Marilyn almost screamed as two blue blobs suddenly appeared on her window. She placed a hand over her mouth and sucked in a breath, sliding backwards toward her bed. Her eyes widened with terror as one of the blue blobs moved up and the face of an old man same into perspective.
His hair was grey and thin enough to flutter with the gusts of wind surrounding the fourth floor. His thick brows were widened to maintain a pleasant face while the rest of his facial muscles were busy restraining the mobile phone lodged horizontally in his mouth.
The phone's screen showcased moving text which read: 'Hello Ms. Keynes, I am Antonio, Young Master Ryker's personal guard. I am here to help you in his stead. Please open the window!'
His earnest dark eyes did not confess that his hands and mouth were quivering with strain. Marilyn hastened towards the window the and unbolted it. The glass door swung open on its hinges with Antonio clutching to it for dear life. A small thump virated through the window frame as it reached the end of its movement arc. Antonio pushed himself up enough to place a foot over the window pane.
Marilyn held onto his legs as Antonio detached himself from the glass and toppled inside the room as silently as a lizard. With his face smashed against the floor, Antonio realised that he was not paid enough for this. Never.
"Are you okay?" Marilyn whispered, sitting in front of Antonio's crashed body with her hands circled around her legs.
"Mhm mistress, I used the vaccum adhesion paddles developed by Cordelio R&D, very handy," Antonio wiggled the blue blob hand glove in Marilyn's face.
Skeptically, Marilyn's face contoured into partial confusion and partial fear. "Would I have to use that to get down?" She asked, unsure.
"It's quite easy," Antonio whispered back as he stood up, "And you've got help!" He leaned back to look out of the window and snapped his fingers twice.
Within seconds, another human being landed into her room. She was a girl sharing an uncanny resemblance with Marilyn. Lean frame, blonde hair, sharp features and blue eyes.
"The Cordelios are indomitable at stealth missions," Antonio whispered as the girl curtsied Marilyn. "You can rest assured and have fun," He took off the gloves and patted Marilyn's back, "Just wear them, stick them to your wall and go down one hand at a time."
"He... he...he..." Marilyn laughed awkwardly as she took the gloves from Antonio and slipped them on. He tightened its grip around her wrists and Marilyn was sure that if she somehow did not die from falling off the fourth floor then blood cut-off would surely be it.
"Go on then," Antonio patted Marilyn's back, "And you, help yourself with one of Ms. Keynes' outfits," he instructed the Marilyn-lookalike, "I'm here to supervise until the mission ends," he declared to no one in particular. Then, his eyes caught sight of Marilyn's bare feet and instantly, he offered the look-alike's shoes to her, "Please wear them or you shall hurt yourself."
"Ah, thank you," Marilyn smiled and took the pair of shoes.
Marilyn took a good moment to reconsider. She weighed her pros and cons. The pros of staying at home outweighed the cons by a resounding number but the weighed clutched her heartstrings and dragged them down. Further deeper into misery.
Staying at home would be peaceful, safe, kind to herself and though she would be sad for a day or two, she could totally recover in a month.
Yet, Marilyn found her feet climbing over the windowpane. She felt fear as the gloves stuck to the wall and suspended her four stories into the air. She wouldn't have to deal with disappointed faces, ear bleeding lectures and possible thrashing if she stayed at home. Yet, Marilyn felt her left hand unstick from over her head and stuck it on the wall near her waist.
Going would only cause troubles and anxiety.
She unstuck her right hand and placed it lower than the left one.
But she would be doing something for her friends. All her life, Marilyn had been doing things for herself which her parents had instructed. This time she wanted to do something for her friends as well. This is what she owed Nadia, afterall.
"Why is young master suddenly helping this lady out? Wasn't he always by Nadia's side?" Marilyn-lookalike asked in a whisper as she changed her clothes.
"He's helping her out so she doesn't disappoint Nadia," Antonio clarified in a strict tone.
