One Week Before Seminar

While in class, Mia was mostly silent. However, she was not alone in class. Some students who deliberately brought their lunches from their homes were still sitting on their benches, and eating the contents of their lunches. One or two students came in and out of the classroom, and greeted Mia who was sitting on her chair. However, Mia only replied with a modest nod of her head, her eyes blank. Mia's body was indeed there, but her mind was somewhere else.

Mia couldn't stop thinking about her threat and reaction which she realized was too much. In fact, the more she thought about it, the more she couldn't understand why she could react like that. Guilt began to well up from inside her, but she quickly dismissed it.

"Foolish people like Evie It's worth it," she said to himself to scorch her guilt. "No need to apologize or anything, don't overdo it. That's Evie, your enemy since the first grade. Evie who has ruined your good name with her smart attitude," Mia began to sound more stubborn than her own little heart.

She knew that a part of her, was telling her that her actions were wrong, and she (at least) should apologize for her threats yesterday. After all, she and Evie had been good friends during their early weeks at school, long before she got to know Darcy who later introduced him to Grace, Leah, and Althan. From then on she was no longer friends with Evie, even hearing her name she was fed up. Grace, Leah, Althan pulled her stronger. The friendship they offered sounded cooler and bonafide than her friendship with a smart-ass nerd. Her relationship with Darcy further cemented their friendship, even though none of her friends knew about it.

"Anyway, you can't be a crybaby. Evie really deserves to be digitized, especially if it reaches her mouth. You have to teach her a lesson," now Mia threatens herself, she also intimidates the weak side in her.

Mia clenched her fists, and was determined to decide that whatever bad deed she did to Evie was right. So, there is nothing to be sorry about yesterday's events. In fact, if possible, she and her friends wanted to devise an even worse plan for Evie.

Now Mia's gaze was glued to the classroom door, where from that doors she could see a little of the situation outside her classroom.

Students, school officials, and several teachers were passing by. Far away on the field in the middle of the school, several boys were playing basketball. They looked a little disheveled, sweat soaking their T-shirts and hair. The sun was shining quite brightly, so that it made them very tormented, but it did not reduce their enthusiasm for playing in the slightest. Behind the dozens of faces that keep moving in front of the class, there is a face that doesn't move at all. The face was just silent right in the doorway of the classroom. And looked back at Mia. That face was the face of Evie who happened to pass in front of her class, and paused for a moment. They looked at each other. The atmosphere around them was suddenly torn apart like a white screen on fire. There are no more classrooms, no more students passing by, and no more noisy noises in the classroom during recess. There were only the two of them facing off in a place surrounded by darkness. In the early seconds, they faced off as old friends. However, all of that faded quickly, they faced each other as foes.

Mia moved her lips so slowly and silently. The slow movement of her lips was intended so that Evie could read what she was saying without having to hear the slightest sound from her throat, and of course Evie could carry those movements correctly. The movement forms a sentence that reads, "Watch out!”

That sentence was followed by a piercing stare and a head shake. Evie took a deep breath, her eyes were a sign of fear, disappointment, and resignation.

Suddenly the atmosphere around them seemed to wake up again, the walls of the classroom emerged from the darkness. The sunlight grew like a flower in bloom, noises scattered like a herd of bulls running toward them. Mia had returned to her classroom, and so was Evie. She had returned to the threshold of class. Evie lowered her head, and continued her footsteps. She disappeared from the doorway. When Evie disappeared, a sly smile appeared on Mia's face. That smile signified a victory, a victory for herself over her weak little heart. Her little heart is like a child who can only cry when her candy is snatched by someone who is stronger, without any resistance at all. And at that moment her little heart died.

"What are you doing in class?" Grace looked surprised when Mia approached her in the cafeteria.

"Yeah, you don't usually take a break in class.” Asked Leah.

”Are you still upset, aren't you? Haha," Leah ate a spoonful of porridge after a few seconds of laughing.

Mia finally wants to rejoin her friends in the cafeteria, she sits next to Althan.

"Mia can be upset too," Althan finally joined in laughing at Mia's arrival with such a simple laugh.

Darcy looked at Mia, his gaze was fleeting as usual. However, there is something unusual in it that he tried to hide.

"But you're all right, aren't you?" Darcy, who didn't order any food, just bit the straw in his drink glass that had run out.

"Come on, don't make a lot of assumption. I'm okay, really. Let's just say I skipped. The important thing is that I'm back," Mia looks happy.

"Ah, you do skip every day," said Leah. Leah burst out laughing, and so did Grace.

"Damn you all. Well, ah. I want to order food. I'm hungry," Mia got up from her seat and approached a porridge seller in her cafeteria. A few minutes later she came back.

"So what, here. Have you got the plan?" ask Mia when she returned to her seat.

"What plan?" Althan looks confused.

