"What are you doing?" 13 years old

Cici asked. "I'm sketching" 18 years old Louie answered. Cici looked

curious about what Louie is sketching and snatched his sketchbook away from

him. Louie was startled. He tried to get his sketchbook but Cici dodged it. She

was amazed at what he drew. " wow... this is really good!" Cici said.

Cici looked at the drawing again and realized that she looked like the girl in

that drawing. Cici looked at Louie and saw him looking a little guilty. "

it's me, isn't it? " Cici asked Louie.

   " that's just a practice " Louie

said. " you're applying for architecture right? Shouldn't you be

practicing drawing buildings and houses? " Cici asked curiously. Louie was

quiet for a minute. " it might be necessary to draw people there so... I'm

preparing." Louie responded. Cici was confused by what Louie said. "

I don't think they will want you to draw a portrait of a person. Cause it is architecture " Cici said.   Louie was speechless. “ aren’t you like 13

years old? “ Louie asked. “ yes, I am, so what? “ Cici replied with a serious

tone. “ never mind “ Louie said and sighed. Cici gave his sketchbook back to

him. “ can I try? “ Cici asked. “ you wanna draw? It’s quite difficult “ Louie

also asked. “ let me try “ Cici said. Louie smiles a little while handing Cici

a pencil and a sheet of paper. Cici placed the paper on the table and began to

sketch, as well as Louie.

   Louie giggled. “

I’m tellin’ you, you can’t easily learn to draw that fast “ He said and looked

at Cici’s drawing. Louie seems surprised as she draw the details very neatly,

which she makes appear so easy. “ how… how is this possible? Have you ever

sketched before? “ Louie asked. “ nope, I haven’t “ Cici answered. “ No way!

This is very detailed… even though you’re only drawing a pig in a tuxedo! “

Louie stated. “ It’s in my blood “ Cici said in a teasing way.  Louie was not in any way convinced. Before

Louie said anything, his mother called him to get his bags ready for their

departure tomorrow to the airport. Louie says goodbye to Cici before returning

to his house.

 The next day…

   “ I’ll send you letters, I promise”

Louie said while standing in front of his uncle’s car. “ I will too ” Cici

said. Louie hugged Cici as if they would never see each other again. “ I’ll

miss you, Cici “ Louie said and backed out of the hug. “ I’ll miss you too “ Cici

said and then places her hands on the cheeks of Louie. “ what are you doing? “

Louie asked. Cici smiles a little and touched his lips, by means of her lips.

Louie immediately pushed Cici to withdraw from the kiss. Cici gazed upon

Louie’s flustered face. Louie’s sparkling eyes are widening and doesn’t have

the courage to say a thing to Cici.

   A honk coming from the car caught

Louie’s attention. He quickly got in the car without saying anything to Cici. Cici

looked disconsolate as she watches the car drive away.

   Five years have

elapsed. Cici is now 18 years old and in her fourth semester of college. She

applied for the fine arts because she fell in love with drawing since Louie introduced it.

   Cici is running in a rush on the

sidewalk.  "That old clock wants me

to fail, huh " Cici said while running. She tripped on some rock and fell

to the ground. Her drawings were scattered all over the place. A gentle,

profound voice from a stranger said, "Do you need a hand, miss?". The

stranger stretched out his hands to help Cici get up. "Thank you"

Cici said. She looked for her drawings and saw them on the ground. She tried to

collect her drawings, as well as the stranger.

   As soon as they had

finished collecting her drawings, the stranger looked at one of her completed

pieces. "Wow, you're really good," said the stranger. Cici looked

upon him completely empty. “ oh, right! My name is Dann, a pleasure to meet you

“ Dann said, giving Cici her drawings. Cici took her drawings as she stares at

Dann very blankly. Cici ran very quickly, leaving Dann standing where she

tripped because she was scared of Dann and was also late for school.

   When

Cici entered the school, She immediately went to her class. When Cici entered

the class, she hurriedly sat in her seat. Next to her is her best friend,

Khria. “ Hey, what happened? “ Khria asked Cici. “ I tripped. And a guy named “

Dann “ helped me pick up my drawings. I was so creeped out so I ran and left

him “ Cici answered. Khria looked bewildered at what Cici said. “ you mean “

Dann “ over there? “ Khria pointed at a boy who just entered the class and

looks exactly like the boy who helped Cici this morning. Cici was shocked. “

yes! It’s him! He studies here?! “ Cici whispered. “ You’ve been studying here

for almost 4 years and you still don’t know who our classmates are? “  Khria asked. Their professor heard them

murmuring and looked at them. “ Do you mind if you share your story with us,

Khria? “ said their professor. Both Khria and Cici adjusted the way they sit. After the professor saw them being well-behaved student, he continued discussing about Leonardo Da Vinci's painting.

