"I brought hazelnut creamer," Katsume said with pride.
"I'll need an espresso with the way things are going," Sebastian concluded.
"Don't bother working." We all turned our attention to Alexis as she rose up with the other judges. "We will handle the loose ends. Feel free to attend to your New Year’s celebrations."
She slammed her gavel three times. "This trial is officially over. Brianne Marie Harlow is not guilty of any offenses issued in her name. You are all dismissed."
"Wow," Finnick whispered. "So we just won this and still have enough time to party before the new year?"
We all seemed to look at his astonished face before it clicked in.
"Brianne! You won!" Lisette cheered, and it took a solid three seconds before we were all cheering and sighing in relief.
Hugs were shared, laughter was spread, and before we all knew it, we were teleported back to Switzerland thanks to the aid of Lisette, before she left to return to Jade's side.
I was raising my glass and admiring the view as Finnick came and placed an arm over my shoulders. "Ready for the countdown in two minutes?" he questioned before downing his beer and setting it on the ledge.
"Totally ready." I beamed at his arrival as I finished my glass of wine and placed it on the ledge to give him my full attention.
"Why do I have a sneaking suspicion you're here on purpose?"
"Well, I am." He laughed as we looked down from the balcony to see all my loved ones dancing and chatting as music continued to boom through our quickly made party area as the countdown began on the large projection screen.
"Connor's distracting Jax for me and Kaito's backup so I can have this moment," he announced.
"He's going to kill you," I voiced with a wide smile as I looked into his twinkling eyes. "Probably, but I'd claim your lips first for New Year’s, and that's an achievement I'd be proud to die for."
"That's horrible." I giggled and moved to wrap my arms around his neck as the last twenty seconds arrived.
"Are you happy?" he quietly whispered.
"Ya," I replied. "One part is officially over."
"And left in the past," he mumbled as he inched closer while the last ten seconds of the countdown grabbed everyone's attention. "This new year is going to be where we prove everyone wrong," he vowed.
"Yes," I replied at the last five seconds. "Happy New Year, Finnick."
He sealed my lips exactly at the struck of twelve as his voice answered in my mind. "Happy New Year, Red, and many more with you in our loving arms."
I smiled against his lips before he deepened the kiss. Fireworks boomed through the sky and sealed our vow.
Semester Eight, here we come.
15
The Final Semester And Marked For Life
"All done," I voiced softly as I fixed the blanket and looked around to make sure everything was in place. A yawn escaped me as I stretched my arms out.
I'd barely slept thanks to my anticipation for today: the beginning of our last semester at Witchling Academy. I was trying not to think about it, and yet the idea of this being the final time walking on the school campus tugged at my heartstrings.
Thinking about the years made me realize there was still so much left to explore at Witchling, but this semester wasn't going to give us the opportunity to walk down memory lane and explore until we held those diplomas in our grasps.
At least we'd be alumni and be given the privilege to walk through these halls after graduation, but it would be different than when you're a student versus a graduated Witchling.
What would we even call ourselves once we graduated? I'd be twenty-one this year so we'd no longer be called Witchlings. The whole idea of what would occur after graduation just made me push the thoughts away.
I had to keep reminding myself that this was the beginning of the end - a cycle finally coming full circle that would lead us down a new path. Certainly, that path would incorporate the prophecy in some aspect, and it excited me a little because our paths were beginning to intertwine far more often than expected.
Even though I couldn't get Jade's number yet again, I at least could contact Lisette if anything. She'd been the main hero of the trial and the reason why Elisha was now in a special jail that was impossible to escape from while the total tally of criminal offenses was reviewed, discussed, and finalized.
At this rate, though, there was a big chance she'd get the death penalty, but the worry about the connection she had with Eliza lingered. I'd voiced my concern about it after the holidays, and Professor Phoenix assured us she'd look into it.
Eliza was finally free from her evil twin's clutches and apparently would finish up the last semester as well. Her previous deeds - controlled by Elisha - were removed from her records and after a few tests, she was approved to head into the final semester with the rest of us.
The news of her twin not only spread like wildfire across Witchling, but it also hit big news stations because of her father's involvement. The determination of what his consequences would be was a lot harder to figure out due to the roots of manipulation integrated by Elisha.
Starlight concluded that Elisha knew how much he loved their mother and without her in the picture, he'd been easy to manipulate and morph into her superior puppet, which was exactly what happened.
We'd find out the verdict in a little while, but at least the problem with Elisha was solved. Eliza had personally come to each of us and thanked us for revealing the truth. She never thought she'd escape the whirlwind of lies and deceit, and she had simply accepted she'd die in her twin's stead. She'd given a special apology to myself and Jax, and even wrote a letter of apology to his family for all the trouble caused in the past.
I knew without a doubt that gave Jax a lot of closure he hadn't realized he needed. It made him realize that he was never at fault for the breakup and definitely was a good boyfriend, but Elisha destroyed it all out of jealousy when she realized Eliza was beginning to actually fall for Jax.
Everything that happened over the holiday break was a real eye-opener for me. I realized how there were always two sides to the story and if you weren't seeing the right angle of both scenarios, you'd potentially hurt or crucify someone without realizing the truth behind their story.
Or the lies they hid in the shadows.
Another yawn escaped me as I rubbed at my eyes. I was a little thankful I hadn't done any makeup yet. I was hoping I could get in a power nap, seeing as I'd woken up even earlier to workout.
I felt a little out of shape, and though we had two weeks until cheer practice would resume, I really couldn't slack anymore. Our competition was coming up, as were the rest of the festivities.
At this rate, I'd be pretty lucky to sleep in the same bed as one of the guys. Even though Jax was the only one who didn't have a competition approaching, he had to set things up for the next council that would be chosen before finishing any loose ends we had in production in terms of the uniforms, school policies, and security measures we'd been implementing since I became vice president and the twins took their roles on the council.
The idea of being so busy that we'd barely see each other was really beginning to make me anxious, yet I still felt extremely hyped for the busy schedule.