clothes as she did when she was cheering us on earlier. I was contemplating if I should cheer her on, but I felt like she needed silence more. 

 

After watching her for a few minutes I noticed a group of Beta arrive, Ace was with them. He was smiling and joking with his friend as if nothing had happened just now.  Tony seemed to notice his arrival as well, his hand clenched unconsciously. 

 

I tapped on his arm lightly and he relaxed it.  

 

The timer for the flower arrangement went off. 

 

Anne and her partner seemed satisfied with what they had done. She was smiling widely, it made me smile too. The arrangement they did was simple. The highlight of the arrangement were sunflowers. There were about five of them in the middle, white roses were used as the exterior. Wildflowers were sprinkled here and there, and the rest were green leaves. 

 

Their competitors had red roses as their highlights. The arrangement was well organized too, but I was drawn more to the sunflower arrangement that Anne and her partner had made.

 

I hope they win. 

 

"Do you think we'll win?" Anne was feeling anxious. The three of us were making our way to the cafeteria, none of us had the chance to grab any food the whole day. The announcement for the flower arrangement was going to be held later on.

 

I glanced at Tony to see if he was going to be the one to answer. Things were still a little awkward between the two of us. 

 

"Of course," Tony replied.

 

Anne pouted when she sensed the tension between the two of us. We were able to quickly order the food we wanted since it was not peak hours anymore. There were only a few people in the cafeteria as well. We ate on the third floor, so only the fourth and the third years were here. 

 

"Spill the bean, my friends," Anne squinted her eyes at us, going to and from. 

 

"Um..." I began but Tony interfered. 

 

"Anne got cramps and I got mad at her cause she was overworking herself again," Tony lied. 

 

"I don't buy it," Anne smirked. 

 

The three of us have been together for the third year now, we knew each other to the bone. Despite how good of a liar Tony is, we already knew how to see right through it. 

 

Of course, since Anne was doubtful, we ended up telling her the whole story. Tony made quick remarks every now and then which caused me to roll my eyes at him. He was so childish at times, maybe he was even worse than Ace. 

 

I felt myself roll my eyes again at the thought of Ace.

 

Why was he always on my mind?

And why was I always comparing other guys to him?

 

"In an hour, all the activities will finally conclude. Do head to the Hall Room of the first floor before 6:30 pm so we can begin with the announcement of the winners, thank you."

 

I was pretty sure it was Nathan who made the announcement.

 

Anne had not commented much on what had happened between Ace and me, I was pretty sure she realized I had left out some information. She was probably going to ask me about it later on. 

 

After we finished our meals, we headed out of the cafeteria and made out way towards the field where the final event, a lawn mowing event, was being held. 

 

A muscular man from the house of Beta was our group representative. I was not familiar with who he was, but we cheered him on anyway. In the end, Beta-Iota had won the lawn mowing competition.

 

Everyone was starting to make their way towards the Hall Room when I got lost from the group. I tried to tiptoe and look for Tony's brown hair through the crowd, but I could not. I was lost in a wave of people.  

 

I felt my chest tighten a little, so I decided to pull away from the crowd and stand by the side. I swiped my phone from my pocket and messaged Anne that I will follow them later on. I moved away further from the crowd until I reached the edge of the staircase. I stood there and gulped a ball of air. 

 

I had no asthma; I just did not like it when there are a lot of people around. It made me feel suffocated and noxious. I was about to make my way back up to the hallway when someone grabbed my hand.  

 

"Cana, are you alright?" Nathan who appeared out of nowhere seemed so concerned. 

 

"Someone told me you fainted at the stairway just now. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked you to help out right after you finished your game." He apologized sincerely as he bowed his head a little.

 

I waved my hand to shrug the case off. 

 

"No, no, no. I was the one who played without warming up, it resulted in a painful leg cramp," I rubbed my chin and laughed it off. 

 

"Are you feeling better though?" He asked. 

 

"She is, so please, don't go and ask her to help you next time, alright? I don't want my co-house teammate to feel tired especially on events like this," Ace who also appeared out of nowhere answered for me. He held my wrist and pulled me away leaving Nathan startled. I took my wrist away from him instantly. 

 

"What the hell?"

 

"Just because that guy is from the house of the kind," he quoted in the air with his hand. "It does not mean that he is kind. Have you ever thought that maybe he asked you to help out because he wanted you to feel tired which can affect your house's performance today?"

