Elixir whistled while he played on his phone. As time passed by, he started to get bored with his game. He stood up and went outside to get some fresh air. He paused at the door to put on his jacket.
The cold air brushed through Elixir's face; he enjoyed watching the scenery in front of him, people enjoying each other's company, and the smell of the street foods, all that with the music blasting from his headphones. He smiled and thought, "This would be better if I was with senior." A bright idea came to him. Elixir was almost skipping while walking to Helios' dorm.
The thin walls of the dorm let all the sound of chatter out for outsiders to hear, but it didn't seem to faze Elixir, for all he could take in was the beating of his heart. [I must be tired. My heart's beating faster than usual.]
He felt his heartbeat with his hands. And slowly took deep breaths. He fixed his posture and faced the door, "Andrew, stop it!"
Elixir stopped his hand before he could even knock. [It's senior.] He thought. A smile crept onto his face, "Why? Do you get shy when you hear Aron's name? Aron, Aron, Aron." Andrew continued to tease Helios.
"You are acting like a child!" Helios blushed. He and Andrew keep circling around the table; Helios always misses Andrew.
"Stop it, Andrew, you're not funny!" Andrew continued to laugh and tease Helios.
Elixir started to walk away. [Senior seems busy. I'll just ask him for a walk next time.]
Loud noise from people talking mixed with the cars annoyed Elixir, smoke from the street foods covering the place, and the harsh wind. Everything is annoying, even the music he's listening to. [The weather's getting bad, I should go.]
Elixir pulled off his earphones; he walked on the busy street back to his dorm.
[I have nothing else to do] Elixir looked at Jaden's direction; Jaden was still playing some video game.
"Hey, I'll play with you on the next round," said Elixir.
"No-can-do, bro. I'm playing with someone," Elixir went closer to Jaden.
"There's literally just the two of you; the room ain't even close to full." Jaden rolled his eyes,
"Are you dense or what? Just let me have this." Elixir flopped back to his bed. Elixir's phone started ringing; with a groan, he lazily picked it up.
"What do you want?"
"You busy?" Alexandra asked.
"No, why?"
"Senior Aron asked the principal if we could go use the club room today since the competition is coming up, and she said yes. So now senior told me to call everyone." Alexandra explained.
"Yeah, sure, I'm on my way." Elixir once again stood up and up on his jacket.
"I'll be gone for a while; don't look for me," Elixir slammed the door behind him.
When Elixir arrived at the club room, Helios, Aron, Alexandra, and Olivia were already there. Elixir looked at Helios- his body started to move towards him.
[I'll just go to senior for now.] As Elixir was walking towards Helios, Helios stood up and went to Aron. Elixir stopped in his tracks and went to Alexandra instead.
He sat by her on the edge of the stage. "Wow, you only really come to me when you have no choice, huh?"
"What are you talking about? No, I don't," Elixir said with a laugh. Alexandra hit him on his shoulder,
"Yeah, you do!" Elixir laughed, and then his eyes landed on Helios also, laughing but with Aron.
"Bro, now you ain't even listening to me!" For a moment, Elixir stopped- he let out a little chuckle.
Alexandra and Elixir continued to laugh and talk to each other till everyone arrived.
"Good, everyone's here. Let's start. We don't have time to lose." Aron said as he slowly got up using his thighs as a support. He clapped his hands together. With that cue, Elixir started to play his drums signaling the others to start. As they played, Elixir kept glancing at Helios. The sweat dripping down Helios' forehead, the small smile that formed on his face as he played his bass. Elixir saw it all. He smiled to himself till he got sucked into the emotion of the song, playing his heart out while looking at his senior from time to time.
Helios smiled, his head swaying up and down; it was almost his favorite part. He looked at Aron one last time. Everyone stopped as Olivia played her guitar. She looked at Helios smiling, releasing all the power she can to her instrument, he smiled back and gave her a nod of agreement.
It was already dark. Aron checked the clock on the top center of the wall in front of them; it was 8pm. "Let's wrap it up." They started to clean up and get ready to go home. Elixir went up to Helios.
