Brutal

It's a warm afternoon on a not-so-busy Thursday, with orangey sky feasting

the eyes of a girl, gazing at the sky from the window of her not-so-tidy
dressing room. The room is inhabited by a group of people who are definitely
tidy-dressed. Fancy designer dresses, check. Fancy hairdo, check. Camera
poses, rehearsed!

Everyone in the room is excited, especially the girl whose dress isn't as bright-
colored as the others, just how she prefers it. She could feel how proud she is,
of her friends around her and of herself. While the others jump and dance in
excitement, she just laughs excitedly, being all-out and extra isn't exactly her
thing. One of her male 'friend' stops his laughing and approach the girl,
holding her shoulder.

"Here I thought you'll be all over the moon when your film hits Venice Film
Festival."

"OUR film, Chris. I am all over the moon, but you know that's not how I roll."

The girl points at her currently-dancing friends and smiles widely.

"Finally stepping your foot on the grounds of Venice, with our animated
feature ready for the festival. What else could you possibly want, Beth?"

"I don't know, Chris. Emmys? Oscars? Just kidding, I'm totally gratef-"

"BETH DECADIA!"

The sound of an adult man screaming her name brought Beth back to her
college art classroom, where everyone either draws or runs around
hysterically. This is the reality. Beth doesn't run any animation studio, she
hasn't made any professional film. What she has are a group of deadlines,
with one of them being the art class assignment, which she's supposed to
submit now.

"Beth Decadia, where is she? She has never been absent in any of my
classes before." Asks the lecturer sitting behind a table stacked with dozens of
artworks done by Beth's classmates. Beth quickly slides from her messy table
to the lecturer's table with her artwork in her hands. "I'm here, professor.
Here's my work."

"Put it there."

"Oh, you're not going to....correct anything that might be bad from it?"

"No, not yet. I will correct it next week after I gave you all a new assignment."

"Oh kaaaayy..."

Beth walks away from the table awkwardly as she rolls her eyes. Now she has
to think about what might be wrong with her submitted artwork for a whole
week, alongside all the unfinished freelance designing jobs she takes, just
because her lecturer is not in the mood to consult on her artwork. Not to
mention the possibility that she could be the only one who has to fix her
artwork, since she's looking at her friends' artworks now, and they're all
gorgeous.

She approaches some of her friends who are still working on their arts.

"Hey, can I see yours?"

She holds Lily-Anne's artwork in her hands and stares at it.

"Wow, cool art style." Beth gasps, mesmerized by Lily-Anne's art and the
increasing possibility of her being the only student that needs to revise her
artwork next week.

"Aww, thank you. Do you think the coloring's off?"

"Well, you could change the mint green to chartreuse if you want to highlight
the bystander's skin color, I think."

"Oh! I'll try that now, thank you."

As Lily-Anne search for the chartreuse paint on her table, Beth hears her
name being mentioned by a pair of classmates behind her who are talking in
whispers.

"Beth's being cocky today, again."

"What's up with her?"

"I don't know, she submitted her artwork and now she's giving Lily-Anne a free
artwork advice class?"

Just when Beth's left eyebrow start to raise, her phone is vibrating with her
client's name on the display screen. Beth is thankful that the call distracted her
from those rare-nonsense-gossiper classmates she has, on the other hand,
she's pretty annoyed because a call from her client means another revision of
the logo she submitted to them yesterday. If the client liked it, they would've
notified Beth about their payment through text instead.

"Hello, Beth. Thanks for the revised logo submission yesterday. The outline
shape is very good, very fitting, but we don't think the graphic letter shapes
are suitable enough."
"I thought you guys wanted some luxurious feel? So I drew inspiration from
Athens temples to shape the letters on your logo."

You know those moments when people ask you to do what they planned, but
their plan isn't actually thorough? Well, that's the state of Beth's client now
who speaks through Beth's phone.

"Yes, Beth. But we don't want a lavish kind of luxury, we want a modern kind
of luxury, something relevant for this day and age."

"You mean trendy, sir?"

"Not exactly trendy, more like tech-y, but luxurious."

And yet, this is the first time the company has mentioned this element, instead
of their first conversation with Beth. But of course, Beth wouldn't criticize them
out loud if she wants this job to stop being an inconsistent revision loophole.

"Okay, any of your company value I should know before....fixing the logo?"

"None Beth, we'll wait for the newest logo development!"

No new company values to guide the development process, just the same
answer as the 2 previous meetings Beth has done with that company. Looks
like Beth has to find AND shape the company's brand image while she fixes
her logo.

"All that by a freelance designer." She thought.

Gerald just watches Beth does her usual, then turn his head to Layla who sits
behind him.

"Talented, overworked burnout they say."

Gerald smiles softly, prompting Layla to let out a teasing smile. When Gerald
smiles, as soft as he can, a lot of people (especially Layla) get a glimpse of
tease.

"Oh, yeah! Totally! I mean, it's not really her fault to complain....? Right? Or
did I misjudge the situation, again!? I'm sorry..."

"No Layl! Nothing's wrong around here."

Gerald pats her shoulder. The 2 of them walkout from their classroom,
entering the hallway beside their classmates. Gerald turns his head to Layla
again.

"You craving for some fried banana?"

"No, but I do crave for some martabak! I'm gonna try some these new
martabak flavors on the east with Waf!"

"Cool, can I come with?"

"Oh, umm...Is it okay though? I mean, will it be..."

"What, Layl?"

"It's just, is your girlfr-"

"Causewewerebothyoungwhenifirstsawyou!" Sings Lou in an exaggerated

expression and speed as he shoves his video camera to Layla's and Gerald's
faces. Layla smiles.

"Lou!"
Lou gave Layla a salute as he walks away. When he gets closer to Beth,
who's angrily typing on her phone, he turns his camera on again.

"Name, Beth. Hobby, pouting like a bao. Age, twenty-one as of last week. Any
birthday wishes?"

"No more revision for any of my design job ever again. But that's impossible,
so no more revision for this logo job I'm doing now. So I can get rich soon,
travel Europe, and be happy until I die instead of being miserable until I die."

Lou smirks as he turns his camera off.

"But for real, keep your chin up and smile, Miss Pouty. Nothing can break you
down."

"You too, my friend."

