"Good afternoon everyone! I believe that you have all settled back to your school routine by now. Anyway, the midterms are coming up and for our class, that means that the second evaluation will be held soon. As discussed previously the second objective of our class is learning accompaniment while the third is composing your own music. I have assessed everyone's skill from last time and today I will announce the pair up for the coming evaluation. By the way, I also wish to congratulate the two people in class who have successfully shook the era with their music. Please give a round of applause to Mr. Charlton Daniel and Ms. Serena Maxwell." Felix said as the class started applauding.

"Now, let me announce the pair up for the next activities. Mr. Alvin Duport and Ms. Emilia Rose, Mr. Frederick Guyle and Ms. Gwyneth David...…. Mr. Charlton Daniel and Ms. Emily Evans...Mr. Geoffrey William and Ms. Serena Maxwell… did everyone get that?"

The class made a resounding yes.

Serena did not know how to react. How did that happen? Wasn't Charlton her partner? Why did Felix suddenly change the pair up? She wanted to protest. However, when she was about to raise her hand, Milly stopped her.

"Okay, so for the next two weeks, we will not be meeting to give you time to review for your other subjects and at the same time, to prepare for your evaluation which will be held 3 weeks from now. In the meantime, I am giving access to the private music rooms for everyone. The rooms will be left open from today until before the 2nd evaluation. Also, posted on the wall beside the door are papers with date and time slots. You must fill in your desired slot ahead of time so that your desired schedules when you wish to use the rooms will not overlap. Understand?"

Everyone again made a resounding yes.

"Okay, so for the remaining time of our class, I want you to pair up and discuss with your partner your plans for your 2nd evaluation, you are also free to leave and head to the private rooms to fill in the time slot afterwards."

Then, everyone started moving.

--

When Charlton unexpectedly saw Serena with her friends before entering the class, he was again reminded of how much he missed her. She looked very beautiful, and it made him more devastated that she seemed to not be affected by their break-up any longer. It seems like she had no problem facing him, while he still felt like he can't breathe whenever she was around. Also, his feelings of anger and betrayal has not subsided completely. Not wanting to interact with her, he entered the door.

While walking he saw Geoffrey face towards their direction. He was no fool to assume that he was smiling at him. His eyes were clearly on Serena who most likely just entered the room. He did not want to turn around to know if she had smiled back at Geoffrey.

Anyway, when Felix made the announcement regarding who will be paired up with who and he heard that he was not paired with Serena, he breathed out a sigh of relief. If he was paired with her, then his efforts of avoiding her will be counterproductive. That was until he remembered who he was paired up with now. When he just thought that the change went for the better, it turned out to become worse. Although Emily was still a better option than pairing up with Serena, he still did not like it. Why did it have to be with her? Although she did not mean to come in between him and Serena at that time, he was still again reminded of why everything exploded to that direction.

He wanted to protest, especially when he heard Geoffrey being paired up with Serena. Although he knew that they were already seeing each other based on what he saw last time, it didn't mean that it hurt any less.

He saw Geoffrey smiling. Then he heard Felix tell them that they were all allowed to use the private rooms. And as if on cue, everything they ever did there came flashing on his mind. Will she and Geoffrey also do the same things? Will she share with Geoffrey everything they shared? He felt his anger rising again and he tried to calm his self. He tried to do breathing exercises as he closed his eyes. But even then, only images of Serena and Geoffrey together were all that he can see.

He felt Kylo elbowing him. He didn't realize that he was shaking. He turned to look at Kylo and saw him look at him worriedly.

"I'm fine." He mouthed, while inside, he said those words to himself like a mantra.

When Felix asked them to go with their partner, he had calmed himself already.

--

Geoffrey felt like things were going his way that day. He was pleasantly surprised that he was paired up with Serena. When Felix announced that they should go pair up, he did not wait much longer. He immediately stood up from his chair, not minding his friends, and went to her side.

He saw her friends still sitting beside her. He felt rather guilty to them because of his words last time, but it was indeed true that they were also being too much. Anyway, he, to be polite, nodded his head at them in acknowledgement. They smiled back at him.

--

Milly, being the one sitting beside Serena stood up to leave. "Serena, I'll go and find my partner for this activity. Anyway, see you later!"

Gizel quickly followed and pulled Via with her. "See you later Serena." She spoke.

Via was confused, not really knowing what was going on. She knew that Geoffrey and Serena were on friendly terms, but why was it that Milly and Gizel were acting strangely?

"What's going on?" she asked Gizel when they were far enough for the two to not hear.

"Ah… it's a long story but to keep it short, basically, Serena and Charlton have broken up and the crown prince is trying to win her over." Gizel whispered.

"What!? When did that happen? How come I didn't know?"

"Serena just informed us after lunch. Apparently, they broke up last year after the ball. She still wants to get back together with Charlton though. Anyway, it's still up to her. But just so you know, the Emily was the root of it all."

"How did that happen?"

"Let's talk about it later. Anyway, Kylo is coming over. How about you ask him if he knows how's it going on Charlton's side?"

"alright. I'll try to gather information." Via nodded like she was some sort of a spy trying to gather intel.

--

TBC