135 They will be Preparing for the Final Exams

The pouring rain from the day before seemed almost as if a distant dream. When I woke up the next morning, the first thing I did was walk to the sliding glass door in my room and pulled the curtains over to the side in order to see the beautiful blue sky outside. Numerous skyscrapers and high rises lined the city, but none of that took from the clear blue sky overhead. I felt as if the sky reflected my current state of mind, the tranquility I felt after losing that clouded confusion that lingered about constantly in my mind.

I quickly dressed into my school uniform, wearing a woolen vest over my dress shirt and underneath my blazer in order to keep warm. Then, I grabbed my school bag and left my room. I left the bag by the wall next to the entrance of my room and made my way over to the washroom where I finished with my morning routine.

I exited the washroom to head over to the kitchen to prepare breakfast. It wasn't long before Loriana also exited her room and walked over to the dining table. I smiled as I greeted her, feeling oddly happy and proud this morning after I was able to fall asleep on my own after numerous nights of sleeping by her side. She yawned as she sat down in her usual spot, probably because she was still extremely tired. Therefore, it is the most that I can do to help her morning start off right.

After eating breakfast, Loriana left the house with her car keys in order to commute to her workplace while I stayed behind to wash the dishes. After I was done, I left the house as well and waited in front of the elevator door. A few seconds later, Muria also emerged from her house, and after locking the door, she walked over and waited alongside me.

"You seem like you're in a good mood," she commented without looking over at me.

"I might be," I sighed. "To be honest, this is the best I had felt in quite some time."

After that, our conversation died off as the girl beside me once again became that same old silent and cold person she was. However, as I walked behind her on the city streets of Palisia on our commute to school, I felt as if she has changed as well. Although I can't describe it exactly, I could feel a difference in her aura, probably because of Irina's presence in her life.

I looked up at the blue sky overhead and took a deep breath. The air was quite cold as it entered through my nostrils and down to my lungs. It was rather a pleasant feeling to be honest, one of the many reasons why I love the cold weather.

When class began, it's simply as usual. The teachers gave lectures on the subject of study and the students taking notes as they learned the final new concept of the semester before diving into the long period of studying for the finals. It was such an ordinary day, but... it just feels so different. As I gazed out the window, watching as the first year students who had physical education run around the track, I felt a pleasant tranquility in my mind that led to a uncontrollable grin on my face.

When school was finally over, we made our way over to the club room. We sat down where we usually do and went about with our daily business. However, instead of only having casual conversations, everybody was also focused on getting their homework done as well as reviewing some concepts for the final exams. It wasn't long before Zaksus arrived and he too joined in.

"This is gonna be a long month," Zaksus sighed as he rested his head against the desk. "Why does the school think we can still concentrate after having a whole week off?"

"You just gotta do it," Loyd said as he finished writing down an answer in his homework notebook. "It's like that sometimes."

"I know," Zaksus forced his head up from the desk and stained at his literature homework. "This is just confusing. Why do they have to talk like that in the past?"

As Zaksus continued to complain and Loyd continued to respond, the door to the club room soon slid open to reveal Luna. She had a smile on her face as the others greeted her. She looked around at everyone before she allowed her eyes to stop on me and smiled in a friendly manner.

"Luna," Loyd started speaking. "Isn't it almost time for the student council president elections?"

"Yeah," Luna responded as she took a seat.

"You have anyone you want to take your place?" Irina asked.

"Not anyone in particular," Luna smiled in a carefree manner. "They all qualify for the position."

"What're your plans once you leave the student council?" Irina continued. "Are you going to focus on college preparations?"

"College..." Luna repeated with a dreamy look in her eyes as she gazed over at the window and at the blue sky outside. "Doesn't sound to bad. Oh and by the way, I already quit the student council."

"Already?" Loyd exclaimed.

"Yeah," Luna nodded and smiled. "It's not that busy this time of the year and the council members all wanted me to focus on my studies so that I can prepare for college."

"That's pretty considerate of them," Muria added.

"Finals are coming up," Zaksus sighed. "And aren't grades for the last year of high school pretty important for scholarships and stuff?"

"It is," Loyd confirmed.

"Hey," Irina suddenly said. "We should have a party to celebrate after the final exams!"

"That sounds interesting," Noah, who was simply listening, joined in on the conversation with a large smile on his face. "Go on."

"I mean it can be held on Christmas Eve," Irina continued. "Then we can celebrate both at the same time!"

"That sounds pretty fun," Luna smiled in a satisfied manner, and when I looked over at her, I could tell that she was genuinely excited by the idea. It was probably because she wants to spend as much time as possible making memories with friends before she dies.

"We could do that," Zaksus nodded. "Where should we have it?"

"We can discuss about that after the exams are over," Loyd's words reigned one everyone before they all got too excited. "We first have to focus on getting past November and the exam week."

"Alright, Alright," Noah sighed.

