Beaufort Academy | EDITING

Chapter Fifty-Two: Exchanges

By midnight, the initiation party ended, on Elizabeth's orders, and everybody went home.  Everything went smoothly, and everybody went home happy. Even Hope made some progress with the pep squad.

And nobody noticed Mr. X leaving the room where Alexis slept.

The two weeks passed by and everybody was so busy with their own things that. The Titans were practicing rigorously for the semi-finals while the pep squad was practicing their routine for the contest. Elizabeth worked hard on teaching Hope the routine and every after group practice, they would have a one-on-one session.

It was a Saturday afternoon but the pep squad had practice so they were in Beaufort. One more week and the sports fest week was finally happening. Elizabeth was relentless because she really wanted to win because, aside from this year being their last, she wanted the pep squad to win as its last win happened eight years ago. Elizabeth wanted to leave a legacy behind that it was her captaincy that restored the championship to the Beaufort pep squad.

The squad was in the gym, practicing their stunts.

"Okay, one more time!" Elizabeth said once they finished the routine.

"Liz," Paige whined. "Can we have a short break please? We're all really tired."

"Fine," Elizabeth nodded. "Fifteen-minute break, everyone."

"I'm just in time, then!" a voice squealed from the front entrance. Everybody turned to look who it was.

"Mia!" Paige screamed as she ran towards her bestfriend.

Mia was by the door, and two guys, who were holding boxes, were behind her.

"Hi, girls!" Mia greeted, her hand on a sling. "Oh and I brought some food. Don't worry, they're all non-fat, low carb snacks. So who's the new-"

Mia froze when she saw Hope wearing the uniform the pep squad use for practice. Nobody had told her that it was Hope who was replacing her. A silent agreement came when the pep squad was discussing about it because they knew Mia would go crazy if she knew.

"Mia," Elizabeth said. "You know Hope right? Since we're all in one team now, I expect you to go along well with each other, okay?"

There was a pause. But Mia's face suddenly broke into a big fake smile.

"Of course, Liz," Hope nodded as she tried to smile back at Mia.

"Let's eat," Chandria said, changing the topic. "I'm starving and thirsty and the food Mia brought looks delicious."

The two guys arranged the food they brought on the table and the whole squad gathered around to mingle and eat. But Hope hung on the back, and decided not to interfere as she didn't want to aggravate Mia.

"So any news on the investigation on what happened, Mia?" Alexis asked.

"Nothing new," Mia shook her head. "They have no suspects and leads. So Dad insisted on me having bodyguards 24/7."

"Well, better safe than sorry, right?" Elizabeth offered a sympathetic smile.

"Yeah, but now I'm thinking maybe it's revenge or someone's probably jealous of me and wanted something I have, now that I think about it more," Mia said, glancing at Hope meaningfully.

"When are you going back to school, Mia?" Chandria asked, changing the topic again.

"I'll be back on Monday," Mia said. "I'm getting bored at my house because Dad won't even let me get out! Can you believe that?"

They continued chatting like that, but Elizabeth soon excused herself and walked over to Hope.

"Here," Elizabeth said as she handed her a cup. "It's jelly. Mia brought it for the team, and you are part of the team so you should be there mingling. You were doing so well being friends with the squad lately, why are you backing down now?"