Chapter 14: The Committee
Theo
"So you snapped?" Mika asked me.
We were at her house, discussing what just went down
I shoved a potato chip into my mouth. "Yes! I don't think I've been that mad for a long time."
She frowned, plopping down on her bed. "Yeah, I'd understand. You don't say that to someone with no absolute reason."
"Right?!" I agreed.
"Hopefully her reason is understandable. You're putting effort, time, money and possibly your health for running president. Hopefully you thought of that before you accepted."
I sighed, looking out the bedroom window. "Of course, running for president is actually one of my dreams. Not like it will change my life but it's in my bucket list. I know my wit and determination is enough for it. I just need help and support."
Mika grabbed my shoulder and squeezing it reassuringly. "That's what we are here for, Theo. We've been bestfriends since 4th grade."
I smiled at her, hugging her tightly. She was right. All of my life, not all of my goals were supported by my family. And the sad thing is those goals were the goals I was most passionate about, becoming a writer, becoming a singer, hell, even an actor, and being a fashion designer.
My mom was a little hesitant to give me money for the fabric, and the materials for the dress I wanted to make. So instead, it was my sister who helped me. And mom was the one who handled the sewing machine. Although she didn't understood it, she accepted it wholeheartedly.
What she wanted for me was to become a business manager. She wants me to become my own boss, to be self employed. But I do understand that perspective.
We didn't grow up rich.
Sometimes she's guilty she wasn't able to give us a good life growing up. But it didn't matter, we might not have a lot of money but we were full of love, as sappy as it sounds, but I'm stating the facts. We were together, through everything. Even if my dad wasn't involved.
I'm a person that understands and reasons two sides. So I understood her intention with what she wants us to become. I'm gonna fulfill her dream, but in a different way.
Thankfully, the lack of support from her, I get from my friends. They help me, maybe even more that I help them. They've became a family.
Mika smiled at me. "Want some cupcakes? My dad made some."
A smile crept into my face. "Hell yeah." I said.
She jumped up and down, exiting the room and I followed her with a laugh.
...
Wednesday
After class.
I'm walking across the gym after talking to some of the homecoming committee members, I managed to join to help plan the dance, since it's only three weeks before the homecoming.
Many of kids in the committee are there just because they were serving detention, so I expected to do more work than expected. The only reason I joined is to build an image... well not the only reason but setting up a dance sounds hella fun and I'd be able to build a trust.
We planned the concept of the homecoming event. I mostly focused on the homecoming dance rather than the game. The themes and stuff and unexpectedly, all of the students participated and gave good ideas. We also painted some banners for the parade and managed to come up with decent themes.
Break came very quickly.
I scanned the paper where the ideas were listed, propping my left foot on a chair as I drank some water.
A girl with brown hair approached me which made me look at her expectantly.
"Are you Theodore Willshire?" She asked.
I plastered on a smile. "Yes, I am! Can I help you with something?" I asked.
"Well, I'm a member of the committee too." She informed and I nodded, she extended a hand. "Rhea, Rhea Anderson"
I took her hand and she shook it with very little force. "Nice to meet you." I said.
I scanned her, she had a pink, off shoulder, A-line dress. Despite of the loose skirt, I could still tell she had an hourglass body by how small her waist is. Her brown vibrant waves on one shoulder. She's definitely rich judging by her Louis Vuitton purse and diamond earrings.
"What section are you?" I asked.
"C3." She said.
I nodded, remembering it before turning back to the paper. Goth, Fairytale, Gala--
"So... You're a part of Hunter and Reign's little squad?" Rhea suddenly said.
I looked up at her again. "No. But they are my friends." I said with a slight smile.
"Oh. Well, you're quite lucky. I've been trying to befriend at least one of them. No luck." She said with a sad smile.
My eyebrow shot up in surprise. She seems like the girl that's friends with everyone. And she seems hella rich, not that it matters anyway.
"Aw, well if you want, I can introduce you to them." I offered and that's when she genuinely smiled.
"Really? Thank you!" She suddenly hugged me.
My eyes widened as I hesitantly patted her back and then she eventually pulled away.
"I'll help the others. See you later!" She said with a wave. I waved back, confused.
The hell was that.
...
"So, what happened?" Reign suddenly appeared which scared the masculinity out of me.
"What the hell, Reign! You scared me." I said, rubbing my chest slowly, breathing heavily.
I was the last to go home because I was handling the last things that needed to be done. It was almost 5 PM.
"Well?" She stared at me, waiting for me to drop the deets.
"It went well. I did initiate a lot. We're already at the props, we've decided to go for Vampires." I grinned.
Reign rolled her eyes, but I saw the smile she tried to hide. "Well not only that. The first week of September. The school organizes a competition. It's all about wit and thing like that. Not facts, remember, intelligence is solely focused on how you think not what you know." She reminded.
The way she spoke. It's familiar. "You sound so much like my cousin, Mal." I said.
She raised an eyebrow at me, the side of her mouth quirking upward. "They must've been a wise person then." She said.
I rolled my eyes. "Well? Anything else?" I asked, fiddling with the strap of my bag.
She shook her head wordlessly. I was about to walk away when she stopped me. "There's actually one more." She said as she released her hold on my forearm.
"What is it?"
She bit the inside of her cheek, slightly shifting her weight on her feet. "Hunter's birthday is next week. It may not be about the elections but since you... you know what I mean." She gave up trying, delivering her message clearly.
