2 Orange Juice

"Hey Ken! This week's episode of 'Forsaken God' was so lit, have you watched it yet?"

Damien has been a friend of Kenneth since elementary and because they applied to the same high school, they felt like continuing their friendship.

It's not like they were loners though, incapable of making other friends than just the both of them, No! They somehow formed a group of 3 together with Leonardo, a classmate of theirs. These three were the most normal students you could ever ask for, at least that's how they see themselves. And most of their classmates didn't really strike them as the popular type. But they're not so awful as to label the three of them as nerds.

They clicked off, having the same interests and perceptions in life. Before they knew it, they were already doing things friends do. Kenneth felt like he was the luckiest person alive having friends that doesn't bully him or things that happen often in the movies. He was thankful for such a peaceful life.

"Yeah, I saw it! The animation team did a great job with this series, the fighting scene was so epic!" he replied while grinning from ear to ear and showing Damien just how much he likes the show.

"I know! Also the part where the mystery of the human-eating monsters was finally unravelled! Dude, Freyr was so oblivious!"

"Yeah, like the God responsible for everything that has happened so far was actually his girlfriend, like, can you actually believe that?" Kenneth and Damien was so into it that they didn't even notice Leonardo already at his seat and pulling out notebooks from his bag. Probably to study for the upcoming quiz later on their 3rd period.

Leonardo, like the both of them, felt like talking about this week's episode and how awesome every second was but tried to resist the urge. He wanted a decent grade for once so he tried to focus on his notebook.

"Oh Leo! Didn't notice you there,"

'Crap'. He was fighting the temptations of his fanboy side so much. He had this inner battle between half of his mind trying to study and half of his mind replaying the badass scenes of the Forsaken God.

Leonardo tried to ignore the two. Both Damien and Kenneth were already used to this attitude though. Unlike the both of them, Leonardo is still having a hard time focusing on his studies so he must've have forgotten to study at home.

"Chill, bro. You'll do well later like you always have" Kenneth tried cheering his friend up, struggling so much to focus on reading his notebook, which he didn't even notice, was upside down.

"Like I always have? You think, I do well when all of my scores have barely reached a passing score?" Leonardo snapped but he tried to keep his cool. At least, he had his tone in check. He wasn't so angry that he'd bark at his own friends. In fact, the one he's angry at is himself for not trying harder this week.

"Kenneth's right, Leo" Damien supported.

"At least it's a passing score, I always get a failing score on quizzes that it's almost a miracle I'm still at school" Damien chuckled.

Unlike Leonardo, he was very open about this topic. He doesn't like dwelling upon numbers so even if he failed, he always tells himself that he'd do better next time. Somehow, he managed to survive high school with this kind of attitude. In a second, Leo lowered his head and and a silent sigh escaped his mouth.

"So uhm...my Mom's coming home from Australia..." Without looking at the both of them, Leonardo suddenly went serious.

Damien and Kenneth went silent and still after hearing the news that Leo's mother is finally going home. They felt the tension between them. It was suddenly cold despite the summer heat. They knew that Leo and his mother's relationship wasn't as good as most of the families out there. Not knowing what to say next, Kenneth flinched at the awkwardness among the three of them.

He opened his mouth to say something, anything. Anything to break off this kind of atmosphere but he couldn't find the right words. That was when Leonardo continued what he was saying.

"I'm planning on going home to the main house so I don't think I can hang around you guys so much..."

"..." Kenneth wasn't sure what he would say. This wasn't the first time this kind of talk happened but this definitely was the kind of talk Kenneth and Damien wanted to avoid the most.

Thankfully, Damien wasn't as stiff as Leonardo and Kenneth. Somehow, he knew best how to ease up conversations like this one.

"What? You think we're gonna miss you or something? Dude! We'd visit you from time to time so you better prepare us snacks and games we can all play!"

Damien was chuckling and smiling at the both of them and Kenneth felt like it was already a good time to joke around so he went on ahead with the conversation.

"Yeah Leo! Your house isn't near the school so you better treat us like VIPs in your house for the trouble you will cost us!"

"Wha—It's not like I'm inviting you over so why'd you even come if it's so far from the school?"

Finally, Leonardo relaxed and talked to them like before. Damien stole a glance over Kenneth which Kenneth felt immediately and without Leo noticing, he too stole a glance over Damien. Damien in return, gave the man a look saying, 'See? I wasn't so bad , was I?' pertaining to his skill of destroying the tension.

Kenneth always admired this side of Damien. No matter how normal Damien proclaim himself to be, Kenneth always felt like Damien had the highest chances of joining the popular groups if he wasn't always sticking to Kenneth like a glue.

"Carelessly inviting yourselves in... my brother doesn't tolerate noise, you know that!"

"You don't like to be alone so we're doing you a huge favor."

Damien felt it was a good development that Leo's not feeling down anymore. He wasn't particularly smiling but he was distracted.

In the end, Leo wasn't able to study. It wasn't like Damien's intention was to prevent Leo from attaining good grades but he knew Leo wouldn't be able to study anyway, he was too distracted by his own thoughts and when this kind of situation happens for Leo, he wouldn't stop having inner fights with himself. Damien always felt the need to separate Leo from his thoughts.

When it was finally time for lunch, Leonardo received a call and excused himself from his buddies. Both Kenneth and Damien felt it was important and private so they didn't ask him any questions about it.

They went ahead to the school's cafeteria to buy snacks but it was so crowded that they easily got separated. Kenneth was so used to this by now but Damien always wanted to buy food together with Kenneth because he always liked foods Kenneth chooses.

But Damien couldn't find Ken in the sea of hungry students. He considered holding onto Kenneth's hand the next time they buy food in the cafeteria but brushed off the idea. He gotta find Kenneth first.

Meanwhile, Kenneth, in the middle of searching for a snack he wants to go together with his packed lunch, suddenly felt a nudge at his back which he slowly faced, assuming that it was Damien, he almost blurted out his name but he was mistaken.

"..." The person who nudged his back was quiet and was facing down, staring at his shoes. Kenneth titled his head in confusion but felt like that person was too shy to talk to him so he smiled warmly in front of the guy he couldn't recognize because he was looking down.

"Do you need something?" When Ken asked the question, the guy immediately ran off to somewhere which confused Kenneth. He stood there for a few seconds before even realizing that he was already holding an orange juice.

He assumed that that juice came from that awkward and shy guy. He wanted to know why he was given an orange juice and who was the guy that gave it to him.

When he flipped the juice over he saw a note saying 'Thank you' and unconsciously he felt himself grinning.

avataravatar
Next chapter