Lou winks at Beth and rushes towards the campus exit. Outside, Glenn is
walking into the campus building, again. His class has been finished for the
day since hours ago, but unlike Lou who has much to do back home, Glenn
doesn't have anything productive to do. So he waits for his art friends' class to
be done. He waves at some of his other-class friends as he walks in.

"Hey Glenn!"

"Wassup Ali! Have you watched the trailer?"

"What trailer?"

"The Victorious Reunion Movie trailer!"

"It's out last night!?"

"Yeah! Check it out Ali!"

"Sup, Glenn! you comin' tomorrow?"

"You bet, Sam!"

As Glenn walks through the campus entrance, Lou walks through it to go out.

"Glennie!"

"Oh, Lou, hey, umm, hi!"

Glenn quickly tries to limit his smile range because he can tell that his mouth
starts grinning uncontrollably.

"Hi, Lou...Uh, have you seen uh..."

"Miss Pouty and the others? Yeah they just finished class."

Glenn thought 'Be a little more laid back and less awkward to look fun and a
little flirty, I practiced this!' So he let out a teasing smile.

"Wow, you're still going for Miss Pouty? That's not gonna be a thing."

"It's already a thing."

Glenn spots a pack of snacks that Lou tucked in his small bag along with his
camera.

"No plastic bag, nice."

"Yeah right, going green."

Lou winks at Glenn before he turns around and rushes outside the campus
area.

"Bye Glennie."

"See ya around, Lou! Oh, and good luck with the uh...good luck with life stuff!"

"You too!"

Beth comes rushing for a hug from Glenn. Layla and Gerald quickly greet
Glenn to avoid their potentially-awkward conversation.

"Hey Glenn!"

"Happy belated birthday Bebe! Sorry, I haven't handed out any present, so
this will have to do, for now." Says Glenn as he pulls Beth to a hug.

"Oh, maybe you can use my Netflix subscription so we can watch one of those
depressing anime you like!"

"Can't stay much, but let's do it later! Duty calls! I'll call you guys at 2 in the
morning if my projects aren't done yet, love you, love you, love you lots!"

"Love you lots, Bebe!" Glenn shouts as Beth runs out from the campus
building, rushing to her office nearby the campus. "And I don't need to say I
love you since you both are already lovebirds! I mean not to each other,
obviously."

"No, no! Lovebirds to both of our, uh..."

Can't find the right word, Layla shoots a look at Glenn to help her, but Gerald
beats Glenn to it.
"Dates."

"Yes! Dates! To both of our dates! Our own dates!"

Layla's nerve gave Gerald joy. Gerald lets out a small laugh and starts walking
on Glenn's left, where else Layla quickly position herself at Glenn's right.
Glenn looks at both of them while the 3 of them walk side by side.

"Really, you guys?"

Gerald laughs again.

"So how you doin'? Any new person you like recently Glenn?"

"Not yet, dude."

Layla looks at Glenn with a sorry expression while she asks...

"Dude, you're still simping for him even though he already left?"

"Can't help it Lylalee, sorry..."

"You didn't do anythin' wrong."

"Okay sorry, G-Man. Crap I'm saying sorry again."

Both Layla and Gerald pat both of Glenn's shoulders, at the same time,
without any coordination. Glenn lets out an excited smile and looks at his 2
friends back and forth for some time, until he says....

"It's really sad that Lou left, we could've been the double L's and double G's."

Layla lets out a small laugh before Glenn continues what he's saying.
"We could've been Fantastic Four, for real!"

Layla gasps.

"That's so cool! And you just said it like a quote or something! Fantastic Four
for real, did you rehearse that?"

"You have no idea, Lylalee."

Glenn give Layla a teasing smile, he kept smiling even when he revealed the
truth.

"No, I didn't rehearse that. Unfortunately, I didn't get to say all the words that
I've rehearsed for this past year."

"Because all of that you practiced is for Lou?"

"Wowser G-Man, he's quick."

"Told ya he's quick."

Meanwhile, on the streets behind the campus area, Beth can finally stop
running and catch her breath as she arrives in her small office building. Beth
can't say it's a dream come true, but working at a company located behind
your campus does save her a lot of time.

"Hey B-"

"HEY!"

Before her co-worker can greet her, Beth walks frantically towards the room
that she shares with some of her co-workers who also go to the same college
as her. She quickly slams her bag on her table and takes her laptop out of it.
Chris smiles friendlily as he turns his head from his computer screen to Beth.

"I would say, don't panic because you're early, as always. But, it would never
work on you."

"Exactly!"

"Hey, should I file these in chronological order or-"

"Oh, you want me to give you a free organizing advice class?"

"Umm no, got a lot on your mind? You don't have to answer if-"

"No no, Chris. It's fine, just some toxic thoughts crossing my mind."

It's crazy how 2 people could go on a few dates and walk home without any
relationship development whatsoever, yet after they get over their 'potentially
romantic' phase, they know each other so well that one of them could notice
when the other has too much 'toxic thoughts' crossing her mind.

"You wanna take a break?"

"What break? Of course not! The reps are probably here already!"

"Yeah but if you need a break, we can cover for you. I can cover for you,
Victoria can cover for you."

"Thank you so much, but it's okay! I'm ready! Oh and file those in alphabetical
order, trust me it would help the others big time."

"Aye aye captain! Words can't bring Beth down."

Beth throws 1 thumb up to the room as she runs to the meeting room with her
laptop and quickly plugs it into to the projector. She scoots over to the right
side of the projector, getting ready when she sees a group of partnering
company representatives alongside her boss, coming for the presentation.

One by one, the representatives enter the meeting room, complete with an act
of pleasantries. Beth quickly smiles to look friendly, but she realizes she
smiles too wide, so she turns her smile to a soft one to not look like what she
defined as a 'freak'.

AROUND 1 HOUR LATER

The presentation's a success! No surprise to anyone (including Beth). The

representatives are smiling now, genuinely. One of them scoots over to Beth
and her boss, so they can take a picture together like some sort of 'official
business partners who just did a very official meeting'. After they took the
picture (featuring Beth's soft, formal smile), Beth could see the social media
notification on her phone.

She just got mentioned on her boss' social media story. As she moves her
finger to press the 'repost' button, she hesitates. "What a show-off, now she's
gonna give out free classes on how to get close to our bosses too?" Beth
could hear the hidden criticization in people's feelings, perceiving her just
based on one story. Not even a social media post, a story!

