— wednesday woe

Ryker's heart thundered in its cage. He hesitantly turned his head and found a person rise from a pile of cardboard boxes.

He almost yelped but two pairs of hands pressed his mouth into silence. His wide eyes meandered between Nadia's panting face and Bernie's mildly annoyed one.

He furrowed his dainty brows and stared at the duo with half-lidded eyes. The corners of his mouth were pinched, as if to say, 'What are you doing here?!'

Nadia raised her brows and pushed her mouth into a toothy smile, eyes gesturing to say, 'You, we are here for you!'

Bernie's pale face contoured into an ugly scowl and his neck jerked forward, saying, 'What?! Are you okay in your head?!'

Nadia closed her mouth and gave him reassuring nods, with her cheeks still pushed up, conveying, 'Yes it looks weird but trust me.'

Finally, Ryker swatted their hands off his mouth and stood up straight. The conversation in the yard was edging into a fight so Ryker put forth his coldest glare to declare, 'Shut up, we need to leave.'

Bernie rolled his eyes and gestured them to follow. He walked past the cardboard box pile and flailed his hands over a couple of bricks placed against the back wall to act as a stepping stair.

Ryker gave him a thumbs-up; he pointed at himself then raised his index finger, next he pointed at Nadia and raised two fingers then he pointed his thumb at Berine and raised three fingers.

The trio shared a nod of affirmation.

Ryker stepped over the bricks and easily placed his hands over the wall. He pushed himself up and jumped over with great agility. He landed with a low thump in a deserted street and tapped the wall to indicate safety.

Nadia stepped over the bricks and placed her hands over the wall but try as she may, her arm muscles were not built for pushing up. She turned back to face Bernie with a look of absolute desperation in her eyes. The boy stared at her, open-mouthed, flabbergasted by her audacity.

Nonetheless, he stepped forward and picked Nadia up by her thighs. Unfortunately, the ticklish girl burst into laughter and squiggled out of his grasp. The sudden movement made Bernie lose his footing and he fell, along with Nadia, to the ground.

The sudden laugh and thump worried Ryker. He ran across the street then sped towards the wall, jumping right two steps before the he could hit the wall; he gained elevation and propped himself over the wall.

He winced as he witnessed two scowling kids wriggling in the dirt with vengeance in their eyes. He tsked as he patted the wall to gain their attention and held out his hand.

Nadia got up, shoved her mocking tongue in Bernie's face and pulled him up. He too made an exaggerated face to mock her but Ryker's impatient tap hindered the war. Nadia stepped on the bricks and grabbed Ryker's hand. From behind, Berine picked her by her ankles and they managed to seat her on the wall.

Ryker exhaled a discontented sigh as he jumped over and held his hands out, gesturing Nadia to jump onto him. She winced, mouthed an apology, jumped — expecting to plop onto him — and landed safely into Ryker's arms.

He scoffed and placed and her on the ground, muttering, "I thought it would never end."

Nadia tapped the wall twice to cue safety to Bernie. Ryker grabbed her wrist and pulled her over to the other side of the street in order to avoid anymore accidents.

It was when Nadia was nine and the dusky skies were pink and orange, Bruno street was silent for once and Bernadette Louise was momentarily levitated in the air as he jumped over the wall, his open button-down shirt flapped with the wind like wings of freedom and his face held the a joy she would choose to protect.

He landed on toes of his right foot, with the elegance of a ballerina and as if to further glorify his wall-jumping-mastery, he crossed his left foot behind his right and bent into a proper royal curtsey.

"Woahhhh!" Nadia clapped, eyes shining at the performance.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you," Bernie waved to an imaginary crowd.

Ryker stared at them, cringing in realisation that he was the only normal soul amongst them.

"Now, what were you doing sneaking around my place?" Bernie asked, the previously expressive face dimmning back to expressionless.

"We wanted to recruit you!" Nadia chirped.

"We?" Bernie deadpanned, his dead stare landed on Ryker.

"She," Ryker clarified, pointing at Nadia's head.

Bernie nodded, then continued, "What for?"

"The summer festival show!!"

Berine's eyes lit up but his tone did not betray his excitement, "You better have a plan if you're sucking me in your lame line."

"We're doing a magic show!" Nadia exclaimed, grinning ear to ear.

"A magic show!!" Bernie's face contoured into absolute mirth. He raised his hands, Nadia raised hers and they double high-fived, jumping in the middle of the street. "I love magic shows!!" Bernie all but cried out.

"Yes, yes, yes, you both like magic, now can we go back inside before your mum worries about you?" Ryker passed a sharp look to Nadia.

