"You wouldn't believe it, guys!" she announced loudly to her friends.
"What happened?!" they all responded in unison, now curious about what she was about to say.
"Well, the results from Lira's guild came, and guess what? I passed!!"
Lily turned at the sound of it all, her expression darkening.
"Leyla? You mean you took the entrance exam for Lira's Guild, and you didn't find the need to tell me?" Lily crashed out, her voice slightly louder than she intended for it to be.
"Yes, I did. I also passed the school exam," Leyla answered, still smiling without understanding what Lily meant.
"What school exam? We all passed the school exam."
"I mean the exam I took to get into college," she chuckled. "Now I don't know which to choose."
Lily couldn't believe her ears. She was literally fuming inside with everything Leyla blurted out of her mouth. Her mind reeled back to the day Leyla came back to school.
Now, she fully understood where she went that day when she was looking for her bag.
"I see. Choose whichever you feel is best for you then," she advised.
She decided not to crash out in front of her friends to avoid looking like she was jealous, even though she was actually secretly jealous of her friend.
"Thank you. How about you, Lily? How did the exam go?" Leyla asked.
"Well, that's not something I wanted to talk about, but yeah, I didn't pass after all," she let out with a sigh, painting her desk with her pen ink.
"I'm so sorry! I shouldn't have spoken about mine without knowing about yours first."
"It's fine, doesn't matter now either way. Well, it looks like I'll have to try again next year," Lily continued.
"Or you could just head to college," Patricia interrupted.
Lily turned to Patricia, who sat on the seat in front of hers. She sat diagonally, resting her hand on Lily's desk as they spoke.
"What do you mean?" Lily asked with an eyebrow raised.
"What I mean is, maybe this is fate's way of telling you to head to college instead. I mean, think about it, you have a weak ability, then you didn't pass the test." She gestured as she spoke, trying to make sense of everything she was saying so Lily would understand.
"What else could explain that sequence? It's very obvious if you ask me."
Lily nodded, folding her hands together as she listened to everything Patricia had to say without interrupting her.
"I see." She closed her eyes and thought for a while.
They all sat close to each other, waiting for her response. Then, after a while, she opened her eyes to meet theirs.
"I don't know what you expect me to say, really, but my decision remains the same."
"Besides, I didn't totally fail. I've been allowed to join their junior cadets and train with them until next year, when I'll try again with better chances of passing," Lily responded with confidence, her expression unchanging.
They all sighed at her response. With no other available method to convince her, they all decided to change the topic so it didn't lead to an argument.
"Well, it's your decision, and there's nothing much we can do anymore. The only thing we can do now is hope your decision is not one that would lead to you regretting it," Veyla added, speaking for her other friends.
They all nodded in agreement, and Lily smiled brightly.
Soon after, a teacher walked into the classroom with some documents in her hand. She was one of their homeroom teachers who was always friendly with them; that's why they always enjoyed her classes.
"Good day, Miss Clareta," they all said in unison as she set her items on the podium in front of the classroom.
"Good day, students. It's so lovely seeing you all again today. I've been really busy with the junior students' exams, I haven't been able to make out time to see you guys before you do your graduation ceremony and head off to college," she explained, turning to the class.
"So, I managed to slip in time to personally be the one to deliver the message today. I know you all have gotten tired of coming to school when nothing is really happening," she began, placing her hands crossed together.
"So the school has decided to finally arrange for your graduation ceremony, and yes, it won't be done with the juniors. You guys are special students of this famed academy, and therefore, you guys deserve a special day to celebrate you all."
"So, in the next two weeks, you will be having your graduation ceremony as well as your award-giving ceremony. I hope you all will come prepared, as we will be spending a lot on this preparation."
The announcement earned loud screams from the students. Each of them hopped on their feet, screaming and jumping from the excitement.
'I can't believe the school is actually going that far for us. We must have done something to impress them that much,' she smiled as she held back her excitement.
"Finally, we will graduate and be free from the school curriculum!! College, here I come!" one student screamed from the front row.
Lily chuckled as her thoughts churned further. 'Someone is forgetting about college, which is actually much worse compared to high school. Let's leave the surprise for him to figure out by himself.'
The teacher gestured for all of them to settle down with her hands, trying to calm the situation that was already spiraling into mini chaos.
"Quiet down, kids, we shouldn't disturb other learning classes to avoid being suspended."
Everyone took their seats, lowering their voices to a bare minimum.
"I'm really proud of you all. I still can't believe we actually spent three years together. I hope you all have better lives out there," she said, a small teardrop rolling down her cheeks.
"One more thing, until the graduation, you are expected to still be coming to school to help prepare for the upcoming graduation ceremony. Thank you," she finalized as she grabbed her items and took her leave.
Everyone broke into murmurs as soon as she left, each group discussing the topic left in the air.
'I'll have to keep coming to school? I wish it wasn't so.' She sighed, relaxing her palm on her cheek while staring out the window.
'I wonder what would be my parents' reaction to this announcement. How do I even tell them?'
A tap on her shoulder startled her out of her thoughts, and she turned. It was Veyla and the others, wearing their bags.
"Come on, let's go."
'Right, we can leave now the announcement has been delivered to us.'
"Alright," she slung her bag over her shoulder, fixing her knee-high socks before following them.
'I guess I'll just have to find out when I get home.'