The News

"It's been a while, Mr. Simoune." Isaiah offered a handshake to Christian as a teasing joke. "We are not in a formal event, Mr. Jonas." Christian teased back accepting the handshake that Isaiah offered. "Still acting like a child?" Vinz said while fixing the counter lining of his shoe. The three of them looked after Vinz gave an awkward unexpected response. Chelsea tried to hold her laughter, but eventually, she bursts out. Her laughter is like a contagious virus. Christian and Isaiah were infected easily. They tried to hold it but, the virus is deadly. When Vinz looked up, he saw three people laughing like a maniac. "Did I miss anything?" Vinz asked ingenuously. The three of them stopped laughing for a second until they started to laugh again. "These kids." He stated like an old man. Isaiah calmed himself by controlling his abnormal breathing because of laughing. "Will you let us inside?" Isaiah sarcastically asked. Chelsea released a chuckle as Christian opens the door widely. "You may come in, Sir and Madame." Christian mocked them. It's been a while since the last time they meet. A lot of changes happened during those times. Including, "Hey, did you just learn how to clean?" Isaiah mockingly asked. "Look, when it comes to being tidy, it's me." Christian retorted. "Are you sure about that?" Isaiah hissed. Christian was about to attack Isaiah but Vinz hold him back. "These kids never stopped arguing. I'm glad that Ezekiel is busy today or else." Vinz said. "It would be chaos." Chelsea added.

Christian sat next to them, resting his back on the cotton-fabric sofa. "Why is your unit clean?" Isaiah asked. Christian thought that Isaiah is mocking him again. Christian frowned and just ignored the question. "Look, I'm serious. We came here without notice. Well, Chelsea called you earlier. But, I expected to see a famous author's home place unprepared." Isaiah clarified. "You guys know I disliked people crashing into my place without notice. So, when Chelsea called to inform me that you guys were coming, I was so surprised and startled. Luckily, a housekeeper came early and helped me clean because of this unplanned event." He explained. "Hey, we didn't plan this at all. Chelsea messaged me out of the blue that we are coming over to your place. She threatened me that if I did not come, she will expose my identity." Isaiah protested. Suddenly, the three guys looked at Chelsea who is playing with her fingernails, completely unaware of what is happening around her. "What?" She asked. Christian sighed changing the topic of the conversation. "So what brings you here?" He asked. Isaiah and Vinz pointed at Chelsea. Chelsea was shocked. But, she decided to explain herself. "I received an e-mail earlier about the publishing offering me to become the representative for our department. They said that Mr. Christian SImoune is not available so they need a replacement. When I saw your name, I got worried because it's unusual for you to skip a formal gathering. So I declined the offer right away and asked both of them to visit you." She explained. Christian covered his face with a pillow to hide his embarrassment. "Cringe!" He shrieked. The four of them laughed together for minutes before talking about Christian's condition. "So what happened?" Chelsea asked.

Christian gulped before answering her question. "Well," Christian looked up and noticed that they were staring at him. He scoffed to get their attention. "I'm going to melt if you guys kept staring at me." He joked making them startled and backed off a bit. "I thought I woke up early. But in reality, I was so late. I decided to use the incident that happened to me as my excuse." He continued. The three visitors were surprised when they heard his sentiments. They started to assume this, such as he got robbed, some fans were violently harassing him and someone is stalking him. He chuckled because of their response and shook his head. "I ate something bad. It turns out it was already expired because it was stocked for a long time. I thought it's just exhaustion so I just close my eyes to sleep. But when I wake up, I found myself in a hospital." He tried to explain in a detailed way. "What an idiot." Isaiah whispered. "What did you say?" Christian raised his eyebrow. "Nothing, I said you should take your time resting," Isaiah lied.

Ever since college, Isaiah and Christian were like dogs. They kept on barking with each other. Ironically, they can manage to pull out an outstanding piece even though, they are working together. They even made the College Secretary for the Literature Department cry. Their duo is the best when it comes to Novel Writing, but they are the loudest duo if we will talk about their friendship.

"It brings back a lot of memories." Chelsea broke the ice. "Definitely." Vinz asserted as they look at Christian and Isaiah who is currently arguing about nonsense topics. "Can we do something you two won't argue, or can we talk about something serious?" Chelsea suggested but, she was ignored. She sighed in defeat, letting the two argue for a while. Vinz let out a small chuckle patting Chelsea's shoulder as he saw what happened.

Finally, Isaiah and Christian stopped arguing. Vinz and Chelsea let out a sigh after watching two childish adults arguing about whose room is the cleanest. Christian took a deep breath before speaking. "By the way, why did you guys not join the Novel Prize Awards. As far as I know, your respective editors nominated you." Christian interrogated. It took a few minutes of pure silence before someone spoke. It was Isaiah who spoke first.

