1 Epilogue

A group of creatures seemingly engrossed in the play they were watching shared ecstatic glances among each other, their amazement being evident due to the releasing of the lights above their heads.

One creature made a pleasing sound wave, summoning its beloved acquaintance. The one who was called made its way beside it.

"They seem to be enjoying it, I should join too" it muttered. A sparkle of purple light popped up on its head, indicating its enthusiasm.

***

"Aala someone is here to fetch you, get down here!" My mother hissed.

"I'm almost done!" I replied. I immediately grabbed my fully charged phone from the outlet even though there was a possibility that it might break.

I scanned my room for the last time, my eyes gazed at its forest green wall with little white dots on it. I still remember when I was painting it... my younger brother took out a brush that was doused in white paint and splashed it all over me. A smile formed across my lips while reminiscing those good old joyful memories. I also saw my collection of books and musical instruments that I used to play with whenever I was bored.

"I will miss this," I murmured and twisted the doorknob.

I saw my mom holding a lunchbox, and I presumed it was for me. Her dark brown eyes turned to me, she already has some white hair strands that highlited her hair. She has a pale complexion and a petite body... but that doesn't ruin her beauty even though she's already in her late 40's. She flashed a pleased smile at me and handed me the lunch box.

"The food is already there, there is also bread and drinks in your bag, don't starve yourself, Aala," she threatened.

Mama is really strict, gosh! Good thing I'm used to it now.

I looked around the living room, looking for someone. "Ma, where's Aether?" I asked my mom. It's unusual for him to be absent, especially when I'm leaving. He always sulks whenever I leave.

"In his room," she said. "He might be doing something."

All of a sudden, the door of my brother's room opened. He hurriedly walked downstairs and approached me.

He's undeniably charming for his light brown monolid eyes, tan skin, and heart-shaped lips. I see our father in his appearance, he's like a replica of him.

He smiled at me and gave the box he's been holding all along, wrapped in a green paper. My brother mumbled, "Ate Aala, for you." His eyes started to become misty.

"Thank you." I tapped his shoulder and smiled back. "I will miss you throwing tantrums at me," I teased and he just pouted in dismay.

I turned my gaze to my mom, who's already in tears. I lent her my hands and hugged her, I also pulled my brother in to join our little family group hug. It would be a complete one if only my father was still alive.

A knock interrupted our little bonding. As a response, my mom opened the door and saw a guy in his late 30s. He's wearing a light blue polo and black pants along with his black shiny office shoes.

"I apologize for interrupting your family bonding, ma'am," He said to my mother and looked at me. "Sir Manuel ordered me to fetch Ms. Mayari. I'm afraid we might face some traffic, and the kids will be late for their flight If we don't leave now."

I nodded and took my luggage along with the ones my brother and mother had given me. Manong took my belongings outside and put them in the compartment of our car.

For the last time, I hugged my family as tight as I could and kissed them on their foreheads. Seeing their crying faces somewhat makes me laugh, they looked like crying babies.

The guy outside simply let out a loud cough that is enough to get our attention. I followed him and he escorted me to get inside.

I adjusted my posture and turned my gaze to a man in his mid 30s. There's no denying his muscular body and his serious face.

"I might die from those eyes, Ms. Mayari," he joked.

I let out a little laugh. "I can't help it, this is my first time seeing you dressed so well," I replied.

He wore a gray vest, topping it off with a black blazer. He matched it with his dark blue jeans and brown classic leather shoes. His fashion speaks that he's a classy man.

I looked at my outfit and just sighed in disappointment. Where the hell am I when It rained fashion sense.

A call interrupted our little chit chat... it was Sir Manuel's. He answered the phone call and excused himself.

Not interested in his conversations, I took out my earphones and just played my favorite song, Salvatore by Lana Del Rey.

***

"Aala," Sir Manuel called. "We've arrived."

It took us 1 hour to arrive at the airport because of the traffic... gladly, we were able to get on the flight in time. We got out of the car and took our own luggage.

I glanced at the driver and thanked him. "Thank you, Manong. Please, be careful going back," I reminded him along with my Adviser.

We went to the departure lounge and sat on it while waiting. I began to observe the people out of boredom. Others are in line, people walking in different directions, and seated passengers also waiting for their flight.

I stopped midway of my observing expedition when I saw a familiar figure coming on my way. He's wearing a black v-neck along with a long brown coat, matching with his... white pants.

