Editing

The next day, I thought I'd finally escape my emotional hangover—but nooo, because when I got to school, guess what?

"Yeli," Miss Liora said, with that "I'm planning some multiverse-level project" smile, "You and River will be in charge of editing the short film."

Wait. WHAT NOW?

"Huh? Why us?" I blinked, hoping there was someone else with actual editing experience. "Isn't there anyone else who knows how to edit?"

"Well," she said, "the editor isn't feeling well, and River volunteered."

HE DID WHAT NOW? And somehow, I got dragged into it too.

I glanced behind me—and yep, there he was, sitting on the bench, as chill as ever, like he wasn't casually throwing me into another chaos.

"Good luck, partner!" he shouted, winking.

Lord, is there another Yeli out there I can trade places with?

But yeah, I accepted it with a deep sigh of surrender because I had no choice.

Later that afternoon, we sat side by side in the computer lab. River crossed his arms, energy low, and my brain cells even lower.

"So…" I started, trying to sound normal. "You really volunteered?"

River nodded while spinning on the chair, looking way too smug. "Yep. I just wanted to see how you'd handle teamwork with someone as amazing as me."

This guy's definitely crazy.

I fake-laughed. "Oh wow. The ego just popped out."

"You're just flattered," he smirked.

"I'm already regretting this." Because seriously, working with River is not easy. Harder than solving math problems that are already impossible. Yeah, definitely harder than algebra and calculus combined.

"You'll survive. Maybe?"

Wow. A question mark. So he's not even sure? Heck.

We started editing. To be fair, River wasn't bad at all. He knew what he was doing—quickly trimming clips and—shockingly—he even gave some valid creative ideas. Like, wow, he's actually helpful.

But of course, the day wouldn't be complete without—

"Wait," he said, pausing the clip where I was supposed to confess to Kairo. "You looked at him like this." He mimicked my expression. "Like you were hungry."

"Excuse me?!"

"Look!" He replayed the scene. "That's not a love confession, that's a hungry glare!"

"River, I swear, I will unplug this computer if you don't stop," I threatened—but I wouldn't really do it because I'm the one who'll suffer if I actually did it.

He burst out laughing, and even though I wanted to throw a keyboard at him, I laughed too. Just a little. Okay, maybe a lot.

But before I could fully relax—

"Yeli?"

We both turned.

Standing by the door, holding two drinks… was Kairo.

What was he doing here? Was he joining us for editing too?

He looked at us—specifically at River and me sitting super close at the tiny table, like barely-an-inch apart close.

"I—uh," he cleared his throat. "Brought you juice. I wasn't sure what you liked so I just got pineapple."

Why did I feel guilty? I mean, there was no reason to, but still, I just did.

I stood up and took the juice. "Thanks."

Silence filled the room. River leaned back and asked, "Nothing for me?"

Kairo just stared at him. "You can have this," he said, then gave me the other juice.

Kairo looked at River again, then at me.

"I'll leave you two. You look… busy."

And before I could say a word, he left.

River turned to me, smirking. "That was awkward."

I sighed. "Everything is always awkward."

There was something about Kairo showing up unannounced that made my heart skip—but also tangled my thoughts. Why would he randomly bring juice to us editing a school project? Was it just kindness, or was there something more behind that hesitant look and quick exit?

River broke my thoughts with a sarcastic remark. "Don't worry, Yeli. I'm here to protect you from all your awkward moments."

Yeah, easier said than done.

But despite everything, the hours flew by with clips trimmed, scenes fixed, and—maybe—a few laughs shared between me and River.

Who knew editing a short film could be such an emotional roller coaster?

-_-