So she pressed another button instead, leading to a photo-editing app to

create her own social story. She put 3 photos of the recent meeting, 1 of her
with her boss, 1 of her with the representatives, and 1 of her with both her
boss and the reps. Seconds before clicking the 'save' button after she finish
editing, a chat notification popped up.

Mom : Where are you it's 7

Beth : Still in the office

Mom : It's late!

Beth : I will go home as soon as all the office works are finished

Mom : Says the one who still skips sleep weekly to finish her 'job'

Beth : That's for freelance jobs!

"Beth?" The voice of her boss turns Beth's eyes away from her phone. "Let's
hang out after office hours, I want to chat about something."

"Oh...what is it, sir?"

"It's about my wife..."

"Are you fighting with your wife again, sir?"

"Yes. Still fighting actually, since last month."

1 more month and this could be the new 'classic' of her office, Beth thinks.
She would love to facepalm right now, but in order to succeed, she has to look
empty-faced and 'in a hurry'.

So Beth controls her lips to stay straight, not making any smile nor pout, even
though her natural facial expression looks like a pout already.

"Let's go to that new noodle place nearby, I'll pay."

"Sorry sir, I can't go."

Beth shows her recent chat with her mother. Pretty self-explanatory, but just
to be clear...

"I have a curfew."

"Well, you can say it's work stuff."

"Are we going to talk about work st-"

"If you want. We can talk about the next webpage activation AND my situation
with my wife."

"Wow, how long could it take-"

"You can ask for permission to stay overnight right? Since we don't really
know how long we will be talking tonight. You can stay at my house since my
wife hasn't returned home."

"Wow I-"

"You can say it's a work thing where everyone in the office participates in!"

"But they're not coming with-"

"No, they're not! But you can say that as an excuse for your mom. Your boss
approves you, very much approves you to do that."

'This is what you get when you're 'too reliable' in your work environment, you
might get dragged into your co-workers' personal problems. It's better if it's
something you can help with, but this is the kind of problem where you have
no right to know or participate in at all' Beth thinks.

"Sorry, I can't lie to-"

"It's not lying Beth, it's using a believable excuse."

"Thing is, sir, my mom is really not a reasonable person. When she says get
home, she wants me to get home. She never cares what's the excuse."

"I can call your mother now and talk her out of-"

"Sir, it's late and I haven't finished the UI for next week's webpage for our
latest client. We wouldn't want to disappoint a client's first web, right?"

"Looks like you just simply don't want to go out with me."

"Sir, with all due respect, it's not my business to-"

Suddenly Chris peeks his head into the meeting room.

"Excuse me, sorry. There you are, Beth! Beth's mom has been calling me
non-stop for the last five minutes."

Their boss turns his head to Chris and whispers....

"It's only been five minutes, at least it's not-"

"She called Victoria for ten minutes before she called me."

Beth runs to Chris, acting frantic.

"Hope nothing urgent happens!"

Of course, it's nothing urgent, just Beth's mom being Beth's mom. Office hours
are done, so Chris gives Beth a ride home with his motorcycle since their
houses are on the same street.
"You know you totally saved me from bossman back there."

"I wouldn't succeed without that frantic run of yours, HOPE IT'S NOTHING
URGENT! Wait, I said it wrong, you said HOPE NOTHING URGENT
HAPPEN!"

"I didn't even remember what I said! Guess it was really an urgent saving."

"That's going to change some years from now. When you directed dozens of
award-worthy blockbusters, you'd definitely remember all the titles, right?"

"If I give them memorable titles."

"Is Happy Life a memorable title?"

"Not really, but I think it could attract a lot of viewers!"

"Because the plot twist is the happy protagonist having depression? Classic
Beth plot."

"Say no more, Chris. I can channel the depression I get from making the
movie when I make that movie."

"So I guess depression stays with you on the blockbuster-directing days?"

"Oh, it gets even worse! Everything's a double-edged sword, even high-paying

showbiz. Can you imagine all the script rewrites, the reshoots, the smiley-face
premieres?"

Chris chuckles and shakes his head.

"Beth, always the realistic dreamer."

"Chris, always the hardworking visionary."

Before they reached Beth's front yard, they say good night to each other.
Chris rides away to his house while Beth walks to her house, carrying her
heavy bags with a small smile on her face. Beth's days rarely end with
comfort, but talking with Chris does help. Heck, talking with Chris always
helps.

"BETH! IS THAT YOU!"

'It's on me' Beth thought. 'It's my fault that I get relieved before I even reached
my bedroom.'

Beth's mom abruptly opens the door.

"It's eight!"

"Mom, I told you I hadn't finished working and I actually blew my creepy boss'
invitation to-"

"Why don't you just stay in your office then? Be a competent worker who's not
a competent housekeeper, just like your father!"

"Because all the bad genes in a child came from the other parent and not the
parent who's talking about them?"

"Clearly! I'm a competent worker AND a competent housekeeper!"

"Great, Mom. I'm not in the mood right now so-"

"You're never in the mood!"

"Well yeah, you enjoy debating so much!?"

Beth keeps walking to her room, with her mom following her.

"See? You're starting to sound just like your father!"

"And you're starting to sound nonsensical, mom!"

"Do all the dishes tonight!"

"I WILL!"

Beth quickly walks inside her room and slams her door. She can hear her
mom's loud angry monologues across the house.

"Everything's a fucking double-edged sword." Beth says to herself, as she lays

on her bed, waiting for her laptop to boot up so she can continue her freelance
logo gig. She charges her phone and checks her chat app, hoping for
something that could delay her deadline. Errors in the mail app that could
make her clients delay the deadline, lights out on the whole city, even maybe
lights out on the whole country!

"Great! Now I overthink what to wish for."

Gerald, Layla, and Glenn have arrived at their campus entrance. There's no
one there because most classes are either not done yet or have wrapped up
before lunchtime. Nearby the minimarket on the campus' front yard, a cute girl
approaches the 3 as she walks slowly to them with a polite smile on her face.

"Well, you guys said I'm quick, there's definitely someone quicker."

Gerald walk closer to the girl, now walking side by side with her, embracing
her with his left arm.
Gerald asks Layla one more time.

"So, martabak night out?"

"Oh umm....I'm sorry Gerald. Waf and I are planning to discuss some...."

"Private stuff?"

"Serious stuff, so sorry."