"Did I do good earlier, senior?" He said with a smile.
"You were... ok." Elixir pouted
"Then, do you have any notes for me?" Elixir asked with a smile, slowly getting close to Helios.
"Hey guys, you're all invited to a sleepover at Drake's house," JB yelled standing proudly on stage before being pulled down and hit by Drake on the back of his head.
"When did I fucking agree to this?" he whispered.
"Earlier... When we were talking~" JB responded with a big smile on his face
"I never did, you mother fucker," Drake whisper-yelled to him.
"I don't recall you disagreeing though~,"
"And I don't recall agreeing either,"
"I'm down!" Alexandra butted in,
"OH! Me too," said Olivia
"Nah, not going. I experienced enough sleepovers with both of you." Maria said already booking her taxi.
"But it's different we're all going!" JB sulked
"Not me," she answered
"I'm buying snacks."
"Sold, okay, I'm going," she said canceling her ride
"Nice. How about you, Elixir?"
"I'll go." Elixir looked at Helios who just finished fixing up his things and was now tidying up his bag.
"I can't; I'm too busy," Helios said ready to leave.
"Aww~ Come on, senior, it would be fun!" Elixir said.
"I'm not interested."
"Please, senior!" Elixir said, looking at him with his puppy eyes
"I already said no." Helios went straight for the door, not wanting to hear any more of it. But before Elixir could stop him, Aron was already holding Helios' arm.
"Come on, Helios. What could you be possibly doing on a Saturday night? Have fun with us for a bit. Besides, it wouldn't be fun if 1 of us is missing." Helios looked at him for a bit before looking down.
"Fine."
"Are you all just going to my house without me agreeing?!" Drake yelled as they all went out. Elixir fell behind walking slower compared to everyone else, just observing Helios and Aron walking together. [They're really close...] he thought, feeling a weird feeling in his stomach. [I might just have a tummy ache]
"What should we get?" Asked JB
"There's a good meat bun place near the school. Senior likes it there." Elixir answered
"We could just buy some frozen ones in the store. So, we could buy everything at once." Aron suggested.
They all arrived at the store, "Grab anything that you want. I'll pay for it," JB announced as they split up. Drake sighed
"You should be more careful with your money."
"I am." JB took a pushcart and pulled Drake with him.
"You spend way too much."
"I just like spending money on you- look, French fries. Let's get two packs. Let's get BBQ flavor powder. That's your fav, right?"
"Yeah."
"Okay, let's go look for more snacks that you like~."
"You're not getting any more flavors?"
"Is there any more that you like?"
"Nah, I'm good."
"Then no. Can you push the cart for me? I'm tired~" Drake rolled his eyes
"Fine, just stop talking like that. It's annoying." Drake took the cart as JB smirked before putting his hands on Drake's shoulders and pushing him too.
"I don't know what I should get. I don't want to eat anything but at the same time, I want to eat everything." Olivia slouched as she pushed their cart. While Maria puts anything she wants in it.
"If you can't choose, just get everything; JB's the one paying anyway." She said as she threw in another pack of chips.
"If JB's so rich, why is he in our crappy ass school? Like there's even a school that has a good music program near their house." Alexandra said
"Yeah, I also wondered about that," added Olivia as she stood straight suddenly, having a lot of energy.
"Du'nu, he said something about following his heart of some shit like that." Maria shrugged.
"Our cart's full; let's go get a basket to put below it." Alexandra pointed out.
Helios smiled while occasionally accidentally bumping into Aron as they talked, or in better words, he stayed silent as he listened to Aron talk.
[The fuck?] Elixir looked the other way; he almost rolled his eyes but managed not to.
"I'm glad we all are doing this now. But to be honest, I would have preferred if we-"
"Hey guys, we still haven't got anything in our cart yet." Elixir interrupted Aron. [ He's been talking an awful lot today]
"Oh yeah. I forgot about that." He laughed; Helios had an obvious frown on his face now.
"How about we get some pork buns since Helios likes them so much," Aron said, already walking to the frozen aisle. Elixir finally rolled his eyes.
