Chapter 24 - The Informative Meeting

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*4 days later...*

The next morning, Serra and I rode a jeepney heading to the café that Lisa frequents.

"I'm so excited..." My nerves hasn't stopped making me shake with extraordinary amount of happiness today. Is it time I should go to the hospital?

"I am honestly lucky that I managed to catch up with you... Where are we going?" Serra asked me.

"To a faraway café! That'll prevent us from getting stalked all the way to our destination! I had to play safe to avoid being followed." I was confident but at the same time a little scared. I remember the time when I felt uneasy yesterday. I literally couldn't take the feeling so I had to make sure I leave no stone unturned in this one.

"Oh... That's... Okay with me. I don't mind going anywhere as long as I'm free." I looked at Serra, still in her expressionless face.

"Are you sure? I mean your mom and dad could be worried..." I asked her, now feeling worried about her.

"Don't ask too much. They're fine..." She turned away from me. I wanted to ask more, but I guess we'll leave it at that to prevent any awkward tension in the air.

After a while we made it to our stop and Serra and I got off and walked to our destination.

And here it is!

The café is named "Barista Chen's: High Quality Treats and Blends!" I wonder if the cakes there are good… Hehe…

I felt like drooling a bit, wanting to have a taste...

I then noticed Serra staring at me. I quickly snapped out of my dessert-filled ecstasy and

"Ah! Sorry! I can't help but want to try a cake… I'm in the mood for desserts…" My sweet tooth's just that bad…

"I want a dessert too…" Oh, she also wants one? Maybe I can spoil her with the cake today…

"I'll buy us a cake today! My treat!" I smiled at Serra.

"No… I'll pay for-"

"I insist!" I insisted on letting myself pay for her desserts. She was already taking her wallet out, and it would leave a bad taste in my mouth if I let her pay for her own desserts during the meeting I planned.

"... Fine…" She gave in and put her wallet back in her pocket.

We both arrived and entered the café and I saw Lisa sitting down at the very corner. She was waving at us. I made a gesture to her saying we were going to buy cake first, and she gave us a thumbs up, willing to wait for us.

I went to the counter and ordered a slice of their best-selling chocolate cake. Surprisingly, Serra picked that one as well. I paid for both of our cake slices as we went to Lisa to wait for them.

"Hello! I hope we didn't keep you waiting…" I sat down and Serra sat beside me.

"It's fine! People really love the cakes in this place. So, what cakes did you choose?" She asked.

"The best-selling chocolate one, I thought that looked delicious!" It looks quite irresistible just by looking at it.

"Good choice on the cake! It's a very pleasant taste. It has become a favorite of mine! By the way, where is Fey? You told me she's going here as soon as she could." She looked out for Fey, but didn't seem to find her. She doesn't know her after all, so she could be unrecognizable in the crowd.

"I received her text and she'll be a little late due to busy matters, but she'll catch up." I answered.

"Busy things... Can't be helped." She pouted and let her head own on the table while waiting. She must be very bored.

I turned to Serra. She was motionless and expressionless while waiting for her cake.

"So... Are things going okay in your school?" I asked Serra.

"Yes. It's going alright, I guess." I'm really beginning to feel worry...

"Are they helping you with any of the school works?" I go for another question.

"Yes." I feel like her answers... Don't feel genuine at all...

"Has there been... Any point that you doubt Renn's intentions towards you?" I tried one last time.

"... Can you stop with that?" This one felt more genuine than the other two answers.

"Alright..." We waited for a while and our cake slices arrived after a while. For just a slice, it was simply beautiful. Not too many decorations.

And then I tried it.

"Mmm?!" I was shocked by the taste. It's the right kind of chocolate flavor! It's not too sweet and not too creamy…

It's the perfect chocolate cake! It's just so good.

"(I wonder how Serra thinks of it…)" I turned to Serra and…

Hold up… Is she… IS SHE SMILING! IS IT THAT GOOD TO MAKE HER SMILE?!

I couldn't believe it… For the first time in my life… I wanna say:

"SHE'S SO ADORABLE!"

God, I just wanna take a picture of her. No wonder this cake is the best-selling! It even makes the depressed people smile by how good it is!

