The Made-up Reality

"I just hope not all of them will show up today. It's been too tiring at Uni." Oriana yawns as she puts her backpack on the chair.

"I don't know, I have a hunch there'll be more than usual." Alvis grins.

He looks extremely handsome when he smiles, maybe because that's the only time when the usual gloomy air about him clears out a bit. Nobody else finds him gloomy but to Oriana, gloomy is the only word that can

describe him perfectly.

"Yeah, thanks for the reassurance!" Oriana groans.

"Come on, now! It's not gonna be that bad. You always manage to survive." winking at her, Alvis leaves the room to bring in the folders.

"Good afternoon, Miss." the most atrociously energy-sucking twins enter the classroom with huge grins glued to their faces that seem to give out the premonition: we are gonna make it a burning hell for you all!

"Afternoon! How're you guys doing today?" Oriana forces a smile. "Awesome" again, in unison.

Oriana inhales deeply to prepare herself for the two hours ahead when she spots a group of giggling brats entering the room. Yeah, so much for hoping to see less of them.

"Hey Alvis, what's up?" Leilani pumps her brows at Alvis who is hurriedly picking up a bunch of folders from the front table.

"Hey! getting by, I guess. How's it going for you?"

"Awesome! Started writing another novel yesterday."

"O yeah? That's cool, at least you don't have any assignment or exam to think about. Man, that anxiety is real pain in the ass."

"Yeah, agreed. But again, you can always choose to worry less." Leilani shrugs with a half smile.

"Easy for an optimist like you to say, I guess." Alvis grins, "Anyway, gotta get back there. Oriana must be devastated to see all her students in that room safe and sound." he chuckles.

"Yeah, sure. See you later."

"Do you not find it weird how you always show genuine interest in his life but he never cares much about yours?" Fabian asks in his usual

monotonous voice.

"You talking about Alvis?" "yes."

"Well, he's an overthinking anxious person. I don't mind that." "Interesting!"

"What's so interesting about this?" Leilani cocks her head.

"The way you let him unburden his worries and whining about how hard Dentistry is and still be okay if you cannot do the same with him." Fabian doesn't wait for her reply as he proceeds to start the class.

Now, this guy! he is the weird one out, and I'm afraid he would never understand that in this life. Leilani does an inner eye-roll before joining him.

"Want a coffee? I'm going to the Starbucks." Ilona flicks her hair while a hint of a smile hovers over her lips.

Nevan looks up from his phone, "No, thanks. I'm okay." "You sure?"

"Yeah!" giving a tight-lipped smile, he shifts his attention back to his phone.

"I have no idea what is his problem? Am I not clear enough about my interest in him or what?" Ilona lets out a frustrated huff.

Leilani keeps marking the test papers as the students are enjoying their breaktime with their constant screaming, laughing at so not funny jokes and running around like crazy.

"He clearly wants to ignore you. Maybe it's time you take a hint and move on." Fabian interjects.

"What? well, thanks for your unsolicited advice. I was not talking to you if you failed to notice that. I was talking to Leila." Ilona rolls her eyes.

"I know but I'm sure Leilani has no idea about situations when someone is ignored by someone else." he shrugs.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Leilani quirks her brow.

"Come on! I don't have whole day to explain who is ignoring whom at this tuition center." Fabian's expression is ever undisturbed.

"Then you must know me and Leila choose to ignore YOUR existence with every iota of our energy." Ilona stuffs her hands in her pockets and smirks.

"I'm pretty well-aware of that and that's why, I never initiate any conversation with you guys."

"Still you never stop to offer your priceless pieces of wisdom. How kind!"

"Enough, Ilona! Don't mind him, we all know he's a bit weird." Leilani lowers her voice.

"Like how does Oriana think this guy is cool? It's crazy!" Ilona dramatically puts her coffee cup on the table.

"She does?"

"Yeah!"

"Woah! I never thought she'd think any guy would be cool!"

"Why not? Is she lesbian?" Ilona's eyes sparkle at the hint of a potential gossip.

"Ah, come on! No, nothing like that. It's just, she never showed any explicit interest in any guy."

"So, that might mean she is..."

"Ilona, break's over. We need to sort the exercise papers for the next hour." Nevan's voice cuts her short.

"Um, yeah sure. I'm coming."

"Why does he look so handsome, like literally everyday?" Ilona whispers at Leilani before leaving.

Leilani smiles in reply.

Fifteen minutes before the home-time, Oriana hysterically runs to the front room letting out heavy breaths, "Guys! Where is the first-aid kit?"

"Woah! What happened? Everything alright?" Leilani looks worried. "Jason just slashed his arm with that stupid superhero ruler that hideous

twins brought in."

"Ugh! that twins! You should really talk to Mr. Landon about cancelling their admissions from here. They've successfully passed the level of being harmlessly annoying. I wouldn't be surprised if murder is the next word on the 6 year-old evils' it list."

Oriana breathes quickly, "Already talked, but you know how it is.

Albert Landon loves money more than other kids' safety. Anyway, Fabian, please pass me the first-aid kit."

"Here you go, Miss. Need any help?" Fabian sounds awfully civil and tuned-down when he talks to Oriana.

"No, thanks. I got it...I mean, we got it. Alvis is there."

Leilani shakes her head and mumbles indistinctly to herself. A series of screaming and consoling followed coming from the primary classroom as Alvis and Oriana must've tried to handle that arm slashing incident. Leilani silently comprehends her new ideas to incorporate into her novel. Should

she write about the painfully absurd love triangle that is going on here? She wonders what Ilona's reaction would be be if she knew Nevan is not interested in her wooing rituals only because he has hots for someone else here. She

smiles at the thought of writing the reality in the shadow of made-up characters. Fabian quirks his brows at her, "Why do you smile to yourself?"

"Because, I don't need anyone else to make me smile, Mr. Know-it-all." She replies without being bothered, still the smile hanging from the corner of her lips.