Academy of Excellence in Academics (School)

Chapter 41: Thunderstorm [Hailey and Macey]

"Hey Macey! What did you find?" Hailey asked when she saw Macey return. She had completed her quest, and had found a glass bottle with a note in it, so she returned back to the tree she had planned to meet JHM back at. She was sitting on a log nearby observing some ants on the forest floor when she realised Macey came back. Macey grinned and held up a similar bottle. Giving each other a high-five, they sat down on the log that Hailey sat on before and told each other about their quest. "Just now, I had to walk on planks to get over some mud! Did you know how scared I was to fall into the mud?" Hailey demonstrated and explained her story. Macey giggled and told hers. "The part I hated most were these monkey bars. If I had let go, I would have fallen into a bunch of dead leaves. I swear I saw worms and snakes there!" She gasped.

After talking some more, they started to get worried. "Why is Jenna so slow?" Macey was concerned. "Maybe....hers is really tough?" Hailey said. Despite their worry, they continued to sit there and chat some more. Just then, thunder growled around them. Jumping up in fear, they hugged each other. "AHHH!" Hailey screamed, afraid of thunder. "Huh...I thought weather forecast said there will not be any thunderstorms today?" Macey wondered out loud. "I hope Jenna comes back soon..." Hailey replied. Although they kept telling themselves Jenna's course was the hardest, they started to get worried.

All of a sudden, big fat rain drops started pelting down around them. "Oh no...." they mumbled, before the rain started to get bigger, and bigger. Macey was about to run under a tree for shelter when Hailey stopped her. "NO! What if lightning strikes and..." Hailey was about to continue when Macey nodded, obviously not wanting to receive a lecture in the midst of a thunderstorm. Hailey hugged her and they huddled together, keeping each other warm in the rain.

"Oh no...d.....do y......you think J.....Jenna is safe?" Hailey stuttered. Macey shrugged. Staying there in comfortable silence, their minds wondered to what Jenna might be doing then, and what was to happen. Hailey took out the map that was given by Sir Yuv, but it was all wet, and the ink was all smudged. Now even the map was of no use. After a few more minutes, Hailey started to cry. She was scared that they would be stuck in this thunderstorm in an unknown forest forever. What if they fell sick? Jenna must be all alone now. What if she is scared? What if they faint? What if- Hailey felt a comforting hand on her back and she visibly relaxed. Macey comforted her and she soon stopped crying. She had to stay strong.

At that moment, headlights flashed at them, and they turned around. They could barely open their eyes due to the rain, and they were shivering from the cold. Slowly looking up, they recognised the car. It was Sir Yuv's car! Sir Yuv got out of the front seat and took a large umbrella with him. Thankful, they hid under the umbrella as he took them into the car. Settling down comfortably, they felt bad for ruining the nice leather seats with the rainwater that was still dripping from their hair. They had hoped for sir yuv to tell them "I found Jenna first, she has been sent back to the campus already."

Unfortunately, all their hopes crashed when sir Yuv asked them, "Have you seen Jenna?" Their faces fell, and they shook their heads, eyes casted downwards. Sighing, sir yuv nodded and caught a glimpse of Hailey's red puffy eyes. "Hey, Hailey...were you crying just now?" He asked, definitely concerned. The tears Hailey worked so hard to keep in surfaced back up and started to well up in her eyes. Sir Yuv spoke kindly to her for a while, ensuring her he would do anything he could to find Jenna, before handing them some towels to dry themselves with.

Soon, they pulled out of the forest, and finally reached back at the campus. It was a Long drive, seeing that it was raining and the road was muddy. Sir Yuv told them to freshen up and meet him at the mass, before turning to leave. Hailey and Macey ran back to their dorms to get a change of clothes before taking a nice shower. (We couldn't say nice long warm shower because it was still cold water). When they finished drying their hair, they sat on their beds for a while, sadly looking at Jenna's bed, wishing she was there with them, safe and sound.

Arriving at the mass, they saw the 9 other children sitting there in fresh clothes. Sir Sid and sir Yuv were whispering at the side of the room and the children were all talking about their quest. Sir Sid stepped to the front of the table. "Kids, please inform me if any of your teammates are not yet here, and if they came back with you." Sir Sid started off. Everyone looked around, but only Hailey and Macey's hands shot up straight into the air. "Sir Sid, our group mate Jenna did not come back with us. We had split up to find the three treasures, but she did not come back by the time sir yuv fetched us back." Hailey explained, tears welling up in her eyes. Agitated, Sir Sid combed his hand through his hair and banged the table. "WHO ALLOWED YOU TO SPLIT UP? HUH? YOU HAVE MADE A TERRIBLE MISTAKE GIRLS. TERRIBLE! SHE COULD BE DEAD RIGHT NOW! UGHHH IM IN SO MUCH TROUBLE RIGHT NOW BECAUSE OF YOU THREE!"" He yelled in frustration.

Hailey trembled in fear and felt a pang of guilt. Tears started falling out of her eyes and she desperately tried to wipe them away.  Sir Yuv was shocked at Sir Sid's outrageous behaviour. Pulling Hailey and Macy aside, he talked to them gently. "Girls, it wasn't your fault. Things happen, but we need to deal with them. No one knew it was going to rain so heavily." Hailey continued to cry. "B...but s...Sir Y...yuv. It was m...my fault. If I had not planned for us to s...split u...up, we would have came back together a...and a...all be safe right now....." she cried. Sir Yuv pulled her into a hug. "Don't worry....we will find her...." "unless she purposely does not want to be found." Sir Sid appeared behind them. Sir Yuv glared at him. "What makes you say so?" He challenged. "I am informed that she tried running away before." He smugly replied. "SHE WOULD NEVER! BESIDES, SHE DID NOT EVEN BRING HER STUFF, WHY WOULD SHE RUN EMPTY HANDED?" Macey quickly defended, screaming at the top of her lungs ensuring she was heard. Her face paled immediately seeing the effect this had on Sir Sid. He was raging. "YOU DO NOT YELL AT ME YOUNG LADY." He pointed a finger at her and scolded harshly, not taking any disrespect from the students.

Soon, this turned into a giant debate between Trainers and students, when the large door of the mass swung open. The room quietened down and they all looked at the door. A tall man who was well-built stood there, eyeing everyone. Who is this man? Hailey and Macey thought. How did he have that much power to cause Sir Sid to calm down? "Calm down. I am from the headquarters, call me Sir John. We have sent a search party out, and they will try to find her. Can her team mates please come out, I need to speak to you. The rest, continue on please. Thank you." His speech was short and sweet. Shaking, Macey and Hailey stood up and walked towards him awkwardly. Behind them, Sir Sid snarled and grumbled as he stormed off.

"Alright, I need to know your names, and what happened." Sir John cut to the chase. Hailey repeated what happened, and Sir John smiled. "Don't worry girls. Now that we know which area of the forest she is in, we can narrow down our search, and we will definitely find her. Don't stress too much, okay? Take care of your health. For now, go back to your dorms. I will tell sir Yuv to give you two the day off." With that, he walked away. The splattering of the rain was still loud, with the occasional scare of the thunder. Holding hands, they made their way back to their dorms, both of them nervous, guilty and depressed.
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1460 words if you wanna know
Hello guys! Hope you liked this chapter. It is the same time as the previous chapter, but a different part of the story. I'm really sad that our ranking has dropped form #8 unusual to #12 unusual, so can we try to pull that up please? Other than that, thank you to everyone. All your comments are really encouraging, and really motivates me. I will try to update soon, but for now, peace out! ✌️💓