"Sorry, I'm late!" Her smile faded as Fey arrived.

Damn… And I didn't even get the chance to get my phone out…

"Ah, no worries! We're just enjoying cake… So let's get this meeting started, shall we?" Fey dragged a chair here and sat down with us. Both Serra and I finished eating our cakes.

"So about this plan... We're dealing with two birds... We need to make sure either one doesn't act." Fey started the meeting.

"We're already dealing with Cassandra... Feliciana on the other hand... We had no idea how are we going to do with her." I discussed with a concerned look. Not to mention, we already have so much in our hands...

"What about Cassandra? Did anything of interest happen?" Lisa asked.

"We ran into issues… First of all, Jessie, Renn's ex-girlfriend, is in the way. To think that she would actually be-"

"Bothering you, am I?~"

Oh no… We all stood up to see Jessie.

"So, you're all the way here after all… Good thing I noticed you while walking by~ You're so hard to miss, Syrra..." This is unlucky. She found us. Fey, Lisa, and I stood up and faced her.

"So you're the ex-girlfriend I heard about. You chose to believe this whole post blindly instead of verifying it with proper evidence?!" Fey confronted her.

"You really think you know him to know his actual personality? The victims have experienced this first-hand. You can't deny that~" She's literally just way too confident sticking to her conclusions.

"You're went more than enough changing like this. I heard that you've been partying without studying, and now you're wearing short skirts and revealing too much skin! Have you no shame to your family?!" I pointed at her, aggressively pointing at her attitude and her attire.

"Yet you never asked the same question when you visited Alrose? It just shows how biased and one-sided you all are... Why don't we call this closure instead and just go home?" Jessie continued and the three of us are getting more and more annoyed.

"Why don't you go home instead and leave us alone! If you're going to call us one-sided, you're being such a hypocrite!" Lisa went in front of us and guarded us like what happened in the library.

"Ugh... You all are just insignificant pests... I'll just call Cassandra and-"

As Jessie was about to call Cassandra, Serra stood up, grabbed her phone, went outside and threw it far. It landed on the road and it got crushed by multiple cars.

We were all surprised to see Serra act so angry and suddenly do this.

"Are you done spouting words? People like you are just pathetic and just the same. All bark but no bite." Serra didn't turn around to us, but I can feel her frustration. It's just like when we first interacted when she showed her soul-piercing eyes.

"YOU… THAT COSTED ME $999.99! GET HER!" Jessie was devastated to see her phone just got crushed to pieces and sent her friends out to beat up Serra.

But what happened next was beyond what a normal 8th grader can do. She quickly threw them off by tripping one, throwing the other, dodged the attacks and kicked the other two so hard at the back, and the last being knocked out with a simple chop on the neck.

All with just anger printed on her face. Like they were just sticks and she's the one stone that broke them apart.

She then wiped her own hands together and looked at Jessie with the soul-piercing eyes that I mentioned earlier.

"So? Are you going to leave, or am I going to do more damage to them and then do more damage to you... Just to see you suffer." I was just left surprised, while the rest were scared to see her with such intimidating aura.

Perks of being used to it.

"This isn't over... I will have my way... There's no denying that Alrose is guilty, and I stand by that belief!" Jessie quickly ran away.

Lisa and Fey looked at me, literally just stuck there shocked. They're probably thinking along the lines of: "She can fight?!"

Trust me, I didn't know either. I was scared when she began fighting them on a 5v1 fashion...

And win.

Serra went back in, tapped my shoulder and pointed at the chocolate cake. She wanted more.

"Okay! Gimme a sec!" I went to order a half of a whole chocolate cake. Serra got it after a while and began eating it.

"Anyway… You've experienced firsthand how annoying that girl can get. And for the 2nd problem… Cassandra herself. She's intimidating me more than I can intimidate her. I assume Serra felt it because she was shivering in our house the last time you called." Serra nodded at what I said. It's literally just bone-chilling when I felt it back then.

"I see… Here's what you should do… The next day, mention that she is not mute. Cassandra will be caught off guard, and there will be doubts surrounding the classroom. Even if everyone is convinced Alrose is a pervert, you can't deny that Cassandra has no proof that she is mute." She's right. It'll spread rumors. This could be my chance to bring her down from convincing everyone. I am determined to do this idea of hers.