"And you wouldn't want to fail it either," Luna added in. "If you fail the exams, you'll have to retake them during winter break."

"W-what?!" Noah and Zaksus exclaimed at the same time.

"You guys didn't know that?" Loyd said as she looked over at them with a look of astonishment.

"Nobody told me about that!" Zaksus exclaimed.

"Yeah!" Noah quickly added. "What the hell! I didn't know that!"

Both of them appeared quite flustered, demonstrating their lack of confidence in their academics. Zaksus I could understand, but I was rather surprised to see Noah being in panic mode. He's an angel, isn't he? Shouldn't he be able to use his divine powers to easily breeze through the exams? If he cannot, then that means that his powers must be heavily restricted. He did mention he was an interning one before so...

"Y-you guys need to help us!" Zaksus cried as he clung onto Loyd's shoulders with both hands, shaking him in such a frenzy that even I felt sort of dizzy just looking at it.

"I don't want to retake the exams on my own time..." Noah covered the left side of his face with his left hand as he sat with his back slouched and in great depression. His voice was soft and almost trembling, and I was certain that his mind was indeed in a state of panic judging by how depressed and flustered he was. "Muria," he said, looking over at the girl with a desperate expression. "You're pretty smart, right? You're at the top of the class, so can you help me study?"

"You should've been listening in class instead of trying to talk to girls," Muria sighed.

"Irina?" Noah then turned towards her with teary eyes in order to seek for her aid. He knows that Irina has a soft and kind heart, so he must want to take advantage of that. Hmm... phrasing it like that sounds kinda weird, but... it's just that he knows that Irina will be able to help him.

"H-how bout we have a study session," Irina suggested with a nervous smile on her face. "We can all gather at someone's house and we can study for the finals together."

"That's a great idea!" Noah and Zaksus excitedly nodded their head in agreement.

"It's still not that late you know," I sighed. "You still have about a month to prepare."

"Alevian," Noah said as him and Zaksus both looked over at me. On their faces were a bland expression that almost appeared to be quite disdainful as they looked over at me. "Do you really think that we could study on our own?"

"Well..." Noah's statement was extremely effective as it pointed out the flaw in my logic. A month is plenty of time for normal people. The thing is though, these two aren't normal people. One of them is an angel who enjoys to go wild and can't use his divine powers, and the other person is an athletic freak who devotes the majority of his time to practicing basketball whenever he doesn't come by the club. Therefore, I guess these two won't be able to do study alone effectively.

"It's a good idea," Loyd smiled and agreed to Irina's suggestion. "I think studying together in a group can really help not only them but us as well. Besides, when we're all together, it won't be as daunting as when we're alone. Anyone have any objections?"

I looked around at everyone and saw that no one appeared visibly disproving of the suggestion. In addition, no one spoke up to deny it as well. Therefore, I believe everyone agreed in their mind that it will be something that's viable. Besides, it won't be something that's mandatory. People can choose to come if they want to.

"So where should we have it?" Loyd asked.

"I know!" Noah raised his hand. "At Muria's house. Her sister's the literature teacher and everything so we'll be able to ask questions."

"Don't you find yourself quite rude just inviting yourself like that?" Muria sighed and shook her head as she spoke in a cold and annoyed voice.

"Most girls wouldn't like it if a bunch of guys go into her room as well," Irina explained. Then, she looked over at me.

What're you looking at me for? Stop looking at me with those watery blue eyes. Stop!

I soon realized that Loyd was also glancing over in my direction. He appeared to have noticed Irina staring at me, which I gotta give him credit for being able to observe people to this level and catch that detail. With a sigh, I finally gave in.

"W-we could have it at my house," I finally spoke up after suffering from a brief moment of torture.

"That's great!" Irina exclaimed. "It's still close enough to Muria's place that if there's any questions, we can still ask Mura. Besides, isn't Loriana a professor as well?"

"A-a professor?" Zaksus blushed after hearing about Loriana's occupation. "W-what university?"

"Palisia Imperial..." I sighed and muttered the name of the university that Loriana works at which coincidentally is the university that my high school is affiliated with.

"Then I must make it to college then!" Zaksus exclaimed silently.

"Aren't you thinking of going pro after school's over?" Loyd reminded him. "Didn't you say you've been scouted already by the pro-league teams?"

"Oh right..." Zaksus's excitement was dampened by Loyd's comments, causing his back to slouch and his head to droop low.

"If you guys are doing a study session," Luna started speaking. "May I come as well? I can help teach you anything you're confused on."

"It'll be great having a third year student there to help us out," Loyd smiled. "And besides, Luna, you could come even without asking." Then, Loyd looked around at everyone. "It's decided then. We'll have study sessions until finals week. As for the location, we can change it up if needed."

In my mind, there was a sense of annoyance and irritation. However, it wasn't as severe as I had originally envisioned it to be.