55 End of P1

At this point, a loud and shrill voice pierced the air, "It's not faaaaaaaaiiiirrrrrrr!!"

Everyone at the table winced then turned to look at Shirley, who was now looking at them pitifully, "I-I-I thought we'd be together forever!"

Then she started sobbing, "B-b-but..n-n-now..you-you-"

Everyone at the table blinked, looking at Shirley, not expecting this reaction at all.

The one that looked the most terrified of all, however, was the one that was sitting on her left.

Shane's eyes was wide like a deer caught in headlights and he looked so stiff one felt that if you poked him, he'd fall straight down like a rock.

"Waaaaaa!" Shirley wailed, rubbing her eyes with her slightly chubby fingers.

Alba, who was outside at that moment looking at the kids who were on their way back from the toilet, walked into the classroom with a worried face. Seeing the sobbing Shirley, she gave out a slight breath of relief upon noting that she didn't look injured.

Though she wanted to console Shirley, she had to first ensure that the children that were on their way back would enter safely first. Shirley wasn't in any immediate danger, so Alba wasn't in any rush.

During that time, Fleur went to pat Shirley on the shoulder while Alex just looked at her with a rather perplexed look on his face.

"There, there, Shirley," Fleur said in a soft voice, "We're still in the same school, you know."

Sniffling and wiping her snot on her sleeve, Shirley said, "It's not the same."

She pouted, her lower lips jutting out and she looked at all of them with teary eyes, "Why must you all be so smart and leave me behind?! It's not fair!!"

Suddenly, a small and soft voice was heard, "You still have me."

Shirley gasped, put her hands on her mouth and then looked at Shane.

He was looking at her with his eyes wide open, his lips trembling. Shane was so nervous, and the words he said had been the hardest thing he had ever done.

Shirley was the first person he actually dared to say such a thing to, for he trusted her enough for it. None of the people he had met before this - other than his own parents - did he have such trust.

Didn't mean he wasn't scared, though.

What if he had misjudged her?

What if she looked at him with disgusted eyes?

What if …

Shane mentally shook himself.

Those were negative thoughts and had controlled him his entire life. It was only by meeting Shirley - and the rest - did he become slightly more comfortable with other people.

Though his demons weren't so loud, they were still there.

Right now, his lips were trembling not because he was afraid of her reaction but rather, he had overcome all of those negative thoughts to say the words.

It was exhausting.

To Shirley's eyes, however, what she saw was a vulnerable boy, his friend who was looking at her with tears in his eyes and she surmised that Shane's heart was completely shattered.

How could she have been so cruel?

She had been so sad at the thought of separating from the others at the same table that she completely neglected and forgot all about Shane.

Shane was still there.

Shirley felt so horrible that she had to close her mouth to keep herself from shouting.

All of her sadness and tears dried up immediately. She went to grab his hands and looked at him with her face showing how upset she was.

"Oh Shane! I'm so sorry! Sorry!!" Shirley shouted, then hugged him.

Shane was still as a rock, completely frozen as Shirley held him tight.

"You're my best friend! I'm sorry! I didn't mean to make you feel bad," Shirley said with a small voice, wanting to hold him until he believed her.

Shane gulped.

His hand awkwardly patted her on the back.

"I wanted to make you feel better," he said, trying to explain, "You still have me."

It wasn't that he felt bad that she was sad that the others would be going to another class next year. He just wanted her to know that he, Shane, would always be by her side in school.

He wasn't smart like the others to go to a different class. More importantly, his academic achievements were the same as Shirley. They were usually one or two points apart in the ranking.

"Is everything alright?"

Shirley nodded.

Then she realised that it wasn't Shane asking.

Lifting up her face, she saw the concerned look of Teacher Alba, who was squatting and looking at her and Shane.

Shirley nodded again, "I was just sad that they'll be going to a different class next year," Shirley explained, waving one hand to show Alex, Aurora, Fleur and Ziad while her other hand had yet to let go of Shane's neck.

"It's not like I would be going anyway," Alex said with a slight frown.

Alba turned to look at Alex in puzzlement, "You don't want to join the Accelerated Class?"

"Do I have a choice?" Alex asked, but in a tone as if he wasn't really asking.

Alba frowned, not understanding what Alex meant but she could get the gist of what he was trying to say.

"Of course you have a choice," Teacher Alba told him, "If you really don't want to be in the Class, then you don't have to be."

Now Alex was perplexed.

"What do you mean?" he asked. Why did Teacher Alba say it in such a way as if he was already in the class?

Teacher Alba looked at Alex and wondered where the smart boy went. Nonetheless, she still explained to him, "It means, you don't have to join the Accelerated Class since you don't want to."

"Who said I don't want to?"

Teacher Alba felt a headache coming.

