Summery December: A Shoujo Parallels AU Short

“Is this safe?” Mathias asked dubiously as they were strapped in, seatbelt across their waists. Arzen smiled but tightly held on to the bar of their ride, both of them awkwardly pressed together, bodies so close in a manner that he would usually find thrilling. But in this case, he was dubious of the ride – the Octopus, as Arzen had called it. She seemed relieved when the line only took five minutes, and was laughing at the expression on Daniel’s face when he and Elaine were strapped in, both of them flushed from the close proximity. “Arzen, I don’t like the feeling of this ride. It’s giving me vibes.”

“Jive vibes?” she tried, smiling widely in the process. He rolled his eyes at the pun, but couldn’t help a smile nonetheless. “Chill out. I’ve been riding this thing since seventh grade, and I’m still alive. The first time may be…scary, but you’ll be begging to ride with me again when this is over.” She hummed quietly as the ‘tentacles’ of the ride rotated, lifting them feet higher into the air. Mathias’ blue eyes widened.

“So what exactly does this do?”

“It rotates, bringing us up and down. But that’s not all. The carriages-” and she let out a loud squeal, Mathias yelping in surprise as their own red carriage spun around, “-they spin. They spin a lot,” she finished, laughing to herself because of the sudden shock and the look on the ginger’s face.

“This is ridiculous, we have to get off-”

“You can’t.”

“What?!”

“You can’t,” Arzen repeated calmly, flashing him a smile. From above, they could hear Daniel’s protest and Elaine’s laughter. Arzen looked up and grinned at the sight of the blonde trying to escape, and he soon quit, seeing his shoulders slump miserably next to Elaine. Maxine, on the other hand, was holding on to a screaming and whooping Liam. “Men. Say they can do anything, but strap them onto an octopus and they act like they’ve seen a ghost.”

“That’s just cruel,” Mathias complained, but his face blanched once they went higher. The carriage threatened to spin.

“We’ll argue later on,” she replied, one hand on the bar and the other discreetly travelling down and looking for his hand, “Today, we scream.”

* * * * *

“The flower crowns are here,” Elaine told Arzen, bringing her further into the school bazaar, with Daniel and Mathias following. Beatrice, Therese and Gabrielle had stayed in the Kiosk for snacks. “A hundred and fifty each. They’re expensive, but I didn’t buy mine.”

“Did he get one for you?” she asked, glancing up at Elaine’s flower crown, which had orange blossoms decorating the rope. Elaine couldn’t stop a smile from reaching her face and reached the booth, showing Arzen the different crowns on display.

“He might have. Go pick one before the two come.”

“Alright, alright.” Arzen studied the crowns on display. There were ones like Elaine’s, except blue and others yellow. Others were purely white. And then her eyes fell on a crown that was decorated with red roses and dahlias. “A hundred and fifty? That’s expensive,” she muttered to herself, getting her wallet from her back and searching for bills.

Just as she was about to pay, the crown was swept up and paid for, and she stared up at Elaine, who merely blinked.

“I didn’t do that.”

“Then who-”

She turned around, searching for the culprit.

Mathias held the crown in his hand, wallet in the other. Daniel was merely behind him, hiding a smirk from crossing his lips.

“Peer pressure,” the French-Italian-English muttered, cheeks a dusted red as he crowned Arzen with the flowers.

* * * * *

Janica Ayade was fangirling.

And in her own words, her ovaries had exploded.

“Someone should get those two off stage and let Janica go,” Therese muttered to Gabrielle, who nodded earnestly. Nathaniel Roxas, the Filipino teacher of the seventh graders, was serenading all the watchers with his own rendition of Collide, and Janica was quietly fangirling in her own spot. Therese nudged Arzen and pointed to Ms. Estrella, who was searching the crowd for a new ‘victim’ to bring to stage. She caught Arzen’s eye and gave her a look, Arzen desperately wanted to be part of that and the latter grinned widely, pointing at Janica.

Ms. Estrella nodded and faced the two ladies, hands on her hips.

“Get down, both of you! Let someone else have a turn.”

“Ms., please,” one of them begged, but the older woman gave a look.

“If both of you don’t get down in five seconds, RHGP is going down. Now.”

Begrudgingly, the two got off the stage, Sir Nathaniel chuckling good-naturedly.

“Anyone next?” he asked into the mic, eyebrow raised.

Ms. Estrella immediately tapped Janica’s shoulder, and the girl looked at her with a shocked expression. “I have one right here, Nathaniel. Hold on.”

“W-Wait, I didn’t-”

“Come on, Janica,” Ms. Estrella urged, and she finally got up the stage, sitting anxiously on the plastic chair. Sir Nathaniel turned to her and gave her an easy smile.

“Hi there, what’s your name?”

“J-Janica! Janica Ayade,” she stammered with a blush on her cheeks. The smile on his face didn’t falter as he flipped the clearbook to the next page, clearing his throat and looking towards his audience.

“Alright, then. This last song is dedicated to Miss Janica Ayade,” he said, and strummed the introduction to A Rocket to the Moon’s ‘Baby Blue Eyes’. Cheers came from all sides of the room and Sir Nathaniel began singing, Janica reddening more and more by the second.

In the crowd, Therese and Gabrielle high-fived Arzen, who was merely smirking and giving Janica the thumbs up. Amidst her red face, Janica grinned and mouthed a ‘thank you’, then sang along with conviction.

* * * * *

“Come on, broski. You’re going with me.”

“I hope he doesn’t mind,” Arzen mumbled, blushing immediately at the sight of Sir Nathaniel hanging out and polishing his guitar. A group of girls had just left, giggling over their picture with him. The man saw them and smiled, rising and letting his guitar sit against the wooden bench.

