Liam

“Oh shit.”

“Thank god I decided to come to school today.”

I looked up from my maths’ notebook, my gaze falling near the windows where everyone was trying to see something happening outside. I shook my head in disbelief. They probably saw an aeroplane flying or someone trying to propose to someone.

“Hey, isn’t that Sho?” A boy asked his friend.

Turns out I was dead wrong.

Dead wrong.

I immediately closed my notebook, rushing towards the window as I made my way through the crowd. What I didn’t expect was to get immediately greeted by something unique. The sight was somewhat breath-taking. 

Many balloons filled with helium floated in the air as the words ‘Summer Vacation Finally Begins!’ was written on a banner, still attached to the ground as the rest of the balloons floated up in the air. One by one, more balloons came up, replacing the others who were now invisible in the sky.

Sho stood in the middle of the ground, with a group of boys, filling the balloons with helium gas as they let them escape into the air.

“Sho! What are you doing?!” I shouted from above, immediately catching her attention as she smiled towards me.

“Liam! What do you think?” She laughed, looking at the balloons as they disappeared into the blue sky. “A wonderful way of starting our summer vacations!” Immediately, her smile disappeared as she was greeted by none other than our P.E. Teacher.

He held her hand, dragging her probably towards the principal’s office. She looked at the students, who watched the balloons from their respective classrooms. She threw a wink with a peace sign as everyone cheered at her actions.

This idiot is really going to get her ass kicked by the principal.

“Thank you for watching Sho Frey’s special show! Happy Summer Vacations to everyone!”

“Liam, did you see those balloons floating in the sky?” Oliver spoke in excitement as I nodded my head. “Damn it, I really wish I could have properly seen them. Actually, we were having our special classes when it happened. You should have seen Mr. James’s face. It was hilarious.”

“Just like your marks.” Yuna remarked as he stood beside me.

“You—” Oliver immediately lunged on him, throwing a strong punch to the face as Yuna stumbled a bit.

Yuna didn’t hold back, immediately throwing a punch back to her. Oliver fell backwards, crashing on the floor as she suppressed a groan. I knew that I had promised myself to not interfere in their little ‘exchange’, but I couldn’t help but throw a short glare at Yuna.

“Are you okay?” Oliver held her cheek, looking up at me as she took my hand. She got up, dusting her skirt. “Damn, that punch was powerful.”

Yuna held her hand, pulling her close as he bent down to her right ear. “Try to hit me without a proper reason, I won’t hold back.” His grip tightened on her hand. I opened my mouth to speak, but got cut off by Oliver.

“As if you ever really needed a reason to hate me.” She yanked her hand from his grip. Both of them glared at each other, the dark aura between them growing thicker as each second passed by.

“You’re right. Your face is enough to make me hate you.” Yuna’s eyes darkened as he walked away.

“That—” I rested my hand on Oliver’s shoulder, my grip tightening a bit.

“Enough. You already got one hit on him.” I turned her towards me as I observed her face. “Why do you both always fight with each other?” I caressed her cheek with my thumb as Oliver continued to stare at me.

“Did something happen between you and Yuna?” I withdrew my hand, ruffling her hair as she let out an annoyed sigh. “My hair will get messed up.”

I smiled at her. “Don’t worry. I can always style it again.”

“Finally, you guys are here.” Cecilia sipped on her cold drink, moving a pile of books to one side as she made room for us. We all had together made the plan of meeting in the library after school ended. Our goal was to finish all of our pending work. And by all, I mean, everything.

“You can sit here.” I took the seat in front of her, while Oliver had to sit in front of Yuna. Both of them didn’t say anything, quickly getting indulged in their respective works.

We decided to do so as we didn’t want our summer fun to get interrupted by school work. Every year, as long as I remember, during summer holidays, me, Oliver, Yuna and Cecilia would visit Grandma Momo and stay at her house during the vacations. 

We would play various games, share folk tales and explore the forest near her house during the daytime. We would have a great time, at least that’s what I found out from the journals.

According to my journals, this tradition of always staying at Grandma Momo’s house during summer vacations began when I was seven years old, around ten years ago. Last year, I guess we weren’t able to visit her due to my accident and later falling into a coma.

“I wonder what things we will get to do this year.” Cecilia said as she began writing her project.

“I heard that they were thinking of conducting the summer fair again.” Oliver spoke as she googled the information required for her project. “Maybe we can visit it. Just like old times.”

“We are almost adults.” Yuna didn’t look up, busy writing his holiday project.

“Nobody mentioned you joining us.” Yuna looked up, Oliver giving him her brightest fake smile as she continued writing. “What about you, Liam?”

“Huh?” I flushed a bit, the attention suddenly getting focused on me.

“What do you plan on doing this year? Any suggestions?” Cecilia asked as she rested her face in her palm.

I rubbed my neck. “I was just thinking of discovering my past. There are still many things which I don’t really know much about.” Cecilia nodded in agreement. 