"It's okay Layl, if you want some help with serious stuff, I could be your own
personal psychologist."

"Pfft, for free?"

"We'll figure that part later."

Everyone lets out soft smiles around.

"Well, Layl, Glenn, ciao."

"Bye Gerald."

"See ya tomorrow, G-Man!"

Glenn pulls everyone, even Gerald's girlfriend that he doesn't know, in a group
hug. After a moment, Layl pulls herself away with Glenn alongside her, while
Gerald and his girlfriend walk away. The cute girl waves 'bye' with her hand
and moves it to embrace Gerald, both embracing each other while walking out
of the campus area.

Layla watched as Gerald's girl fixes her glasses. Layla's glasses are rounder,
the other girl's glasses have sharper edges. Layla wonders, does Gerald think
of rounder glasses when he sees his girl's glasses, does he wish for a rounder
pair of glasses?

Still hugging, Layla and Glenn watch as Gerald and his boo get smaller, and
farther, and smaller.

"Serious stuff? Really Sis?"

"Pfft! I can't think of any, uh....what's that word?"

"Strong excuse?"

"No, the one that's just enough!"

"Oh, oh! Formidable!"

"Yes! Formidable excuse! That's it! Omigosh you're such a word master!"

"And you're such an act master! What was that all about?"

"He invited me to go get fried bananas with him."

"Oh, I love fried bananas."

"Yeah, everyone does, Glenn. Does Lou like fried bananas?"

"I don't know! You're his best friend, not me!"

"Glenn The Glorious, you know that he owns army pants, I didn't even know
that."

"That's called..."
"Focusing? Admiring? Observing?"

"Stalking, and all three of those too!"

Both laugh while still hugging.

"You called him Gerald."

"Umm, yeah....I mean that's his name!"

"What happened to Gerald The Gore! I mean other than the fact that the name
doesn't stand for him cause he's not gory or gore at all! Oh wait, are you
giving him a new nickname!?"

"Aww no, I just stopped calling him that because someone specific is really
jealous of me nicknaming Gerald with that Gore thing, or with any nickname
really."

"I think I know who's this special person."

"I didn't say special, I said specific!"

"But he is special to you! And to me too, kinda."

"You dare consider him special!?"

Layla stares at Glenn, throwing an angry face until she breaks.

"Hahaha! Got ya."

"No, you can't fool me."

"You're right, when our souls join, we can take on Demeter herself? Do you
wanna take down Demeter with me, Glenn The Glorious?"

"It'd be my pleasure, and glory, and-"

"Honor!"

"And Gratitude!"

"And bop!"

Layla shouts, impersonating a car's honk after she sees Waf's car
approaching closer. Both Layla and Glenn start to 'honk' again, many times.

"Bop! Boooppp!"

Waf's car stops by the campus' front yard. Waf quickly pushes his car door
open for Layla to sit into. Layla gives in to a tighter hug for Glenn.

"See ya Glenn The Glorious! And sorry."

"Lylalee, stop apol-"

"Sorry for-"

Glenn quickly put his right index finger in front of Layla's lips, and whispers
"Sshh." He puts away his index finger and gives Layla another hug, in which
Layla hugs her back, of course. Layla makes small runs to the front passenger
seat of Waf's car, while Waf waves his hand at Glenn.

"Hey Glenn!"

"Hey Waf!"
"Wanna third-wheel us?"

"No! Not my thing, man."

"Come on! We're not Lou and, who's his gal again?"

"Roxy."

"Yeah! We're not Lou and Roxy, you can third-wheel us anytime."

"That's so sweet of you guys, thanks! Batgirl watch party on Sat night?"

"My place?"

"Your place!"

"Cool!"

Glenn walks closer to the car and fist bumps Waf. The couple soon drives off
while Glenn waits for his online cab to arrive, and chat with people who pass
by the entrance.

As the car drives away from the campus, Waf takes off his glasses and hands
them over to Layla.

"Hun, can you clean it up?"

"Uh, yeah."

When Layla's fingers reach Waf's glasses, her mind was brought back to an
image from 2 years ago. Different glasses, different hands.

2 YEARS AGO
It was a hectic day in the classroom, as usual. Everyone's minding their own
business, so no one notice Layla when she fiddles with her dusty glasses. No
one except Gerald who are sitting next to her. They sit next to each other a
lot, especially these days. As Layla moves her hand to reach her glasses'
duster cloth, Gerald reaches it first.

"Not a chance, keep outlining your sketch, you're still far away from done."

"Uh no, don't-"

"Relax, Layl."

Gerald cleans Layla's glasses as she slowly turns her hands to her art
supplies.

"I should repay you with something."

"How about hiring me as your personal glass cleaner?"

"Heh, no. I'd waste a lot of money to pay you and I'm not even employed."

"Not yet. Besides, I can work for free." Gerald smirks softly and hands Layla's
glasses back to her, with his eyes piercing like a fading star. Layla grins, trying
to grin wider so her face would look like she's having fun instead of being
mesmerized by Gerald.

PRESENT DAY

Layla quickly hand Waf's glasses back. Waf and Layla decide to play some
music. Turns out, Waf was just playing the Avengers: Endgame Soundtrack
Album just before Layla got into the car. Waf offers Layla a bag of chips he
just opened, Layla opens her mouth as she throws a question at Waf.
"In a hopeless, kinda sad vibe today hun?"

"In the mood for a comfort song, hun. Eat with your right hand."

Layla keeps eating with her left hand.

"It's okay I washed it. Also, does comfort place makes people cry?"

"I'm not about to cry of this soundtr-"

"Not now, but you're about to in five, four, three,"

While Layla's counting, Waf's voice starts to become trembly while tears start
forming in his eyes.

"This is, this is the moment when they gather to fight together and...."

When Waf starts to cry in affection, Layla gasps and quickly hugs her
boyfriend.

"AH! Honey, you're the cutest, we can pull over."

They haven't driven far, they actually just got out of the front yard and now,
they're pulling over beside the campus' minimarket. As the car stops by the
minimarket, Layla grins and pulls her boyfriend for a comforting hug. Waf lays
on Layla's embrace, letting his emotion loose. Waf and Layla have a lot to
learn as a pair of lovers, but one thing they've learned very well so far is,
being honest about their feelings with one another.

