West Academy

special chapter: merry christmas!

EARL RESIDENCE, 2250 hrs

Whoever planned to crash at Earl's manor on his silent night of Christmas Eve anyway? Who knows? The only thing Earl knows is that on the peaceful evening of December 24th, he found his tux-cladded self opening the front door to be greeted by very familiar faces. Very excruciating, familiar faces.

And, at some point, he found his white ascot (once perfectly tied into a cravat) snatched away by Axle to wipe what little mustard stain flew onto the clean polo of a fuming Cyan.

"Axleㅡ"

"I'm sorry! I swear I didn't mean to."

Then, on the right wing of the wide house was a blue-haired boy, surrounded in curiosity by Nash, Etude, Clover, and Jeongin. The audience's eyes were rounded in awe as they watched the head chefㅡfor nowㅡput on an apron.

"He hasn't even started yet," said Demi, a look of between amusement and disbelief colouring her face. "And you all already look so amazed."

"Do you have knowledge how to cook?" Earl asked, nearing Maven. The boy in question turned around, winked, and answered:

"Watch."

"My house burn down?" Earl retorted. "Please, Grey. I'd rather not."

"Oh, he knows what he's doing." Clover shooed the puny boy off. "Caleb and Demi can help him too!"

"We'll pull off here well, Earl," said Etude. "So, kindly remove that grumpy look on your face; it's killing all our vibes."

"Yeah!" Nash exclaimed in agreement, nudging her English friend on his side. "It's Christmas! Lighten up."

"Bloody set me on fire then."

"Oh, poow gwumpy, wittle Eawlㅡ"

Earl elbowed Caleb right on the stomach, the latter audibly coughing an 'oomf' as he stumbled a tad bit backwards.

"I'll have dinner ready in about two hoursㅡmore or less," Maven mentioned in a rather endearing tone, interrupting the mini bickering that had played off between his friends.

Jeongin squealed. "Two hours?! It must be a feast!"

Meanwhile, in the living room was the rest of Star Section, seated on either the carpeted floor or, if they preferred sitting with etiquette, on the sofa. Five people were perched on the carpet, a little to the side, not paying attention to the blaring TV.

"This is stupid."

"If you think so, then why are you here?" Axle snarkily remarked at XY. He placed two of his fingers beside the others', careful not to push the weight down on the planchette. "We call unto the spirit of Siyeon Kim. Is she here?"

"Why am I here? I shouldn't be here. I shouldn't have gotten myself involved with this!" Blake started muttering to herself harshly, but still not taking her trembling fingers away from the unmoving planchette.

"Why does Earl even have a Ouija board anyway?" Aiko asked. "Is this some kind of rich people aesthetic?"

"Guys, shut up!" Axle shushed with his other finger. With a sigh, he said, "We call unto the spirit of Siyeon Kim again, because my friends can't zip their lips for the life of themㅡAre you there, Siyeon?"

Surprisingly, after a meaningful silence, the planchette had started to move closer to the Yes with an excruciatingly slow pace.

The group harshly gasped.

"Holy fuㅡ"

But XY was interrupted by a loud cackle from beside him. And everyone else turned to the owner of the boisterous laugh; everyone else turned to Kenji.