Saving the Villain

"Wow... this... you did all this?"

After another round of crying, full of thanks and apologies, the girls moved on to catch up. Last school year was hectic, and they were all aware that the next school year -- their senior year -- would be twice as hectic as last year. Hence, they also took this time to catch up to enjoy every minute of this summer break.

And with that thought in mind, Amie wanted to show them what kept her busy after that incident at the KTV bar. She led the girls to her room, and the three of them were stunned.

Amie's room was full of art; paintings, sketches, drawings, and so on. All her work made her room messy, but the three didn't bother with the mess.

"Hehe... yes." Amie massaged her nape, a bit shy about it. "When I came to my senses, I felt lost. All my feelings were heightened, and I didn't know what to do. It started with writing down what I felt, but I ended up doodling flowers."

A smile turned up on her face as she recalled how she started. "I didn't realize I filled the page with just flowers and some vines until there was no space to write on. It's funny because I didn't even realize the time until my mom called me for dinner."

The three looked around and then caught a page of a notebook taped on the wall near the desk. Unlike the art around, that small piece of paper was drawn with a pen. The entire page was almost black with big and small details, but it was beautiful with a little white spot that Amie didn't put her ink on.

"Ah, right!" Amie clapped to stop the silence from reigning over them, marching to the small canvas on the corner. "This one is the one I finished recently. My room is still quite a mess, so bear with me. I didn't know you will come today, and I didn't know I'd show anyone my room -- my mom prefers this mess than me going out till midnight."

As Amie picked up the small canvas, she didn't show them immediately. Instead, she was distracted to pick up some mess and make the place a bit more tolerable to be in. She kept explaining and apologizing for the mess while cleaning up a bit.

Meanwhile, Cosette, Sarah, and Fay parted ways as they checked some works on the wall. Amie's room wasn't big, so with all the messes around, it felt cramped. The bed was pushed to the corner to give more space in the middle. It only showed that Amie turned her bedroom into a workshop with all the art she could make to express her creativity and emotions that words wouldn't give justice to.

Fay stood in front of the desk, gazing down. Her hand caressed the small sticky note on the side. There was a drawing of a goldfish, brushing the tip with her thumb.

"This..." she whispered, making the busy Amie shift her attention to her.

As soon as her eyes landed on where Fay was, her brows rose. Her eyes fell on the sticky note Fay was looking at before her eyes softened. She held the small canvass closer to her, putting down the trash she picked up on the chair lying around before approaching Fay.

"Back in middle school, I remember you have a pet named Koy," Amie said as she stood beside Fay, eyes on the sticky note. "You always brag about it and wanted to show me. But I had strict parents and I couldn't go to your house to see it. So you placed it on the fish bowl so we could meet."

Her face softened, remembering the young, mischievous Fay back then. "Sadly, it died after that day. I still remember how you cried that day."

"I didn't know how it suddenly died until years later," explained Fay with a subtle smile. "I was naive back then, and I didn't know how to handle the fish properly while out of the house. It made me bitter, you know?"

"You didn't take any pets after that." Amie rocked her head, turning her head in Fay's direction. "It took me a while to realize how precious that time and gesture was."

She slowly pulled the canvass away to hand it to Fay. The latter's brows rose as she accepted the small canvass. She didn't notice it earlier because she was too drawn to the number of arts around. But now that she was looking at the painting up close, her eyes softened.

"It looked exactly like Koy," whispered Fay, smiling. "I didn't think about him for a long time, but now I missed him. Koy used to be my best friend, after all. I talked to him all night until I would fall asleep."

Fay slowly looked back at Amie and expressed, "thank you." She then looked back at the canvass with affection.

"He looks very much alive." She touched the painting with her fingertips, touching the soothing colors around it. "I really appreciate it."

"It's nothing, but you're welcome." Amie smiled broader.

When Amie recalled Fay's former pet back in middle school, she realized one thing. Fay wasn't the person who easily cut ties with anyone. Fay might be clumsy at times and speak without a filter, but she treasured all her relationships with all her life.

When Fay lost her pet, she didn't take in another. Amie could remember the time she asked Fay to just buy another one. Fay's response was, "until I moved on." They would be in their last year of high school next school year, and yet, Fay didn't take in another pet.

As Fay and Amie stood beside each other, gazing at the small canvass, Sarah stood beside Cosette. The latter cast Sarah a look, only to see a warm smile on Sarah's face. They didn't say anything as they slowly set their eyes on Amie and Fay.

'I'm glad we cleared this up,' Cosette expressed in her mind, sighing in relief. 'I'm really glad we did.'

Sometimes, being in the right wasn't as important as maintaining the relationship. This was something they all learned today.