 

Nonsense. 

 

"Nathan is not that kind of guy," I defended my friend. 

 

"Whatever you say Vandia, I'm just warning you. Stop trusting everyone from the house of Kappa, some of them are not as kind as you think they are," Ace shrugged before he walked away.

 

He has a habit of leaving a conversation once he made his point. It was frustrating because most of the time I had something else to ask or say. 

 

I disregarded my thought and continued to walk towards the Hall Room. Anne and Tony had saved me a seat. Everyone else was also seated. The executive committee of each house was seated in front while the rest were behind them. 

 

Nathan was giving a few remarks about what Green Day was truly about and soon after he started to announce the winners for each competition that was held today. 

 

"And lastly for the flower arrangement, we have team Beta-Iota for the winner!"

 

A round of applause erupted from the two houses. Anne jumped up in joy as she and her partner made their way up to the stage to get their small certificates. 

 

"And now for the time that everyone has been waiting for, the overall champion of today's event is... Drumroll please." 

 

On cue, the drumroll began. Mr. Macklet was the one announcing the winners, he was slowly opening the black envelope which probably has the names of the houses that won.

 

"Beta-Iota!" 

 

The members of both Iota and Beta jumped up and down. It surprised me when I saw some of them were giving hi-fives to the other house members. I guess Nathan's plan to bridge the houses worked somehow. Maybe some of these members had even forgotten, even for a short while, the rivalry they had with each other. 

 

"House Heads, make your way up to the stage please."

 

Ace and I made our way. He gestured for me to go up first, but I declined.

 

"So much for gender equality, right?" I mocked his words which made him laugh.

 

"You guys wouldn't have been paired up with us if you were the one who picked from the ballot," he walked together with me up on stage. The house members of the two triumphant houses were still cheering loudly. 

 

"Don't be too full of yourself, Ace."

 

"I would have to move houses if I wasn't," he smiled and took the huge trophy from Mr. Macklet. He placed it in between us, gesturing for me to hold it too. I did and together we raised the trophy high up for all the houses to see. 

 

"I told you we'd win," I whispered with a huge grin. 

 

He did not respond back. The houses were quickly dismissed after the awarding but the executive committee together with the Green Day committee was asked to stay behind for a closing meeting. 

 

Nathan had simply thanked the Green Day committee for all their efforts today and soon they were dismissed as well, leaving the executive committee of all the houses. 

 

We had finalized and distributed the house points, including all the merits and deductions for the day's event. The house heads were asked to sign the book which will contain all the deductions and merits for this year. 

 

The standing was Iota, Beta, Kappa, then Zeta. 

 

Ultimately, the score winners and the losers score were divided into two. The standing would have been tied if there were no deductions of points. Beta had a lot of deduction due to rule-breaking, the same goes for Zeta.

 

There was no complaint in all the houses since all the deductions were clearly written and explained by Nathan. Our house only had no deductions, I felt proud.

 

The meeting was adjourned quite quickly. Anne and Tony were pulling me away towards my room to celebrate when Ace called out to me. 

 

"I want to speak with Cana, privately." 

 

"You have nothing to talk to her about," Tony stood in front of me protectively. He was always acting like an older brother.

 

"I got this,” I gave him a slight smile before I gestured Anne to take him away. She gave me a cheeky grin before she pulled on Tony.

 

Ace walked without inviting me, but I followed him anyway. It was already past 7, it was already very dark, but he made his way towards the backyard of the school. Fairy lights glowed on the path until we reached the gardens benches. He halted and gestured for me to seat. I shook my head. 

 

"What do you want to talk about?" I asked. 

 

"We won," he smiled like a kid, and I looked at him curiously. 

 

"I know Ace, it was announced to everyone just now. Do you want me to congratulate you privately?" I sarcastically commented.  

 

"Nah, I just felt like having you to myself for a little while," he sighed and sat on the bench. 

 

I stood still and wondered what he meant by what he had just said. 

 

"Don't do that again," he finally talked after a long silence. 

 

"That?"

 

"Faint on a staircase."

 

"Well, I'm sorry, my leg cramps acting up was not planned, ok?" I muttered. 

 

"I, falling on the staircase was not planned as well," I was speaking through gritted teeth. 

 

Ace stared at me for a short while. 

 

"Yeah, and me falling for you was not planned either."