That thought does come across Layla's mind right now when she rests her
head on Waf's shoulder, and Waf does the same. When Layla rubs Waf's
back to comfort him, and yet finds a mixture of comfort and wonder inside her
as she sees Gerald alongside his girlfriend on the other side of the
minimarket.

Of course, Waf doesn't notice that Gerald is nearby, allowing Layla to watch
his 'shenanigans' with his girlfriend. Just like Waf almost never knew that
Layla has a friend named Gerald, and how much Gerald means to Layla,
almost.

Layla can see clearly, the color of the vanilla ice creams that Gerald just
bought in the minimarket for him and his lover. As the pair starts to eat slowly,
Layla admits in her heart that vanilla is not her favorite ice cream flavor, but it
is related to one of her favorite memory.

2 YEARS AGO

On the outdoor student lounge just across the front yard of the campus, Layla
and Gerald sit side by side with vanilla ice cream cones on each hand, with 1
meter of distance between them. There's no one on the lounge since their
classes just have the most inconvenient break hours, where every class is still
on.

"Does Lily-Anne like vanilla for ice cream?" asks Gerald before taking a
mouthful of his ice cream inside his mouth. Layla swallows her ice cream
before answering the question.

"She does, I think she does? Or maybe not? I don't know, I'm sorry. She must
like it, though! Everyone likes it! Right?"

"Not you."

Gerald points at Layla who gasps and defends herself quickly.

"I do! It's just not my favorite ice cream flavor! Do you want me to ask Kelly-
Anne, what's her favorite ice cream?"

Layla rolls her eyes and hits her forehead playfully with her ice cream cone.

"Oh wait, that's a bad idea isn't it?"

"No, you do it, as long as you don't spill that I have a crush on her."

Says Gerald while smirking, leading Layla to gasp once again, this time
smiling excitedly.

"Omigosh you're into Lily-Anne!?"

Gerald nods and laughs playfully but Layla could sense his nervousness
which cause her to get excited.

"That's soo cute!"

"What's not cute is you, looking like this, could fail my plan of getting closer to
Lily-Anne courtesy of your help."

Gerald wipes the melting ice cream around Layla's lips and brushes it off his
thumb before Layla opens her mouth....

"Sounds like a bad plan, Gerald The Gore. Sounds like three hundred percent
chance of failure with one percent chance of success!"

"The way you say that proofs that you're not the math one in the room, Layl."

"Ehh, I'd like to know how you count the precision of timing for this thing to get
stuffed into your mouth!"
Layla shoves her ice cream to Gerald which causes them to melt around
Gerald's lips. Layla giggles when Gerald licks all those ice creams into his
mouth instead, giggling alongside her. Gerald suddenly shoves his ice cream
to Layla's face, which Layla can barely evade from.

"Hey!" Shouts Layla after she managed to avoid Gerald's ice cream, putting
her hands around her face to protect it while Gerald keeps giggling playfully
while Gerald keeps trying to shove his ice cream on her mouth.

As the 2 of them try to shove their ice creams to each other's lips, Layla
notices that someone is walking past the campus hall, which has a large
window on it. Through that window, Layla could see Lily-Anne who turn her
head in Layla's direction.

Layla quickly stops her shenanigan with Gerald, with Gerald quickly following
her after he realizes that Lily-Anne is nearby, watching the 2 of them together.

As Layla and Gerald change their positions to a stiffer 'sitting together'

position, they could see Lily-Anne walking by the window, moving her mouth
to say an inaudible 'so cute!'. Could've gone worse, but definitely not a 'Lily-
Anne moment' Gerald was hoping for.

For a few seconds, Gerald just keeps eating his ice cream quietly, without
even looking at Layla. Layla awkwardly follows, looking down to the ground,
until she finally could not stand the silence anymore.

"Is....something wrong?"

Gerald stays quiet, staring at the ground.

"Is...it your crush who just watched us being weird, lowkey suspicious
together?"
Gerald nods softly. Layla looks at Gerald and says, "Aw, I'm sorry, Gerald The
Gore...."

Gerald smiles softly, his eyes still looking down. "It's fine, really." He looks at
Layla before continuing, "Just don't tell anyone about this?"

"About us looking awkward in front of your crush, or that you have a thing for
Lily-Anne? Or is it about Lily-Anne walking past the hall?" Layla quickly
retracts her joke, worried that it's not the time for joking. "Kidding! I'm sorry, I
will not talk to anyone about this."

"Which 'this'?" Gerald surprisingly keeps up with Layla's joking tone. Layla
responds, "All of these."

PRESENT DAY

Layla's mind is back to now, this wholesome moment between her and her
boyfriend in his car. She hopes to stop her mind from racing through all the
memories she has with....other people.

Yet she couldn't stop herself from walking down the memory lane when she
notice that in the minimarket, Gerald is wearing a white tee tucked under his
red, unbuttoned shirt. His girlfriend sports all-black beside him.

Of course their colors contrast each other, Layla thought. Gerald should be
with someone who wears total opposites of his colors but has the same heart,
a similar set of attitudes that blends them together. It wouldn't be a good
match if Gerald end up with someone more sensitive, more conscious of their
feelings, right?

From Waf's car, Layla can see Gerald's hand reaching for his phone inside his
pocket. His girlfriend smiles sweetly while swallowing her ice cream as Gerald
starts to take pictures of her with his phone. That moment pulls Layla back to
a certain time of her life. It was a little different back then, but it's under the
same 'take a picture' category.

2 YEARS AGO

It's the Mirror Festival day! The art students are going on a field trip to this
huge art festival where many mirrors appear in many different shapes,
objects, and meanings. Layla and Gerald are supposed to mirror each other's
tee colors today.

On the previous day, Layla wore a white t-shirt and so does Larry, without any
plans to match. But they did match, and Layla went to Larry's house after a
fight with her parents. They took a picture in Larry's house, and that was the
picture that made Gerald get Layla in this matching white t-shirt thing today.

So of course, Layla wore a white tee, and so did Gerald. Both with different
small pictures on them, Layla doesn't really care, the white part is what's
important.

At the festival, there are lots of mirrors obviously. Gerald managed to get a
mirror selfie with Layla in almost every one of the mirrors. That's right,
Gerald's the one who asked, not Layla! "It's not a big deal." Layla thought.

That thought switched to "Is it a big deal or is it not!?" when Gerald used one
of their photos as his profile picture. For a few months that is.

