Chapter 30 - James Eating Vinegar...

The line suddenly became eerily quiet, and even Ava stopped typing on her keyboard and waited for him to say something. A second passed, then a minute, still nothing.

"Big brother! Are you there?" Her voice cracking, she sounded like she was about to cry.

James came back to his senses and realized that the game was over, and they lost.

"I'm a bit tired today, maybe we can just play again tomorrow. It's late already anyway. I'll talk to you later." He then logged off without waiting for Ava's reply.

Ava was at a loss with what had happened. One minute they were chatting happily, then suddenly he got quiet, and then after losing the game, he logged off just like that. So what was that all about?

She stayed where she was for a while, her one hand on the keyboard and the other one on the mouse, staring at the monitor blankly.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the world, James couldn't understand why he suddenly acted like a spoiled child and logged off. He was contemplating signing on again to apologize to 'little sister' but decided against it. So instead, he was pondering to himself what had happened.

Could it be that he already started having feelings for this 'little sister' although he never even knew what she looked like? Another thing was that she was nothing but a child for all he knew about her. What was wrong with him? He needed to be careful, or he could get in trouble in the future. He didn't know how old she was right now, and he is still too young.

After a moment, he decided to get up and take a shower to get ready for bed. He needed to calm down, and tomorrow he will apologize when they play again. He was an arse, and he felt terrible for what he had done. Then he would tell her that he would be busy and would not have time to play, it was for the best. He needed to stay away for now until he sorted out his feelings.

===

The next day, the girls slept in because it was a Sunday. The villa was quiet when suddenly Pisces, who was on duty to guard, came rushing and started knocking on the girls' room.

"Akira! Wake up, kiddo, we have company!" After doing that, she moved to the next room and did the same thing.

"Ava! Girl, wake up! We have company!" Then she went to Pearl's room and did the same thing. Then, when no one opened their doors, she backtracked and started over again.

*Bang-Bang-bang!!!* This time, she was practically hammering on Akira's door, then moving to Ava's door and doing the same thing before she stood there waiting until finally, Ava opened the door.

"Sister Pisces, it's too early... What's with the commotion?" Ava asked with eyes half-opened, half-closed, and still yawning.

Akira also opened her door halfway and poked her head. "Ahhh, why can't you let me sleep? It's Sunday, for God's sake!" Her hair was a mess, sticking out all over her face and head. She was cranky because she stayed up late finishing her episode for her webtoon.

"I'm sorry, children, but I just received a call from the headmistress, Ms. Williams, that..." But, unfortunately, she didn't get to finish what she was going to say when Pearl's door opened, and she squealed loudly.

"YIKES!!! Ava! Akira, look!" She ran towards Ava's room, holding her tablet. Akira fully opened her door and stepped out, walking like a zombie towards Ava's room.

Pearl showed them a local news report that EXODUS announced that they will stay in the country for a week to promote their new album. In addition, they would be visiting several places to launch a meet and greet for the fans who could not watch their concert.

The first in their agenda was... at the Royal Academy!

"WHAT!" Exclaimed both Akira and Ava simultaneously.

"When are they planning on coming over here?" Asked Ava to no one in particular as she read through the news articles. Once she verified that EXODUS was coming to their school today, she hurriedly went back inside her room and sat on the top of the bed thinking.

Akira, still half asleep, could care less if they came today, tomorrow, or never. What mattered to her was that she would be able to go back to lalaland, where she could dream of her characters in her webtoon. So she turned around and walked back to her room the same way as when she came out... like a zombie.

Once she was inside the haven of her room, she plopped her body on the top of her bed and shut her eyes.

On the other hand, Pearl was overly excited and ran back to her room to take a shower and make herself look as beautiful as the sunshine morning.

Pisces was left in the living room with her jaw hanging, she couldn't believe that the girls just totally ignored her and didn't let her finish what she was about to say.

Ms. Williams specifically requested their presence at the main hall where the idol group EXODUS would hold their meet and greet.

The EXODUS Manager specifically requested the three girls to be present as per the request of the group leader, Ashton. So how was she going to inform them now that they have all gone back to their room and locked the doors once again?

She could only stand there gazing at the closed door, unable to move or think...

Chupsy and Mary came in from the front door wearing jogging suits. They were wondering why Pisces wasn't at the front door guarding the villa. So they rushed inside to see what was going on, only to find her still lost in thought while standing still right in front of the threshold that led to the girls' room.

"Pisces! What's going on? Why are you standing there and not doing anything?" Chupsy called out as they walked in. Mary followed right behind her.

Pisces turned around, and with her hand in the air, finger sticking out and waving up and down, trying to tell them what was going on…