ANIMA

25. Do well

Tomas

Time has really flown by. It seems like only yesterday when I arrived on campus, made new friends and discovered new truths about my family.

The recent exams left no time for relaxation. Ava, Kenzie, Mason, Aiden, Sierra and I spent the time on revision and doing mock exams.

Exam season is taken very seriously at Wellington. We are given two weeks prior to prepare. From the time exams begin up until they are over no one is allowed off campus or at any of the recreational spaces on campus. The kitchen is advised to implement brain foods into every meal and the school provides on-site stress management experts.  Some parents even send their kids personal masseuses and the like.

I am glad I can now proudly say I have survived my first Wellington Academy exams. I think I did pretty well too. I don't think I topped the class or anything, that will probably be Mason or Kenzie from what I have heard, but I think I did well.

It has been silent on the ANIMA front which kind of confirms our suspicion that they are a Wellington student. Or maybe they are not a student but decided not to text anything since we, their audience, are preoccupied with exams.

"Are you sure they are here?" Kenzie asks as we walk up to Mason's house.

We are supposed to be meeting here to celebrate the end of exams.

"They should be, Mason texted that they were here over an hour ago." I reply.

We let ourselves in and hear music playing from the backyard. Aiden is dancing along, the choreography looks complicated. Ava is handling the grill.

"Hey guys."

"Hi Kenzie!" a hyper Aiden replies.

"Is that the official choreography or your own creation?" I ask.

"Both" Aiden says trying to get me join his dance. It ends up with both of us in the pool.

"I am going to kill you." I say as I try to catch Aiden. He is way better in water so my attempts are ridiculous.

"I am too young to be a widow so please have some mercy." Sierra says.

"Please don't kill each other in the pool or anywhere on the premises. It would be too much of a hassle to deal with." Mason says.

"Tomas, help me pull this knife out of my back." Aiden says dramatically while still keeping a distance.

"You will get over it" Mason says straight faced which cracks us up.

"Hi, Mason. I didn't know you would be here already. Did your parents tell you already?" says a smartly dressed woman as she enters the backyard. She looks like she means business.

"Hi Celeste. What are you doing here?" Mason says.

"Your parents sent me to get the house ready for the party later. You didn't know?" Celeste replies.

"No I didn't know. As you can see we are already having a get-together so just cancel whatever you have planned for later."

"The invites have already been sent out and entertainment has already been booked. The party starts in three hours."

"Shouldn't you have run this by me first as the official host?"

"Sorry Mason, I work for your parents."

Mason gets his phone and starts dialing. He must be calling his parents.

In the meantime Celeste's team of cleaners, decorators and caterers get to work. The five of us stand around not sure exactly what to do. Should we just leave?