When the sun goes down, the students walk back to the tour bus. Gerald
realizes that he and Layla are a little bit behind the track. When he sees the
other students walking back, he holds Layla's right hand softly and pulls her to
walk alongside him. Surprised, Layla gasps, but quickly shuts her mouth and
tries to look casual as she walks with Gerald, still holding hands.
On the bus, everyone is storing their belongings. Gerald is still holding Layla's
hand, guiding her to his seat's direction. "You guys suit each other, adorably."
Says Beth who's sitting in her seat, Layla couldn't help but smile shyly, looking
away from Gerald.

As Gerald sit, Layla let her hand go from Gerald's to find a seat for herself.

"What're you doing?"

Gerald asks with a deadpan tone, looking at Layla curiously while he points
his finger at the empty seat next to him. Layla looks around to search for
empty seats and finds many, but....

"Hey."

Gerald point at the seat next to him. "You can sit here Layl."

"Oh, uhh....Okay."

A few minutes later, the bus starts riding towards the highway. Layla and
Gerald sit, side by side, looking at their front straight up. Until Gerald turns his
head to Layla...

"Happy Mirror Festival Day, Layla."

Layla turns her head slowly at Gerald and chuckles.

"Pfft! It's not even a thing."

Gerald just smirks, Layla can't help but grin.

"Happy Mirror Festival Day, Gerald The Gore, who's not gore at all."
Layla smiles, and quickly puts her head down, to hide that she might be
blushing. She whispers....

"Ugh, sorry for the inaccurate nicknaming!"

Gerald smirks and directs his eyes straight to the front, again.

"Relax..."

Gerald moves his hand, slowly covering Layla's hand with his. They hold
hands until the end of the trip, with Layla mostly looking away to hide her
nervousness, yet she finds comfort in Gerald's hand and reassurance.

Layla lays her head on the seat, discovering a wish across her mind. Well,
almost a wish, but she didn't wish it. She didn't want anything messy to
happen if she really manifest that wish.

PRESENT DAY

Waf is still crying on Layla's shoulder, with Layla hugging him, hands around
Waf yet her eyes are set on the pair in the minimarket. Eating ice cream, a
black shirt beside a white shirt. Oh to be the black shirt, Layla thought. A wish
crosses her mind again, but she stops it before it even becomes a wish, trying
not to think about it.

Does Gerald think of Layla when his girl asks which outfit she should wear for
the day? Does it appear on Gerald's mind, the moment he holds Layla's hand
when he holds his girlfriend's hand? It doesn't matter, Layla thinks. Nothing
between her and Gerald should matter, except their friendship.

She and Waf are happy, so are the pair in the minimarket. Still, Layla
wonders, does Gerald and her lover talk about herself or think about her like
Layla always thinks about those 2. 'None of those matters' is probably Layla's
favorite weapon to use in these kinds of situations, and yes, this isn't the first
time she's thinking about all this.

Glenn just did today's dishes and he still got a few minutes before campus.
What does he do to pass the break time? Swiping on friends' social media
stories! Sure he want to watch the new Batgirl movie, but he's gonna watch it
with Layla and Waf tomorrow. He swipe and swipe, until he saw Lou's social
media handle, mentioned in one of Glenn's friend's story.

Of course Glenn watch the whole video. It's just a video of Glenn's friend
video-selfie-ing themselves, with Lou winking at the camera and making
annoyingly mischievous smiles, something that Glenn thinks about everyday.
Everyone seems annoyed by Lou's usual flirty, obnoxious behaviors, but not
Glenn.

"I haven't seen Lou in months! Yet his friend accidentally bump into Lou, in a
mall, today!? Guess fate doesn't want Glenn to meet Lou again, or not yet. But
if fate's the one who separates them, then why did fate meet the 2 of them in
the first place!?" He thought.

Too many unnecessary questions on Glenn's head, every damn day. Too
many things left unsaid between him and Lou. Which is why Glenn is wearing
plaid today. Lou left college last year, but he visits occasionally (something
that Glenn took for granted).

Glenn likes plaid, but he used to wear plain shirts more. It's simple, and easy.
Now he mix and match everyday, even though he was terrible at it, mismatch
patterns every time. "Maybe that's what happened when your favorite X-Men
is Kitty Pryde." Glenn says to himself, looking at the X-Men poster in his room,
featuring Kitty Pryde, the girl who often admits that she's bad at fashion.

Glenn didn't care about outfit appearance, his friends never cared either.
Which is why he's always invited to their parties here and there, to their
birthdays here and there, despite having terrible sense of fashion. Maybe Lou
doesn't care too, but if there's any lesson Glenn got from having feelings for
Lou, it's that he can start being conscious about the things that he wears
outside.

Now Glenn wears plaid almost everyday. Maybe his outfit could match Lou's,
if Lou visits campus today. I mean, a lot wear plaid, one of them is Lou. Glenn
remember seeing Lou in a black and yellow plaid when Lou went uptown with
his best friend, also that time Glenn bump into Lou in the minimarket when
Lou is in a black and white plaid.

"I mean, Lou's primary style is this denim-jacket-with-hats thing. But I don't
have much jackets, so plaid's gonna have to do for now, he does wear a lot of
plaid...." Glenn whispers to himself as he puts on his shirt.

Too many unnecessary memories that Glenn doesn't even need to remember,
and he will get 1 more now that he's in campus. When he arrived, he still has
a few minutes before class starts, so he agreed to meet with Beth on the 2nd
floor of the minimarket. The minimarket has 2 floors, the first being the
minimarket, and the 2nd one is a Cafe. Glenn walks into the minimarket, then
he hear the frantic, excited voice behind him.

"Omigosh Glenn The Glorious! I just found the cutest thing!" Shouts Layla,
making small grooves around Glenn which causes him to grin. "What? Tell me
Lylalee!"
Layla shows Glenn her phone. It displays a screen capture that shows the list
of users who likes Layla's latest social post, which includes both Glenn and
Lou (and many other fellow college-goers). "This is clearly something!" Layla
says while grinning. On the list, Lou's profile is on top of Glenn's profile. The
list shows their profile pictures. Lou's profile pic is a picture of himself in his
black jacket, taken from behind, turning his head left. While Glenn's profile pic
is a picture of himself in his white jacket, taken from behind, turning his head
right.

