The days flew by, and aside from the upcoming debate, nothing else was discussed. Naturally, Dash disliked losing, especially making a fool of himself, so he truly exerted effort to prepare for the debate.
At the Hale residence, the family was having lunch in their enormous villa. Dash's father, Frederick, had changed his attitude significantly, but in Dash's eyes, it wouldn't make a difference since he knew exactly what kind of man his father was.
His mother also tried, but it was uncomfortable for everyone except his younger siblings, who led lives like any other children their age. As the chosen successor to the family's wealth, Dash had been raised to protect the family fortune. While many might see this as a good thing, Dash never felt fortunate or happy. If his happiness was affected by this, he would have chosen not to be the heir to all that wealth. However, now that he couldn't do much about it, he needed to maintain appearances.
At the moment, everyone coexisted, contributing what was necessary to maintain harmony. Each family meal carried a mix of emotions, and everyone had different thoughts in their minds. Sometimes, many weren't in the mood to eat, but as their duty was to coexist, that's what they did.
While Dash ate his scrambled eggs, he looked at his happily-filled siblings and sighed. At least they wouldn't have to go through everything he did. He envied them a bit, and that elder brother feeling was rarely present when looking at them.
Elena looked at her eldest son and asked, "You have your debate today. Will they allow people from outside the school to listen to it?"
"I'm not sure. Since it's a school that's relatively far away, we only know that the debate will be a bit long," Dash replied briefly but made his intentions clear. Firstly, he knew his mom didn't have time to visit a school just to watch a debate. She had been making it clear throughout her life: raising Dash, that time is money, and she wouldn't waste it on trivialities.
"You can probably watch the recordings if they stream them online. The school will likely broadcast it, so don't worry," Frederick said while looking at data on a smart tablet.
"Can you take us, big brother?" "Yes, and you could also buy us a large ice cream." "I'll bring you a huge ice cream with vanilla, chocolate, and mint flavors." Dash replied briefly, finishing his breakfast.
"Dash, where are you going?" Elena looked at her son, who was getting up.
Dash, who wanted to arrive early, said, "I have to help Devon with some things about the debate, so I'm leaving early to have everything organized."
Frederick nodded and said, "Good luck with the debate; remember to always maintain character."
"Count on it, Dad..."
Without saying another word, Dash went to Devon's house, where they would pick up the documents they had been working on for the past few days.
...
Daisy looked at the students ready to travel; all of them were the most capable for the debate, and some were there for moral support. Her smile was magnificent because she knew this group would win. However, her smile froze when she saw a boy with a somewhat questionable hairstyle.
"Hawk, what time did you leave the party?"
A tall boy asked from afar, and Eli, who was smiling, shouted, "I don't remember, but you owe me the bet from yesterday."
When Hawk walked towards the bus, he looked at a glasses-wearing boy who handed him a sign and said, "Get out of my damn sight, four eyes."
At that moment, Demetri, who had approached from the other end, said, "If we have spare time, we could visit the national aquarium for the protection of wild turtles with starshells."
"Oh my God, what the hell are you doing here, Eli?"
Hawk looked at Demetri and furrowed his brows as he approached. "No, that's my question. What the hell are you doing here?"
"He invited me; Dash did. I believe, for obvious reasons, that you don't belong to the debate team, so if you're smart enough, you'll know why we're here, you and me," Demetri said, realizing that this was Dash's plan to bring them together.
Hawk furrowed his brows even more and asked, "Do you think I'm an idiot?"
Daisy, who knew there was a bit of a bad attitude between these two boys, approached and asked, "Is there a problem?"
"Oh, Professor Daisy, they just lost all their savings in a basketball game, so they're a bit upset." Dash, who appeared on time, held Hawk and Demetri on each side. "Of course, they're great friends, so there won't be any problem."
"Mr. Hale, please ensure order among your selected, or I'll have to take action," the teacher told Dash before boarding the bus.
"Of course, there won't be a problem, right, friends?" Dash said, tightening his grip on his friends' collars.
Demetri, who was feeling increasingly suffocated, nodded and said, "Of course, there is no problem between us."
"That's right, what he said," Hawk said, nodding with a slightly unnatural look.
At that moment, Dash got closer to his friends and said, "I guess you both don't want to lose your days off and extra points, so I suppose you both know exactly what to do during the trip."
"You're going to end up choking us if you tighten the grip on our collars a bit more."
"Oh, sorry, get on now," Dash said, pushing his friends without giving them a chance to refuse.
Devon, who came from behind, said, "It was a bad idea from the beginning. Do you really think it's worth it?"
"I want to believe that," Dash said, smiling slightly.