If this was a manga comic book, there would have been smoke coming out of Tali's... well, everywhere.

   She had been breathing intensely since her fingers stopped typing and didn't look like she was going to stop anytime soon. Tali even hadn't broken eye contact with her laptop. The numbers and figures were still in motion on her screen.

   Then everything disappeared. The screen was replaced with a blank white display.

"What the hell?" Tali's tone revealed nothing but frustration.

   She began typing away once more, her brows furrowed in annoyed concentration.

   The rest of us just exchanged looks. On my part, I wasn't sure whether it was appropriate to speak out. Not like I could anyway. My mind was only now recovering from what had gone down— most of which I couldn't even comprehend. Any relevant words to say were going to take a while to formulate in my head.

   My blood ran cold as Talise unexpectedly shut her laptop with a firm snap. Without uttering a word, she rose from her cross-legged sitting position on the ground and turned to face us. Her features revealed nothing.

   My heart sank.

"Talise," I squeaked. "Listen, next week is still around. We can try again."

   The words from me appeared to be useless. The distant look in Tali's eyes showed she didn't hear anything of what I'd just said. As she shifted the laptop from her right hold to the left, her facial expression toward us finally cracked.

   Shit.

   It was a smile.

"She did it," Rav voiced what we were all thinking under his breath.

   I ran a hand over my afro, not caring that I was ruining its patted shape. It was like a part of me had still been battling to believe it after her smile. Rav's words however, finally gave the greenlight to every expectant emotion within me to burst out with full force.

"Guys." My hand lingered in my hair in a loose grip while I spoke with a shaky laugh. "Destiny really got in. We got into Zavlon Academia."

   Right in the open street, where only a shallow number of people walked through to get to their destinations and even fewer loitered about, Camila went ballistic. She jumped up and down, accompanying her swift movements with hand thrusts into the air and the shrillest screams of joy I'd ever heard.

   This would have been shocking to us all if she wasn't simply a representation of the way we all felt.

   Rav at the moment was clinging onto Dorian like his life depended on it, giving small jumps and cheers of his own. For once, Dorian allowed him to carry on with his antics.

   The green-eyed boy didn't try to mask the wide-toothed grin that made its way to his face. It was only then that I noticed that Dorian Mathers had a subtle dimple on the left side of his face, just above his chin. I guess that only appeared during unprecedented moments like these.

   Rav ran over to Talise first, nearly lifting her off her feet as he engulfed her in a huge bear hug with multiple cries 'thank you'. Soon, her small frame was enclosed by the rest of us who did the same.

"You guys know that I have to be ALIVE and BREATHING to get to Zavlon Academia right?" Her question came out quieter than she'd yelled under the human pile we'd formed around her.

   It was enough for us to get the memo though. We pulled away.

"So what now?" Camila asked through her shallow breathing. "Right, the leg brace! Visitation Day is just around the corner. Beth, you'll have to start making it now if we want to be on schedule."

"Whoa, hold on," Talise chuckled. "We still need a confirmation email, according to Zavlon's website. It should have been sent to the fake email I made for Destiny Omaha by now. Let me switch from my main account to check."

   We were still all smiles behind her as she moved the laptop from her side clutch and rested it on left arm, supporting its back with her right hand. My eyes stayed glued to the screen, noting the effects of Tali's fingers typing away. I held my breath when she clicked on the faux account, resisting the urge to burst from anxiety as a message indicating that the switch was loading popped on the screen.

"What's taking so long?" Rav whined after the same message remained after some seconds passed.

"You guys are making me anxious," Talise sighed. As she turned to face us and took some steps backwards, my previous view of the laptop's screen was lost. "Could you all just let me do it from here?"

   The nod I responded with was this close to making my neck cramp up due to how reluctant it was.

   Hopefully, the torturous wait won't get to the point where my inner voice won and coerced me into ripping my eyes out.

"The account switched," Talise said with a grim face, "but the message hasn't come through."

   There was no need to panic. It had only been a few minutes after the selection. They were probably still sending the messages to other visitors. The message was going to come to us. It had to.

   Unless they detected something overly-suspicious in the system and were conducting background checks. Okay, let's not freak out h— who was I kidding? I was a nervous wreck.

   My hands tapped the sides of my thighs with a frantic energy I didn't realize I had. Why did we underestimate the Yunies? Of course they'd discover the truth.

   To make matters worse, I brought Tali into all this. This was all my fault. Maybe I should have just let her stay mad at me in her ignorance. Was I overreacti—?

   My hyperactive train of thought instantly evaporated as I felt a light brush against one of my hands. I looked over to my left, choking on the sharp breath I inhaled at the sight of Dorian Mathers beside me.

   I could've sworn he was just some feet away a second ago.

   I didn't notice the intensity my fingers used to drum against my thighs once more until Dorian stopped their movements by enclosing my left hand with his.

   With an impulse I couldn't figure out, my left hand switched to a level of calm, the right following suit in less than a second. The spiralling thoughts that had dominated my mind and been the source of my anxiety were nowhere to be found. I glanced down at his hand over mine, almost failing to shield the euphoria that arose within me upon the impact of his gesture.

   From the corner of my eye, Dorian was staring straight ahead. His expression revealed nothing, as though holding my hand was a natural occurrence. I eventually decided not to let my mind stray for now and intertwined our fingers.

   Keeping my eyes as far as I could from him, of course.

   Until he asked in an undertone, "Better?"

"Yes," I cleared my throat before adding, "Thank you."

   Much, much better.

   Talise raised her gaze from the laptop, "It's here."

   Dorian's hold drifted from mine as we all rushed to crowd around Talise once more. She waited till all eyes were fixed on the screen to tap on the message.

"Purchase the latest version of Dragons and Slumlords..." A voice from an unforeseen pop-up ad that filled the screen drawled.

   I buried my face into cupped hands with a loud groan. At this point, the Yunies were going to attack and kill us all before we saw this email.

"You could always switch to premium, you know," Rav suggested. "Messages come ad-free."

"Hmm, let's see." Talise squinted her eyes with her head slightly raised to indicate she was thinking. "Extra money I don't have for an app I almost never use... I'll stick to my ads, thank you very much."

   Nothing could describe how much lighter my chest felt when the ad finally came to an end.

   Displayed on the screen was the confirmation email from Zavlon Academia. Even though we all had a good view of everything it entailed, Talise read it out loud anyway.

"Dear Destiny Omaha, Zavlon Academia is excited to inform you that you have been chosen to be a member of the next set of visitors for Visitation Day! Thursday is the selected day of the week for your visit to our prestigious institution. Until then, it is our hope that this occasion remains a lingering thought that makes your wait be in high anticipation. Be sure to print out this letter and bring it with you on Visitation Day. See you soon!"

A/N: Vote and Comment if: 1. You liked that little Beth-Dorian moment.

2. You're losing it just as I am that they FINALLY got in.
It was a long time coming🥲!