"MEI!" Mei heard a loud voice approaching her from behind. She turned and saw Sydney who just entered the office. "What happened?! You called me last night but you just started crying over the phone for 30 minutes and I think you fell asleep." Sydney asked while holding both of Mei's hands. "Oh yeah, I did that. It was nothing Sydney, I was just tired." Mei answered with stuffy eyes.
"Oh, you can't lie to me, Mei." She sits at Mei's table. "I have never seen you cry that hard ever. You get shot down in interviews or get stuck on a story and you don't shed a single tear. You call me up in one night and start crying then say there's nothing wrong? C'mon Mei, you can tell me." Sydney fired up the puppy dog eyes and whimpering noises.
"Ok ok! Fine, just please stop that." Mei waved her hands in front of Sydney. Sydney settles down on her table and listens intently to Mei recapping the events of the night before. As Mei told the story, her face suggested that she wanted to cry some more but it seemed as though she was all cried out. When she finished, Sydney sat closer and put one arm over her.
"HOW COULD I JUST EXPLODE MY FEELINGS LIKE THAT?! I was so selfish, Syd. I didn't even give him a chance to explain further." She covered her face with her hand."But at the same time, I'm so angry at what he said. He can't tell me? Haven't we been friends for long enough?" Her voice changed to a furious tone. Mei kept shifting from regretful to angry as she continued to talk to Sydney who couldn't get a word in.
"Hey, what's going on here?" Rikki enters the office and approaches the girls. "You look horrible, well more than usual. What happened?" He asked Mei between sips of his coffee cup. Mei composed herself and went to fix herself in the mirror, her expression unchanged.
"What is wrong with you?" Sydney looks up at Rikki. "Oh, this was a serious conversation?" Sydney squints her eyes deeper at Rikki before standing following after Mei, not before giving Rikki an irritated shrug. Rikki stood there, his coat flowing from the wind coming from an open window. He began to think of what possibly could cause Mei to behave like that. "Dammit, it's got to be him." He takes the last sip of his coffee before throwing it away as he only ever drank coffee for show then exited the building.
Rikki walked towards the campus gates. There was the same guard every day checking everyone's bags as they went in, though he inspected them was questionable. He sat down on the bench right beside the guards' booth. He told the guard that he was waiting for someone multiple times as the guard was hard at hearing given his age. Students started coming in groups and others in cars. Rikki sat at the other end of the bench to avoid the tires splashing mud everywhere. He spent 10 minutes waiting, his arm arched over his knee and the other holding a phone reading angry texts from Sydney.
"Damn, it's this serious huh? What the hell did he do?" Rikki asked himself. A second later, Isaac came running past the gates. The muddy road caused him to slip. He hugged his bag and braced for impact when suddenly he stopped mid-fall. He opened his eyes and saw that Rikki had caught him.
"My hero!" Isaac yelled in a princess-like voice with bright eyes directed towards Rikki.
"Gross." Rikki let Isaac fall a few more inches before catching him again. "Not funny!" Isaac yelled again. "C'mon dude, I wouldn't let your clothes get dirty. Plus the splash would get my new shoes dirty." Rikki laughed as Isaac looked around. "Uhm… People are getting the wrong idea." Rikki finally noticed the number of students staring at them and taking pictures. "Yeah, let's go."
The two walk a few paces away towards one of the gazebos. They picked the one with a few people inside as well and the plants and trees covered much of the whole gazebo. Isaac sat down and checked some paperwork inside folders and envelopes. Rikki was unsurprised at first, he knew Isaac was a hard worker when it comes to his studies.
"So much for the life of a med student huh?" Isaac did not seem to notice Rikki's remark. Then, Isaac glossed over an envelope that seemed to have medical bills and x-ray scans. This caught Rikki's attention.
"So about Mei…" Isaac stopped fiddling with papers for a second but continued after a second.
"Isaac, what happened between the two of you?" Rikki asked as Isaac finally set aside his papers.
"It's nothing. We just had a misunderstanding is all" Isaac stood up and started walking outside the gazebo. Rikki sighed in frustration then followed. They walked the stone pathway side by side. Rikki hid his hands in his coat pockets when a strong breeze hit. Isaac stared blankly towards the distance.
"I forgot how quiet you were without Mei around," Rikki said to break the silence.
"Oh, my bad. I just… I had a lot to think about these past few months." Isaac answered.
