November 3, 2021

Today was the day when things would go amazingly right or horribly wrong. As planned, Nova and I told Eloise to meet us today to apologize to Ramon.

Today was the day when things would go amazingly right or horribly wrong. As planned, Nova and I told Eloise to meet us today to apologize to Ramon.

Nova and I were currently waiting for Eloise to arrive.

I looked toward Nova and saw that she was tapping her foot. “How are you feeling?”

“Nervous about how this going to go. How about you?”

“I am really worried too, but we got to be hopeful and try even if it doesn’t work out.”

“Wow, I am surprised.”

“Why?”

“You could be a little bit pessimistic sometimes.”

“I prefer the term realist,” I said, pouting.

“Whatever you say, Minerva.”

Just then, Eloise arrives. “Hey, Minerva, Nova,” she said.

“Hey, you remember what I told you beforehand,” I asked her.

“Yes, I am agreeing to disagree.”

“Excellent, now let’s go,” I said.

When we reached the sixth floor, we saw Maki explaining the same thing to Anais near the entrance. When they noticed our presence, Anais and Eloise stared at each other with daggers but didn’t say anything.

Maki then led us to the private study room he was in with Ramon. The study room was located in the furthest corner of the library and was out of view of the others. Maki entered the room first and then ushered us to come in. Ramon seemed engrossed in writing chemistry problems on the whiteboard.

Maki cleared his throat, causing Ramon to turn around. When Ramon turned around and saw the rest of us, he was aghast and said, “Dude, what the hell?”

Maki said, “Eloise and Anais are here to apologize; we thought it would be a good idea if you all talked it out.”

“What do you mean we? Minerva, Nova, did you help Maki with this?” He said, now focusing his attention on the two of us.

I glance at Nova and see the panic in her eyes. Meaning that I got to answer this one. “Yeah, we helped him. We completely understand why you were angry, but we will never finish our project if this continues to snowball. Professor Edwards will end up sending Anais and Eloise to the Student Conduct office. And do you want all the hard work you've done to go to waste?”

Ramon apologetically says, “No, you’re right, and I am sorry that you, Maki, and Nova got dragged along.” He then turns towards Eloise and Anais and says, “Alright, talk.”

Anais then said, smiling, “I am sorry; if it wasn’t for Eloise being such a brat, I wouldn’t have acted the way I did.” 

In response to that, Eloise said, with a wide grin, “I am sorry; if it wasn’t for Anais being such a bitch, I wouldn’t have acted the way I did.”

They then get into their usual insults, missing the whole point of a genuine apology. They then begin to roll around the floor, hitting each other like a bunch of little kids. I then looked at the others; Ramon was disappointed, Nova was worried, and Maki was shrugging. This was getting annoying, so I had to use my backup plan. I turned towards Ramon, Nova, and Maki and ushered them to cover their ears. They looked confused but did it nonetheless. After they did so, I let out a loud scream.

“What the hell, Minerva?” Eloise said, looking confused but no longer pulling Anais’s hair.

I then said with a sweet smile, “Get up and take a seat at the table.”

“What?” Anais questioned.

“I said for the both of you to get up and take a seat at the table now.”

Anais and Eloise then took a seat at the large table in the study room. Once they were seated, I continued, “So now that you two are not acting like children, let’s get down to business. You two have two options. First, you two can continue to act like children and get kicked out of Professor Edwards and then be sent to the Office of Student Conduct and have all your work be for naught. And don’t give me that look, Eloise; you are my best friend, but even I have limits. Your second choice is to apologize to Ramon and explain properly to Professor Edwards. Also, you both promise that you will be more civil to each other, keep your pettiness to a minimum, and don’t let it interfere with our work. So what’s it going to be, passing or pettiness?”

Anais and Eloise exchanged glances, then huddled together and began whispering. Two minutes later, they faced us and began to speak.

Anais then began remorsefully, “Ramon, we are both sorry for how we acted and for getting you in trouble with Professor Edwards.”

Eloise then took over and, in an apologetic tone, said, “We shouldn’t have acted the way we did. We’re also sorry to all of you for putting up with our bickering and picking up our slack. Anais and I promised to act more professionally with each other and would speak with Professor Edwards ourselves. Can you all forgive us?”

Ramon, Maki, Nova, and I exchanged glances and confirmed that we were in agreement. Ramon then said on our behalf, “We forgive you two, as long as you do your work and keep your bickering to a minimum. Now that is settled, why don’t we all take a seat.”