Intermission

"You guys haven't changed one bit," Jax said, taking a sip from his wine. "Aaki is still a quiet yet troublesome fellow, Luna, on the other hand, has grown beautiful, but she's still the same crying girl I met back then."

I smiled at his compliment. I turned to Luna who was hiding her face by gulping her drink. From her reaction, I could tell she was blushing.

"Yeah? You're still a whiny kid too." I taunted him. "I mean, just look at yourself. What time zone is this? The twenties?" I looked at his plain black shirt.

He raised his glass and shook his head, "It's a classic stereotype, I'm the coolest out of us after all."

I spit my drink from his words. This guy can't be joking can he?

"Oh, come on! Fuck you!" Jax laughed at my reaction as Vlad handed me a tissue, letting me wipe my face.

"But really, what have you been up to these past years?"

"I'm now attending a different college than Luna." I began, softly shaking my glass as I stared at the red substance inside it. "I've been working my ass off to study in order to get a job to help my family. But still, I don't know what the hell of a job will I be taking. I mean, I applied as a literature student, but I don't even know if I'll be an author in the future. Heck, I haven't even finished a novel myself!"

I frowned as I place my glass down on the brown glossy dining table. Staring at nothingness, I contemplated on what my future might be.

"I could say the same about myself," Jax commented. "Don't worry about the future too much." He nudged my left arm.

In front of me sat Luna who just watched my interaction with Jax. She seemed to have the same problems as the two of us.

"What about you, Moonlight?" Luna flinched on Jax's words. The reason? I do not know. "I heard you're now a law student? How's the stress so far?"

"It's hard to focus on some stuff... But I'm at the top of my class, I guess there's nothing to worry about?" She shrugs.

"I remember when your family was going downhill." He pointed at her. "You had no one to tell your problems other than me. But now... I guess I was wrong about earlier. You've changed, Luna."

"T-Thank you." That was all she managed to say she looked away. "I couldn't have done all this without you... Guys."

I scoffed as I stuff some peanuts in my mouth. "You flatter us too much."

"Filthy peasant!" Jax's old pirate accent made the three of us chuckle. "Arr, I missed ye matey's!"

Luna threw a peanut at Jax, landing inside his shirt.

"Luna, say something funny to him, something that'll make him die of laughter!" I said, remembering how easy it is to make Jax laugh on the ground.

"I can't think of anything!" She smiled while she panicked. "Help me out, bro!"

The three of us turned to Vlad who sat on my right. He was chatting with my sister who seemed to enjoy their topic. Now, I have no clue what they might be talking about but from this view, does Tasha like Vlad!?

I lightly glared at Vlad as he turned to us. His smile turned into a worried face as he saw mine.

"I- Uhh," He snapped his fingers. "G."

I raised an eyebrow at his words. G? What g? G-spot?

"Oh! Right!" Luna exclaimed. We now turn our heads to her. "I remember asking my dad about what does LGBTQ acronym meant."

"Here it goes," I sipped from my drink. Jax leaned in forward in order to brace himself for the joke.

"Well... I never got a straight answer."

Vlad and Jax burst out laughing. While they laughed, I felt as if I was surrounded by two hyenas. Their high pitch laugh made it even worse for me. Luna just giggled as Tasha smiled at the three of us.

"It never gets old!" Vlad wiped his tears away.

"Haha... What does LGBTQ even mean anyway?" Jax asked, trying not to laugh anymore.

"You seriously don't know?" I and Luna asked in unison. "You're gonna get cancelled!"

"Seriously, I don't." He was dumbfounded. LGBTQ was used back in the twenties! How old is this man?

"Excuse me," Vlad tapped my shoulder, telling me to inch back a bit. I slowly drag my chair backwards as I let the two talk.

"LGBTQ means Lettuce, Guacamole, Bacon, Tomato, and Qcumber." The two of them burst into laughter once more, but this time, Luna was also laughing along with them.

"Oh god, it's getting worse." I stood up from my seat and moved near to my sister. "Don't ever tell me a dad joke."

~~~

Author's Note: A small pause just to prepare us for the next arc. Two more small chapters and then we're moving to the transfer student arc!