Sweet Lies

Keath Gray Galvez

I'm fixing my necktie before going downstairs to eat breakfast. I'm done taking a bath. I fixed my hair while looking through the full length mirror that I have here in my room. I picked up my favorite watch and wear it, I grabbed my backpack before leaving the room. I walked my way downstairs to the dining area. I saw Dad drinking coffee while reading the newspaper in his seat. Mom is eating her breakfast beside Dad, Kelly is also enjoying her pancakes and hot milk beside Mom. I saw Mom glanced towards me and she gave me a smile.

“Good morning, Keath Gray,” she greeted.

“Good morning too, Mom,” I greeted back as I took my seat which is in front of Kelly.

I lift my plate to get some rice, I picked up a few pieces of bacon using my fork. As I took a bite from my breakfast, I noticed Kelly is looking at me. What does this kid want? Tsk.

“Gray, your forehead has lines,” she commented while looking at me. “It will become wrinkles if you won’t stop doing that,” she added as she eat some of her pancakes.

“Kelly, don’t speak to your older brother like that,” Dad warned while reading his newspaper. He knows that I hate the feeling of being teased.

Before Kelly could speak, we heard somebody shouted from the second floor. I rolled my eyes as I took another bite from my meal.

“Mom!” we heard Kierra screaming on the top of her lungs, we heard her footsteps coming downstairs. “Mommmm!” she screamed once again. I glanced at the stairs and there she is, walking towards our direction with a big smile plastered on her face.

Damn, it’s still 7am and she’s is so loud! I looked back to my food and continued eating my breakfast.

“Mom, you won’t believe what I’m going to tell you!” she said as she sit beside me, making her sit in front of Mom.

“You know what, you can tell Mom without shouting, tss,” I said to her as I drink some orange juice, but as usual she is going to ignore my statement.

“I’m going to have an interview!” she announced.

I glanced at Mom and I saw how her eyes widened, even Dad stopped reading his newspaper. He’s just staring at Kierra.

“Where?” Mom asked while looking at my older sister.

“What kind of interview is it, Kierra?” Kelly asked. “Is it like the one in the television?! You’re an actress now?” our younger sister innocently asked.

“No, she’s not an actress, Kelly,” I answered. “And she’ll never be one,” I saw how Kelly frowned at me.

“A job interview?” Dad asked. “Which company is it?” he added.

“Yes, Dad, an interview,” Kierra answered. “I’m so overwhelm because of the news. They said that the company rarely accepts fresh graduates for the company since they have very high and strict standards,” she explained while smiling.

“He’s asking what company is it,” I commented. “Your answer is miles away, stupid,” I added.

“Oh, shut up, Keath Gray,” Kierra said as she rolled her eyes. “Well, the company is DCBI, Dad. I’m going to prepare after breakfast!” she happily said.

I saw her put some bacon and eggs on her plate. I’m almost done with my breakfast. As I chew my food, Dad suddenly speak.

“Gray, do you have plans on what course you’re going to take for college?” Dad asked me as he put down his newspaper and took a sip from his coffee.

Alright, here we go again with this topic. Tss. I lost my appetite, I finished off my orange juice. Nobody dared to utter a word, they are waiting for me to answer Dad’s question. Tss.

“I’m done,” I announced.

I stood up and turned my back at them. As I walked away from the dining table, I heard Dad spoke.

“Decide what course you’re going to take now. You only have a short period of time, Gray,” he said.

I didn’t utter a word to him. As I walked towards outside the house, I wear my earphones to listen to some songs. I’m not afraid of Dad’s words, I just don’t want to hear him talk about college. I still have a few months to think about it, school just started and its first day today. I hate how he pressures me to think about it when I’m confused on what course I should take, tss.

I opened the door of our car and went inside. Andrew, our family driver, drive towards the school where I am enrolled. As the car moves towards its direction, I stared outside. The school is only a 20 minute drive. Andrew stopped the car in front of the school’s gate. I lowered the volume of the music playing on my phone.

“Thank you, Andrew,” I said as I unbuckled my seat.

