Keifer's POV:
I stepped inside the classroom, just to see Yuri. Perfect posture, legs stretched. Looking out the window.
"Morning." he said, giving me a barely-there smile.
"Morning." I repeated, sitting on my chair.
Ci-N came in, "DID APRIL COME? NOOO! I want to show her something.."
He held up a new anime poster, it was quite colourful. But, I don't know why April has obsession over animes, duh..
Maybe because of Yuri..
No matter how nonchalant she acts about her mom, I know that she just.. wants to get out of every minor inconvinience.
"Did she text you last night?" Yuri asked me.
No, she didn't. Of course, no texts means she slept. I even called her twice. She didn't take my calls.
What if..?
No, no. No Keifer. Nothing happened.
"She didn't text me too," Yuri added.
"She probably slept after our heavy lunch and dinner.."
Yuri didn't reply. Just nodded and smiled once.
The classroom door slid open.
April walked in as if nothing had ever happened.
Hair slightly damp and wild. Bag slung over one shoulder. Loud without trying.
She spotted us immediately. She smiled widely.
She stuck her tongue out at Yuri.
Just a little.
Right on cue.
"Good morning to you, too," Yuri said dryly, finally turning.
She grinned wider and looked at me. "Morning, Mr Sass Watson"
She stopped and looked at me, "Stop overthinking, your face does that.. weird thing."
"My face does nothing, thank you," I said.
Ci-N gasped and pounced onto April, mouth wide like he was waiting for this moment his whole life.
"ATE, LOOK AT THIS!"
He shoved the poster in her face. Ow, I felt it.
Her eyes lit up INSTANTLY.
"NO WAY," she whispered, eyes wide. "WHERE DID YOU GET THIS?"
Ci-N puffed up proudly. "Limited print. Last one."
She gasped dramatically. "I'm marrying this poster."
"You're not," Yuri said flatly.
She turned to him. "You're just jealous because I have a GREAT obsession with anime and you don't even though you're Japanese!."
"So, tomorrow is the marriage." April declared.
And of course, everyone half-heard it and said,
"APRIL-YURI MARRIAGE?" Jayjay exclaimed.
"CONGRATULATIONS, WE ARE GROOMSMEN!" Edrix shouted.
"Ah, it was yesterday when we were 15 years old and went camping. Marriage tomorrow already?" Calix cheered.
"YAYYY! FREE FOOD!"
"Shuuttt up!!!" April shouted, "I'M MARRYING THIS POSTER! NOT HIM!"
'Duh's filled the room. Everyone was rolling their eyes, some muttering, "No free food?"
"I thought we could dance!"
"Dayum.."
Yuri took April's hand and pulled her into her seat.
"Sit down."
But April? She was not the kind to. She took her chair, faced it opposite Yuri and sat.
"OOOOOOH, IT IS HAPPENING.."
Everyone started howling, some cheered, and some rolled their eyes at this cheesy moment.
"Personal space," he said.
"You love me," she replied instantly.
I snorted.
She peeked at me from the corner of her eye. "You too."
She kicked my foot. Not playful-playful. Grounding.
Yuri looked between us. "You didn't reply last night."
Her smile softened. Just a bit.
"I slept," she said. Honest. No drama. "Like… actually slept."
That was enough.
I felt something unclench in my chest.
She leaned forward again, serious now. "I'm okay. Before either of you starts doing that silent-brooding thing."
"We don't brood," Yuri said.
"You do," she shot back. "Quietly. Like mysterious old men."
I raised a brow. "Old?"
She grinned. "Emotionally."
Then she reached out, one hand on Yuri's arm and another on mine.
"Thank you," she said quietly. Not loud. Not theatrical. Just for us.
Yuri nodded once.
I shrugged like it didn't hit hard.
Ci-N cleared his throat loudly. "So… group hug or are we pretending we're normal today?"
April laughed.
Real this time.
She sat back, chair scraping softly, confidence back in place.
"Normal's boring," she said.
The bell rang.
Sir Alvin entered the classroom, and everyone settled in their places.
He took a deep breath, then gave us an announcement.
"CLASS! You have the festival coming up in one week!"
"HVIS FESTIVAL?!" April screeched, excitement crystal clear.
"WE'RE IN?" Ci-N joined in whatever she did.
April started jumping with Ci-N. Everyone cheered.
"Setil down, na! Sit down, sit down!" Sir Alvin shouted.
"Oh. Sorry-" April sat down like a child who's been told to shut the hell up at the best moment of her life.
"So.. Section E, you will maintain night duties.."
"Ghost hunting?" April whispered.
"Night duties." Sir Alvin corrected.
And then? He started his lecture!
April tore a paper from her notebook and split it into 4, she wrote the same lines on the four pieces of paper and gave one to me, one to Yuri, Ci-N and Jay.
Wow, ah.
I looked at the paper, and her usual handwriting was NEAT. And this one was rubbish..
She wrote, ''So.. if we're handling night duties, does that mean we're gonna blast music?"
Her obsession with music and speakers.. oh my god.
Yuri was the first one to write back. "Pay attention to class."
"Yes, we're gonna dance, aah!
-Ci-NNN"
"FUNNN!!!
-jay"
I didn't reply.
She looked at me madly, betrayal in her face.
Then, class passed by and the bell rang.
LATER:
We were at lunch, and April was sitting near Yuri. Her leg was on top of his.
"EMAN! Since when do YOU make lunch?" April questioned.
"Ay, since Jayjay and Section E came to work at our restaurant?"
"Oh? So the ever-lazy Section E worked. Good job, but I'm sure you would've scared some customers off-"
"Oo, so we decided to make lunch at school! You know, the day before yesterday (chaos day) at the grocery shop? We were shopping for our class na."
"Oooooo..." April murmured something we didn't catch.
We were all munching our food peacefully.
"Groups for festival, class president?" Yuri asked me, smirking.
Ah.. yes.
"Alright, listen up."
I announced the groups. Everyone cheered, because of course. The groups were the same as always.