Chapter 7 7

Thalia

"Once again, congratulations to the newly-graduated apprentices. You came from a group of 30, and now, your numbers have been cut by more than half. After much struggle, you made it to the end. You can finally exercise your privilege as guards."

We formally clapped our hands, signaling the end of the ceremony. After three months of suffering, we had finally come to the end.

A lot of our fellow apprentices were eliminated along the way, but fortunately, I was able to make it to the final 12.

I looked around the place with a small smile on my face. The graduation was upheld in our training grounds, and as much as I would hate to admit it, I feel like I'm going to miss this place-rather, the memories that I've made along the way.

My smile quickly fell, however, when I realized that I was surrounded by multiple families celebrating their children's graduations. Proud smiles and excited chatters filled the hall-all of them celebrating another milestone in their lives.

My eyes strayed toward Daisy's family, and they seemed to have given her a bouquet.

I looked around once more in hopes of finding my family but to no avail. I smiled to myself and shook my head. What was I expecting once again? They didn't even bother texting me a "congratulations." Why would they have come to my graduation?

But, then again, maybe they don't want other people to find out that I'm a Ricci. Aside from Daisy, nobody still knows about my real identity here. For them, I'm still just Apprentice#16.

"Hey," I felt someone nudge my shoulder.

I turned around to see Daisy beaming at me. "Oh...hey."

"Congrats to the both of us! I didn't think we'd come this far."

I nodded my head. "Me too. Thanks for everything."

Her eyes shot up in surprise, making me look at her suspiciously.

"What?" I asked.

"Nothing. Just never thought the day would come when you would thank me."

I rolled my eyes and shook my head. "I'm not that cold-hearted, you know?"

"Yeah, yeah. Keep telling yourself that. You graduated with the highest rank! That's enough proof that you're a tenacious being."

"Whatever. Why did you come here?"

"Oh," she said. "I was just wondering where you and your family will go out to eat? This is probably the last day that we'll see them for a long time, so..."

I pursed my lips together.

"I'll probably stay at the gym."

"The gym?" she asked.

"Yeah, to train even more," I trailed off.

She looked around, then a knowing look arose on her face.

"Oh," she said in a soft voice. "Umm, sorry about that. If you want, you could join my family-"

"There's no need for that," I cut her off. "I still haven't done my reps for today because of the graduation preparations. Besides, I don't want to interfere with your time with your family."

"You won't," she said. "They'd probably love to have you around! They thought I wouldn't be able to make a friend in this place, so they're really thankful for you."

"Daisy," I said in a warning tone. "Go ahead," I looked at the family eagerly waiting for their daughter. "They're waiting for you."

"Are you sure?" she bit her lip.

"A hundred percent. Go on. Enjoy," I pushed her in the direction of her family.

She chuckled. "Fine! I'll go. Let's just see each other later at the after-party, yeah?"

I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion. "After-party?"

She clicked her tongue. "You don't know? We're having a party later at night. It's to celebrate our graduation. I heard that apprentices and senior guards alike will be there."

I shook my head. "I'm tired. I'll just see you tomorrow when we get our guarding assignments."

"No can do," she stubbornly said. "Choose one-come with me right now with my family or join me at the party later. You need to at least join one, okay?"

"Neither," I deadpanned.

"Thalia," she exclaimed. "Come on. This is our last chance to have fun before we practically slave ourselves away to the Romano clan."

I sighed and massaged the bridge of my nose. "Fine. I'll see you at the party later."

She smirked and stopped being pushy.

"Great! See you later."

***

"You're here!" Daisy screamed over the loud music. She was already surrounded by many people, and I wanted to turn around right there and then. I almost forgot that Daisy is such an extrovert.

However, she had already called me, bringing the attention of her companions toward me.

"Here!" she waved at me. "I saved you a seat."

I pursed my lips together and begrudgingly walked over their way. I sat down next to Daisy and immediately reached over for the drinks.

I can't be sober for this shit.

"Why are you late?"

"Lost track of time," I briefly answered.

I looked around the table and saw some familiar faces. Some of them were our fellow apprentices, while the others were unfamiliar. Might be some senior guards or something.

"Aren't you going to introduce us?" one of them asked.