“I just don’t know where to start from. I mean, like I have some idea about my past, but not much. And when I try to think too much about something that I really don’t know, everything feels suffocating—”

“Liam.” Yuna spoke as he cut me off from my blabbering.

“Don’t stress too much about your memories. We are there for you.” Cecilia rested her hand on my shoulder.

Something snapped in me.

“You really think I can trust you after you tried to hide something important from me?” She flinched a bit, removing her hand as she looked away.

She quietly spoke. “We just wanted you to focus on getting better. Don’t waste your time on someone who caused your current situation.”

“But I want to know the truth.” I look at her, determination flaming in my eyes. “Why did she do it?”

Why did you do it?

I took a deep breath, pushing any unnecessary thoughts away. “Things can wait. Right now, I just want to focus on recovering my memories.”

Everyone went silent as my said words sunk in my brain.

I am really the worst!

“Ah, I didn’t mean to sound rude, Cecilia. I’m sorry.” I flushed up again, a dumbfounded expression on everyone’s face before they burst into laughter. Yuna stayed indifferent as he continued doing his work.

Cecilia chuckled. “It’s okay. No need to apologise, Liam.” She laughed, a heartily smile on her face. The mood lightened up, both of them teasing me for easily getting flustered.

“Sorry to interrupt, but we have holiday homework to finish.” Yuna said as he slurped on his coffee . The sudden realisation hit us hard as all of us quickly indulged ourselves in our own respective works.

“Waah, I feel so sleepy.” Oliver yawned, covering her mouth as she rubbed her eyes. “Thank god I was able to complete all of my work.”

“Idiot, I had to do the rest of your work because you literally begged me to help you.” Yuna snickered as he adjusted the strap of his bag.

“I know, thanks for that.” Oliver patted his shoulder before walking beside me, resting her head on my shoulder. “How far are we away from home?” She pouted as she slowly dosed off to sleep.

“Oliver, don’t sleep like this. Wait, let me give you a piggyback ride.” She nodded sleepily; her eyes closed. I let go of her, getting ready to carry her, before Yuna comes and swiftly carries her on his back. Oliver wrapped her hand around his neck as she snuggled closer to him.

“Thank you, brother . . .”

“Nuisance.” Yuna muttered as he continued walking towards the direction of our house.

“Hey—”

“Liam.” I turned towards Cecilia; her gaze locked on the ground. “I have something to tell you. Don’t mind Yuna, she is completely fine. I asked Yuna for the favour of leaving both of us alone for a while.” I completely faced her as she stood a bit closer.

“What is it?” I adjusted my bag as Cecilia unzipped her bag and pulled out a gift-wrapped box.

“This time, I won’t be able to join you guys to stay at Grandma Momo’s house as I have to fly out of Peony Mir to visit my grandparents. I’ll join you guys for the latter half of the vacation, just in time for the summer fair. But before I leave, I wanted to give you this.” She handed me the gift, her gaze not meeting mine.

“Can I open the gift right now?” I asked with a bit of hesitance in my voice.

“Y-Yeah.” She tucked a piece of hair behind her left ear, finally looking towards my direction.

I opened each cello tape, careful enough to not tear the wrapping paper . I removed the wrapping to reveal the gift.

The colours were blended in the most beautiful way. Each stroke was done with care, as if one wrong move could ruin the whole piece. My mouth gaped open as I realised that it was a painting of me. From the picture, it is of one of our visits to the beach. With the dark colours blending with the light, it was during the time I was relaxing under the sun.

“I-It might look a bit weird since it’s my first-time painting, especially someone’s face so I h-hope you like it . . .”

“It’s amazing.” I closed my mouth, licking my lips as I looked at her. Her cheeks blushed red as she looked down shyly. “How long did it take you to paint this?”

“Well, it took some weeks. But it was worth it after seeing your reaction.” She chuckled as she looked at me. “It was worth the struggle.”

She leaned a bit closer, her breath mixing with mine as she continued to stare at me. “I have always liked your eyes. They look like emeralds with a light green hue.” She looked down, her hands clenching on her sides.

I hesitantly asked. “Cecilia . . . Are you okay?” She looked up, midnight stars lighting in her eyes as she shook her head. “You know you can always tell me. I’ll always be there as your friend—”

I stopped mid-sentence, Cecilia immediately wrapping her arms around me as she hid her face. Her body trembled, waves of shivers running up her spine as her grip tightened. A sob escaped and before I knew it, she was already crying.

Worriedness came over me, wrapping my arms around her as I pulled her closer. I slowly patted her back, before caressing her hair. “You don’t have to tell me about the reason for your tears. You can cry and pour your emotions out. I won’t ask anything.”

Her cries slowly calmed down. She wiped her tears, still hiding her face from me as she again went back to embracing me.

“Thank you . . .” I heard her whisper.

“Thank you for what?”

“For everything.”