Until The End Of Time

Chapter 5 : Reward

The day of the final exams quickly passed. Every student rejoiced for summer vacation will come soon after.

"Man, I'm beat! I can't believe I still managed to answer the exams. I thought my head was gonna explode when I first took a glimpse of the questionnaire!", Julius said as he gave out a yawn.

"Well, at least you didn't pass your paper blank . You're still lucky!", said Aoi as she patted her friend's shoulder.

"That's easy for you to say, Aoi! You've always studied hard and get amazing test scores!", Hannah shouted.

"Which reminds me, the test results have probably been posted by now at the bulletin board. You guys wanna check it out? "

The three hurried to find out the results of the exams but they were shocked to see the that place was filled  with students.

"Darn it! I'm in 301st place.  I was sooo close to passing the quota!!!"

"What the heck?! I'm 597th? @%$#*&%!!!!!! That's the second lowest rank!!!"

"I'm in the top 100! I can't wait to tell my mom!"

"I knew I'd make it! I can't belive I'm the last person to pass! From now on, 300 is my lucky number!"

"I studied my butt off and that's all I get?"

They tried to squeeze their way through the crowd. After a lot of pushing, they finally made it to the front row. The three were frozen in the spot as they saw what was printed on the score sheet. 

"Woah! Pork bun, are you seeing what I'm seeing?", Julius asked Aoi.

"Yes. Yes, I am. Please tell me that my eyes are playing tricks on me! This is too good to be true!", Aoi said.

"Hannah Asuncion, rank 214. Julius Gregorio, rank 106...

...Aoi Hisagawa, rank 2?!", Hannah shouted in disbelief.

"I can't believe it! We all passed...And Aoi  got the second highest score! I've never been so proud. MY cousin got the second highest score in the entire school. MY cousin only got one mistake in the enitre series of exams...MY cousin-"

Julius cut through Hannah's 'speech' and spoke, "My cousin this. My cousin that. Yada yada yada! It's Aoi who should be boasting about her score, not you! You shouldn't even be that lively. Yeah you passed, but out of the three of us, your score is the lowest! Ha ha ha!"

"Whatever. Hmph! Wait a minute. If Aoi's second then that means you get to spend five days with Lilia!", Hannah excitedly said.

"What? Why? I didn't know about that?", she asked her.

Hannah looked at her cousin and said, "You seriously have no idea with what's going on in this school, do you? Lilia announced it last month. Since she always ranks first in the exams, she wanted to motivate the other students to work hard as well. That is why she challenged the students that whoever becomes rank 2 will get to spend almost a week of fun and relaxation with her in their family's resort this summer. Man, you have no idea how lucky you are, couz! Maybe, if things go well, Lilia could even become your friend and you'll be super popular in campus, too!"

"I don't think I'd like that. Besides, I plan to spend my entire summer at the library. I have a long list of books I want to read. I guess I'll just have to tell her that I'm not interested.", Aoi replied.

After everyone had a look at their scores, they all returned to their classrooms. As Aoi took her seat, she noticed a crowd of people forming outside their room. Students from other classes peeked inside and searched for her.

"So she's Aoi Hisagawa!"

"What a strange name. She does look like a foreigner's child."

"She doesn't look that special to me. It's a shame that such an ordinary girl won Lilia's challege."

"I heard that she only got one mistake in the entire series of exams!"

"No way!! That's so awesome!"

"She's so lucky to be so smart!"

"I wish I could spend an entire week with Lilia, too!"

Aoi felt uneasy with all of the people looking at her and judging her. Even her classmates began to be extra nice. Where ever she went, all eyes were on her. This carried on for three whole days. 

"Now I know what Lilia must have felt like.", Aoi thought to herself as she gave out a sigh. 

Suddenly, she saw Lilia walking towards her. A crowd formed around her but she asked them to make way. 

"Please kindly move aside. I would like to speak to the winner of my challenge.", Lilia said. 

The students obediently gave way allowing Lilia to approach Aoi. 

She smiled at Aoi, stretchced out her hand, and spoke, "Pleased to meet you. You must be Aoi Hisagawa. If I'm not mistaken, you are the student who ranked second in the exams right?"

"Uhm. Yes. You must be Lilia. Pleased to meet you.", Aoi replied as she shook Lilia's hand.

"I must stay true to my word and that is why I'd like to invite you to spend a week with me at my family's seaside resort ten days after school ends. You don't have to pay for anything. The food is amazing and there's so much we can do.  Well, what do you say?", Lilia asked.

Aoi was silent for about a minute as she thought things through. Would she be willing to spend almost a week with her rival? 

"I am thankful for your offer. Really, I am. But I'm not sure that I can accept such a reward. It doesn't suit me.", Aoi replied.

"What the heck is wrong with her?!"

"Who does she think she is?"

"How dare she turns down Lilia!"

"That &*#@%! She's embarassing Lilia!"

"Now, now, settle down everyone. Don't be angry at Aoi. From what I've heard, you had no idea about my challenge. You must be so confused and overwhelmed when you found out so I don't blame you for your reply. Still, I can't simply let your hard work go unnoticed. You deserve to be rewarded.", Lilia said.

"How about this, I'll let you bring two friends along with you. They don't have to pay for anything either. It will be the perfect summer getaway.  I'll let you think about my offer. You have until tomorrow at noon to give me your answer. Bye for now.", Lilia said as she left with a smile. 

Hannah and Julius rushed to Aoi's side and said, "Take us with you to Lilia's resort!!!!"

"Please, Aoi! Accept her offer and bring us along. This is what I've been dreaming about my entire teenage life!!", Hannah shouted.

"Aoi, please set aside your plan to read a pile of books for now. It will only be five days! Come on, pork bun! This could be my chance to get closer to Lilia! Please do it for me!", Julius begged.

"I already told you that I have plans! There's nothing you can do to change my mind. I AM NOT GOING AND THAT'S FINAL!", Aoi shouted.