"As for me, you guys know I'm not a competitive writer. I seldom join any literature contest because it's not my thing. I wanted to write because of my purpose. It is to explore the creativity of a single word through writing. Plus, there's a given deadline, meaning the time is limited. I don't want to be pressured." He explained. "By the way, why do you guys write?" Isaiah asked out of the blue. "I write because I wanted to prove that your downfall won't define you. I, myself experienced a lot of downfalls. So, I wanted to be a living testimony for future authors." Chelsea said with delight. "I just want them to realize how reality works. That's it. I want them to open their eyes and see how painful it is to live. But despite the pain, we needed to fight. There's always an enchanted place located in the amid of darkness. We just need to find the path towards it." Vinz said. Christian chuckled nervously. Their purpose is the same as them. They were extraordinary. "I wanted to let the readers experience the warmth and comfort." He remarked. The three weren't expecting Christian to deliver a short reply but they let it pass.

"Back to the first question, why did you not join Chelsea?" Christian asked. "I just feel like I need to slow down a bit. I think I'm not moving at my own pace and kept on rushing things. I also think that it is not my time yet and I can feel it. There's always a time to bloom, and I'll bloom whenever I'm ready." Chelsea elaborated. Christian looked at Vinz to indicate it is his turn. "I never had a chance to personally talk with you guys, but I don't want to mention it at social media or e-mail. The management asked me to have a book signing event. The problem is, it is a world tour book signing event. It means that I will travel to different countries. I thought that it's not a big deal and I can still participate. But the schedules were hectic. So I decided to withdraw the contest is annually but the event for a certain country happens rarely. I would love to meet my readers and share my experiences with them." He elucidated. Their eyes were widened when they heard the news. They were so happy about his success and started to give him a group hug. "A world-class author," Isaiah teased. Christian laughed and agrees to Isaiah. "The world's number one author," Christian corrected. Chelsea was about to speak but he saw Vinz smacking the back of their head. She covered her mouth using her hands and looked away. Isaiah and Christian rubbed the back of their heads and let out a small chuckle. "But for real, congratulations! A world tour book signing event is a huge deal." Christian said. "And it's your dream to speak around the whole globe, right?" Chelsea reminded Vinz. "You're so good." Isaiah praised Vinz. Vinz could not handle the overwhelming praises coming from his friends. He felt his ears heat up, and unfortunately, they noticed it before he tries to hide it. "Oh, baby Vinz is flattered." Chelsea cooed. The two boys laugh at Vinz's body reaction. "He is so unpredictable," Christian added. "Come to think of it, you'll give us souvenirs from different countries you traveled. And also, sign my copy of your book first." Isaiah demandingly said. "Excuse me, it is 'sign our copy.'" Chelsea rectified. It was a fun view to watch. It was nostalgic.

"This brings back a lot of memories, don't you guys think?" Chelsea asked for the nth time. "Yes for the hundredth times." Vinz said. "I mean, look at us now. We used to be strangers. Who could have expected that because of a single activity, our relationship turns out like this?" Chelsea reminisced. "We were freshmen at that time." Vinz added a piece of information. "Yes. It was during the World Literature subject, isn't it?" She asked. "No, it wasn't. It was Creative Writing. The professor asked us to group ourselves into four and we grouped." Christian reminded her. "It was so awkward at first because we were a stranger to each other," Isaiah added. "Except Chelsea, who is so extroverted. She even talked with other groups without shame in her small body," Isaiah continued. He received a playful slap from Chelsea. "It's true though," Vinz agreed. Chelsea pouted, acting like she was sulking. "I did remember that Chelsea won't let us pass the finished one-shot unless she wrote our group name," Christian said. "Authors of the Millennium." they said in unison which made them chuckle. "The moment when Christian and I were scared because we got a special mention from the professor, and you guys were 'No maybe he was impressed.'" Chelsea imitated Isaiah and Vinz. "Guess what, he was impressed." Isaiah boasted. "That's when we meet three different editors because they won't get what we wanted to convey," Chelsea said. "Three editors before our dear friend, Ezekiel. Who is technically a student and not an editor. At least, he polished our work and published our first one-shot under Authors of the Millennium." She added. "I could still remember the professor's face when he heard we published it already without his supervision." Christian said. "You guys were phenomenal!" Isaiah imitated their professor. They laugh and laugh as they continue recalling their journey as a novelist.

"You know guys, I remember something. Something iconic." Christian told them. The confusion started to arise in the atmosphere but Christian immediately spoke.

"Race."