Chavin Lingga, my close friend and classmate. Ever since we first met, he's always been a fashionable guy, that's why whenever we hang out together, some people have mistaken me for his nanny.

"AALA! SIR MANUEL!" he shouted.

He hastened his pace despite him carrying a heavy luggage. While catching his breath, he still managed to embrace me. This man always has tons of stamina.

I smelled his strong perfume, and it's suffocating me. "Chav, are you planning to kill me?" I nagged, "Your perfume is suffocating my nose."

He finally removed his arms around my neck and faced me with a frown, he kinda reminds me of my brother.

"This perfume is from a luxury brand, and you're just going to complain that the scent is too pungent?" he complained.

"Tch, Have you forgotten that I'm sensitive when it comes to strong scents?" I chuckled.

He glared at me and turned his eye on our professor who is currently texting someone.

"Is that your jowa sir?" Chav teased him.

(jowa is a Filipino slang word used when referring to a friend's significant other)

"I'm talking to the person who will pick us once we arrive in the U.S . So don't disturb me If you don't wanna walk to Stanford while barefoot," He threatened.

The young man in front of me pouted. We always team up when it comes to teasing him. It's funny seeing his annoyed face whenever we tease him.

We sat again after the chat.

I took my earphones, plugged it to my phone, and put the little speakers on my ears. I continued my observation that was interrupted earlier. As I surveyed my surroundings I noticed my vision slowly rippling. I was overwhelmed and nervous, It felt like it was overpowering me. I rubbed my eye over and over, but it still didn't change.

Someone tapped me on my shoulder causing the sudden phenomenon to fade away. "Aala? Hey!" chav shouted.

I turned my gaze to him with my knitted brows. "What the fuck?" I roared.

"Why fuck?" He joked. This dumbass! I want to grab his neck and choke him to death.

I mumbled "Whatever."

"You've seen it too, right?" he asked. I was startled. I turned to him, visibly confused. "The waves?" he confirmed.

"Strange," I exclaimed.

We stopped thinking about it after being called for the flight. We immediately stood up and followed the people rushing to line up.

"Loop, loop, loop," A sound came from my left, it's annoying me. I turned to it and saw a little boy playing with his weird looking toy. I was stunned as I saw the toy, it's somewhat familiar to me.

Sir. Manuel interrupted,"Aala, did you look into medusa's eyes?"I came back to my senses when I heard the call of my teacher. I turned my gaze back to the front and just forgot what I had seen before.

After checking our passport, we made our way into the Passenger boarding bridge, a tunnel that'll lead us to the entrance of the plane.

It's not my first time riding a plane so I'm already familiar with this setup. Most of the time, I compete in national and international competitions about newspaper and debates.

My friend whispered, "I can't wait to fly,"

I burst out laughing, can't take him seriously. "Seriously? Fly high?" I questioned.

"That's not what I meant," He sighed. He's cute but his silliness makes him cuter and no one should be cuter than my brother. I just shrugged and ignored him.

"So mean," he mumbled.

I confronted him, "What did you say?"

He just rolled his eyes at me. That scumbag had the guts to do that? How dare him!

I was about to grab his hair when Sir. Manuel glared at us. "Stop It now, you guys. We're about to enter." he reminded.

I can't do anything so I just followed my teacher's advice and entered the gate. We met the flight attendant and she greeted us with a sweet smile.

"Welcome aboard!"

I smiled back at her and nodded lightly.

We walked from the forefront of economy class to the premium economy class. This class has three rows, two seats on each side of the window and three seats in the middle.

I sat in the middle row even though it's against my will because this is where we were assigned. Our professor and I put Chav in the middle, I was on the left side and Sir was on the right side.

Comfortably sitting in my respective chair, I noticed the difference on the chair here in premium economy class than economy class. The sits here are wider and more pcomfortable. Glad they booked this rather than the economy one. I had a hard time napping before because it lacked space there.

My thoughts we're interrupted after i heard someone unwrapping a bread. I stared at Chav who's discreetly eating it. I tapped him and asked for some

"It's not allowed to bring foods, right?" Sir Manuel said and took a pinch of bread and secretly eats it. We slightly laugh at each other because of our stubbornness.

"Hurry up and finish your food, you might get caught," he reminded

Chav grinned, "Is it just really me and Aala who'll get caught, sir, didn't you eat too?"

