It was noisier than usual on campus. Preparations were being made for the final blowout these students would have. Some were shouting in excitement, others annoyed at the work required to put up the extravagant designs, stands, and scheduled events. But each person wanted the same thing. Make the last day of their youth as memorable as possible, and leave no regrets as they enter society.
"Oy! The banner's crooked! And you! Who said you could put that there? Where the hell is Rikki?!" Sydney's shouting as she bossed everyone around somehow relieved the anxious feeling everybody had.
"I swear, I leave him with something to do and this is how it turns out. Get those speakers up and running! Any quieter and people would think we're a home for the aged."
"Geez Syd what's with all the shouting. Thought this was supposed to be a happy send-off." Rikki, who appeared to have just woken up, stammered to Sydney's side.
"YOU! WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?!"
"Just got some shut-eye over by that tree. You know I don't like sleeping late so I gotta get well rested for tonight's soirée."
"There ain't gonna be a soirée after I kill you for not doing your job well!"
'Come on, it was your fault I was up all night."
"Just WHAT do you mean by that?" Sydney's eye twitched.
"My back's still sore after your display on the bed last night."
Onlookers and gossipers sharply turned their heads at the sound of a juicy story.
"WHAT?!" Sydney yelled.
"Listen, I'm sorry if I don't have the endurance of a horse like you. I couldn't keep up and that's why you're upset, right? I'll make it up to you tonight, how about that?"
Everyone stopped and leaned closer to the two. Fellow journalists started taking notes, others took pictures. What else could be expected from a club of story-hungry teens?
"STOP! I WAS JUST EXCITED ABOUT THE FESTIVAL! YOU'RE MAKING IT SOUND WEIRD!"
'Weird? What's weird was how you were playing with your toys last night. Never knew a girl who had that many weird things hidden away in her room. Oh, are you upset because I broke the long one? I'll get it replaced, I promise."
Sydney's face was red with embarrassment. The audience gasped and gawked, feeding at each of the club manager's words.
"YOU BROKE MY PRICELESS SWORD REPLICA?!"
"Oh, you didn't know? Hehe, then forget what I said."
"Oh no! Come here! " Sydney grabbed him by the collar and dragged him inside the paper club building into his office. She locked the door and closed the windows. All anyone could get out of the conversation was the sound of furniture breaking and their manager calling out for help.
Minutes later Sydney walked out of the room. She gave a bright proper smile and asked everyone to politely get back to preparing the decorations. Upon her leaving, they checked the room and saw that pretty much everything had been broken. Including their manager who was rolled up in the hammock, he had for his room.
"So, how're we doing on the decor?" Rikki struggled to ask as the hammock spun the other way, freeing him from his fabric prison
The audience groaned in response.
~~~
"Uhhhh! Soooooo good!" Mei who had always escaped decorations duty had been indulging herself with the food from the stands. She had already gone through the majority of what the festival had to offer in terms of food.
"Yeah, this is better than putting up decorations. I wish the others were here though."
Briefly, a memory of Isaac's cooking flashed in her mind.
"If he put up a stand, it'd be sold out in seconds." Mei thought to herself.
She expected Isaac to be here already after he promised but there was no sign of him.
"Right, all the food's gonna be gone by the time he arrives. I'll make sure to save him some from each stand!" Mei was then taken by the scent of tempura and kebabs straight from the grill.
"That is if I don't eat it all before he gets here."
Mei tiptoed her way to each stand, purchasing one of each specialty while only eating some of what she bought. A tug from her collar stopped her in her tracks.
"And just where do you think you're going?" Mei who was now on the ground looked up to see a fiery demon staring down at her.
"Syd?! I was just… You know… Checking the competition! We got to know how the other stands are doing if we hope to gain an edge… Right?"
Her desperate attempts at excuses fell short as Sydney carried her over her shoulder straight back to the paper club. The defeated Mei shed tears of sorrow as the distance from the food stands grew.
"Oh calm down, you have plenty of food here in your bag," Sydney said as she took a bite at some of them.
"Are you eating them?! They're for Isaac!"
"Awww, how sweet of you! If you hadn't skipped on decor duty I might've let you off with that excuse you know."
