Chapter 103 - Ava's Not Responding...

Akira wasn't happy to learn that Ava had opted to study at M.I.T. She figured that it had something to do with her stone-cold older brother James. They must have had a falling out during their time in the Philippines to watch the EXODUS concert.

She intended to have a word with her older brother once they arrived in the Kingdom of Stonasia. Little did she know that it would be easier said than done, since James was planning on transferring schools and would not be in Stonasia by the time they arrived.

Pearl was also shocked when she found out that Ava would not be attending Imperial College. She was looking forward to at least seeing her on the weekends or whenever they were both free. But now, that would be tough since she was going to be in another country altogether.

Instead of a happy reunion, the villa was eerily quiet while the three girls were doing their own thing inside their room. It was the opposite for their bodyguards, Mary, Pisces, and Chupsy. It was a joyous occasion for the trio to work together once more.

Since the school year hasn't officially started yet, and won't begin until the following week. The three bodyguards decided to relax until then. Unless any of the girls were going anywhere out of the villa, it was decided that they would enjoy themselves inside the living room while chatting, relaxing, and watching some TV. 

===

Meanwhile, Jeffrey was finished with unpacking and was getting ready to go to the girls' villa when his phone rang. When he checked to see who was calling, he couldn't believe his eyes. He contemplated if he should answer or not?.

"What does he want from me? Should I answer it or not?" He muttered to himself while staring at the screen of his phone.

The caller was Prince Edmund, and after a while, the ringing ended. 

"Thank God! Now I don't have to worry about answering." Mumbled Jeffrey as he opened the door and left to visit the girls.

When Jeffrey arrived at the girls' villa, he was told by Chupsy that everyone was resting and no one wanted to be bothered. But that didn't deter Jeffrey from going in and knocking on Akira's door.

Just as he thought, Akira was drawing as usual and had headphones covering both of her ears. She was so engrossed with her drawing that she didn't realize that Jeffrey took it upon himself to let himself inside her room. All three bodyguards were used to this already and thought nothing of it.

Jeffrey slowly walked behind Akira's chair. "Gotcha!" He tried to startle her, and he succeeded.

Akira dropped her pen to the floor while her hand came flying towards the intruder. 

A smack could be heard throughout the room. Akira's hand had landed right on Jeffrey's arm that was holding her shoulder.

"Ouch! That hurts!" Exclaimed Jeffrey while stepping back a little away from the monster that was glaring at him the moment.

"What are you doing in my room anyway?!" Akira still had a frown plastered on her face while shooting daggers at him.

"What's with you? It's not like I've never come into your room unannounced before. So what's with the sudden hostility coming from you?" He was bewildered for the first time ever since he started school, and she never questioned him before. However, this time it seemed like she was out for blood the way she looked at him.

Akira got up from the chair and stretched her aching body that had been hunched for almost half a day drawing nonstop.

She then turned to walk out the door without answering Jeffrey. Leaving him standing rooted to the ground with a blank look on his face. There was nothing he could do but scratch his head and follow in her footsteps.

===

When the trio saw Akira come out of the room, they all got up simultaneously. Although the girls always treated them like older sisters, they still showed respect to the girls as their bosses, making sure not to take advantage of them.

"Akira, do you need anything?" Mary asked while ready to get whatever it was she wanted.

Akira just waved her hands as she passed them nonchalantly, still frowning as she headed towards the mini kitchen.

Soon right behind her was Jeffrey, who looked like a drowned puppy following in her footsteps.

The trio sat back down, continued watching their show, and ignored the two.

A moment later, they passed by again and went back to Akira's room carrying drinks and snacks.

Not a moment later, Jeffrey came out of Akira's room mumbling, "Damned if I do, damned if I don't! I really can't understand girls." He was saying as he passed by the three bodyguards. 

He only muttered a quick word of goodbye before continuing to walk out of the villa and left with bagging the door closed.

