Chapter 41: Prom

I enter the cave dramatically and grumpily. Malinda, as usual, has her bare feet on the water, but is currently lying down. When she heard me come inside, she slowly sits down and has a reaction of disbelief. As usual.

It seems all her animal friends were also surprised to see me. Grace jumps above the pond several times, "Rhys is back! Rhys is back!"

Tim also reacts in his normal, agitated look, "I-I told you he will be back."

When I sit on my usual rock, I give the biggest sigh and slump. I glance at Malinda which has a weird, silent expression while the animals were chatting about some sort of bet. "Yes, I'm back. Hello everyone." I say lazily.

Looks like that snapped her. Malinda's face lightens up, "Wow, that is a pretty bag!"

Was she just astonished by my backpack the entire time? I retort, "Well, it's not a pretty day!"

"Why so?"

"It's just…" I growl, not even trying to pick up any good words to describe my day.

Once again, Malinda's face turned strange.

"What?" I ask tiredly.

"May I borrow your bag, please?"

"Oh," I throw the bag towards her and she starts quickly begins rambling the insides, starting with my school notebooks. I clear my voice, "Anyway, this day is just fucking terrible! Not that any day would be less terrible because there's always something bad happening to me, but today is extra terrible! It's like, I'm in a comedy sitcom from the 90's and this is the one super dramatic episode. Firstly, my friends completely played me over today and it's weird because, we've been friends for almost an entire decade. A decade! Can you believe that shit?!" I start spitting the events. Malinda's face turned empathetic, but she doesn't look at me. I continue, ignoring that, "And remember Jessica, my 'girlfriend'?" I think Malinda paused for seconds then continue reading my notes. "Well, guess what, she played me over too and now we 'broke' up! But we didn't even really break up since we weren't dating at all because apparently it was an entire fucking bet!" This time, Malinda actually looked at me. "Ugh, I just hate everything right now! Can this day get any worse?" I lay my head behind me.

It was silent for a few seconds then Malinda looks at me again with more empathy, "I'm sorry." I raised a brow. She says, "I'm sorry that all of these are happening."

"Uh, it's not your fault. You don't have to apologize."

"Isn't that what people say to someone who doesn't feel good? I do not completely understand. So, it's all I can say. But I will listen to you."

I purse my lips for a moment. I guess, this is the first time I have combusted to someone about my day. I respond, "I appreciate that. But I don't want to talk about it anymore. It's already frustrating enough to think about."

Malinda goes, "But you will have to think about it one way or another. You can't always ignore your issues." I wanted to defend myself and exclaim that I have been trying hard enough to solve them. But for some reason, I don't. I'm literally on this entire journey to try and solve these problems but… am I still not trying enough? Or is it because I am trying too hard which is why all of these are happening to me?

Malinda beams, "Ooh, what is this!" She is right anyway, that I would have to face everything. I've kinda already made my decision earlier. So, I guess there is something that I should try out. But I am done thinking about it for now. I should just casually talk to Malinda. Because even if I'm done with my life, I'm sure enough that she's been through way more than I have.

"That's a mini electric fan. Try pressing any button."

She presses one and it turns on. Her smile becomes bigger, "This is amazing! What is it for?"

I smile, too. Looks like I'll be a teacher again today, "It's for when you feel warm or something."

Malinda puts it down and continues finding some more stuff inside my bag. She grabs out a carton-tube object, "And what is this?"

"Oh, that's called a Kaleidoscope. My sister made it." I reply. I forgot that was inside my bag. Grumbly made it for her art project last week and gave it to me as a gift. Why do I just shovel in everything she gives me? "Try looking inside the circle."

Malinda slowly puts it near her face and gasps the second she sees inside. "Fantastic! It's so colorful!" She twists the tube and giggles. Her smile slowly fades, and she stops looking in it. She breathes and asks me softly, "Is the world still as colorful as this?" I was left speechless. She scoffs, "I am forgetting how everything looks outside. And the past years, I thought I wouldn't receive anything else. So, thank you."

Yeah, I really have no right to complain about my life. I sigh and think. I sit a few feet beside her and grab the bag. Whew, thank God my Robotics project is still in here. "May I?" She hands over the Kaleidoscope. I open it up a little bit then grab my flashlight. I point it towards the inside at set it down. And the whole scenery of the cave changed significantly.

Malinda's eyes dazzled at the colorful disco lights that circled inside the cave. She was looking around and had this type of happiness I've never seen from her before. Like her mind just couldn't comprehend what was happening, but she absolutely loves it. I just stare at her while she's still viewing the lights. Then she looks at me, "Is your day still not pretty?"