The girl giggled which earned her a glare from Antonio. "Young Master is so loyal and cute," she cooed in hushed whispers.
"Are you done poking your nose in Cordelio matters?! Now lie down, tsk," Antonio spat through gritted teeth.
Marilyn's feet reached the ground and she unstuck the gloves from the wall. Ryker finally got out of the bushes and walked up to her, wearing an expression of obvious annoyance.
"I almost gave birth," he tsked, "Come along now, my car is parked two blocks down the street," he informed and asked her to follow.
Marilyn grabbed one end of the glove strap by her lips and loosened it to gain back circulation. She physically felt blood rush into her left hand and gasped in relief.
"I never knew you would be so mission-impossible with it," Marilyn snapped after regaining life in her left hand.
"It's the Cordelio way. Do you think we half-ass anything?" Ryker scoffed.
"I finksomewun hafassed wuv wif you—" Marilyn said with the right glove strap in between her lips.
Ryker stopped in his tracks and turned to glare at Marilyn. "Evil, Keynes, evil," he mumbled, shook his head in disappointment and turned to walk ahead.
"Struck a cord, didn't I?" Marilyn tsked, a small proud smile made its way to her full lips.
They strolled down the streets with Ryker walking two steps ahead of Marilyn. There was no pressure to share words or make up for the crickets chirping in between them. They simply existed in eachother's presence without the obligation to look good, try hard or pick the perfect words.
The night was lively as always and the drive to the shopping centre was equally silent as a chauffeur drove the car, Ryker looked out of the window and Marilyn made a list of items to buy on his phone. They bickered a bit over the colour of decorations — for Marilyn wanted to go full Dark Academia and Ryker prefered more birthday-core bling — but thankfully they had money enough to satisfy both their needs.
The drive to the ranger shelter was peaceful again as they both looked out of the windows on their sides, simply existing without breathing in eachother's directions.
Though, as Marilyn stepped foot inside the Ranger Shelter transformed Secret Hangout Spot, she squealed at the size of her creative canvas and instantly began shooting ideas.
"Okay let's do blue for that wall and green for that. They're our theme colours—"
"What do you mean theme colours?! Bernie's favourite colour is yellow, Keynes, he's a Hufflepuff through and through!" Ryker protested. "Yellow and black would be the theme and—"
"Yellow and Black?!" Marilyn scoffed, "Are we planning a party for bumblebee?"
Ryker clutched his chest dramatically, "I shall iterate it, word to word, to Nadia and Bernie. They must know the sort of person you are," he gasped.
"Bumblebees are cute okay?! Don't look down on them you racist man," Marilyn grumbled and snatched the other packet of decorations from his hand and dumped both the packets on the centre table.
"Hey! That's mine!" Ryker exclaimed and pulled the packet towards himself.
"But I am putting forth a vision! Co-operate, will you?!" Marilyn grumbled and dragged it back.
"Not with my decorations, you aren't! And make sure to pay me back first thing in the morning!" Ryker snapped and swatted the packet away from her grasp.
"I will pay for both of them," Marilyn scoffed and agressively clawed the packet from Ryker. Her attempt was met with resistance from Ryker's slightly muscular arms. Nonetheless, she tried her best to pull the packet closer, clenching her teeth in concerntration when—
BAM!
The packet burst open, the jar of golden glitter fell on the ground and the young duo was bombed by a weapon so deadly, the after-effects of it would be seen by generations to come.
They burst into coughs, instantly withdrawing their grasp from the packet — which made it drop to the ground with a loud plop and spew out all the decorations.
The glitter flew everywhere the duo tried to evade it; every nook and cranny of their existence was now plauged by the tangible memory of how Ryker and Marilyn did not get along. At all.
The glitter was on the TV, in the TV, on the couch, in the crevices between the couch, in the utensils by the stove, on the firewood, in the other packet and on all their clothes and walls.
"Why did you even buy a jar full of glitter you jojo siwa wannabe princess?!!" Marilyn screamed, coughing glitter out of her mouth.