"Yes, come to my home, we'll be the best group! We can build props—"

"—Build props!!" Bernie repeated with the excitement of a toddler.

"—Yes, and put up the best show. You'll see," Nadia reaffirmed as she grabbed Bernie's hand and led him forward. Ryker frowned as he followed, with his hands in his pockets, he wondered what felt wrong in the scene in front.

"What made you choose me?" Bernie asked, almost coy.

"I saw your drawings in the Teacher's Office. They are hanging on the board, I guessed you would like artsy stuff," Nadia shrugged.

Ryker stood dead in his tracks over her nonchalant tone. "What do you mean by you guessed?! What if we went through so much and he'd not end up liking our idea, then what?!" Ryker groaned as he jogged ahead and slung an arm around Nadia's shoulders. He pinched her cheeks and she yelped in protest, letting go of Bernie's hand to claw at Ryker's grip.

"Then we would have had a memory and a lesson, nothing much, we would have done something, you know I am brilliant," Nadia said, scoffing in between words as she failed to unlatch Ryker from her.

"A LeSsOn," Ryker mocked, "When will you stop using your spontaneity to sabotage yourself?" He flicked her forehead and ran ahead.

"Ah—OUCH! THAT HURT! YOU KNOW WHAT, SAVING YOU WAS THE BIGGEST SELF SABOTAGE!" Nadia shouted and leapt into a chase.

Ryker threw his head back and laughed, mocking Nadia to catch up. She grumbled and scowled as she ran and jumped over his back, tickling his sides — only to recieve no reaction. Stunned, she dropped back to the ground and it was opportunity enough for Ryker to launch in a counter tickle attack.

Bernie followed at his own pace, afraid that his excited heart would leap out of his throat and he would drop dead on the street. He had known Ryker Cordelio for as long as he had known ABC, but never in his wildest imaginary scenarios did he expect to be in such close proximity with him.

The Ryker Cordelio laughed? The Ryker Cordelio bickered, mocked and tickled his classmates? The Ryker Cordelio, the second son of the ninth generation of Alchamis, the hierarchical owner of their school, town and the very ground they were walking on — The Ryker Cordelio, in this moment seemed no better than any other boy in their class.

Bernie pouted as he realised that The Ryker Cordelio was just Ryker, a little boy on Bruno street with clean hands and a boxy smile — but what made him like this?

Certainly not Nadia. She had been their classmate for almost an year now but he had never seen Ryker interact with her.

"Haw! Are they secretly engaged childhood sweethearts who are to be wedded when they come of age?!" Bernie gasped, eyes twinkling at his own fanfiction.

Though, Nadia pressing noogies on Ryker's head in the middle of the street cleared away 'sweetheart' from his imagination.

As if sensing Bernie's stare, Nadia stopped and turned. She face him with a wide toothy smile and waved, gesturing Bernie to close the distance between them. He jogged to reach them and they rounded the corner together.

"Keep up, yeah?" Nadia urged.

"She needs you," Ryker snorted.

"I don't need him, we need him, okay?!" Nadia snapped and locked her arms with Bernie, "Let's go or we'll keep losing braincells around him."

"Oh you know about braincells, how smart!" Ryker laughed out loud and followed closely behind.

Bernie wondered how Nadia was able to talk so freely to a boy whose family ruled with blood on their hands and wealth in their pockets. He gulped and turned to glance behind and spotted Ryker walking lesiurly with a soft gaze on Nadia's head.

Maybe this would not be another boring year.

Upon reaching Nadia's home, the trio sat themselves on the white chairs in the lawn. Nadia crossed both of her feet on the chair, assuming comfort, before she began, "So, what do we make?"

"A wand!" was Bernie's prompt suggestion.

"No, we need to decide who'll be who. Traditionally there's only one magician and one assistant but there's three of us. So, we need to draw lots," Ryker said.

"That's a good idea," Nadia mumbled. Though, in order to draw lots they would need paper and pencils which were presently inside the house. Since Nadia was sat so comfortably, she suggested, "How about this? We keep our hands over eachother and on count of three, we flip. The matching hands will be magician and assistant, yes?"

"Sounds good," Ryker agreed with a shrug.

"Okay," Bernie agreed as well, though he was sceptical about the idea. He wanted to participate in the activity for extra credit but did not want to be left unacknowledged in the background. He looked up to see if Nadia and Ryker were strategising against him. To his surprise, the two were bickering over who would put their hand up.

It was Ryker who glared Nadia down and placed his hand over hers, waiting for Bernie to compile. The brunette placed his hand over Ryker's, unaware of Nadia's glare at the ravenette.

"3...2...1..." Nadia recited.

