Chapter 32 - Big Brother, Not Playing Anymore...

Ashton saw how the three girls were reacting to the crowds of students and decided to keep moving so they would follow them instead. Chupsy, Mary, and Pisces were right there as soon as the crowd dispersed with their charges.

"Are you alright, Pearl?" Chupsy asked while trying to comfort the girl.

"I'm fine, sister Chupsy... I was just overwhelmed for a moment there." She assured her secret service with a sweet smile on her face trying to be cheerful.

Mary and Pisces did the same with Ava and Akira. They pulled them into the corner, checking their bodies if they received any bruises or scratches. Once they saw that they were fine, they let out a sigh of relief.

They knew how much trouble they would get from their parents if either of the girls got even only a tiny scratch on their bodies. Not that the girls would tattle on them, they still needed to be cautious so that would not happen.

"We're fine, no scratches, you see!" Said Akira while showing her arms and legs for them to check themselves.

Ava only dusted off a speck of imaginary dust on her body before smiling at their two bodyguards, informing them that she's fine and nothing to worry about.

Once the three bodyguards were sure that their charges were okay, they all stood at the corner to let them do their duty as the ambassadors of the Royal Academy.

===

After the meet and greet with the students of Royal Academy, the five EXODUS members and their entourage were invited for a private luncheon in the dining hall.

Unfortunately, only the faculty members, Prince Edmund, Lady Crystal, and the three girls, were invited to dine with them.

That received many complaints from the rest of the students; they all wanted the opportunity to dine with their idols. But, unfortunately, Ms. Williams was adamant about giving the members of EXODUS the VIP treatment.

The faculty members and EXODUS entourage were seated together, while the five members and the children were sitting together at one round table.

To make it fair to everyone, their seating arrangement was one boy alternating with one girl. It was okay, and everyone agreed. Ava was seated in between Prince Edmund and Ashton. On the other side of Ashton was Pearl. While on the other side of Prince Edmund, Akira and Crystal were having a glaring competition while both holding on to the chair, wanting to sit down.

"We three girls have to sit close to each other, you got that?" Akira's eyes were blazing with fire. She will not back down no matter what, and Lady Crystal knew this. She looked around and saw that everyone's eyes were on them. So finally, Lady Crystal had no choice but to sit next to one of the members.

===

During luncheon, Ava was feeling suffocated from the attention she was receiving from the two boys--they kept on trying to outdo one another by putting food on Ava's plate. Soon, her plate was overflowing with food.

*Bang!* She put her fork and knife down loudly on the table, which got everyone's attention. They all stopped eating and looked in their direction, wondering what was going on.

Ava pressed her lips firmly together while smoke practically came out of her nose. She glared at both of the boys back and forth before letting a loud sigh. "Prince Edmund, Ashton... I would appreciate it if you both just took care of yourselves and enjoyed the food. I can manage by myself. I'm not invalid and have been feeding myself since I was 3!" Her voice was loud enough for everyone on their table to hear.

Sitting with his back straight, Prince Edmund looked at Ashton, warning him without a word, then apologetically at Ava. "I'm sorry!" He mumbled before going back to his lunch and began playing with the food.

"Yes, my fair lady! Your wish is my command. I will enjoy this feast while knowing I'm sharing it with you." Ashton said while a dimpled smile occupying his handsome face.

"YIKES!!!"

"AWE!!!"

"GROSS!!!"

Everyone had their own comment with the cringy words that came out of Ashton's mouth, and they started teasing them. Ava's face turned red from the teasing, and she stopped eating. After that, she just sat there and watched everyone enjoy their food.

She leaned back on her chair and massaged her neck, a headache was starting to brew, and she didn't know how long she could stand Ashton's continuous banter.

Ava was the first to get up when the luncheon was finally over and went towards Ms. Williams's table.

"Ms. Williams, if I may have a word with you, please..." Her knitted brows almost collided with each other due to the severe headache that she was feeling.

Ms. Williams excused herself from the table and guided Ava further away to a more secluded place.

"Are you alright? You don't look so good. Your face is all red, and it looks like you are in pain." Ms. Williams said worriedly.

"That's what I wanted to speak with you about. May I be excused for the rest of the day? I need to lie down and rest. I have a big fat headache, and I don't think I can go on till the end."

"Alright, it's fine since the others are here. Go ahead; I will make an excuse if someone asks." Ms. Willams patted Ava's back before heading back to the table.

Ava didn't bother informing Akira and Pearl; she didn't want to go back to the table. So instead, she swiftly sneaked out, followed by Pisces to go back to their villa.

===

No sooner than she was back in her room to rest, her headache subsided, so she decided to play games hoping that big brother was also playing.

However, when she turned on her computer and logged on to the games, big brother wasn't online. So, she looked at the time and calculated the time difference; she figured that it was his usual playing time. But why wasn't he playing?

She waited for a while; an hour passed, then two, then... he still didn't log in. Finally, Ava gave up and lay down on the top of her bed. She then put on earbuds to listen to EXODUS music.

Soon, she was out and had fallen asleep listening to Ashton's voice....