“No problem, Sir,” he replied.

I opened the door and got off the car. I heard the car drive away. I sighed as I looked at the huge emblem of the school that is placed here near the gate. Nothing has changed, Haleyson Galvez University, damn, I’ve been going to this school since 4th grade and up, until the last year of high school, I’m still here, tsk. I walked towards our building. I can hear whispers from schoolmates as I passed by them at the hallway. Tss, even this thing didn’t changed at all.

“Look, Gray is so hot.”

“Where do you girls think he spend his summer vacation?”

“I hope he enjoyed his summer vacation?”

“Gray is very handsome.”

When will they stop? Since first year high school until now, this scene happens every day. I groaned when I felt a slight pain passed by my left ear, I looked at the person who just pulled my earphones. Tss.

“What’s this?! Keath Gray Galvez, its first day of school, as in the very first day of school!” Ladwick commented, my noisy best friend. “You should smile sometimes, Dude! Give them a smile!” he added as he raised his eye brows up and down while pouting towards the group of girls hanging out at the hallway.

I looked at the girls he was talking about. I shook my head as they started shrieking like crazy when I looked at them. Just because I looked at them? Ugh, weird girls. I heard Ladwick’s laughter, I felt him followed me.

“Hey, Daryl!” Lad called the guy who was a few meters away in front of us. It was Daryl, he smiled and waved towards us. Lad waved back while smiling as we approached him.

“What’s this?” Daryl said in an amused tone as he looked at me. “Gray Galvez, between the four of us, you’re going to be the first one turning into an old man because of all the wrinkles on your forehead,” he teased. Tss.

“Shut up,” I warned him as I checked the time from my wristwatch.

“Its first day and you’re still grumpy,” he said. “Loosen up, bro,” he added as he tapped my shoulder.

“Some things will never change,” I replied as I walked passed by him.

I felt the followed me towards the stairs. Our room is located at the 5th floor of this building. As we ascended upstairs, I can hear Ladwick and Daryl talking about their summer vacation from behind.

“Gray, did you and your family spend your vacation at Palawan?” I heard Daryl asked. “I saw Kierra’s post,” he added.

“Yeah, we went,” I answered casually.

The two of them continued to talk with other from behind. We reached our designated floor which is the 5th floor, our classroom is located at this floor. We walked towards the last room, I glanced at the label above the door, and it says “Class A”.

“What?” I heard Ladwick complained. “Sir Falyer is our adviser? Tsk.”

I glanced at the door where the name of the class advisor is placed, Sir Falyer’s full name is posted at the door, a sign that he is our class adviser for the whole school year. When we entered the room, we saw our classmates chatting around, probably about vacation. We saw Maith reading a book in his seat.

“Hey, Maith!” Lad called. “Did you reserve a seat for us?!” he asked while approaching him.

“Yeah,” Maith answered while looking at his book. “One beside me and two behind,” as he pointed the empty seats from the back.

I placed my bag at the seat behind him which is near the window, I can see the whole field from here. Daryl is sitting beside me while Ladwick occupied the seat beside Maith. That’s a good thing so he won’t disturb me during class, he is talkative and he isn’t afraid of the teachers discussing during class, tss.

I noticed my classmates went silent and their gaze are fixed into a certain direction. I followed where they are looking at, I frowned when I saw a weird looking girl. Does she know the word fashion? Ugh, probably not. Her hair is fixed into a low ponytail and it has curl on the ends. The skirt of her uniform is way too long! It almost reach her ankles, goodness. She has a notebook on her hand and she’s even wearing thick eyeglasses! What an eyesore!

“What is she?”

“Is she our classmate?”

“I don’t know.”

She is looking for a vacant. The only vacant seat is the one behind me, I saw her walking towards our direction. So, what if she’ll take the seat behind me? I don’t care at all. She is ugly and it makes my eye sore. Even if she has white complexion like mine, she is still ugly because she looks like an old hag because of her appearance. Tss. I saw some girls walked towards her. I didn’t look at them, it’s a waste of time to look at an ugly person.