"It was for the transparent balloons you dumb shit!! Now look what you've done!" Ryker screamed as well.
"Me?! Is this MY fault?!" Marilyn screamed even louder.
"Then was it me with my long-ass grabby nails clawing the packet out of your grasp?!" Ryker seethed.
Then, more chaos ensued as two glitter laden bodies jumped over eachother with vegence in their eyes.
Halfway on the other side of the town, perched on top of the kitchen counter, Nadia wondered how the decorations must be going. She was surrounded by charred, burnt and hardened blocks of round cake. Her feets swayed to and fro as she waited for a chance at redemption, currently glowing inside the oven. Her eyes remained unmoving from the wannabe-cake, noticing every little rise and fall of the caged batter.
Her phone rang in her room but Nadia was too focused on the cake to bother to pick it up.
"Why did you not pick up your phone?!" Ryker growled the next morning as he stood at her door.
Nadia's brows rose primarily in surprise and partially in confusion. Ryker looked like Ryker, yes, but that morning, there was something oddly red about him. His hair was still wet, uncombed and standing over his head. His wide forehead, his long nosebridge, his sharp cheekbones, his thin lips and his sharp jaw — all of them were oozing redness.
"Did you have an allergic reaction to something?" Nadia replied with a question of her own, frowing at the state of him.
It wasn't until Ryker raised his hand to run his fingers through his wet hair did Nadia spot the shiny glitter in his nailbeds.
"Did you paint your nails?" Nadia asked, amusement brightening up her eyes.
"Shut up," Ryker grumbled and slung his hand over her shoulders, "Your friend is a bitch. Do not let me see her again. Do you have everything?"
"Friend? Who? Marie? What did she do? Force to paint your nails? Also, she sits right in front of you," Nadia snorted then shouted, "Goodbye mumma, I'm leaving!"
"Goodbye auntie! See you at school!" Ryker shouted as well and closed the door behind Nadia, somehow leaving glitter on the doorknob.
"Did something happen yesterday?" Nadia asked as they walked.
"Don't ask, I am still traumatised," Ryker sobbed dramatically, "Are we surprising him with the party afterschool?"
Nadia shrugged and nodded, "Yeah, that's the plan. Is Marie okay?"
Ryker pursed his lips in a line and uttered, "Thriving."
Bernie spotted Ryker and Nadia rounding the corner but stopped himself from calling them out as he witnessed Nadia staring inside Ryker's mouth in the middle of the street. A loud snort escaped him as Nadia scrunched her face, pointing at something inside Ryker's mouth. Then, she grabbed Ryker by his nape and lowered him down to her eye-level. She leaned into his neck and peeked under the front and back of the collar.
"They're so in love." Francesca's words echoed inside Bernie's head. Instantly, his eyes widened and feet gained momentum. He sped forward and called out, "Good morning!!" With extraordinary vigour and wedged himself in between the two. He locked his arms with Ryker on his right and Nadia on his left and skipped forward, dragging the surprised duo in tow.
"What's with the early morning affection?" Nadia snorted and caught up to Bernie's pace.
"It's a beautiful day," Bernie shrugged, "What about you all? What were you doing last night? We didn't hangout at all!" He asked, switching attention from one avoidant face to another.
"I just ran and stuff, went back home, yeah, got tired I guess? It was too sunny yesterday, don't you think? It's better today." Ryker tried sounding nonchalant but failed. His words came out choppy owning to being caught off guard.
"Mhm, I was developing a new recipe," Nadia grinned.
Bernie frowned at that. Nadia never gave one lined answers for anything unless she was restraining information or making it up. Everyone and their dogs knew Nadia to be a blabbermouth. On the contrary, Ryker never overexplained anything.
"You're hiding something from me," Bernie stated coldly, glaring at the two. Betrayal flashed in his eyes as he unlatched their hands.
"What! Hiding? Not at all!" Nadia gasped and clung back to Bernie.