They returned to the building, Rikki who had recovered despite the much-deserved thrashing he got earlier seemed to have completed his assigned tasks.
"See? All you needed was a good smack or two and you became a real manager!"
"Yeah, all I needed was someone to boss me around! But you've always been such a neat freak with me haven't you?" Rikki said with a proper smile.
"What did you say?" Sydney turned away from the building and looked at Rikki.
"I mean, it all worked out in the end, right? You have a knack for this kind of stuff, don't you?"
Mei's eyes propped up. Sydney walked slowly to Rikki, with each step digging into the ground.
"What? Are you angry again? That's so like you."
Mei started shivering and praying for Rikki's soul. Sydney's last step brought her at arm's length of Rikki.
"Do… Do you really mean that?" Sydney asked as she stared at the ground.
"Every. Single. Word."
Sydney raised her fist, ready to plunge directly into Rikki. It moved with extreme force and anger but landed on his chest softly, a subtle thud as it hit. She turned away, about to burst into tears. Her eyes widened when the sound of confetti poppers to her left and right filled her ears as strips of paper fell on her. She looked back at the paper building and saw people she knew from the club were looking out the window while carrying words that spelled out…
HAPPY ANNIVERSARY SYD!
Mei walked up and handed her a long object wrapped up in a ribbon. Sydney opened the wrapper and saw that it was the sword from her favorite show, the one she thought was already broken.
"I saw the one you already had was worn and damaged. So I saved up some extra money and got you a new one." Rikki said.
Sydney turned around to face him and found a bouquet straight at her face.
"Happy anniversary, Syd."
Sydney seemed to be on the brink of tears before taking the replica sword and smacking Rikki with it on his head.
"How could you?! After saying all those things… You do this and… And…"
Rikki took her in his arms and hugged her tight.
"Well, how else was I supposed to distract you. Mei was supposed to keep you busy longer but I guess it didn't work out."
Mei apologized for her failure.
"But... But you said you meant every single word." Sydney said crying into Rikki's shirt.
"I did. And it's true. But all of those things are why I love you, Syd. I wouldn't be myself without you. From all your shouting and bossing me around to the calm and sweet you that I saw every night. I love every bit of you."
Sydney looked up and pressed her lips together with Rikki into a deep kiss. Everyone around them cheered at the display. Mei clapped her hands together and sighed in relief after realizing Sydney had not killed Rikki for his plan.
"Oh and don't worry about getting me anything. I've got this whole thing planned for us over the weekend." Rikki said with Sydney still in his arms.
"What? I had stuff planned for us too! And… Well…"
"Well, what?"
"I kind of got you something too."
"Yo, what'd I miss?" Isaac walked up to the confetti-filled gathering.
"Isaac?! I didn't expect you until much earlier." Mei said.
"Oh, I had a special delivery today for Sydney."
Rikki and Mei were both confused. Isaac took the medium-sized canvas from his back and gave it to Sydney.
"Here…" Sydney said with her face red as a beet as she handed it to Rikki.
He removed the knots and saw that it was a painting of them from what he could recall was their first date. He remembered the exact picture they took of that moment by the bridge was lost over time.
"Woah! This is some great painting, Isaac. But how did you do this without any reference?"
"Hmm? Oh, I didn't make that."
Rikki looking confused again slowly gazed at Sydney who was nervously looking away.
"Sydney? But how did you.."
"I've been asking Isaac for some lessons on how to paint. You were really upset that I lost that picture of our first date so I thought I'd you know… Replicate it."
Rikki took Sydney into another kiss to her surprise. Mei blushed as she looked away with Isaac having a plain smile on his face having seen this type of affection between the two multiple times in the last few weeks.
Holding each of their gifts with one hand and locking hands with the other, they went back into the building to tidy things up.
"Hey, I saved you some food," Mei said as she gestured to her bag.
"Ohhh! This is what I've been smelling! Mmmmmmm! The texture on the tempura is just perfect, but the kebabs could've used more time on the grill."
Mei laughed at the sight of Isaac stuffing himself with food.
"Wanna go back and buy out all the stands?" Mei asked.
"Right behind you."