High School Again: The President's Secret Lady Boss

For some reason, Ace suddenly had the guts to claim something that Winter was sure he knew would turn out to be a misunderstanding. 

August already kept coming up with one idea after another just from seeing them together. It would bound to get worse from this point on. And it did not help that Ace was still not taking back what he said. He only continued standing there, looking all smiles and sparkles, which riled him up even more. 

"Hey, you..." August muttered darkly, voice thick and vehement.

"What did you just say?"

"I said we're not only friends..." Ace answered without a second thought.

"We're classmates too. You know, at school."

"Oh, yeah? Tell me about it."

Winter could see that August was not at all amused by this.

Then again, those kinds of jokes don't work on him - or probably any other jokes for that matter. If anything, it pisses him off even more when he's being serious yet someone else's messing around. And because she already saw it happen more than once, she knew what to expect, which would definitely be worse than him turning dark and seeing red. 

She will have to tell that to Ace later, and she can also warn him while she is at it.

"A-Are you hungry, August? Do you want me to cook something for you...?" Winter chimed in after a moment of heavy silence between the three of them, taking August with her while gesturing Ace to follow them. 

"It's still early for dinner. But I can make some snacks or desserts if you want."

He remains stone-faced through it all, but after realizing that his dearest little sister is trying her hardest to appease his bad mood, he eventually gives in. Letting out a sigh, he then puts his arm around her shoulders and pulls her closer to him, taking the two of them aback.

"Alright. We can make snacks or desserts or whatever..." August said, glaring at their visitor through the corners of his eyes all the while. 

"For the time being, your 'classmate' can wait in the living room."

"O-Oh, okay," Ace stammered out, faltering at his menacing look as well as the strong emphasis he put when he called him her classmate. 

"Well, ummm..." Winter trailed off and regarded her brother, contemplating.

"Since he'll have to wait, I'll just let him watch some movie in the meantime. Give me a moment to-"

"I'll pick the movie. You can go ahead and prepare things in the kitchen."

Hearing August say that like he was scheming something, Ace went stiff and looked away while Winter heaved a sigh in exhaustion.

As much as she didn't want to leave her brother with her classmate, she had no choice but to comply. It's not like he's going to do a closed-door murder, anyway - if ever his victim can survive his death stare, that is. She does hope that they'll somehow get along like her and Violet, though. They will not gain anything from getting each other's nerves, and they will only end up making things awkward for her.

'Anyhow, let's see what we can make here...' Winter thought as she entered the kitchen, not really sure what she would prepare despite saying all those things to August earlier.

'Maybe popcorn will do? And some juice too.'

With that, she begins preparing their snack and refreshment.

But even when several minutes already passed, her brother was still not there. Him not joining her is giving her the impression that he is still tormenting her classmate out there. Concerned, she decided to leave her work for a moment and take a look at the living room.

"Hmmm? Where are you going?"

Then came August.

Right when Winter was about to step out of the kitchen, he appeared at long last. Even then, that still didn't put her at ease. She could tell that he's had quite some fun before he finally showed up.

"August, you really shouldn't treat Ace like that. I'm being serious," she scolded him to which he reacted indignant.

"I didn't do anything. I was just letting him know his place," he retorted and crossed his arms.

"Then, you did do something." 

"Look, the earlier those guys know, the better. If they think they can take you away, then they're wrong."

"What now? What's this about taking me away? No one's gonna do that. I'm not going anywhere-"

Before Winter could continue, she suddenly noticed something about the way August looked at her.

There's fear - perhaps, the same fear she feels when she thinks she's going to find herself abandoned again. But it's not only that. She also realizes that it's similar to how he always looked when he was still grieving for their deceased parents. Of course, she'd remember that. It's a sight that's been engraved deep within her since then, after all. 

The premonition of loss, and the fear of abandonment - like when their parents died, August feels them whenever he considers the possibility that his sister is going to get taken away by someone.

"I'm sorry if I annoy you, Winter. You know that I'd never been a good brother to you before. Even now, I'm not sure how to be one. Still, I'm trying. And when I decided to make up for all the neglect I did on you, I found myself expressing my thoughts and feelings more openly..." he confessed all of the sudden while he reached out to pat her head. 

"Then, it just happened that threatening your guy friend back there was how I felt like doing."

"Seriously, you..." she sighed out loud and slumped in defeat, pretending to be unmoved by his confession.

"Okay. Fine. I understand. As long as you don't go too far-"

"Alright, then! Now, let's finish things here. We can't keep our visitor waiting for too long."

Not giving Winter another moment to talk, August continued on his way and started making their drinks. He saw that she's already making popcorn, which meant all there's left was the beverages. For that entire time, she only stared at him incredulously, catching on how he didn't let her say anything anymore since he'd still do things his way. 

And apparently, that's what he really did.

When Winter went to the living room with their drinks while August watched over their popcorn, she found Ace sitting on the floor in front of the television. The lights are off and the windows are closed, giving a dim, eerie ambiance to the place. What's more, out of all the movies that her genius of a brother could've picked, he chose a horror film with lots of gore, tortures and murders.

Winter arrived at the same time an actor in the movie gave out a spine-chilling, hair-raising scream, which really added to the dramatic surprise that August must be wanting to pull here. 

"Oh, boy..." she flatly said, unamused.

"This is the worst he could make a visitor watch. How could he?"

Thinking of apologizing to Ace, she went ahead and walked closer to where he was sitting. He was so focused on the movie that he failed to notice her until she put their glasses of juice down and slid his right in front of him. She was relieved to find him not as uncomfortable as she expected, which was kind of odd considering that this particular movie was one of the scariest she watched before. 

"Quite surprised to see you unflinching. You're even watching so close. We have a couch behind you, you know..." she quipped, forgetting about apologizing and turning to teasing him instead. 

"Or maybe you kept falling off from all the jump scares and just decided to sit here in the end?"

"Me? Fall off? You've gotta be kidding..." he snorted, looking smug. 

"I love watching horror films. This one may turn out to be one of the best I ever watched so far."

"Huh? You do?"

"Yeah. Didn't I tell you before? I thought for sure that you told your brother too."

"No, you didn't. And why would you think I told him?" 

"Well, he did turn off the lights and closed the curtains. It's a perfect setting. I feel kind of flattered." 

"R-Right."

Winter had to let Ace have it - he's got the nerves of steel unlike a certain someone she knows.

This is probably for the better, though. At least, he's not uncomfortable. August must've went through all this trouble while thinking that he's a huge coward, but he could just hold his breath and be utterly disappointed later when he saw him having fun instead.

'If he did this to Sir Lexington, I wouldn't doubt that he's already close to hyperventilating at this point. That guy doesn't have the balls for this kind of thing, after all, but since he's such a show-off, he'll probably try to act tough again...' she thought to herself, giggling a little.

"But Sir Lexington, huh...? I wonder what he's doing now.' 

As Winter thought about Marcellus, she recalled that she didn't read any of his messages since she left early that morning - and now, she fears she'll see that her inbox is full of them.