Upon reaching the last number the three raised their hands and flipped. Nadia had her palm facing upwards while Ryker and Bernie had the back of their hands facing up.

"We've got a pair!" Nadia squealed.

Ryker frowned at the odds of him pairing up with Bernie. Certainly he wished to know more about him but not so suddenly.

"I think we should do best out of three," Ryker suggested, lips pursed in a line.

"I agree!" Bernie jolted to exclaim. His eyes veiled the scandal in his heart, knowing perfectly well how to gauge emotions. He may have passed as chill on the forefront but he could feel his ears flaring up and his heart pitter-patter with fear. To be so closely associated with the Cordelio family was not something he wished for or deserved.

To be close to the Cordelios was to either be a pet on their beck and call or to be wary of every breath consuming each step, waiting and wondering when they'd get bored of you and destroy you for weekend entertainment.

Bernie's weekends were entertaining enough.

"Fine by me," Nadia shrugged her shoulders and extended her hand again. Ryker kept his hand over hers and Bernie placed his under hers.

The calculated action earned him a pointed look from Ryker.

"3...2...1...Flip!"

Nadia and Ryker had their palms facing up, making a pair for round two.

It did not sit well with Bernie that his opportunity to shine on stage was lessened by a point.

"Last round," Bernie stated and brought his hand forth. Ryker placed his hand over Bernie's and Nadia grinned widely as she placed her hand on top.

"Finally," she passed a mocking look to Ryker, "3..2..1...flip!"

Nadia and Bernie ended up with the back of their hands facing up, making a pair.

"This did not end well," Ryker mumbled, "All of us have two points now."

"Tie breaker?" Nadia suggested.

"Let's just go with the third pairing, I think it's the best," Bernie suggested.

Ryker contoured his face in a confused scowl and stared at Bernie's unparalleled audacity; "nO," he enunciated.

"Or we can make the props first and worry about the roles after we're done with props?" Nadia proposed.

"Okay, bring out the materials," Bernie agreed.

Nadia looked at Ryker with raised brows and widened eyes, in response to which, the ravenette shrugged.

"We don't have materials—yet," Ryker clarified before Bernie could blow up. "We'd need to buy them or source them, whatever is easier."

Bernie and Nadia shared a look of obligatory smiles. Their pushed up cheeks and hollow eyes expressed mutual poverty. Understanding the unspoken sentiment, they turned to Ryker with doubled expectations.

"You get the materials. Bernie and I will make the props," Nadia suggested, wearing a corporate smile on her face.

"I don't mind," Ryker agreed without a hassle.

"Wah," Nadia gasped, "That was easy! That's settled, let's meet here tomorrow with the materials!"

"Here?" Bernie asked, pulling a face, "It's too close to my house. If my father sees me, he's going to be mad for sure."

"Ohh and if my mumma sees us making the props, she'll want to join in and pester us to perfection," Nadia said, nose scrunched and lips pushed in a pout.

"We need a hideout," Ryker declared.

"That would be cool," Bernie murmured with a shrug of his shoulders.

"I can find one! There's a place I know! It'll be perfect! I'll take you there tomorrow, after school?" Nadia proposed, face flushed and mouth agrin. Excitement oozed off her body as she jumped out of the chair to stand on the occassion.

"Fine by me," Ryker said, a smile sneaked onto his face upon witnessing Nadia's outburst.

"After school...umm, I, uh, I would need to be home for lunch. I just need to show my face and then I can pretend to go upstairs and sneak out. What do you say? I can meet you on the square, if you don't mind?" Bernie asked. His shoulders curled instinctively, posture stiffening upon the thought of hindering the other two.

Until, a hand slapped his back and slung around his shoulders. "All good, I'll bring food from home. It'll be so much fun!" Nadia exclaimed and patted his arm.

With her face right next to his, Bernie realised the warmth held within her monotonous features. There was nothing special about her almond eyes, button nose and gummy smile, yet, for the first time in a long time, Bernie felt the need to distinguish a person from the masses.

Words and books had been Bernie's only intresting escape within the confines of his cramped rooftop room. People seemed indistinguishable to him, some holding authority and some not. Everyone had set roles within the sphere of his life, scheduled to feed, teach, abuse and watch. He was always aware of the eyes upon him, the ears leaning in and the mouths zipped shut.

Bernie never minded them, rather, he had grown accustomed to the passerbys — just another role to be fulfilled in his life. They never reached out and never did he, it was only fair. He held no grudges and they held no obligations.

Yet. Against all expectations, one dusk, the sun set in his favour and a ray of sunshine chose to bathe him in its glow. That wednesday was not spent in woe.