Meanwhile…

   The noise of a helicopter becomes

stronger and stronger as they land on the roof of a large building. “ we have

landed, sir! “ said the helicopter pilot. “ very well “. A good-looking, tall

man in a black suit gets off the helicopter. The man took a letter out of his

pocket and handed it to one of his guards. “ send this letter to this address.

Make sure you send it to the right house “ the man said. “ yes, sir “ his guard

said. The man in the black suit and his guards walked out of the building. He got into his car and demanded the driver to go to the 5 star hotel he booked before leaving New York.

Khria and Cici are walking in the hallways. “ you really

didn’t know? “ Khria asked Cici. “ yes, how many times do I have to tell you? “

Cici answered. “ gosh, you’re so focused on studying. You didn’t even pay

attention to our classmates! “ said Khria. Cici sighed. A guy poked Cici's back gently with his index finger.

" Uhm... Cici, I think you dropped this " It's the profound voice again. Cici looked behind her and saw Dann holding a pen as if he was handing it to her. " Th-that's not mine... I've never seen such a pen in my life! " Cici said nervously while Khria, on the other hand, is enjoying the scene. Dann looked confused. " It literally has your name on it... " Dann pointed at the sticker that has Cici's name on it. Cici was speechless. " I-I... ごめんなさい! ( I'm so sorry! ) " Cici said and ran out of the scene. Dann was flabbergasted. " what... did she say...? " Dann asked. " Oh, she said sorry in Japanese. Keep the pen, she won't mind " Khria said and followed Cici, leaving Dann standing in the hallway like a rock.

 Meanwhile…

  “This is it. “ the handsome and tall man

said. He rang the doorbell three times. A woman in her 50s opened the door. “

Oh, hello.. may I ask who are you? “ the woman asked. “ Mrs. Peters, It’s me,

Louie “ Mrs. Peters’ eyes widen. She cannot believe that Louie is standing in

front of her looking so… charming!.  “

Louie? I can’t believe it! It really is you. Come on in “ Mrs. Peters said.

Louie came inside and was asked to sit down. “ Do you want some juice?... or perhaps

some cookies? “ Mrs. Peters asked. “ No, thank you. I just ate lunch “ Louie

answered. Mrs. Peters sat down and asked “ Since when did you arrive? Have you

and Cici met? “

  “ We haven’t met yet. Is she in college

now? “ Louie asked. “ Ahh, yes. She applied for fine arts 4 years ago “ Mrs.

Peters replied. “ she applied for fine arts?... Well, that was unexpected. “

Louie said. Mrs. Peters let out a slight laugh. “ when are you going to meet

her? “ Mrs. Peters asked. “ When I had the chance. She must be very busy “

Louie answered. “ Well, that’s true “ Mrs. Peters said. Louie looked at the

kitchen as if he is looking for someone. “ Where’s Mr. Peters?... He usually

cooks at this time, right? “ Louie asked. Mrs. Peters’ expression has become a

bit sad. Louie looked at Mrs. Peters and got concerned. “ Why? What

happened?... Can you please tell me? “ Louie asked calmly. Mrs. Peters sighed

and said “ 3 years. He’s in a coma. He got into a car crash right after Cici’s

first day of college “. Louie was shocked by the news.

   “ I am so sorry, Mrs. Peters. I didn’t

know “ Louie said. “ It’s fine, you don’t need to apologize “ Mrs. Peters said.

Before Louie could speak, his phone rang. “ Excuse me, Mrs. Peters “ Louie

said. “ Sure, go ahead “ Mrs. Peters said. Louie answered the call. After a few

minutes, Louie hung up on the phone call. “ It’s really nice chatting with you,

Mrs. Peters. But I still have some things to do.. “ Louie said. “ Oh, It’s

fine. I know you’re busy too, and I’m also not planning on you staying here for

a long time “ Mrs. Peters said.

   “ Thanks, Mrs. Peters “ Louie said.

Louie got out and got into his car. Before he drove off, he waved goodbye to

Mrs. Peters. Mrs. Peters waved goodbye to him as well.