I.D.E.A. (International Diadem Elite Academy) [RECENTLY UPDATED!]

Chapter 32

"Where's your ever so proud manager? Where is Gina?" uttered David arrogantly as he gently stroked the surface of his silk tie.

Knight, Javvy, and Franz were seated across the rest of the top executives of the talent agency inside a well-lit conference room with one-way glass walls. Knight was looking at the magazine article that came out about the band with an emotionless expression. From his perspective, every word in that article was rubbish.

Franz was elbowing Javvy as if urging him to answer David. Javvy looked at Knight and seeing that he seemed to have no intention of responding, nor uttering a word, he took it upon himself to respond on behalf of the band.

"Gina said she needed to take care of something outside. We'll just relay to her whatever will be discussed here, you can be sure of it," uttered Javvy, forcing an awkward smile while kicking Franz under the table as he still couldn't seem to stop himself from freaking out.

"Is that so? Isn't it because she doesn't want to admit defeat?" said David, with a grin that strangely reminded Franz of a smiling bullfrog.

Knight snorted. "To whom? To you?" He said, his voice unfaltering. He didn't even raise his gaze towards David or any of the executives. His eyes remained fixed on the pages of the magazine.

David gritted his teeth. He hated Gina because of her almost perfect streak in fixing any scandal involving the band but he loathed Knight a hundred times more for making him feel even more inferior with his unfiltered words.

"There is obviously no point in speaking with just the three of you as you don't seem to realize the severity of the situation from the business point of view," said David as he stood up from his seat, faking the kind of composure that Gina does flawlessly but he just couldn't seem to pull off.

Knight, slowly, put down the magazine on the conference table. "And you also don't seem to realize the fact that without us, three...there wouldn't even be a 'business' to speak of."

Then, he stood up, gestured for Javvy and Franz to do the same, and they all walked out of the room.

***

"The class surely has gotten extremely serene today, don't you all agree?" said Prof. Morin after noticing that some of his students didn't make it.

Mavis looked around. Prof. Morin was right. Raleigh, Knight, and Jeremy weren't there. She might have been completely preoccupied the entire time that she actually failed to notice that. She just shrugged. She was actually glad that she could take a break from seeing them. After having to go through a lot of unexpected encounters with either one or all three of them, she sure could use some time off to give her heart and mind enough breathing room. She needed it. Badly. She couldn't afford to have her emotions whirling around again. She needed to clear her head so she could decide what to do next.

She was, after all, in the middle of a more serious predicament that none of his encounters combined with those guys could have toppled off: She still hasn't spoken to Jasmine since she walked out of their house yesterday. It has only been less than 24 hours, but it felt like a week, even a month had already passed.

All of a sudden, she just felt so distant--almost like she had already forgotten what they were once like before that confrontation.

After the class ended, Mavis headed straight for her locker. She was about to grab a spare IDEA hoodie when she saw hanging by the rack a pair of one of the academy gym wears: a black high waist tights and racerback top with the academy crest visibly printed on the fabric. She was planning to hit the library for some quiet and secluded space, but she figured she could probably use the exact opposite of that.

So she grabbed the activewear and a maroon cropped track jacket from her locker, stuffed them inside a duffle bag, and started walking towards the academy sports building.

After a couple of minutes, she reached what looked like a lowrise, yet vast, and relatively modern-looking building, compared to most of the structures within the academy compound. It was five stories high and around 500,000 square meters in floor area, which is connected to an equally huge sports stadium by an elevated walkway. It was the I.D.E.A.'s version of a school gym and it's probably a lot more equipped than any other sports facilities that one can find anywhere else.

Mavis always thought of the place as somewhat over-the-top considering that the academy barely has any students that even if each of them brings a hundred guests each, the facility would still have enough room to accommodate more. Even students in the sports science department would probably find it hard to randomly bump into each other whenever they're inside the building.

Then, again, Mavis had always considered I.D.E.A. to be the record-holder for the best definition and illustration of the word "hyperbolic".

She entered the building and headed straight for the women's locker room. She changed into her gym clothes and took the elevator to the third floor.

She passed by an entire stretch of transparent glass walls revealing rooms after rooms meant for different types of sports: from bowling alleys, archery shooting ranges to fencing pistes. She reached the end of the long hallway and was about to push open a 2-door entryway when she suddenly felt someone grabbing her arm from behind her.

"I've been...looking for you...everywhere!", said Martin. He was panting. "Why...does...this building...have to be...so damn...big!"

Why would he be looking for her? Mavis thought. He hates her. He'd always considered her his academic rival. Mavis couldn't help but notice his usual overly sleek and stuck up hair, that now became disheveled, perhaps from running round. If he looked this rattled, then there must be something grades-related that he wanted to bother Mavis with, she reckoned.

"I'm not in the mood, Martin." Mavis uttered coldly.

"R--really..." he said, still catching his breath, "even if I tell you that Jasmine's models for the fashion showcase tomorrow all quit??!"

"What?!" Mavis eyes widened. She did not expect to hear that at all. What could Martin mean by that?

"And you consider yourself her best friend!" he exclaimed.

"Where'd you get that information?"

"Well...I...uhm..." he was suddenly stuttering.

"You were stalking her again, weren't you?" said Mavis with a straight face.

Martin looked like he just swallowed a toad. "No, I wasn't! I happen to be a member of the AVP club who will help out at the event tomorrow, but that's not the point!"

Mavis let out a sigh and turn her back towards Martin, swaying her arm to break free from his grasp.

"What? You're just gonna leave like that? You're not gonna do anything?" exclaimed Martin frantically. "You're not even gonna ask me why they just quit?"

Mavis just stared at him. "It's none of my business," she uttered coldly.

Without so much as a second, Martin grabbed Mavis by the collar, his eyes were starting to get reddish with anger.

Mavis just looked at him, emotionless and not at all shaken.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!"

And in a snap, Martin felt something hard hit him on the face and he came crashing into the door next to him, opening it widely and causing him to fall flat on his face in the room behind it.

Mavis was caught absolutely dumbfounded and it wasn't even because of what happened to Martin or the fact that he was now lying, unconscious on the matted floor of a spacious hall that looked like a place meant to be used for sparring sessions in combat sports.

At that dreadful moment, she found herself caught right in the middle of the very definition of a hellish situation.

Jasmine and Raleigh, together, now stood about a few meters to her right while on her left, Jeremy was caught in what appears to be a headlock by a man Mavis surely didn't want to be seeing at that instant.

"Sebastian..."

***