Our Professor glared at him, making Chav finish the food as fast as he could. I slightly frowned because he already finished the food and I didn't get the last bite. You can see his ugly smirk painted on his face, It seems that he's trying to annoy me more

'And it's working,' I rolled my eyes.

"Do you want me to throw you guys out the window? I will gladly throw you two out if you don't stop," Sir Manuel threatened.

We immediately behaved on our seats. Chav proceeds to take his sketch book out of his small backpack to kill time. I also took my pocketbook from my sling bag.

***

We've already arrived at the San Francisco International Airport. Sir Manuel went outside to wait for the person who will fetch us. Chav can't control his self and keeps on jumping after hearing that we've arrived in the US, he said that he will visit his aunt who lives here.

We're inside the waiting room because we might catch a cold if we wait outside. This is my first time in America, and I didn't expect that it'll be freezing here. I'm only wearing a sweatshirt and brown straight pants.

"Chilling?" Chav asked

"Obviusly," I replied. He took off his brown coat and put it on my shoulder.

"Did it somehow eased the cold?" His eyes fixated on me.

"Yeah, thanks," I uttered.

I saw Sir Manuel at the door, he used his hand to signal us, it seems that the person who will pick us up has arrived. We immediately took our own luggages and went out. A black Vios appeared in front of our eyes.

The driver helped us put our belongings to the Vios' compartment. He also escorted us to our seats before he enters the driver seat.

Due to boredom, I watched the sun as it slowly disappears. Shades of orange light from the setting sun is mixing with the blue sky. Understanding the nature is one of my hobby, that's why I'm here, to prove what started this nature or who... and where did all of this came from.

I turned my gaze on the road, the dim lights on every lamp post we pass by, the high buildings, the streets are full of people having fun while some of them are just passing by minding their own businesses, the messy crowd made the loud yet cheerful ambiance of the place.

After 34 minutes, we finally arrived at the place where we're gonna stay for 2 months. It's just near Stanford University, so we would not have a hard time commuting. We passed by the rusty iron gate and head to the parking lot on the right wing.

I opened the car's door and assisted the driver in carrying our belongings. I noticed people about my age talking to their peers. The people i see were of different races. As we made our way inside, we saw a big door that looks like a door of a castle.

"It's huge," Chav whispered.

"what's huge?" I said jokingly.

He looked down, and I burst out laughing. "Idiot, the tiles are the ones who's big. Greenminded," he grinned.

I just shook my head and threw my gaze up on the huge glass chandelier above. It's light is enough to light up the entire room. I was amazed on the architecture of this place, the classic designs of it is remarkable, I just feel like I'm in a greek church stuff.

The plain white wall makes the chandelier light stands out the most. There are also statues every corner. You can also notice the two staircase in both sides, every step of it is fairly calculated. This place all screams elegance.

We walked to the right wing and went through a loose white tunnel. We made our way into a castle-like building. There's a 'Guest and staff building' is written at the top of the big sign board.

"Are we in the royal clan? Why are we staying at a castle?" I asked.

Sir Manuel turned his eyes on me and made a witty remark. "You don't want to, go ahead, we'll let you stay on the road."

I shut my mouth and shook my head causing the two to let out a laugh that made me feel embarrassed. We went to the counter and asked where we could rest.

A crew approached us and spoke to Sir. Manuel. He gave us the direction and the card key for our room. We almost fainted from the amount of turns we take everytime we change directions. Fortunately, Chav is good at directions.

We finally reached the room where we're going to spend the night. Sir Manuel walked to the front door and swiped the card he was holding, causing the door to open.

I went inside right away, and a medium sized room appeared. To its left is a small kitchen and next to it is a small living room consisting of three small sofas, a glass table, and a tv. To my right are three small bedrooms next to the bathroom

I hastily opened the door and straight off locked it. The room isn't that big in size but it is a perfect fit for one person. I threw myself at the bed and let out a heavy sigh.

Gravitational wave is an invisible, yet incredibly fast ripple in space. Gravitational waves travel at the speed of light 186,000 miles per second. These waves squeeze and stretch anything in their path as they pass by." I said.

I started to feel my heavy eyelid while I'm reciting my notes that chav and I will use in the competition. It didn't last long as i surrender and let myself get eaten by the longing of my system to sleep.