"Yeah, yeah, I know." I said. "It's whatever." And I added.
She smiled knowingly. "Well, remember when I made you sing in my party? I did that to create you an image. You're the cool fashionable guy that's really good at singing. You could do the same at Hunter's party. And let me tell you, he throws bomb-ass parties. This is your chance to strengthen that reputation."
I pondered over what she just said. "You have a point. Okay, how do I do that?"
She smiled. "I'll handle it."
Before she could walk away, I spoke. "Hey, are you okay with me liking your... boyfriend?" I asked quietly.
She patted my shoulder. "It's fine. As long as..." She stopped speaking. "Just don't worry about it." She ruffled my hair before walking away.
What is with people and why do they keep ruffling my hair?
...
"What the hell do you think you're doing? You just literally walked into her trap!" Athena said, looking at me like I did the most unforgivable, mouth-hanging, life-changing, bubble-popping, head-snapping, glass-breaking, fart-popping crime ever.
"I mean, of course I've thought about that, but she seems genuine about it. She wouldn't tell me the reasons yet. I'm still waiting for that." I didn't even think about that she might just be messing with me and will embarrass me in front of the whole school.
But, that's also the thing, I didn't think about it, my gut says it's not a trap. Usually, my gut is right anyway, not that I'd know, I never followed it.
Athena sighed. "It's your choice, Willshire. But don't come crying to me at 3 AM when I'm right." She said which made me look at her, innocence in my eyes. "Okay, you can come crying to me but please, Theo. Think about this."
I nodded. "I will."
I locked my knees, my hand reveling the feeling of the grass beneath me. We were hanging out by the oak tree.
Mika and Wei were watching K-drama on their phone. I never understood the hype of Korean drama. A lot of people love it so much, some I know lack sleep because of it. Some are not even eating. What's so different between K-drama and normal drama? Is it the actors. I swear, some people only idolizes celebrities because of their looks, and not their ability to perform a beautiful act.
I'm not generalizing it. But people would reevaluate if they have that kind of outlook into choosing people they idolize, but then it's not that serious, as long as they enjoy it.
I looked to the my left where Cielo is, again, smiling down his phone.
I swear to god.
This boy rarely even hangs out with us anymore. Not that we don't have a problem but we do. He so invested in his phone to the point he sometimes doesn't do his homeworks anymore. And he's very studious! I don't know if it's even Diana he's texting but damn. He needs to get his shit together.
"You guys up for a movie marathon later? I found this really good horror, Antrum." I offered and they all agreed of course except for Cielo. Well, because he didn't answer at all. "CIELO." I screamed, my voice echoing.
He fumbled to catch his phone. He looked at me, furrowed brows. "What the hell, Theo?"
"Are you even listening?" I asked him.
"Yes!" He said, scratching his head in frustration as he went back on his phone.
I looked at the girls. I gave them a knowing look. "So a boy beat me up today." I casually said.
I looked over to Cielo to find him still on his phone. I didn't want to take his phone away from him, 'Cause that's just horrible. He suddenly stood up.
"I've got to go, I'm meeting someone." He said, slinging his backpack over his shoulder. I crumpled a piece of paper and threw it at his retreating figure, but then poorly missing. I eventually picked it up, because conscience told me.
After school, we went to my house to watch Antrum.
...
Our petty little asses decided we will not talk to Cielo unless it was absolutely necessary.
It was lunch, we sat at the table nearest to the window. The moment we sat down, we didn't talk, we just ate our food. The table was so silent I had the urge to scream.
Thankfully I didn't because we would've been a laughing-stock.
And then finally...
Cielo turned off his phone, staring at the four of us, on our phones. I saw it at the corner of my eyes.
"What are you guys doing?" He spoke, no one answered. I sighed loudly, laughing at literally nothing. "I'm confused, you are all real quiet."
Ya think?
Again, no one answered. He sighed. Staying silent for a while. "If this is about me being too much invested at my phone... I'm sorry." And that's when I looked up at him, eyes squinted.
"Oh, so you say that now?" Wei said in a sassy tone, crossing her arms over her chest.
"Yeah, we're your favorite people in the world, your bestfriends!" Mika said enthusiastically.
I looked at the four of them as they made their point before giving Cielo a long serious look "Cielo. It's fine that you go on dates, and talk to girls, or whatever. But don't you think you're too caught up in it? You're not even spending time with us anymore. You're missing out on school works!"
He sighed again, staying silent for a while before meeting my eyes. "I... I think I'm in love."
My eyebrows shot up in surprise. "Are you serious? You're using the word love just because you're infatuated with someone? You don't even know her that much! Obviously, your definition of love is different."
"I don't know." He sighed in defeat. He laid his chin on both of his palms as his eyes fluttered close.
I ended up putting my arms around his shoulder, calming his tensed body. "It's fine, okay? Just fix your time management. If you need help, tell us. And don't use the word 'love' if you don't mean it." I reminded him.
He put his hand over mine. "Thank you."
I looked at the rest of my friends.
Wei grabbed Cielo's other hand. "Yeah! We'll kick asses!" We all turned to stare at her. "What? It's what hip people say."
Cielo didn't touch his phone for the rest of the day. Well not really, but only when necessary. He opened up to us about Diana. Of course we threw advice here, advice there. We didn't want him to be hurt.
If only he actually follows our advices.