"Kids..." the trio commented simultaneously, then looked at each other before they all began laughing silently.

===

Pearl came out from her bedroom looking like she had just woken up. Still yawning and half mumbling, she asked the trio what time it was. 

Chupsy was quick to reply, "It's almost dinner time. I suggest you start to get ready, young miss. Don't sleep too much, or you might start to look like a panda." She bantered as she approached Pearl and turned her around before ushering her back to her room.

Mary and Pisces also got up to check on Akira and Arria.

===

Jeffrey wasn't in the dining hall when they all arrived for dinner. Arria wondered what happened, so she called him when he still didn't show up throughout dinner.

After a couple of rings, Jeffrey picked up her FaceTime call.

From the looks of it, he seemed to be somewhere outside of the Royal Academy. 

Jeffrey: [What's up!]

Arria: [I'm only wondering where you are. It's dinner time, and you didn't show up. That's all!]

Jeffrey: [Oh, I'm dining with Prince Edmund, I didn't think anyone would notice.] He said sarcastically while he continued stuffing his mouth with food.

That irritated Arria, and she decided to cut short the FaceTime. She slid her finger across the screen without saying goodbye.

She then put her phone down on the table and grabbed her spoon and fork. 

"Jerk!" She mumbled before she also started stuffing food in her mouth. She and Jeffrey were never close from the beginning. So, it was no loss for her if he didn't talk to her for the duration of their high school life.

=

After dinner, Pearl instigated that they should call Ava. She brought out her laptop and took it to the living room, and connected it to the TV so they could do facetime calls while seeing Ava on the big screen. 

Although Akira was upset at her friend, she still came out to join so she could at least see Ava's face and hear her voice. When she arrived at the living room, Arria, Pearl, and the three bodyguards were all seated, already waiting for her so they could start the call.

"Oh, Akira's here. I can start the call." Said Pearl as she got ready to dial Ava's number. It rang once, twice, thrice, then it went to the voicemail. Everyone was disappointed.

"Try again! She should have already arrived at her Campus and settled down. So why isn't she answering?" Complained Arria while pouting. Then she realized something. There was a time difference between where Ave was and Stonasia. So she turned her attention to Chupsy.

"Sister Chupsy, what is the time difference between California and here?" Asked Arria while looking for her cellphone so she could google it herself. 

"They're about 6 hours behind us, so right now, it should be around 12:30 p.m. there." Said Chupsy while typing something on her cellphone. 

After hearing that, Pearl tried once again. However, they received the same results as the first time, Ava didn't pick up the call. 

Everyone started speculating about what Ava was doing at the moment and the reason as to why she was not answering. It was not like her not to answer her cell phone if she was available. So, everyone concluded that she couldn't answer her phone at the moment because she was probably busy settling into her new school.

"We'll try again tomorrow. By then, she should be in her dorm or apartment. Wherever she might be living, it would be evening. So, let's just forget about it for now." It was Pearl who was speaking. She then turned off her laptop and disconnected it from the TV.

Once she was done, she picked up her laptop, tucked it under her arm before grabbing the rest of her stuff, and bid everyone goodnight. 

Akira did the same thing while Arria followed suit. Soon there were only the bodyguards left. All three sat down to discuss their schedules. They planned the same routine as before. One would guard and surveillance all night, while one would have a daytime duty.

The first one on night duty was Mary. So, Chupsy and Pisces got ready to go to their room to sleep while Mary stayed in the living room to watch TV shows.

===

Arria decided to text Ava as soon as she reached the sanctuary of her room. She figured that being her sister, she would surely text back. However, after more than thirty minutes, Ava still didn't reply. So, although she didn't want to, she was left with no choice. She contacted her older brother to ask him to try and contact Ava to see if he would get a reply.

It so happened that Jeffrey also wanted to speak with Ava, so he agreed to Arria's request and made the call.

To his surprise, he also didn't get an answer....