Helios smiled a bit
"You remembered." Helios said under his breath, barely making any sound but still enough for Elixir to hear. [Really? You're amazed by that? You didn't say anything when I did.]
Elixir walked past Helios and Aron on his way to the frozen aisle. He started to fill up the cart with many pork buns, all that he could find. "Are you sure we can eat all of those?" asked Aron
"I'll eat it all by myself," replied Elixir with a harsh tone
"O... kay...?" Elixir started to walk away from them once again and move fast. Trying to look for JB and Drake. He walked around the grocery store, but his mind didn't seem to be there,
"Hey, be careful!" A voice echoed; Elixir almost hit someone with the cart.
"Sorry- Oh, Olivia, It's you" Elixir smiled
"Hey. Where's Aron and Helios?" She asked
"What the fuck?!" Another voice echoed around the store
"It's Drake and JB!" Olivia pointed out
"JB's not paying for all of that." The three girls and Elixir looked at their carts overflowing with snacks and pork buns, then looked at Drake and JB's cart that is almost empty only containing two packs of French fries and a flavoring powder.
"But why~? I can afford it." Claimed JB
"Didn't we just talk about saving your money?"
"Why would I save some when I would still have enough till we both get old~? Besides, it's my father that is paying, not me. So technically, I'm saving my money by spending my dad's money."
"What? NO!" once again, Drake's voice echoed around the store.
"Sir, please keep your voice down." Said one of the staff
"I'm sorry..." Drake said as his face turned red before punching JB
"What did I do?"
"This is all your fault," Drake said before returning his composure.
"What's happening?" Aron said finally, catching up to the group with Helios.
"Anyway, we're just going to use one cart. Pick some of those in your cart and Elixir, you could only get three packs max. Then put those extra things back to where you got them."
Elixir looked at his cart and smiled in embarrassment. "Yeah, I don't know what gotten on my mind." He took two packs of pork buns and placed them on Drake and JB's cart.
"Acting like a mom today, huh?" Teased Maria
"Shut up."
They all picked something and placed it on the cart, "Aww, I really want to taste those snacks," Olivia pouted.
"Okay, we'll pay now; put those things back." Drake pushed the cart to the registry.
"I'll take that; it's heavy now." JB took the cart from Drake
"Hey guys, I'll come with you." Said Aron, trying to catch up to them.
[What is wrong with me today? Everything seems to be annoying me.] Elixir started to place back the cart full of pork buns he had taken earlier.
"You look like a stupid worker." Elixir looked beside him; it was Helios. A smile crept to his face.
"Senior, you're here?"
"Yeah, so?"
"Want to help me?"
"No, just here to watch you."
"Then I hope you enjoy the show, senior." Elixir smiled as he continued to put the basket full of meat buns in the freezer and stood there in silence with Helios.
They all arrived at Drake's house, "Come in, Dad is not here, but Mom will be right back. She just went out to buy some food." Drake said, inviting everyone in.
"You should have told us. We could have just bought dinner on our way here," Aron said as he took off his shoes.
"She was out before you all decided to come here."
"Your dad is out again? Why?" JB asked while closing the door
"Same old thing." Drake sat down on the sofa
"So, what are we going to do here?" Alexandra asked
"Well, we could cook all the things we've brought," Maria said
"I'll cook the fries!" exclaimed JB, already running to the kitchen carrying the two bags of fries in both hands. Everyone followed right behind him after. JB turned on the stove, placed a big pot, and filled it halfway with oil.
Elixir placed his own pot filled with water beside JB's.
"We also have some frozen pizza," Maria said, pulling out three pizzas from the box.
"Here are some pizza pans," Alexandra gave her the pizza pan. They both started to stuff the pizzas in the oven below the stove to cook it before standing, feeling proud of their work. Maria wiped off the sweat from her face.
"Do you think that's too hot?" Maria asked Alexandra
"Nah, we did what the instruction said. We did great."
"You're probably right- something just doesn't feel right, you know?"
