Trish fixed her hair and lost herself in the bathroom
mirror.
“Am I beautiful?” she
asked in a hesitant voice as if it might answer her.
“Of course you are,” her
friend, Ali, rested a hand on her shoulder.
“That new girl is not as nearly as
beautiful as you. You shouldn’t
worry so much about her. She looks way too young for our grade anyway – the
chances that Caine would give her any attention are slim.”
“You’re
wrong,” she looked down into the basin and
washed her hands for a third time. “She’s small
and cute. Caine will probably protect her like a little sister. Don’t
you remember? He did that with little Andrew too.”
“Andrew, the kid in the wheelchair?”
“Yes, that one.”
“Why don’t we
befriend her then?”
Trish looked at her in shock.
“Just imagine,” Ali
protested. “We
might get on his good side again.”
Trish thought about it for a while. “That
might work, but what if she declines?”
“No one would decline our friendship. Everyone admires us!”
“I miss him, Ali.”
“You must forget him and move on,”
another girl joined them from one of the stalls. She was younger than them and
had read hair; her name
was Victoria. She wasn’t
their friend, but she always lifted her opinion wherever and to whomever –
even if it would mean the end of her.
“Who are you?” Ali
pulled a face at the girl.
“Doesn’t
matter,” Vicki smiled warmly, fiddling with the
tap. “Getting over heartbreaks are difficult,
but you need to let them go. By them,
I mean the emotions – the chemistry; the
hatred; the jealousy. It would only hold you down and keep you from noticing
the people that really care about you.”
“Why you little – ”
“Leave her, Ali.”
Trish grabbed her friend by the wrist and allowed Vicki to dash out the door.
Vicki smirked. She made her way to the lockers, but when she
reached hers it was drenched in orange jelly.
“Not again,” she
sighed and took out her books as if the jelly was non-existent. They just want a reaction, she thought. They’ll
leave me alone once they get none – I
hope. She paced towards her next class.
***
Milu was nervous. Despite the fact that she did a charisma
class a few years ago along with multiple dance and vocal classes, she never
had to act in front of an
audience. Acting was like lying about who you are. With that
thought, her stomach dropped. I’m sure I’ll ace this class,
she thought bitterly.
“All right, on your feet!
Our first scenario is a breakup. Caine, you’re the boyfriend. Vicki, you’re the
girlfriend. Richard, you’re Vicki’s admirer. Milu, you’re Vicki’s best friend.
Travis, you’re Caine’s best friend. And I think that’s all. Correct me if I’m
wrong. Someone!”
“Sir, I’m still here,” a
brown-haired boy walked up to the teacher with a hopeful expression.
“You can be the tree,”
the teacher said, shoving a bunch of paperwork in his hands and giving him a
whistle.
“The tree looks an awful
lot like the director,” someone said.
“Ha!” the teacher laughed
and clapped his hands, “All right people. Think for a while, Tony will be your adviser,”
he pointed to the tree-boy, “and improvise! I’m giving you five minutes to put
something together.”
“Aiite,” Tony said,
calling the group together. “Any suggestions why you two broke up?” he looked
at the redhead and at Caine.
“She stole my wallet,”
Caine joked, causing everyone to laugh.
“It’s a misunderstanding!”
Vicki protested with a new idea. “Richard Photoshopped some photos so that it
seemed as if we were having an affair. Caine can be the stubborn, unreasonable
boyfriend, and I can be a wreck.”
There was a slight
silence as everyone contemplated it.
“Time’s up!” the teacher
clapped his enormous hands together and leaned back in his chair. The students
scurried around to get to the positions they thought would be most suitable.
There was excitement and anxiety in the air.
“And action!” Tony
commanded. Vicki was sitting on the floor in the center, crying in Milu’s arms.
Milu was surprised and slightly taken aback when she noticed Vicki’s cheeks
were really wet.
“Vicki!” Caine came into
the scene, closely followed by his wing-man, Travis. “How could you go behind my
back like that? Again! After everything I did for you!” His voice was filled
with anger and regret. Milu hugged Vicki tighter and uttered a protective “go
away”.
“No, I won’t. I want to
talk with Vicki. You can go, you’re not needed here.”
“Oh? Then how come you
have backup with you?” Milu gestured at Travis, stood up with Vicki and held
her hand sportively.
“Hey, at least I’m not
defending the wrong-doer!” Travis yelled. His anger seemed to be out of control
as he stepped forward threateningly.
“You’re delusional, the
both of you,” Milu said, slightly agitated. Travis could barely resist from
bursting out in laughter.
“Cut!”
All of them directed
their eyes to the teacher, surprised.
“Milu, what are you
doing?”
“I’m protecting my
friend, sir,” she replied, confused and ignorant.
“You are too soft!
Perhaps that is what you are – the victim,” he thought aloud. Milu gasped.
“Vicki, this time you’re
the best friend. Caine, be a bit gentler so nobody would be compelled to resume
a failed defensive position. Milu, just be the sad girlfriend now, okay? Try
not to mess it up this time.”
“Action!”
Milu looked at her shoes,
pulling her knees to her chest. Vicki placed an arm around her and talked
softly, “Are you okay?”
She nodded, then raised
her shoulders, and then finally shook her head in admittance.
“How could you do this to
me, Milu?” a voice came from above, but it wasn’t as aggressive as before.
She opened her mouth to
say something, but nothing came out, so she closed it again and looked away.
“Why don’t you go run and
play with your friends, Caine. She doesn’t need you picking on her right now,”
Vicki came to her rescue. Caine seemed surprised at her reaction and crouched
beside them to look her straight in the eye, “I just want to talk with her.
Travis picked Vicki up
without much effort and carried her elsewhere, causing Tony and the teacher to
laugh. She tried to resist him until he pressed a finger to her lips, silencing
her with one gaze. It was as if she melted.
“Milu,” Caine said,
reaching for her. She fell over, appalled at how close he was.
“Caine,” she said as if
beyond tears, “if you don’t trust me, I don’t know why we’re still talking.”
They stood up in unison.
Caine had a shocked expression on his face and seemed more hurt than ever. He
was a good actor – a good liar.
“If you knew me as you
thought you did, you wouldn’t accuse me of cheating on you,” she started, then
frowned slightly before continuing. “If you were as smart as you think you are,
you would have noticed that the photos are edited.”
This ticked him off.
“Aaaaahhhhhgggg!” Richard
stormed into the scene and tackled Caine to the ground. They threw mock punches
for a while, leaving Milu to stand alone, covering her mouth. When they were
both standing, steadying themselves for the next round, Milu approached.
“You!” Richard roared,”
You will never have her, you jerk!”
Milu slapped Richard on
his cheek – the sound echoed through the room. He grabbed for his reddened
face, scolding her, but backing away slowly. Then, she walked up to Caine and
rested the same hand on his cheek. He smiled down at her affectionately, as if
he won her over again. Without a warning, she flicked his nose.
“Babuya!” Milu scolded
and turned to leave with Vicki.
The bell rang and
everyone grabbed their stuff and started to head out.
“Hold on!” the teacher
stopped them, “Remember everyone was just acting, people! No need to go hate eachother
now.” He was probably referring to Milu and Richard more than anyone else.
“What does babuya mean?” It was Vicki.
“It’s Korean for you’re stupid,” came the reply.
“You’ve never been in
love, have you?”
Milu shook her head. “I
haven’t. To be honest, I’m not really sure what love is or what it’s supposed
to be.”
Objective Prologue © Copyrighted by Angelique
Roux
