"Can you shut that off and be more serious in this quest? Leira can hardly hear my instructions because you are too loud," Denise bellowed and kicked in anger as she looked back to the front, crossing her arms over her chest like a mad, spoiled brat kid.
Instantly, Zara turned her phone off. Ella was even slightly surprised; her first impression of Zara was never the obedient one. Especially to someone like Denisse.
She even remembered how feisty she was when Dennise tried to shoo them out of their seats. So, she was surprised that she simply did what Dennise said with just a flick. Ella couldn't help but look at Zara confusedly and observe her expression.
"Really? Did you just boss us around?" Zara twitched her brow and one side of her lips as she burst out.
That said, Ella was wrong for thinking that Zara followed what Denise said, especially since bad blood started forming between them after that first meeting.
"Zara, Denise is right; it's hard for me to focus on her instruction because you are blasting in the back." Leira defended Denise, or maybe not, and she was actually stating the fact.
Ella tried to understand Zara's side, trying to have fun. However, if she was distracting people who were trying to focus on something or working on something, she also needed to compromise herself, because anyway, those people were doing something for the group that included her.
Zara raised her eyebrow and was about to say something more. However, by that moment she herself was aware that whenever she opened her mouth again, things would get worse and would risk the group failing in this quest.
Aside from Zara and Dennise, Ella also found it her duty to stop her and calm her down. For that moment, there's nothing more she would want but for them to complete the task successfully.
Ella held Zara's hand and pressed it a bit to get her attention. Just then, Zara transferred her gaze to Ella. Ella abruptly blinked her eyes, hoping she understood what it meant. Ella also patted her hands and caressed them to calm herself.
Ella finally felt relieved when at least she looked away, and Zara now focused her gaze on the faded sidewalk against the car's velocity.
Zara can be a funny person most of the time. She can be the life of the party. However, there was that side of her who can be someone who never accepts defeat. She can also be a swell-headed person, and a situation like this with Dennise might stain her ego and threaten the group. Ella was quite worried that it might cause predicaments for the group to succeed on the test.
If she only knew some ways that she could convert these two girls into best friends. She would unhesitatingly do it.
The rest of the ride was totally awkward and silent.
"Pull over in front of that monastery," Dennise commanded Leira.
"That looked more like a church than a monastery to me," Yden remarked.
Ella glanced at Zara. She didn't know if she should be happy that she didn't hear any comment from Zara, which is actually very unusual, since she can be the mouth of the group, according to her first impression of her. Made Ella even start to believe that her intuition was beginning to be unreliable lately.
That made her think that the bad intuition she had about the sorority might also be wrong. Maybe they were actually doing this for good, and no such things as hidden agendas in this group. And the red flag that she just saw was actually meaningless, just a simple way to show creativity.
In a while, Leira pulled over at the street side, right in front of the said monastery. Dennise and Yden walked out of the car to check the surroundings because, if this was truly the place that the map said, then the others must be here any minute now, or should it be before them since they were the last car that left the place where they took them.
"Are the other group there, or even just the initiator girls?" Ella asked as she peered over the window. The three of them went out of the car: Leira, Dennise, and Yden.
However, she decided to stay inside the car since Zara didn't seem to have a plan to got out until maybe they confirmed the place. She could quite guess that Zara was not in a good mood, and she didn't want to leave her behind.
"This place was like off the beaten track. I haven't even seen any living soul around." Leira walked past them to check the side of the monastery or the church.
"Wait, that car parked in the corner looks familiar. Isn't it one of those the other group was using?" Yden pointed to the red Wigo car. "It looked like one of the cars used in the other group, but I can't also deny how many cars had the same color and model as that car."
"We should check around the surroundings to make sure we are in the right place. We never knew that they were just assembling themselves at the back of the church or somewhere nearby," Ella suggested, but she still didn't walk out of the car and left Zara behind. Besides, she was still unsure if she was right and that they were actually in the right place, especially since the illustrated map was very obscure, and deciphering it this fast was quite unbelievable, although undeniably possible.
Leira went back to the driver's seat and turned the engine back on while Dennise and Yden walked inside the church gate. Leira drove the car back and followed them inside. She parked just beside the red Wigo car that they suspected was one of those who were also part of the initiation.
With Zara still in her butt and Leira driving, Ella also stayed inside until the car stopped again. Just in time as Dennise and Yden came back after they checked the back of the church.
"We hear people's voices and more cars behind the monastery," Yden informed the others, while she ran back to them.
"That could be them; let's go and see it together," Leira suggested.
"Yes, come on, let's go," Ella said and got out of the car. But then, she stopped, as she noticed Zara not moving an inch.
"Zara?" Ella asked; even Leira stopped and creased her brow while looking over at the non-responsive Zara.
"Is there any problem?" Leira halted after becoming aware of Ella and Zara.
"No," Ella replied. She didn't want to make everything worse, and whatever was making Zara out of the mood now, this will surely last for only less than an hour and couldn't be serious, so she had decided to better kept it just for themselves now.
Ella opened the car door again and talked to Zara. "Zar, do you still want to do this, or do you want to quit?"
Zara slowly moved her dark eyelashes to look at Ella, and something in her eyes showed worry. Ella knew exactly how enthusiastic Zara was about joining the sorority, and she didn't even want to see her quit.
So, threatening her about stopping the quest would surely make her anxious, because what she was doing now was just being childish and seeking attention.