FAMILIA

familia 1.01

Elaine Hernandez

I laughed, "How corny!" as I flipped through the pile of newspapers, each dated from a different time.

The glossy paper and colorful layout seemed too fancy for a regular newspaper. I wondered if it was a school project, maybe from the art department. The stories seemed too fabricated, and I'd never heard of the Arguelles and Delaguilia families. The design was over-the-top, too. It would be such a waste if my mom used it as a trivet for her cooking pot.

I glanced around, hoping to spot the owner.

Was this just a bunch of compiled projects left behind? There was no one around. Only my volleyball teammates were there, and they were on the other side of the court.

“Elaine, get back to the court!” one of my teammates shouted.

I'm a varsity player on my school team, and we're gearing up for a big game during our school's foundation week. As a support team, the varsity players lend a hand to our classmates as they prepare for the competition.

“Okay. By the way, is this yours?” I showed her the papers.

“No, maybe it's from the cheer dancer who practiced earlier.” She replied.

I nodded and put the papers back in the envelope and stuffed them into my bag. I'll just ask around later who it belongs to.

After our game a.k.a. training, I headed back to our room to meet up with my friends.

“How's training?” Maddy asked, the genius in our group, the one responsible for compiling notes before exams and making sure we everyone are maintaining our good grades.

“It’s still the same, boring!” I replied.

I turned to Jo or Journee and said, “Hi, Jo!” I squealed, throwing my arms around her for a hug.

"Ew, Elaine, you’re all sweaty!" Jo, the drama queen with an influencer vibe because she has 40k followers on i********:, dodged me with a disgusted look. But I teased her anyway, pretending to touch her with my sweaty skin.

"Arg, girl!" She shouted as she ran.

I chased her, and she tried to block me by using the chairs stacked against the wall to slow me down. I was pretty fast, though - guess my training paid off. She ran to the back of the room, hiding behind our other friends.

“Elaine, come on!” She shouted again. “Jo, come on!” I mimicked to her.

She pushed a chair in my way again, but I quickly kicked it aside. Luckily, the chairs were made of plastic, so they were easy to move.

"Damn, Elaine!" she cursed, and I knew I was getting under her skin.

"Hey, you guys can mess around, but don't involve the chairs!" "They're hard to fix!" Jameson, or Son, our thrifty friend, room president and also leader of the props team, intervened.

"Elaine is so annoying! Just go change already!"

"No way, give me one hug first!" I teased Jo, and she pushed a table in front of us to block me.

"Lol!"

"Fine, let's just shake hands then."

"Damn, even that is sweating! Go bother Sienna instead!"

"Oh, you think you can? I'll splatter this paint!" And then there was Seinna, the sweet one. Yeah, she's really sweet, but she doesn't back down either.

I jumped onto the table to cross over her, but before I could leap down, she kicked the table with her foot, throwing me off balance since I wasn't standing firmly. Luckily, before I fell, I felt a hand supporting my right shoulder, preventing me from tumbling over. I was surprised.

When I turned around, I saw Maddy. If she hadn't caught me, my head would've definitely hit the ground first.

"That's what you get for messing around, haha!" Jo said, laughing and sticking out her tongue. If I hadn't almost fallen and Maddy hadn't quickly rushed to my side, Jo would've gotten away with teasing me.

Wait, wasn't Maddy near the door earlier? And we were in the middle of the room? How did she move so fast? Or had she already been close by?

"Thanks," I said, as I recovered my balance.

"That's enough, Elaine!" Jo said irritably.

"Okay, got it." I said with a smile. I sat down on the floor, on a paper sheet, to check out Seinna's painting - it looked like wings.

"Lucas, can you pass me the scissors? And Elaine, help with the painting," Son said, suddenly tossing another paintbrush.

Luckily, my reflexes were quick, probably thanks to playing volleyball, and I caught it easily. I started painting, simply following Seinna's lead.

"Elaine, go change first, you're going to get all dried up with sweat," Maddy calmly said.

"Yeah, you already smell bad. Your sweat's going to stick to your skin. Ew." Jo added.

"You didn't want to hug me, that's why," I teased, laughing.

"Later, Maddy, I might get paint on my clothes." I continued painting.

"Oh My Gosh, Elaine, why is your work circular? It's supposed to be a feather. Make it longer and add some white highlights on the side," Seinna commented on my work.

"Whoa! I was just copying you," I said, pointing to her work.

"No way, your work is circular while mine is not."

She taught me how to paint the cardboard properly. It's supposed to be long, with highlights on the side. Then, I'll add a layer of blue paint and highlights again, creating a feather-like layering effect to resemble wings.

Everyone was working on their own tasks. Maddy was gluing pieces of paper onto a mask to make it look like a lion, while Son was cutting. Others were busy cutting or painting as well.

"Guys, turn off the light it is already six." Lucas said, peeking behind the door and locking it. Maddy also got up to lock the other door and covered the small window with white paper. We all hid on the sides, so if the guard peeked through the small window in the room, they wouldn't see anyone inside.

Well, we're still in Senior High, and school policy dictates that SHS students shouldn't be roaming around our building after 6 PM. But, of course, as good students (yeah, really good), we're probably the only ones in this school who always stay behind just to work on projects, clean the room, and, you know, hang out.

I don't know, but we've gotten used to staying here late. My mom even thinks I get out of school around 7 PM or 8 PM.

"Shh," Seinna said, making a silent gesture.

We could hear the guard's footsteps as he turned off the lights in the hallway one by one. He was also checking the rooms for any remaining students and locking them up. That's his routine every 6 PM, making sure there are no students wandering around.

When he reached our room, he tried to turn the doorknob, but, as usual, it was already locked.

"Stubborn kids, I've always told them not to lock the door. They're so hard-headed," he said, then walked away to the next room.

After he was far enough, we all burst out laughing because, like before, we felt like we'd outsmarted him again. "Sorry, but it's fun to hang out here."