SSHS 135 The phone rang for a long time before stopping at the third call. Although the sound was muffled, the students on the other side of the door could still clearly hear it, and the ringtone was very familiar to Hestia and Albert. The pounding at the door continued once the ringing of the phone stopped. “Open up! Open this door!” one of the men on the other side of the door demanded. They pounded at the door again and again but thanks to the desks and bookshelves, the door won’t move for the benefit of the bad guys. For a short while, the pounding stopped again, but it was replaced by the bangs of the gun. It was four consecutive shots and it made those in the hallways jump in surprise, some even emitted a shout of surprise and yet they were able to calm themselves and reposition in the attack position. But Hestia advised them to stick to the wall for safety. “Everyone, stick to the wall. They have a gun and each bullet has the possibility to pass through the door and barricad
SSHS 136 With only a couple of Club Presidents remaining at the third floor, including Hestia, they all thought of a way to bring the still unconscious Aaron down to the garbage chute and to the safety of everyone. The President of the Photography Club, the President of the Karate Club and Hestia all went to the room that Aaron was put in, and the President of the Karate Club— Jikie, was on the phone with one of the teachers down the building, also trying to think of a way to get the athlete down safely. The voices on the other side of the staircase door was a bit muffled but it is still evident that the criminals were still having an argument with Dean Malcolm. With that, the two Club Presidents, Hestia and the teacher took this chance to quickly devise a plan to bring Aaron to safety. “According to Albert, the blood loss of Aaron was not that severe so there is a little possibility that he is asleep right now due to blood loss.” the teacher said from the other side of the screen.
SSHS 137 By the time that the authorities have arrived, the snow storm is long gone and the parents of the students have come to personally pick up their children, especially those who are involved in the failed hostage taking incident. Most of the freshmen members of the clubs ran crying to the warm embrace of their parents, all sobbing and thankful that they are safe and sound and finally back to their parent’s side; those freshmen who are in the dorms were also picked up by their parents as a suggestion of the school itself, stating that, “The incident have surely given them trauma and so, the presence of the parents can calm their minds and not let it develop into something more in the future.” in which the parents heeded and then after a while, most of the students were seen leaving the school premises: both those involved in the hostage taking incident and those who were just trapped in their own buildings. For the older years like the second years and above, they were not mu
SSHS 138 The next day, there were still no classes due to the build up of snow and the intensive clearing of it. Even the students in the dorms inside the La Florence Academy volunteered themselves to help clear the built up snows everywhere— though most of the students used this opportunity to have a photoshoot for their instagram accounts or just to better their image in the society— but nonetheless, there was work done and in that very same afternoon, almost all of the snow were cleared from all the roadways and the whole school ground is neat and tidy. Having the students as volunteers, of course, order must be placed. At first, Hestia was called since she was the Student Council Vice President and she was a lot closer and had more authority to the student volunteers that day. And based on how she handled the situation from yesterday, she really is deserving of the position of the Student Council Vice President— and was even recommended to be the next Student Council President.
SSHS 139 Training provided by the ISO to its newbies were made to fully let out the potential of each candidate— it was formulated, planned and made in such a way that it puts each one of them out of their comfort zone and for them to grow their horizon. Made for them to grow inside them and outside of them, to make them versatile, flexible and easy to adapt in any situation, made to ensure that they will be a great and capable spy one day. That is how intensive and in- depth the training of ISO is for its newbies and also for its already licensed and authorised spies. As such, Hestia and Albert were both thankful that they took the training seriously and did it so that they became the top of their batch. The training covers a whole lot of grounds and from time to time, another course is added as to improve the spy organisation and bring each one of them to their full potential. One of the training that the spies have to be a master of is ‘Disguise’. As cliche as it is, putting on
SSHS 140 “Welcome!” The baristas by the counter greeted to the newly entered customer, with their bright smiles and cheerful voices, they were sure to infect the newly arrived customer with a smile too— despite the harsh cold of the winter and the already gloomy sky. But this particular customer does not need to, she is already as cheerful as one can be despite the last happenings and even with her own life’s happenings, she was sure to show a big and bright smile that the baristas could not rival against. While also taking her time to greet the other customers with either a good afternoon or to simply compliment them, she sashayed her way to the counter to order her drink. “One small cappuccino please.” she said as she also pointed at the drink she wanted and then added a few things on her order, “Please also add some extra chocolate granules on top and also I want one of those Croque Monsieur.” she said as she pointed to the pastry or sandwich she wanted. As the barista/ cashie
SSHS 141 Hestia would have a glimpse of the conversation from time to time, and she would know the history between Freya and Stella. Though she was attentive enough to not be caught listening or even eavesdropping on their conversation, from time to time, she was sure that she was smiling as she heard what kind of pranks, the kind of celebrations and even simple things the two have done while they were on a project together. In the end, the conversation between Stella and Freya ended with a good note and the both of them promised to remain in- contact with each other from time to time, and with that, they both headed on their separate ways. She was able to note which direction both females went: Freya on the north as that is where her house is located and Stella going west as she had mentioned that that is where her current office is located. She was about to also get up since her frappe and cheesecake were almost done and that her reports were all submitted to the ISO server for
SSHS 142 Once it was deemed that the grounds of the La Florence Academy were open, students were able to get back to their daily lives as a student of the Academy. Though, it must be observed that by the way that the students would talk to each other, even their body languages or even their topics were as per usual— no topics involving the two criminals entering one of the buildings during the snowstorm. All of them were casually talking about the things they usually have every morning. Even the students who suffered the most— who are the direct victims of the ‘hostage taking’ -- were acting as if the incident never even happened. “Well, that is weird. How come they can act like that? It was like the incident never happened.” Albert complained in a whisper- like voice as he accompanied Hestia to her classroom. But he only received a dismissive shrug of shoulders coming from the Student Council Vice President. Truthfully, Albert was left in a confusion as of the moment. “Look!” Alb