A Smiling Faces

Colin sat down opposite tyler, who was beaming and smiling to himself. Colin frowned. not knowing what his best friend had up his sleeves.
"So.... how are you?" tyler said, still beaming, but he's obviously taking Colin for a ride.
"Just cut the crap Ty. tell me what you have to tell me. i'm busy you know," Colin retorted.
"alright alright. i can see that you know i have good news for you." colin just arched his eyebrows at him.

"shayna has asked lyss to visit her in london!"
"so?" colin didn't seem to understand where tyler was getting at.
"i'm going too."
"and?"
"can't you see where i am driving at?"
"no...." colin replied, trying his best to comprehend. tyler laughed and pulled out a plane ticket from his jacket pocket.

"i bought another ticket for you."
Colin stared at the ticket... then back at his friend... tyler realised his friend had gone silent for too long.
"hey... you ok?"

"why?" colin asked, "why did you do such a thing?"
tyler thought maybe he shouldn't have done such a thing. maybe colin forgotten about shayna altogether.
"it's SO brilliant! I'm finally going to see her after so long!" Colin laughed, he couldn't wait!
"phew. i thought you were going to kill me. i thought you were over her and focused on lila now..."
"are you nuts? you know how much i'm suffering with lila. it feels like being with megan's twin," Colin groaned, slapping his palm on his forehead. Tyler just broke out in laughter.

"you better make full use of this opportunity I BOUGHT for you," tyler remarked.
"you bet i will! god, i miss her."
tyler saw colin's face just shone with such joy... so different from when he first walked into lunch.

***

Shayna sat at the cafeteria, trying to study a copy of notes for the next lecture. All her friends were busy doing projects and she was rather alone. Shayna didn't mind it. In fact, she enjoyed some time alone to be herself and think through stuff. She missed her old bedroom back at home. It was her secret hideout when she was young and afraid and her haven where she could just take a step back and think though stuff that affected her most.

She missed her parents so much. Shayna wasn't used to the fact that she hadn't seen them for so long and she had to keep reminding herself of them through pictures that her father sent to her through her emails and through phone calls where she would cry almost every time she heard their voices. She missed Alyssa and her advices... the way they just complemented each other and her weird antics on life.

She missed... Colin. She didn't know why and that made loving Timothy the hardest. She knew Timothy provided her with almost everything she needed... love, faithfulness, security and trust. These were some of the things that Colin couldn't even give her.. but why was she still thinking about him?

According to Alyssa, Colin got together with Lila. Shayna suspected all along that Lila was interested in Colin... when she heard the news, Shayna felt her heart wrench the twist inside her body. She was jealous. She didn't want to accept it but she knew what her heart was saying. She still cared about Colin and the things he did.

***
"honey, where are the stuff that i bought for shayna yesterday?" alyssa called from the room. tyler groaned and placed his work down on his study desk before dragging his feet into the bedroom.
"i don't know. i thought you kept it," tyler growled.
"yeah but i don't know where i kept them!" alyssa panicked, throwing stuff all around. tyler has never seen her to paniky before. she looked so lost and confused.

tyler pulled alyssa close to her and hugged her. she then broke down in tears.
"honey, calm down. why are you so frantic? we're only going to see her in a week. you have tons of time to prepare," he said.
"i know... it's just that i hardly see her and i want this to be perfect," alyssa said, admist her tears.
"hush now darling. it's alright. i'll help you find it after i'm done with my work," tyler said, kissing her on the forehead.
"thanks dear. i love you," alyssa said, finally smiling.

***

"kor, are you going to see shayna jie soon?" colby asked as colin wazs driving him to school.
"yes. next week, i'll be going to london to see her," colin answered.
"can i come too?"
"colby, you have school. don't you want to go to school?" colin asked.
colby's expression turned from excitement to disappointment. "oh."

"tell you what, why don't we go buy something for her later, after i pick you up from school?"
"really?! can i make something too?"
"of course. make something special for her."
cloby got all excited and started to jump up and down in his seat. "i want to draw her a picture, write her a story, paint her a picture and..."
"... hold it there bugger. remember what i told you about sitting properly in the car."
colby smiled sheepishly and settled back down. "sorry kor... but you will help me right?"

"of course, silly boy."
both of them started to smile.