True, Alex never said he didn't want to join but the way he had been talking earlier, it certainly gave that impression.

Never before in her life did Teacher Alba find herself losing a bit of her patience with a student. She felt like a chicken talking to a duck* at the moment.

"Teacher Alba, don't worry," Aurora said with a sweet smile, "Alex can be a pain sometimes."

Alex turned his head so fast to face his sister that Alba imagined she could hear the sound of a whip cracking in the air.

Aurora was not bothered by Alex's so-called 'death stare' as she continued to say, "He thought he wasn't able to join the class because our father didn't ask us."

"Well, he was the one that initiated the program because of you," Alba said, "So of course both of you would be in it."

Father did?

Alex's eyes narrowed.

Looks like his father had a lot of explaining to do.

✿ Author posts on WN and neovel ✿

When they reached home, Alex went straight to his father who would be sitting in the living room, waiting for them to come home.

Kyle, who was seemingly engrossed in his phone, didn't look up at all as Alex approached. Sayuri saw this scene as she entered the house with Aurora and she couldn't help the smile that came to her lips.

She's said it before, and she'll say it again (and constantly think it), her husband can be quite a kid at times. Perhaps that was the 'boy' aspect in him - wanting to pull on Alex's strings every chance he got.

They knew about Alex's little tit-for-tat talk with Teacher Alba, as the MIB agent hidden by Alex's side reported to them as soon as the bell rang at school.

Sayuri was quite satisfied with the team that Kyle had assembled for Alex and Aurora, and she wondered when they'd be able to identify them. Though it didn't look like her children were actively looking either.

Or perhaps the agents were just that good, despite their young age.

"Go wash up and change," Sayuri told Aurora gently, "It might take a while."

'Mother, do boys ever grow up?" Aurora suddenly asked. She didn't get why her brother would be so hung-up over the fact that their father had done all of this without asking them.

Wasn't the Accelerated Class for them? Didn't Alex want to be in the class? So what was the problem?

Sayuri laughed, picking up Ariel that came running by, "That's one of the mysteries of Life, my dear."

Aurora sighed as she trudged to her room, while Ariel giggled.

Sayuri rubbed her nose against Ariel's nose, and Ariel placed her hands on her mother's cheeks then kissed her mother.

"Welcome back, Mummy," Ariel greeted her mother and leaned on her.

Sayuri kissed Ariel on the cheek and whispered, "Watch and learn, Rie. Study your father and brother well."

Ariel nodded and settled down comfortably in her mother's arms, silently observing the two males in the room - like two cowboys facing each other for a gunfight that was about to go down.

"Father," Alex said solemnly, finally breaking the silence between them.

Kyle looked up and faced his son, "Yes, Alex?"

"Why didn't you tell me about the Class?" Alex asked.

"Why should I? Didn't Teacher Alba already announce the Class being formed?" Kyle asked back.

"Yes," Alex said, hesitating and his tone softened a *little* bit, "But you said we weren't allowed to skip grades. You didn't want us to go to secondary school earlier."

"You aren't skipping grades," Kyle replied, "You're simply going into an Accelerated Class."

"It's the same thing!"

"No it's not," Kyle retorted.

"Yes it is, since it means we'll finish our syllabus earlier," Alex said.

Kyle grinned and leaned back on the sofa, his arm stretched out to rest on the back of the sofa, "Who said you would?"

Alex frowned.

"An Accelerated Class means that the class would run through its syllabus faster than normal," Alex stated.

"Yes, yes it does," Kyle replied.

"So we will finish the syllabus faster," Alex continued.

"Yes," Kyle acknowledged.

"So we will be finishing primary school sooner and entering secondary school at a younger age than normal," Alex stated, "Which is the same as skipping grades."

Kyle smiled again, and shook his head, then became all serious, "It's accelerated because you will finish the syllabus of the year faster; but it does not necessarily mean you'll be doing the more advanced syllabus after that."

Alex was quiet, taking it in and then asked, "So what will we be doing the rest of the time once we finish the syllabus for that year?"

"Ah, that…" Kyle said, deliberately dragging his words, "Is for me to know and for you to find out."

Alex's eyes narrowed, while Kyle just gave him that smug grin that he hated the most. He pressed his lips tightly together and barely managed a "I see" before leaving.

Sayuri came over once Alex left and Ariel crawled onto her father's lap. She leaned her head against his chest, putting her ear to listen to his heartbeat and smiled. She liked this position the best, as it made her feel safe and warm, and hearing his heartbeat was soothing.

Kyle stroked her hair lovingly and turned to give his wife a kiss.

"You look quite happy," Sayuri said with a smile.

"Making Alex speechless always makes me happy," Kyle replied, grinning.

Sayuri just shook her head.