"You both wear jackets with total opposite colors, he looks to the left while you
look to the right. If I edit it, it would look like you two are looking at each other."
Layla gasps because she forgot one thing. "Oh! And he's on top of you! I
mean his profile is, but still!"

Glenn stares at the pic for some seconds and start to grin really wide. "Is the
universe trying to tell us something?" Layla asks excitedly. "Let's hope so! But
this really gives me hope, too much hope."

"Oh no, I'm sorry that I gave you too much-"

"It's totally cool, Lylalee! You just made my day!"

"And then something happen in your class that would make your day even
more."

"Something like Lou suddenly joins my class or something? Yeah right, that's
totally gonna happen right!"

"Yeah totally, ninety-nine percent chance. Omigosh, it's three! I have to get to
class!"

"Go get 'Em tiger!"

"Go get 'Em glory!"

As Layla runs to her class, Glenn walks up to the Cafe since Beth is there
waiting with a different class schedule from Layla. Glenn pass by Lily-Anne on
the way up.

"Glennie!"

"Lily! You passed level 31 yet?"

"Not yet boo, but I think I figured what's the best ailment for the boss."

"And what's that?"

"It's rullowun, or yurromun, or something like that. You'd definitely remember

the name if you play. Come on, play the game Glennie! We can play
together!"

"I will, okay! I'll install them tonight."

Lily waves her hand before she walk out of the minimarket. As Glenn reaches
the 2nd floor, he spots Beth with her phone on her ear, signaling Glenn to sit
across her. "It's either her boss, her co-worker, her freelance client, her family,
or Chris who's on Beth's phone right now." Glenn guesses. "If neither of my
guesses are right, I guess fate just hate me so much. But no, wait! Me and
Lou, our profiles are next to each other's, ah! I see what you did there fate!
Are you on my side?"

Glenn's exciting curiosity must be paused when his friends, Rez and Ed, calls
his name.

"Yo, Glenn!"
"Oh! Rez! Ed!"

"Ball game on friday, Glenn?"

"I can't if it's at night, I'm watching Batgirl with Layla."

"Who's Layla?"

"I think that art kid, right, Glenn?"

"Uh huh, if it's on the afternoon then, I'm game pals!"

"You gonna play this time, Glenn?"

"Nah, I'm happy being the snackbringer and cheerleader."

"Snackbringer should be a thing, you should campaign it."

"You guys should help me make it a thing."

After a short conversation, Glenn walk over to Beth's table and sit across her,
just when she hangs up her phone.

"Hey, Glenn. Sorry I ask you to scoot over here, I should've set you free so
you can talk with everyone under this roof, which are obviously your friends."

"And I'm sorry, I should've not sit here and let you walk around here, make
new friends! Half of the people here right now are your friends anyway."

They both laugh. This Cafe always remind Glenn of his favorite moment from,
well, this Cafe!

2 YEARS AGO
Glenn's classes are finished for the day, not the case for Beth. It's break time,
Beth is in the campus cafe, chilling (definition of chilling= doing unfinished
homework which dues are close). Glenn found out that she's in the cafe. So
Glenn walk his way to the cafe so he and Beth could do their usual, telling
interesting stories from each others' classes, talking about how frustrating
Beth's office is, or talking about Skye.

Skye was the girl that Glenn had a huge crush on. In fact, a part of the stories
that he wanted to tell to Beth that day was about his conversations with Skye.
His conversation topic plans changed quick though, after he arrived on the
cafe. Beth is waving at Glenn to scoot over her table, sitting across Beth is
Lou, who turn his head to Glenn and smile nicely.

"Hey!" Glenn honestly didn't know what else to say, he didn't even say Lou's
or Beth's name. "Come on, sit over here!" Shout Beth, whose dozens of
assignments are stacked on their table. When Glenn walks closer to the table,
Lou pulls the seat beside him a little, offering Glenn to sit. As Glenn sits
beside Lou, a thought just occurred on Beth's mind. She points her finger at
Lou and Glenn, back and forth. "You two know each other right"

"Yeah!" Glenn and Lou answered at the same time. Beth quickly raised her
hands up. "I mean, of course! Who doesn't know Glenn!"

"Ow, it's not like that, Beth." Glenn tried to sound humble but he should've
went with the snarks! Lou likes the snarks! But then again there are a lot of
things Glenn (kinda) regret. Beth points at a flyer nearby her. "Is this discount
legit?"

"I'll ask." Glenn walks to the counter and talk to the barista. "Nick!"

"Hey Glenn, wassup."

"This discount thing legit?"

"Mondays only Glenn, sorry. But if you come by next Monday I can give you
double discounts."

"No, don't do that! But that's cute."

"I wonder if it'd work on Tara, though."

"Don't use that strategy on your crush, man! You'll lose profit! I'll put in some
good words for you to Tara's ears."

"Don't! Glenn, don't you dare!"

"No promises."

"Glenn!"

Glenn giggles as he walks back to Beth and Lou. He did a little dance when
he walk to the table, jumping around like he was excited to go there. He was
truly excited, but what's wrong is the dance moves. Glenn thinks none of them
liked the dance moves, because Lou just look at Glenn awkwardly and look
back on his phone. Glenn explain the discount situation. Beth growls. "Well, I
guess I'm not buying more today."

"Good for you, Beth. Too much caffeine isn't good." To be honest, Glenn
regret saying that. He just found out some years later that Lou is BIG on
coffee. But that time, Lou didn't budge, well not in a bad way. Lou smiles
nicely and turn to Glenn. "Didn't you go to high school with Lily?"

"Yeah Lou, but me and Nick go way back. We went to the same middle
school!"
"Oh, just like me and Jeanne? We went to high school, but..."

"Yeah pretty much! Speaking about Jeanne, I actually said to her yesterday, I
was like, Lou said you were an A-ranker on your high school and he's
surprised you chose this campus instead of some high-prestigious-over the
top campuses!"

"Glennie you did not!" Yep, Lou calls Glenn 'Glennie'. Only Lily-Anne, Skye,
and a handful of his daily-chatters calls him 'Glennie'. But even though Lou
doesn't chat with Glenn everyday, Glenn doesn't mind being called 'Glennie'
by him, actually Glenn loves it.

"I did! I did say all that!"

"Then what'd she say?"

"She was acting all humble, like, hehehe no I was just an A-ranker on my
class but not the whole school."

"Nah dude, she was A-ranker, on top of everyone!"