“Hey, ugly nerd, do you know about the word fashion?” I heard one of the girls asked her.

“Don’t you have any mirror at home?” another one asked.

“Do you even know what a mirror is?”

“Do you even belong to this class?”

I heard Ladwick laughed while looking at the back where the girls and the ugly nerd are, even Maith is looking at them. I glanced at them and I saw nerdy handing her form to Angelina. Hmmm.

“What’s that?” Angeline asked while looking at the paper.

“You have eyes. Why don't you read it?” the ugly nerd asked. “Are you blind? Or you just don’t know how to read?” she innocently asked.

What the hell? Did I heard it right?

Lad and Daryl are laughing with matching applause, even our other classmates that are male are joining in too. While most girls of the class are silent, I saw how Angelina’s face turned red because of annoyance.

“I’m not blind and I know how to read! Stupid!” Angelina said in an angry tone.

“Then read it,” nerdy challenged. “I belong to this class. If you have complaints about my presence here, better complain it to the principal,” she added.

Angelina stomped her feet out if irritation and left the room, her friends followed her. Lad and Daryl gave the nerd girl a round of applause, even the other boys joined in. Nerdy just fixed her glasses and looked something in her bag.

“Whoa, Miss Cute Nerd, I’m so proud of you!” Lad said in a happy tone. “You’re the first one who talked to Angelina in that way!”

What? Cute Nerd? Goodness, Lad is such a liar, saying flowery words to an ugly person, tss. I glanced at the nerd girl, she just glanced at Ladwick and returned her gaze to her phone.

“Anyway, Miss Cute Nerd, what’s your name?” Ladwick asked while smiling. Ugh.

“You’ll find it out later,” nerdy replied.

I saw how Lad was taken aback, he probably didn’t expect that kind of answer. Nerdy stood up and left the room. Why do I feel something weird?

“She’s unpredictable,” Maith commented.

“Because of what she had done to Angelina, I will make friends with her! She’s my idol now!” Lad said while smiling.

“Seriously? You’re going to be friends with her?” I asked while raising a brow at him.

“There’s nothing wrong if Lad will be friends with her,” Daryl said. “He could teach her about the word fashion!” he added while giving Lad a high five, ugh.

“Don’t waste your time on a girl like her,” I said. “She’s ugly,” I added.

“Ohhh, don’t say it like that, Dude,” Maith said. “She is not fixing herself properly that’s why her appearance is like that,” he said while fixing his bag.

“Maybe one day, you’ll eat the words you said,” Lad said while looking at me. “You’ll regret calling her ugly, Gray,” as he grinned from ear to ear, tsk.

“I bet, our friend will look for Miss Cute Nerd’s face one day!” Daryl teased.

“Stupid, why would I look for her ugly face?”

The school bell ring and our classmates went to their designated seats. After a few moments, Sir Falyer went inside the room. He looked at the whole class and asked if there are transferees.

“Are there any transferees?” he asked.

“Yes, Sir,” one of our classmates answered. “But, she went out.”

“Where is she?” Sir asked.

“She was talking someone through the phone, Sir,” I glanced at the person who answered, it was Beatrice, the nerd’s seatmate. “It looks like it was an important call,” she added.

“Well—“

Sir Falyer’s words were cut off by a knock on the door, we all looked at the door and it was the nerd girl. She was standing by the door while holding her phone. I saw how Sir Flayer crossed his arms.

“You’re 10 minutes late for my class. Don’t you know class starts at 7:30am?” Sir Falyer asked in a cold tone. “Explain yourself,” he added.

“I’m sorry for being late, my brother called,” she answered. “It was an emergency regarding our father,” she added.

I frowned, where does she get that kind of bravery? It doesn’t matches her face. Sir Falyer told her to introduce herself in class since she is a transferee. She walked towards the platform and looked at us.

“Nathalie Chase Sanchez, 17, from Montenegro National High School,” she said.

“Any interest, Miss Sanchez?” Sir asked.