"Yeah, why would we be hiding anything? And from you, of all people? Ha, that's just so funny!" Ryker forced out dry laughs which cued an eye-roll from Bernie.
Were Ryker and Nadia in love and hanging out without him? Bernie wondered. What would happen if Nadia and Ryker were to fall in love? He'd be left alone, for starters. He'd have to pick sides for when they fight, and they would fight a lot — who would he choose? Nadia? He knows she will always be there for him...but Nadia would have Marilyn on her side as well and Ryker would end up alone. He has no friends....does it mean he would choose Ryker? But Nadia would feel so betrayed! But it made most sense! What if they break up and he has to choose only one? What then? No. No. No. No. No.
For the sake of his mental peace, Nadia and Ryker could not fall in love. Bernie would make sure of it.
But wouldn't it be so selfish of him? Yes, it surely would be. If Nadia and Ryker are sad, he'd end up being sad as well. He wouldn't want to see his best friends all sad and mopey... right?
Bernie pulled at his hair as he stomped forward, slowly but steadily slipping into a dilemma.
"What's wrong with him?" Ryker whispered as he eyed Bernie shaking his head and talking to himself.
"I dunno, maybe lost in some new drama?" Nadia suggested as they speed-walked to catch up with Bernie's mad sprint.
"Are you okay?" Ryker asked Bernie as they walked side by side.
"Oh-ho! I am brilliant! Never better! I am shining like a star!" Bernie exclaimed, eyes widened to unnatural degrees.
"Mhm, of course," Ryker nodded and patted his head. "Do you want some icecream?" He asked as they passed Mr. Henry's shop.
"NO!" Bernie snapped and walked ahead.
"Do you think he's mad at us for forgetting his birthday?" Ryker asked Nadia as they loitered a few steps behind a stomping Bernie.
"Bold of you to assume he remembers his birthday," Nadia snorted.
The duo chuckled, alerting Bernie's senses. Nadia and Ryker were giggling together. Walking behind him, not with him. There was nothing new or wrong about their closeness — but, Bernie couldn't pin-point what — they were hiding something from him. It couldn't be anything else but their undying love for eachother. It made sense. He was being left out, naturally.
Ryker and him were worlds apart. If Nadia steps into Ryker's world, Bernie would be left alone at the bottom. The future would only make them busier and estranged. Bernie's breathing hastened as he placed a hand on his thundering heart.
"It's okay," he whispered to himself, patting his chest, "It's fine, it'll be fine, we still have time. Four whole years of high-school. Anything can happen. It's okay, I—uh, I will, I—" he couldn't reach a conclusion. He felt his gut drop and weakness overtake him. Consequently his steps dragged so much so that Nadi and Ryker caught up to him.
Bernie felt back walking in between. Being the third-wheel. Hindering their romance. Being a burden.
Yes.
All he would end up being is a burden to those around him.
"Oh my look what I have!" Nadia took out an unfrosted cupcake from her bag and pressed it to Bernie's mouth. "Eat it and tell me how is it?!" She asked, eyeing him with expectations. Her eyes did not change in the way she looked at him.
The warmth is the gaze felt familiar. Bernie wanted to hangout onto it. Instinctively, he bit into the cupcake held over his mouth. He took a bite and tried chewing on the hard crumbs but his eyes crossed as soon as the citrus flavour hit him.
"Uaaagh, what is it?! Ah, ew, umm, ah, what the heck is this?!" Bernie gagged, swiftly brought out of his head and into the present.
Nadia cringed at his reaction.
"Is it that bad?" Ryker wondered and leaned in to take a bite. He too, convlused with all of his body and soul. "What is that demonic concoction? Who sold it to you, Nadia, you fool, you were properly scammed!!" Ryker exclaimed, holding onto Bernie for spiritual support after injesting that.
"It's gonna make us sick alright," Bernie concluded, unintentionally crossing his hands around Ryker for support.
They leaned into eachother, gagged and sympathised all the while Nadia grumbled and walked away, shouting, "Never talk to me again you nitwits!"