"Yes, Althan and I, how come we don't know?" Add Darcy.

They were all silent for a moment. Grace, Mia, and Leah exchanged glances several times.

"So this is it, you know. Last Sunday night, Mia, and Leah wanted to teach Evie a lesson." Finally Grace explained what they meant.

"Lessons for what? Why is it Evie again?" Althan still looks confused.

"Lessons for her smart attitude, for her behavior that always looks for faces." Leah was so excited.

"Wow, that's cool. I've been waiting for this moment since first grade. I really want to embarrass her in front of the kids. She doesn't get angry and pretend to be smart anymore. That kid really needs to be taught a lesson once in a while." When he spoke, Darcy's eyes sparkled. It's as if there's a fire burning inside

"You're so right, Darcy" Grace agrees so much with the statement.

"Are you all sure? Isn't it too risky if she complains to her teacher or parents? We'll be the ones who get hit.” Althan rested his head on his palm, he looked at Grace.

Grace's heart was beating fast, her cheeks were starting to turn red luckily no one noticed.

"Ngg...No, well. That's why we will plan carefully. “Althan’s gaze weakened Grace's body sensors, making it difficult for him to even speak.

 "Well then, it's up to you all. What is clear is that I don't want to get involved, I don't care about her either," Althan showed expression of indifference.

"Just don't let it hurt us," he emphasized.

"Don't worry, we don't want to work on it right now. After the seminar, we will formulate a strategy and organize the seminar.” Mia stirs the porridge that just arrived.

"Well, we need a strategy. I don't want to get demands for bullying from the principal," said Darcy.

"Then we all don't want it either," said Grace.

"For now, let's focus on the seminar first, this is proof that we can get into the student council management. Do you want to graduate only as a student council member? I don't want to." Leah looked so serious.

Grace, Mia, Darcy, and Althan were also serious when they heard Leah's words. No one wants to continue being a student council member, they want more than just a member.

When the bell signaled the end of the day's lessons and all the students had gone home, Leah, Grace, Mia, Darcy, and Althan were still in the cafeteria. Leah focused her attention on Grace who was trying hard to finish her work, Mia was silent. Her eyes stared at the screen of her smartphone, the atmosphere around them was so quiet. In cafeteria shops that have closed, there are only a few sellers who are still in their shops just to clean up before going home. All the students have gone home. Mia looks so bored, her fingers are sliding around the screen of her smartphone.

"Uh look." suddenly Mia shouted. Grace, and Leah looked at her for a moment. Althan and Darcy did not hear Mia's voice at all.

"What's the matter? It's really exciting. I don't know what other people are working on, it just makes me uncomfortable," protested Grace because she was irritated.

"You don't have to be angry yet. Look at Evie's avatar," Mia looked at her smartphone and then Grace and Leah. Not a pleasant look. Leah then approached Mia, looked up so is Grace.

"The photo is tacky," Mia showed the screen of her smartphone which opened the photo of Evie.  "Seriously"

In the photo, Evie is sitting on a chair made of dark brown wood. The wood shimmered in the light, it was varnished to perfection. Evie looked so happy, her lips pulled to the opposite side to form a wide smile. Her eyes were fixed on the camera, but her eyeballs missed a few tens of centimeters from the lens. She wasn't looking at the camera lens, her eyes were looking at something else.

"Oh right, tacky," Grace returned to her seat. Meanwhile, Leah was still standing near Mia.

"But she tweeted too," Leah squealed her eyes.

"Today is really a blessing, I hope if elected can carry out the duties properly," Mia read Evie's tweet with an exaggerated voice, and tended to make fun of it.

"Ugh, what the heck is she," Mia finally used her real voice.

"What do you think she was chosen for, huh? I'm curious." Leah looked irritated when she returned to her seat.

"I don't know," Mia replied curtly, and in a tone that conveyed indifference. They fell silent again, Grace went back to her work and Mia went back to fiddling with her cell phone.

As the day wore on, the wind that blew around them grew stronger. The branches of a large tree that stood in the middle of the cafeteria kept moving in the wind, they were like hundreds of angels dancing under the darkening sky. Mia shuddered as the cold wind blew through her hair, and when she saw the moving tree branches she was reminded of a horror film she had watched as a child. The horror film shows a big tree that holds so many human souls who are its victims, until finally the tree's branches grow to resemble a human fetus. It was a cursed tree, and for some reason Mia thought it looked so much like the tree in her school cafeteria.

"Are you still long, Grace? It's getting late." Mia couldn't stand her increasingly wild imagination about the cursed tree.

"Just a little more. You're so fussy." Grace didn't take her eyes off the small papers scattered on the table, her hands were still moving, writing word by word.

Unexpectedly Althan stood up, he rolled up his earphones and put them in his bag. "I'll be go home, okay?" while starting to tidy up his bag.