"Could one of those thoughts be about Mei?" They stopped by the railings overlooking the large field.
"Remember the first time we met? Back in the first year when Sydney asked Mei to hang out and somehow I got dragged into it." They both laughed as they recalled the miserable freshman Rikki who was behind in his modules but was forced to go on a night out. "I told them I wouldn't go unless there was another guy, knowing Sydney I didn't think she'd find one. But then her friend Mei happened to know a guy." Rikki added.
"Yeah. Mei called me and said that she wanted to help her friend with the guy she was into– I mean she was into getting some guy friends." Isaac tried to salvage what he could from his slip-up.
"Relax dude, you guys were pretty obvious at the time." Isaac lets out a sigh of relief.
"They wanted to go clubbing but we ended up hanging out at your fancy apartment," Isaac said, still looking over the field. The festival was still going on. The volume of people seemed to have increased since they started letting outsiders in to boost sales.
"Yeah, we played video games, drank a lot, then ate some snacks that were really, really not good for us. My bathroom was never the same afterward." They shared a laugh.
"But I got to admit, I never knew Sydney and Mei were so competitive. When we played Plumber Kart, they were always vying for first or second place while we just had strolls at the back." Rikki said as they both painted in their heads two predators competing against each other.
"And man I have never seen someone go down after just one drink. Is that why you're working in a coffee house instead of a bar?" Rikki asked, followed by changes in Isaac's facial expression to a somber one.
"Did Mei tell you?" Isaac asked.
"No, she told Sydney then Syd told me. Figured I could piece together what happened on your end. Ended up just laughing with you though." Rikki smirked.
Isaac shook his head with an amused smile. Talking with friends like this was not something he had been doing lately. He missed hanging out with everyone but couldn't say it. It was a soft moment of reprise that Isaac was unfamiliar with but caused a warm feeling in his heart.
"Hey! You Rikki from the paper club?" A guy with a larger physique than the two approached from behind, accompanied by other people of equal stature.
"Yeah, What do you want?" Rikki responded while pinching Isaac from behind, signaling him that the guys in front were in trouble.
"You see, one of your people made a story about my team, accusing us of using 'illegal substances.' And since I couldn't find whoever made that story, I thought I'd go to the boss man directly." He said, cracking his knuckles as he somehow grew even more towering from both of their perspectives.
"Oh, that! You're lucky you got off easy with that one. Truth be told, I think you guys should've been expelled." Rikki fired back, Isaac was surprised with his resolve despite his shaky hands hidden behind his back. "But that's why wealthy families exist, yeah? No matter what you do you just throw a little money and all your problems go away." This further enraged the group as they drew closer to them.
"Look over there! Professor Chakwas without a top!" The group immediately turned to see an empty pathway. They looked back but Isaac and Rikki were already some ways off towards the field. This didn't stop the group from chasing after them.
'What's your idea now Rikki?!" Isaac shouted between huffs.
"Well maybe running, some more running, and top it off with an ice cream over there by the stand!" Rikki jokingly said as he knocked down several obstacles to slow down their pursuers. "Sorry about that! The paper club will pay you back!"
The chase lasted for an hour with the two losing the group behind the abandoned studio hall. Rikki served as a lookout while the both of them struggled to catch their breath.
"See? Wasn't that fun? Rikki said in between breaths.
"I don't see how almost dying from a stampede of roided up jocks counts as fun, but it was an experience." Isaac managed a smile despite being exhausted.
"Then mission accomplished. You looked pretty bummed earlier man, figured you needed some excitement to liven you up." Rikki stammered. Isaac wondered whether this was thought out by Rikki. He was the type of person who could read your emotions even if the face said the opposite and Isaac was no exception. Though Rikki never knew what to do about these things, he would concoct the craziest ideas that would get the job done if they lived through it.
"Hey, Rikki. Thanks." Isaac said, still bent over wheezing from the run. He raised his fist and pointed it to Rikki.
"Anytime brother," Rikki responded by pumping his fist with Isaac's.
They shared what could only be described as a laugh between two elderly turtles after being spun around in their shells.
'Hey Rikki, you think they're still there?" Isaac asked.
"I think they'd wait for us to come back, why do you ask?" Rikki questioned as they started walking out of the abandoned building.
"I left my papers at the gazebo. And I kind of need to pass a few papers by lunchtime." To which Rikki replied with a solid,
"Fuck. And fuck them rich kids."