"I know! And I said Lou said you were the A-ranker on the whole school but
she was all hehehe no."

Lou chuckles and turn his eyes on Glenn's hair, which colors are transitioning
from black to red-ish brown because of sunburns. "You wanna be a redhead,
Glennie?"

"This is unplanned, bro. It just keeps getting red-er and red-er and honestly it
looks kinda cool. Maybe I should go full red, but not as bright as that guy's
red, what's his name again?"
"Rob?"

"Yeah, Rob!"

"Ha! Rob has the red-est redhead, even natural-born redheads are not as red
as he is."

Glenn chuckles with the widest smile he could make, it's a pretty natural
reaction, considering he really is excited right now but he try to hide it and play
it cool. After a few seconds, Lou's just looking around the cafe, eyes scattering
across the room. To break the silence, Glenn said something that he will
regret in the future because now he think he was too stiff.

"Classes done for today, Lou?"

"No, still got one more. Just waiting on Miss Pouty here." Lou nod his head to
point at Beth. Glenn grins and turn his head to Lou again.

"Why call her Miss Pouty?"

"Cause she pouts a lot, and the most obvious expression you'll see from
Beth's face on every situation is the pouty one." Lou's eyes turn to Beth when
he explains all of it, his right hand moving up and down on his chin, rubbing
his beard. Glenn watches as he try to not stare at Lou.

"Heh, interesting." Glenn chuckles. In the future, Glenn will regret saying that
because come on, 'interesting'!?

Beth sips the last portion of her coffee and pack her stuff into her art bag. "No
more buying means no more drawing here, might as well continue our
homework in class."
"Well, you can still chill here, right?" Glenn raises his hands and Lou follows
afterward.

"No, Glenn. I only go here when I need too much coffee, and I need too much
coffee when I'm under pressure. Well, too much anything, really."

"Oh kaay, also, isn't homework become classwork when you do it in class?"

Lou stands up as Beth finishes packing, but he moves his face closer to
Glenn's after hearing Glenn's question.

"Does questions become Gletions when Glenn's the one who asks them?"
Lou grins, small laughs follow his grin from his mouth. Glenn can't help but
grin really wide, and possibly blush in the process. He wasn't sure what to
say, so he just laugh at Lou's usual obnoxious joke, which Glenn enjoys very
much.

"Bye, Glennie." Lou says softly before walking out of the Cafe, with Beth who
just gave Glenn a hug, not far behind Lou. "Bye." Glenn says awkwardly
because, to be honest, he didn't want the conversation to end yet (despite
how terrible he managed it).

PRESENT DAY

Glenn try to not rewind his most favored memory from this Cafe as he looks at
a couple of Beth's sketches. Beth took 1 of her sketches and show it to Glenn.
"What do you think? They want me to make it look luxurious and modern,
how's this?" Beth shows a sketch of a bold-lettered 'F.U' with sharp edges,
making it look like a carved crystal. Glenn stares at the drawing and smile.

"Super cool, or should I say frickin' cool for the occassion. F.U? That's not
something Beth say everyday!"
"It's not THAT F.U, Glenn. It's actually this up and coming company with that
witty name, this is a shortage for Finance Urself."

"That's witty."

"What's also witty..." Beth makes a quote unquote sign with her index finger
and her middle finger, "...is this company, revising this logo four times, with
notes that contradict each revisions' notes."

"That's confusing. It's like that time when Donna Troy's origin is that she was
made of clay just like Wonder Woman, but then on Titans Rebirth, a future
version of her stated that she was actually a clone made to kill Wonder
Woman."

"I don't know who Donna Troy is, but sounds pretty much like this." Beth
shakes her sketch again. "Sounds like they're unsure of their brand and I have
to settle the image for them."

"Do you get a bonus for dealing with the brand image settlement?"

"Hopefully."

"If you don't, we might have to make a hashtag to campaign it."

"You start it, Glenn! Defend designers' lives! I actually made a different sketch
for the logo but I'm not sure if it's better." Beth turn her phone screen on and
look for a picture of her alternate sketch.

"The one in your social story yesterday?"

"Yes! Yes, that one."

"I think that one's super cool, Beth. It's just not..." Glenn stop mid-sentence
when he opened social and he saw Lou's newest story. Obviously he opened
it. It's a picture of Lou's newest skateboard, with a newly sprayed art picturing
a female anime character.

"Dammit! I should've never stop watching anime!"

"What? When's the last time you watched one?"

"Like, four years ago, on high school."

"What's the matter with 'should've never stop watching anime'?"

Glenn shows Lou's story on his phone. Beth raise one of her eyebrows.

"Whose skateboard is that?"

"It's Lou's!"

"That's Lou's account?"

"This is his art account, he made it like, last year."

Beth laughs. "Pfft! You're still that much of a simp for Lou."

"Yeah, sorry about th-"

Suddenly, Glenn received a text from Layla.

Layla : I'm inviting Lou to get ramen on Friday, before we watch Batgirl

Glenn : WHAT?
Layla : SO WE CAN GO TOGETHER! WITH GERALD TOO! SO WE CAN DO
LIKE A DOUBLE DATE OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT!

Glenn : OK WHA

Glenn quickly turns his face away from the phone to Beth, who's sipping her
coffee.

"Layla's getting Gerald, Lou, and me to go on a....a....."

"Double-date-like-shenanigan?"

"Yes!"

"Except none of you are dating each other."

"Exactly! Wait, what?"

Layla sent a new text to Glenn.

Layla : Oh man, Lou can't go, he has to help his family's booth at this event on
Friday

Glenn : Aw, well we can still go!

Layla : I think Gerald's in a bad mood

Glenn : Why?

Layla : idk, just what I thought, besides I don't want you to stand like a 3rd
wheel if we still go

Glenn : but we're all just friends!

Layla : I can feel 3rd wheel energy!

Glenn turns his face to Beth again, frowning.

"Plan's canceled, Lou can't go."

"Aw, so sad for you." Beth pats Glenn's shoulder. She make a small smile and
turn her eyes on the counter.

"Well, good thing is, it's Monday. Double discounts?"

"I don't like coffee, Bebe."

"But they have other drinks, plus I'm in a stress drawing spree, so I need at
least three more coffees."

Glenn raise his shoulders as he walk with Beth to the counter.

"Yo-ho, it's a student life for me!”