"Well, why going home early?" Grace was the first to object to Althan's decision to go home first.

 "Yeah, it's not really fun to go back first," Leah twirled a pen.

"I have an urgent need. I'm really sorry," Althan just reply to their objections with a smile. Then patted Darcy on the shoulder who still didn't hear.

“What’s going on? Darcy gasped, and removed his earphone. "Why?"

 "I'll going home." Althan raised his hand to his head.

"Well, why so early, you?" Darcy was disappointed with Althan's decision.

"I need something. I'm sorry," Althan asked Darcy for a high five.

"Okay, okay. Be careful, okay?" Darcy replied to Althan's high five.

Althan went away by waving his hands to his friends, he walked so fast (even almost ran). From Althan's behavior, it seemed that he was in a hurry. However, no one knew why he was in such a hurry.

"There must be a really urgent need," said Leah, who had been watching Althan's departure for a long time. If anyone is the most disappointed with Althan's departure, it must be Grace. He went limp when she found out Althan had come home early. For her, Althan's presence gave her a special spirit. Now she can only take a deep breath, and write a few more papers. When Althan was lost at the cafeteria door, Darcy resumed the game.

Mia, who was bored with her smartphone, moved from place to place, now she sat by Leah's side. She also really wanted to go home, the hours in the cafeteria since class ended made her mood drop to its lowest point.

"Hurry up, Grace. It's really getting dark, then we'll be home late at night," Mia was heard pleading.

"Patience, here's another piece of paper," Grace picked up her writing speed. "Yes, Grace. Its looks cloudy. It's going to rain," Leah looked up at the gray sky through the leaves. "Yes. Okay okay."

"Done, Finish!" Grace straightened her arms, and cried out in relief. "Let go home."

"Well, that's it." Leah grabbed her bag as Grace started to tidy up the clue card papers. Mia looks relaxed, she has been holding her bag since an hour ago. She patted Darcy on the shoulder, and Darcy took off his earphones again.

"What now?" Darcy is annoyed that Mia interrupts his game play.

"Go home," said Mia with a very long and clear pronunciation.

"Oh, let’s go then." Say Darcy

In the next morning in Beatancy High School.

"I heard Alexander's guest star seminar later, huh?" asked Anna, Evie's classmate. Evie gasped, and looked back at Anna, "That's right, what's wrong?"

"Wow, that's really cool. I really like Alexander. He's a very funny person, the seminar must be really fun." Anna suddenly turned so cheerful, she was wringing her own hands like a teenager who knew that her parents would give her a present in the middle of the night.

"Yes, I heard that there are a lot of people who register to attend the seminar. Alexander is very famous," said Evie.

"Oh, who doesn't know Alexander. He's cool, I read his book a few weeks ago. And it's really funny." Anna's voice began to sound shrill. "Then, he also wants to release his new film, it must be really fun. I'll definitely watch it!"

Evie was slightly stunned by Alexander's enthusiasm.

"Oh, right? I didn't even know." Evie felt bad because she didn't know who Alexander was at all. She thought maybe she really should spend a lot of time watching television.

"Eh, you didn't eat lunch?" asked Evie as she closed her notebook.

"I’m already done."

"OH, okay." Evie felt her legs tingle, she took off hrt shoes and straightened hrt legs for a while so that the blood circulation in her feet was smooth.

"Anyway, I have to come to the seminar later. It must be really fun to see Alexander from close by." Judging from the way she talks, Alexander can be said to be a fan of Alexander. "Oh yes, Evie. Your job is to accompany Alexander, right?"

"Yes, why?"

"Are you going to help me? I'm not asking for anything." Anna blinked a few times.

"Yeah, what help?"

"I'll leave Alexander's books with you, later you will ask him to sign my books. Do you want it?" Anna's gaze began to look seductive.

"Oh that, yes you can. Later you just give me the book, I'll definitely ask for his autograph." Evie smiled.

Anna's happiness broke, "Aahhhh, thank you, Evie. You really are my best friend, you know." Anna hugged Evie tightly while rocking Evie's body.

"Yeah, you're welcome," replied Evie, her voice almost drowned by Anna's tight embrace.

At that moment, the doorbell rang, and without them realizing it, their class was already more crowded than before.

The students who seemed to have finished eating in the cafeteria had returned, they brought some snacks for them to eat in class. When the bell rang, the other students arrived. The class was full when the English teacher who was going to teach came, the class became very quiet.