"Oh, this is Thalia. Thalia Ri-"

I glared at her, causing her to snap her mouth closed.

"This is Thalia," she repeated, not saying my last name anymore. "She's my friend."

A series of greetings went around the table. I gave them a tight-lipped smile and took a shot of my drink once more.

One man, someone unfamiliar, went closer to Daisy and nudged her shoulder. "Aren't you going to introduce me?" he smirked, looking at me with a hungry look in his eyes.

Daisy clicked her tongue and pinched his thigh, causing him to yelp. "Don't get me started, Maurice. She's off-limits. She's still too young."

"Young? How old are you?" he asked.

"18," I replied.

"What?" he asked. "You're just 18? How is that possible?"

The others were also shocked after hearing about my real age.

I raised one of my eyebrows. "Are you insinuating that I look old or something?"

He shook his head. "No, no," he denied. "If I'm right, you graduated as the highest ranked in your batch, right?"

Daisy smiled proudly and slung an arm over my shoulder. "She sure did! My cute best friend did that all by herself."

They started chattering to themselves-of how I'm a prodigy or something like that, causing me to let out a sigh.

It just made me feel more pressured hearing all of that.

With that, I filled my glass with alcohol and downed it in one shot.

"Slow down," Daisy said, holding onto my hand.

"Don't worry," I smiled. "I can handle my alcohol well."

***

"Handle your alcohol well, my ass," Daisy sighed as she looked at me.

I widely smiled and poked her cheek. "Everything's moving," I giggled.

She shook her head and helped me get up. "Come on. Let's go back. You're already too drunk."

"Drunk?" I glared at her. "I'm not drunk."

"Oooh, pretty lights!" I exclaimed as I watched the multi-colored lights on stage, wanting to follow them.

Daisy shook her head. "Alright, little princess who's not drunk. Let's go."

She held onto the back of my shirt and started dragging me out of the place.

I, however, didn't want to go back just yet, so I karate-chopped her arm and ran off in a different direction.

She gasped in surprise. "Thalia!" she screamed my name.

I giggled as I weaved through the crowd. I turned around momentarily to see if Daisy was catching up to me and gasped when I saw that she was getting near.

I hastened my footsteps and looked for another route. My eyes lit up when I saw an unguarded door not far away from the stage.

Daisy has been stuck in the sea of crowds, so this was my chance. I quickly ran over to the door and unhesitatingly entered the room.

I locked the door before leaning against it, catching my breath.

"What are you doing here?" I heard a familiar voice ask.

My gaze snapped toward the source of the voice. It was the guard that had been pestering me throughout my stay here!

I marched over to him and pointed at his chest. "You again!" I exclaimed.

He chuckled in disbelief. "Shouldn't I be the one saying that? What are you doing in this prohibited room?"

"Prohibited?" I scoffed. "Do you own this, mister?"

He merely glared at me before sighing.

I really don't get this guy. The two of us had been meeting each other coincidentally for the past three months, and all of our interactions hadn't been very good. I still don't know about his real identity-not even his name!

"Just...get out," he said in a tired voice, taking a shot from his whiskey glass.

I held my head up high. "No," I stubbornly said.

If I go out of here now, then I'm going to run into Daisy. I'm going to stay here for as long as I'd like!

"No?" he raised one eyebrow.

"No," I shook my head. "I'm going to stay here, and you're not going to make me leave."

He massaged the bridge of his nose. "You know? You're probably the most stubborn person I've met in my entire life."

I smiled with pride. I didn't know I was getting a superlative today.

"Thanks," I beamed.

"Unbelievable," he muttered under his breath.

We were engulfed in silence after that. He kept on drinking from his glass while I stood next to him, unmoving. I still felt quite drunk, so I felt bold with my words.

"You know," I started off, making him look at me. "You're very handsome."

He smirked.

"But also very fucking annoying."

His smirk died down.

"Would you like to repeat that again, princess?"

It was now my turn to smirk. I walked over to him and brought my face closer to his. I don't know where I've gotten this courage, but I'm definitely blaming it on the alcohol. Sober Thalia wouldn't be able to do any of this.

"You're very hot, mister," I whispered unto his lips.

Things pass by like a blur.

And the next thing I knew, his lips were on top of mine.