Nerdy just shook her head and Sir Falyer gestured her to take her seat. Sir Falyer discussed the rules and regulations of the school, and it makes me sleepy, I know all of the rules, tch. I looked at towards outside and I saw some birds flying. I felt somebody poked my shoulder, I looked towards the direction where it came from. It was Daryl.

“Do you have paper?” he asked.

“Why?” I asked back.

“You didn’t listen?” he asked as he gave me a bored look. “Sir said we will make an essay about our summer vacation,” he explained.

I get some paper from my bag and gave one to Daryl. I sighed when Lad automatically turned his head towards my direction to beg a one sheet of paper, he hasn’t changed at all. I grabbed my pen and started writing down the essay. When I was done, I stood up and walked towards Sir Falyer to submit my paper but he raised an eye brow at me.

“Mister Galvez, I clearly said that it should be three paragraphs that consists fifteen sentences,” he handed me my paper. “Revise your work, Mister Galvez,” he added.

I didn’t utter a word and returned to my seat, I caught the nerd girl looking at me. When our gazes met, she avoided my gaze, she looked back at her paper and continued writing, tsk. A few hours passed lunch arrived, our classmates stood up and went out to go to the cafeteria. Some of the class remained here at the room, taking out their lunch boxes.

“Where are we gonna eat?” I heard Maith asked.

“Let’s just eat out,” Lad answered. “I’m craving for Korean foods,” he added.

“Shut up, we’re not going to satisfy your cravings,” Daryl said. “Unless it’s your treat?” he asked while looking at Ladwick.

“Nope,” Lad answered while giving us a peace sign.

“There’s a newly opened café near here, should we try there?” Maith suggested.

The three of them looked at me, waiting for my opinion.

“Where?” I asked. “Café? Pastries for lunch?” I added as I raised a brow at him.

“Well, they do have pastries, but at the other side of the café is a resto,” Maith answered.

“Half café, half resto?” Ladwick asked to confirm, and Maith nodded.

“Let’s try it,” Daryl agreed. “Walking distance?” he asked.

“Yep. It’s near Porchela’s internet café,” Maith answered.

We went out of the room and went downstairs of the building. We passed by a lot of students, and they looked amazed to see us passed by, ugh. When we went out of the school, we saw other students from different schools as we walked towards the resto Maith was talking about. We passed by some girls and they are giggling while looking at us, tsk.

We stopped in front of the resto. Maith went inside and we followed, there are a lot of customers. Most of them are students, we occupied a table near the glass wall, and we can see the other side which is the café. I guess this is the wall that separates the café and resto, but there’s a sliding door in the middle of the wall, connecting the café and resto. So, if you want to grab some coffee, there’s no need for you to get out of the shop.

A little girl that looks like at the age of 7 years old walked towards us while wearing a pink apron, she gave us a menu. While choosing food to order, Lad and the others are noisy, asking each other what food they should order, ugh. After a few minutes of choosing what to order, we finally came up one. The little girl listed it down on her notepad.

“Are you still students, Sir?” the little girl asked us.

“Isn’t—“

“Yes, little girl,” Maith cut me off. “Why?” he asked while looking at the little girl.

“I would like to ask for your ID,” she answered. “I will show it to the cashier in charge so we can give you a little discount since the four of you are students,” she explained at she pointed the counter.

“Discount? That’s nice,” Lad said while smiling as he give his ID to the little girl.

The rest of us gave her our IDs. She smiled and told us to wait for our orders and she walked towards the counter.

“Awwwe, that little girl is so cute!” Lad said with full of admiration in his eyes.

“You said it,” Maith agreed. “I wish I had a younger sister like her,” he added as he glanced where the little girl went.

I looked towards the café, we can see other customers there because of the glass wall. I looked around the whole room, I admire how they design the interior. It’s relaxing and not too flashy like other shops, they also have plants here, and it adds a relaxing vibe to the whole room. They also play some relaxing music. I frowned when I saw an eyesore at the far corner of the room. When did she arrived here? I saw the nerd girl eating some spaghetti. Goodness, I wasted seconds when I looked at her. Ugh, she’s such an eye sore.