I scoff, "We're getting there. Let's just focus on your day for now, though." I return the bag and she smiles again.

She continues messing up my bag more than it already is and grabbed my iPhone. "How about this weird object?"

Right. Technology is the biggest thing in the 21st century but she hasn't experienced any of that yet. Well, she's in for a treat.

"That, my friend, is a cellphone. You use it for multiple things like communication, research, enter-" I stop when I realize her indifferent face.

Malinda asks, "This is a cellphone?"

"You've heard of it before?"

"I have read that word in a dictionary. And, the newest book Faye and Bo have gotten me also has that word. I've always wondered what it means because it seems the world, your world, revolves around it and… it is so significant!"

While she was busy examining that rectangular thing, again, I've been reminded that books existed. I say, "So, what's the book called?"

"It's called 'To All the Boys I've Loved Before'. Have you heard of it?"

"That's a book? I thought it was just a movie. But I'm not really interested in those stuff."

"A movie? Ooh, I heard of that in the book as well! Can you show me what it is?"

"May I?" I grab the phone from her and scroll through my gallery. I stopped scrolling when I saw the video of me filming Cyrus and Theo arguing a few days ago. I sigh and continue.

I play an old video of Grumbly and show it to her. "I don't have a movie, but I have a video. It is sort of a talking picture. Note how everything you see and the sound issuing from them are synchronized together in perfect unison. It's like you can capture a moment and watch it again later over and over again. This is my sister celebrating her birthday last February."

Her eyes shun again while watching the video. I eventually look at it as well and we were both immersed of my sister being all jolly on her day until Malinda comments, "That is magical! I thought the outside world was doing horribly, but this is revolutionary! And your sister is lovely. Though, she does look like you."

I roll my eyes, "So, that's what a video is. Notice how you can view something, but you can also listen to it?"

Malinda nods with curiosity.

"Well, you can also listen to songs on this cellphone. Hold on." I open my Spotify and search carefully. I don't think she would like the type of music I'm into, and on the other hand, I don't listen to female artists and mainstream music that much. But I did discover one recently because she had a collaboration with a male artist I like. Her name's NIKI, but I don't know any of her own songs. I randomly pick out one titled 'Sugarplum Elegy' because the title looked nice. "Here you go!"

This time, her reaction was calm but still happy and entertained. For a few seconds, she stays still, eagerly listening to the music and understanding the lyrics. After a while, she finally sways her body along to the tune as her hair elegantly follows. I let the both of us simply enjoy the music for a few minutes in this unspoken and ephemeral time. I steal some glances and notice her soft smile grows wider and wider to a tranquil type of happiness this time. It's like all the dark energy and depression is slowly alleviating from her body. This entire situation feels like a prom night slow dance because of the light and the chill, slow song. Malinda at some point closes her eyes and feels the music with a very serene look in her face. Like she's transported on a different world and nothing can bother her. Because of the aesthetics of the moment, my breath was caught for a second as I admire her beauty.

It makes sense how Maverick fell in love with her.

Looking away, I enjoy the music along with her. The pleasant, peaceful atmosphere got to me too and this truly is a whole vibe.

I wait for a bit more while tapping my fingers along the beat. Then a thought suddenly came into mind. When the song was ending, I turn the volume down and say, "Now you've seen a video and heard an audio. How about we take a picture?" The camera app was finally open, and I hold it.

She gasps, "It's you! Wow!"

I frown. That's right, she's a ghost, err, a soul, she can't be seen through the camera. I didn't know what to do.

For some reason, Malinda takes her flower crown off and places it on my head, "Fascinating! It really does capture what happens in real time!" I didn't know what to say when she asked me, "So, how do you take a picture? I've also seen those words."

I look at her. And she is smiling more than ever. I don't want to take that genuine happiness away from her.

I clear my voice, "Well," I quickly swap the front camera to the back and show her the phone, "It's kind of like a video, but it's motionless. Like this." I take a picture of the pond and the cave, filled with the kaleidoscope lights.

She clapped, "Just as fascinating."

She keeps staring at my phone, but now I'm looking at her. It sucks that I couldn't take a picture of her or the both of us.

At this moment, I imagine her as an important painting of an art museum and imprint the image of her in my mind. I nod when I thought to myself, "I won't forget you."

She weirdly looks at me, "What?"

"What?"

"Why did you nod?"

"Oh, it's nothing." I avoid eye contact.

Then she suddenly laughs.

"What is it now?"

"You are so adorable!" She laughs for a bit then suddenly got flustered of what she said. "I mean… uh… n-nothing…" Now, she's avoiding my eyes and I also feel like laughing.