When Serena saw Emily pull Charlton's sleeve, she suddenly felt rage burning inside her. She knew she was being hypocritical, but she couldn't help herself.

Charlton felt Emily pull his sleeve but let it go. He ignored her action until he heard her call the names of the newcomers.

"Hi Mr. Geoffrey and Ms. Serena." Emily began. "Are you two here to rehearse?" she asked innocently with a smile. As if she did not know what was between all of them.

Geoffrey for his part did not know the real relationship between Serena and Charlton. He just thought that the two were a little friendly because of the projects they did together.

In a good mood seeing the people he liked together, he answered with a smile, "Yes. I see that the two of you just finished. What piece are you playing by the way?"

Emily wanting to annoy Serena, purposely threw the question to Charlton. "I'm not sure if I should tell you guys. If perhaps Mr. Charlton would not mind, then?"

Charlton has already turned deaf once he saw Serena and Geoffrey together. He didn't know how to react, but he knew that he felt his anger and jealousy rising again. Not wanting to do or say anything he would later regret, he chose to remain silent while trying not to look at Serena.

Geoffrey seeing Charlton not speaking thought that he was being strange. "Charlton?" 

Serena tried not to speak. She doesn't know if Emily was trying to taunt her, showing that she and Charlton were close enough and that he was the one to suggest the song they would play. However, much as she wanted to just pull Emily's hair, she must reign it in and not let it show.

"Geoffrey, I don't think that it is polite to ask that. Anyway, the time is ticking and we should start rehearsing. Let's go in. By the way, it's nice seeing you two here, Ms. Emily, Mr. Charlton." Serena said trying to end their encounter.

Geoffrey smiled at Serena. "Okay, let's go. See you tomorrow. Ms. Emily, Charlton."

Emily smiled back, while Charlton just nodded his head.

--

Serena just loss her good mood. However, she must still work on the music with Geoffrey.

Geoffrey stared at Serena sitting in front of the Piano. They just finished playing together for the first time and honestly, it was a mess.

"you don't look too good. Are you tired?" he asked worriedly. Perhaps the day has taken its toll on her.

Serena shook her head. "Perhaps we should try again?"

After they finished the second time, it did sound a little better. However, Geoffrey noticed that Serena did not play as beautifully as she did in class when she played ode to joy.

"Sorry, I'm actually not that good at playing the piano. I chose swan lake because it's one of the three pieces I managed to memorize." She said honestly. Anyway, why should she pretend to be better than she actually was on that regard?

Geoffrey chuckled. Seeing this as an opportunity, he placed his violin down. He moved to stand beside her who was still sitting. Then he leaned forward as he placed his hands on the piano. He stared at the sheet music his eyes squinting.

"I'm not that good with the piano either, but perhaps here, on this part, you can add this tune so that it will sound better." He explained as he played the piano while standing.

Serena felt herself blush as she nodded her head. He was near enough that she can smell his perfume and feel his body heat radiating off him.

Geoffrey seeing her cheeks redden felt some satisfaction. Again, he noted that she was not immune to his charms as he was to hers. Smiling, he straightened himself as he picked his violin up.

"again?" he asked.

Serena nodded as they played together for the third time, surprisingly, they were more in sync and it sounded much better.

--

At 7:55 in the morning, Serena and Via arrived at the lobby of the annex building. As by habit, Serena unconsciously first searched the area to find Charlton. She saw him with Kylo and talking to them were Emily and Isabel.

'I can't wait for the day that those two would start tearing their masks off and begin bitch-slapping each other's faces.' Serena thought as her eyes slitted.

"You okay?" Via asked concerned.

"Never better." Serena replied as she moved her eyes away from the four and smirked.

Via felt her skin crawl.

--

Seeing that they were complete, Timothy asked the students to gather around to have a brief talk before they ride the carriages and travel to the orphanage.

"Good morning everyone. Welcome back. Now, before we head over, I want to inform you that later, after lunch, we will have a short discussion on our way forward regarding the fundraising activity. Geoffrey, if you please." Timothy said.

"As we all know, we have allocated insufficient budget for our outreach program. Aside from that, it would also be nice if we can lend a helping hand to the orphanage in terms of their finances. Now, I know that this may seem trivial as we can just simply donate from our own pockets. However, keep in mind that in this outreach, we are not representing merely ourselves. As student volunteers, fishing out money from our own pockets will not reflect nicely to our school. I believe I no longer have to expound on what that implies." He stopped there and looked at Timothy.

"Okay, so as said last time, all of you here are part of the fundraising activity. So later, everyone is encouraged to pitch in their ideas. In the meantime, perhaps while on our way to the orphanage or when you are spending time with the children, you can come up with suggestions you can share."

Some nodded their head while some voiced their agreement. Afterwards, Timothy asked everyone to ride the carriages.

--

TBC

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