“Good afternoon, Sir – do you mind if I snap a pic of you and Arzen?” Beatrice asked good-naturedly, showing the Instax camera in her hands. He nodded and went next to Arzen, smiling at her. Arzen could only smile back.

“I hope it works,” he replied with a chuckle. “The last pair who came to me with an Instax ended up upset because it lost battery.”

“Just replaced mine yesterday, Sir,” Beatrice replied breezily, casual but keeping sure to be respectful. She smirked and snapped a picture, the film coming out. She shook it and both of the girls thanked him, soon catching up to Therese, Janica and Gabrielle.

Soon enough, in the Kiosk, Beatrice cussed.

“Shit.”

The group looked at her. “What’s wrong?”

“The goddamn plastic won’t come out,” she whined, and Cianna took it from her, studying it carefully. “I don’t care if the stupid film gets broken, just remove the thing!”

“Relax, relax.” Cianna squinted and tried jamming it out, but it wouldn’t budge. In turn, Gabrielle took it and tried getting it out.

“You won’t mind if it gets broken?”

“I have another black part in my bag. Just keep the camera safe.”

“Got’cha,” Gabrielle murmured.

In a couple of minutes, the black part came out and the reason for jamming was discovered: a jammed piece of film which ended up in the trash.

* * * * *

Daniel noticed Mathias glancing at Arzen’s wallet over and over. “Did you finish all your money or something, Prat?”

“No, Blondie. She got a picture with that teacher from seven,” he muttered. The blonde raised a brow and merely listened. “I don’t get what she sees in him. He’s twenty-something, older, plays the guitar and has glasses – so what?”

Daniel smirked.

“Jealous?”

“Hell no.” his tone was bitter, a little cold. “Of course not. Just irritated that she likes those kinds of guys.”

“Calm down. It was just a picture – and she’s got a little crush on him, why would you care?”

“No reason,” Mathias replied, his tone soon going back to his usual one. “No reason.”

Maxine glanced at them. “Come on, hurry up – the food lines might get longer.”

* * * * *

The girls and Liam were participating in a conversation/debate, ranging from religion to politics to morality. Gabrielle had brought up the topic of impossible questions, until Cianna inserted a few words regarding religion. Liam and Arzen argued about science, while the others were quietly discussing government. They were sprawled out on the stage of the Multi-Purpose Building, Arzen and Elaine wearing their flower crowns, Arzen’s hair finally down after hours of it in a half-pony.

“…one whole symbolism,” Cianna concluded. The others nodded at this, pleased with the outcome. Daniel and Mathias merely watched, Daniel shaking his head as Liam tried to defend his claims, Arzen blasting them away at any chance. Finally, the younger Edevane gave up.

“Your girl’s such an arguer, Mathias,” he complained. Arzen and Mathias both blushed at this.

“I’m not-”

“She isn’t-”

“You two are so obvious,” Daniel muttered. Both people turned to glare. “Just saying the truth.”

“Daniel, leave them alone.” Elaine frowned and nudged Arzen, “I think they need to realize the feelings for themselves.” At that, Arzen slapped Elaine’s shoulder and Mathias facepalmed, both brothers bursting into laughter at the awkward scene they created.

* * * * *

Aside from the others, seven people (five females and two males) climbed onto the Vikings ride. Mathias and Therese sat across Arzen and Elaine, while Gabrielle and Beatrice took the bench on the left. Daniel sat alone until Liam climbed in eagerly, declaring that his shift was over.

“Let’s get something to eat right after this,” Gabrielle said. The others nodded and the ride started, simply swinging back and forth, increasing in how further it went in each turn. Beatrice complained that the ride wasn’t big enough and Therese merely gazed away, watching the in house bands performing. Elaine chatted with Mathias until the ginger kept frowning and looking at Arzen, and that made Elaine look at her as well.

“…bro, are you okay?” Beatrice asked.

The long-haired girl gave a thumbs down gesture and asked for Therese to not move her feet. Playfully, Gabrielle waved her hands around Therese’s knees and Therese moved her foot back in mere fun. This made Arzen look up and glare at them both, brushing her hair away from her face. “Very funny, guys.”

“Come on, Arzen,” Elaine grinned, “Just don’t mind the ride going up and down~”

“If I weren’t so nauseated, I’d punch your arm.” Elaine merely chuckled and Daniel mimed for her to fake a jump, to which Elaine did. This made Arzen scream in shock, the others laughing at her reaction. Mathias stifled a laugh and tried making it into a cough, but the look on his face sobered when she sent him a scathing look.

“The octopus doesn’t get you, but you hate this?” Liam questioned her.

“I am nauseated. Shut up.”

* * * * *

“Are you sure you want to do this?”

“What the – it was your suggestion!”

“I know, I know, it’s just…” Arzen struggled to keep the camera straight, “Why do I have to hold your freaking phone?”

“It was your suggestion,” Elaine replied. Yet again. She shifted in the carriage, trying to get comfortable, “And you’ve got to keep it that way for the whole ride.”

“You’re crazy,” Arzen muttered, but kept Elaine’s iPhone in her hand. The ride soon started, and eventually, Elaine took hold of the phone as well. “Hah – now you’re holding on to it! Now I won’t have to blame just me if your phone falls-”

“Shut up-”

Their carriage spun around, making both girls scream – Elaine eventually let go of her phone and Arzen videoed the whole event, screaming and laughing while flying in midair. For once, neither of them cared that people were staring like a certain teacher and yelled their heads off, Elaine cursing Francis and Mary.

The sun began to set, and the prominent sight of two girls wearing flower crowns, one holding up a phone completed the sight.