"That could work… I'd also record when she DOES talk! I hope I get the opportunity soon…" I'll ask to buy a recorder tomorrow… This'll be fun…

"And about Feliciana… I asked someone about her. He told me he knew something about that girl. Apparently, she frequents a restaurant. Unfortunately, it's far… But the good news is that she frequents it every Saturday." Lisa and I are happy to hear this! That's great news!

"Can we go there right now? She might be there-"

"Sorry… Risa, datta? (Lisa, right?) She goes there every lunch, so if we go there now… We'd end up being spotted before we even enter." Fey interrupted Lisa. She was sad that she couldn't go and do something…

But Fey has a point, we should be prepared and go there some other time. We might be able to catch them in the act of spilling something they shouldn't.

"Awww… No fair. I wanted to be a hero for Alrose… Such a shame that dream won't come true…" I felt bad for Lisa…

But don't worry. I think there's some place for her. Maybe when the opportunity arrives…

"And Fey, do you know where she sits?" I asked and she nodded.

"Alright, say no more. I want you to go there and record evidence of Feliciana and Cassandra being total frauds. If we can't succeed on our part, I want you to record them in the restaurant as a back-up plan! This lemon-scented plan can't possibly fail!" I'm so excited! I really want to see the look on their faces when my plan works!

"Aren't we forgetting something." Huh? Something, Serra?

"What would that be, Serra?" I was curious about what she realized.

"That trash ex-girlfriend. If we don't do something about her, this entire operation will be foiled." I COMPLETELY FORGOT ABOUT JESSIE!

"Darn… I didn't even think about her… Hmmmm…" What can I do…

"Ah, I have an idea! I can use this as a distraction, I was hoping I'd use the same tactic on my elementary ex-friend." Wait, Lisa had an elementary ex-friend? I'm curious...

Wait no, I shouldn't focus on that. I shook and lightly knocked my head 3 times to make sure I stay on track.

"What did you do?" I asked her about the tactic.

"I'd create notes everywhere around my school. The ex-friend was questioned and apparently was exposed for bullying. But I have a feeling this will not work while the school is literally just against Alrose, so those will be distractions. I might be disciplined for this, so use that time to convince your class or form doubts anywhere." Actually, I'm very pleasantly surprised... This gives us so much time! It's crazy but it just might work! What's 4 hours of punishment will even do to Lisa?

"We can use your notes. Arrive as early as possible on Monday to prevent any disruptions!" She nodded, feeling ready to do her part. Arriving early will be key, as the notes will be useless if she arrives late.

"Yes, boss!" She said with a salute.

"Look at you, leading this entire operation to its core… If Renn were to be with us, he'd be so proud of you." Fey remarked.

"Ah… Haha… I'm flattered…" I felt shy hearing that, I never thought I'd be the brain of this entire operation.

"Syrra Winters, Renn Alrose's long lost sibling." Serra might not be smiling, but I could feel that she genuinely felt proud of me.

"You guys… Stop it…" My face turned red, flustered around these comments.

"Kōhi o nomitai kibun desu…" As Fey said that, we were all confused.

What did she say?

"Oh, I meant I'm in the mood for some coffee." Lisa and I then synchronized an "Ohhh" expression.

"Why don't we order drinks here then?" I assume they all ate lunch, since Serra ate A LOT of cake earlier.

"Burakku kōhi kudasai!"

"Mocha Latte."

"Hot cocoa!"

I went to the counter to order 1 Iced Mocha Latte for me, a Hot Mocha Latte for Serra, Hot Cocoa for Lisa, and…

What's Fey's again? Burakku? Did she mean black coffee? Well, I assumed as much and ordered her a black coffee.

I went back to them with the drinks.

"Everyone! This is for the operation! To save Alrose!" I proposed a toast.

"To save Alrose!"

We all took a sip of our drinks. Fey and Lisa burned their tongues, forgetting how hot the drinks were. I laughed at them as Serra silently and carefully sipped her latte.

Cassandra and Feliciana better be prepared.

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