"Nah"
Elixir started to steam all the meat buns while Olivia cooked all the noodles on the upper part of the stove. "You guys sure that it's a good idea to use all of those at once?" Aron asked,
"Yeah, it's making this weird noise..." added Drake
"Really? Doesn't it always make that sound?" Said JB, moving away from it, and so did the others. They all stood there for a minute till the stove stopped making noises; then Alexandra talked.
"See, we're fine-" The stove exploded, not enough to burn the house but enough to destroy itself. They all just stood there in shock.
"WHAT THE FUCK?" Drake exclaimed. JB quickly ran to the circuit breaker and turned off the power.
"Go get the fire distinguisher too!" said Drake.
"Shit, we're going to die!" Maria said panicking with everyone running around the room.
"Shouldn't have come to this fucking sleepover!" Maria exclaimed again JB came back with the fire distinguisher, killing off the fire
"You good?" he said, holding on to Drake's cheeks. Drake slapped them off him.
"Who is responsible for this?!" He said, looking at JB
"Not me this time. I was cooking the normal way."
"Me too!" said Elixir
"Us too!" said Alexandra,
"Yeah, at exactly 425 degrees!" added Maria
"At what?!" Drake said
"We only followed the instructions!" Alexandra looked around and saw one box. She picked it up and gave it to Drake.
"Fahrenheit! It says Fahrenheit, the oven is on Celsius!" Drake said, pointing at the bot again and again. The door slammed open, and Drake's mom barged in.
"What happened here?"
"She's going to kill me," Drake murmured.
"It was me!" JB raised his hand and tried to walk towards her before tripping on his own feet.
They all sat on the sidewalk eating just after they explained to Drake's mom what happened. The firefighters and responders came right after she called 911.
She sighed, "Well, I'm glad that all of you are fine. But you Mr. are not allowed to have anyone over anymore!" She sighed once again
"Oh, just thinking of all the expenses, and where we all are going to sleep? since we are not allowed to go back in makes my head hurt." Maria, and Alexandra scooted away and looked down at their food.
"Don't worry, Auntie. Since it was my fault, I'll just pay for all the damage, and we could sleep at home," JB said, trying to cheer up Drake's mom.
"Really, JB? Thank you, you really are such a nice kid."
"This shit is creeping me out, you guys sure that's JB?" Maria said whispering
"Yeah, it's so weird. He is so... responsible?" Elixir said
"Let's just be thankful, he is the one who responded so quick earlier," Aron whispered back
"I'll call our driver; he'll be here any minute." JB smiled
All of their faces turned white as if they had seen a ghost. "Why is JB acting like that? Did he bump his head earlier?" Olivia whispered to Drake.
"Nah, he's just like that sometimes. Usually around my parents." Drake rested his head on his knees.
"He's like one of those angel kids. I could even see a halo forming around his head," Alexandra added.
Soon, a Van stopped in front of them. "Sir." The driver said, bowing down to JB. He opened the car door in front to let JB in, "Drake, sit with me!" he said, pulling Drake in with him.
"We won't fit! Let go of me!" Drake kicked JB off him. The driver seemed tired of it while trying to stop them from hurting each other with Drake's mom.
"Drake! How could you kick JB? Say sorry right now!" She said as she pulled Drake's ear.
"I won't!" He said, trying to break free.
"Auntie, why don't you just sit in front, and I'll sit beside my friends," JB said, smiling.
"You sure? Oh, I feel so ashamed." Drake's mom covered her mouth with her hands.
"Please just go inside." The driver sighed.
"Woh, I didn't think that this car could fit us all," Elixir said. Helios sat on the back; Elixir saw it and sat right beside him.
"You've been so quiet, senior."
"I didn't have any reason to talk," Helios rested his head on the window
"Are you tired?"
"Of course I am. Have you not seen the shit that happened earlier?"
"You seemed so relaxed though; you were just standing there, frowning at us." Elixir smiled; he waited for Helios to respond but after not talking for a while Elixir looked at his senior's face.
"You really must have been tiered; the window's hard and uncomfortable though." Elixir slowly took Helios' head and let it rest on his shoulders.