___

Tonight the moon shines brightly. If it weren't for the street lamps and the lights coming from the houses lined up neatly on the earth's surface perhaps the moonlight would have looked brighter than that night. Man-made lights actually cover the beauty of the earth's natural light. Especially in high-end housing, they have the brightest lighting among other housing. Every night they spend thousands of voltages just to illuminate the whole side of their house. High-end housing is also famous for their superior side, one cannot just enter into an upscale environment. Their territories are known to be so exclusive, they also rarely socialize with each other. Therefore, it is not surprising that the access roads within their territory are so quiet, coupled with the housing units that are so magnificent and beautiful but no man's land. Maybe this is the lifestyle they often laud, the modern lifestyle.

However, in a large white house with two pillars towering over the front porch, there is a worried mother waiting for her daughter to come home. She was probably about forty-five years old, or so. She still she looked gorgeous in a black knee-length skirt, and a white long-sleeved shirt with lace around the front buttons. Her hair is short (only shoulder-length), and is left loose. She looked so restless, she glanced at her watch over and over again. Its thirty minutes past nine, but the daughter hasn't come home yet.

She knows her daughter's school hours very well (even though she is busy at work). At three o'clock she should be home from school and at three thirty minutes past she was home. Even if she goes out with her friends, or spends time at school, she will usually call or text. However, that night her daughter did not give any news. After sitting on the large sofa for a few minutes (the sofa was in the large living room), she stood pacing back and forth in the living room. Glancing at the window, there might be signs of her daughter's return. However, then her realized that there was no sign of any, then she did the same thing a few minutes later. The front door opened slowly, she then ran to the door to see who had come. It was her daughter who opened the door.

 "Where have you been, Leah? It's already late." Without waiting for Leah to actually enter the house, she had already scolded her. "You know what time it is?" she added.

Leah entered the house, she deliberately slammed the door of her house. "That's okay, Ma. I’m just hanging out with my friends." Leah answered, she crossed her arms over her chest

"Oh, yes? Gathering at this hour? Do you know what time it is? It's already half past ten, Leah. Is it appropriate for a student to come home at this hour?" her mother bent. Leah's face looked unconcerned.

"Then why, Ma? Don't exaggerate this trivial matter."

"Why didn't you tell mama? Mama was worried about you, why didn't you hear anything. Your phone was turned off." Her mother is still adamant, it looks like she won't let Leah go just like that.

 "My smartphone is dead" Leah answered briefly. Leah stepped forward, she wanted to leave the living room. However, suddenly her mother blocked her steps. Her mother smelled cigarettes, and alcohol from Leah's mouth, she was shocked. "You smoke, huh?"

"No, why. What the hell, Ma?" Leah dismissed her mother's accusations.

"You don't lie to mom, do you? Do you think mom doesn't know the smell of cigarettes? Answer mom's question, do you smoke or not?" her mother rebuked.

"I don't smoke, Ma!" Leah was still adamant. Her gaze challenged her mother. Leah tries hard to cover up the fact that she does smoke, and also drinks beer at a retail store with Mia, Grace, and Darcy. They have been doing smoking and drinking activities for a long time, but no one knows.

"You've started to dare to lie to Mama, haven't you? Don't you know? But your breath smells of cigarettes and alcohol." Her mother held her shoulders, then she squeezed them.

"You kid doesn't know how to make a profit, mom works hard for money, you even enjoy smoking and drinking. You're a woman, what will people say later?" her mother shook Leah's body.

"Ma what's wrong? It hurts! you know." Leah tried to free her mother's hand. However, her mother shook her body harder and harder. "You always embarrass mom!"

"Do you think you're not ashamed of yourself? Huh! What did people say when papa left Mom when you was pregnant? Then did you know how I felt when I found out that my mother's marriage was just to cover up my pregnancy? You made me ashamed!  I'm ashamed, Mom, when Papa's family said I was a child that caused you to get married! I was ashamed because of Mama, I was ashamed of Mama's behavior, who was nothing more than a naughty girl." Leah snapped at her mother, her facial muscles tensed. Her eyelids were wide open, and she was panting for breath. Her mother was getting angry.

"You don't know yourself!" her mother threw her slap right over Leah's cheek. Leah's cheek skin is red, and feels so sore. After she finished slapping her own child, her mother cried and regretted her actions. However, it was too late, a great anger and hatred flared on Leah's face. She held her hot cheeks, her eyes looking at her mother. Without saying a word, she immediately walked up the stairs of her house and into her room.

Leaving her mother who couldn't move. Actions and her own destiny. She never denied her mistake. But she wants her daughter to be able to respect her as a mother who has given birth and is working hard to suffice all her needs alone. The one right now is a middle-aged woman who loves her daughter unconditionally, middle-aged woman. She been trying to raise its daughter alone without a husband.

Her mother fell onto the sofa, she was so weak that she could no longer support herself with her legs. The bones that supported her body had fallen, her heart was sliced ​​into pieces. No one could help her, not even herself could help. That night she could only cry to reduce the pain inside her, until finally she was tired and fell asleep in her room with work clothes still complete. After that night, they didn't speak to each other for a week.