We came back to the quadrangle when Team Xhiro was going to perform. Blinkey was the lead vocalist, Van was the guitarist and Arvin for the drums. Our cheers were no match for the yell contest that came next. 

After the Battle of the Bands, each planet performed on stage. The first one, just screamed so loud we only understood "WHO ARE WE?" and the others, we didn't pick up any word at all, because they were like whispering. 

The best one was Ate Nicole's group, they were very disciplined and coordinated, but Kuya Kevin's group competed with the best audience impact. Our planet was a mess, the chant they made was too long, so they were like reading a pledge or something and they didn't chant it in sync. At least they looked like they had fun.

I brought Avi to their room and received my first "good night' in person from her. When I was ready to call it a day, a senior ran past me and asked, "Are you going to sleep already?"

"It's tradition to skip sleep on the first night," It's Ate Nicole. "It's party time for the organizers, come on!"

"Woohooo," a group of her friends bellowed and I followed them.

I pulled myself to the third floor. Inside the first room, music was playing but not too loud, and a crowd of people mostly, facilitators and seniors were eating in styrofoam boxes. The decorations seemed rushed or they didn't plan to decorate the room at all, with balloons all over the floor, all the chairs were pushed back to the wall, planets, and stars dumped in the back, and a plunge on the teacher's table but I'm not sure if it had alcohol in it, I didn't try.

It would be the first party I had been to. The music was playing Chainsmokers, but when the music played T.A.N.G.A everyone groaned and yelled, Turn it off! Turn it off!

They announced its party time, and they turned on the music again, an upbeat one.

"Let's dance," Mix said close to my ear.

"What? I don't know how," I played that cliché card.

"Yes, you do!" He caught hold of my hand and we went in the clump of dancing people.

I promised myself not to dance again, since I performed in front of Crimson. But I must have tasted alcohol when I felt light and confident. We blended to the crowd and hopped around. I closed my eyes then the moves flowed, we banged our heads and roll our arms over.

It was before midnight that they said there's going to be a firework display at the municipal hall. Apparently, there's also an ongoing party there. I found Mix alone again, he was leaning outside on the balcony. The view from there was panoramic because it's the tallest building in the school yet. We could see the creek, the fields, and the mountains.

"Master," I called to him. "What happened to you?"

He turned around and wiped his eyes as if he had just woken up. "Are you crying?"

"No, you dumbass," he said as he pinched my cheek. "I just got something in my eye."

And I bought it. I could feel from his voice that something was wrong but I didn't push it further. I was too insensitive.

"You were fire back there," he said and smiled a teasing smile.

"Pshh," I scoffed, "you should have seen me when I danced in front of Crimson."

The mention of his name made the both of us silent. Inside some of them were acting drunk, still singing and dancing.

"Let's go to the rooftop," he said, to which I replied, "There are no rooftops in our school."

"Yeah, there are!" He's back to being confident, "It's the best spot to see the fireworks later."

We came down from the third-floor building and climb to another building adjacent to it. At the end of the hallway, which I thought was a dead-end Mix unfurled an emergency ladder on the railing and pointed upward.

"Really, Mix?" I retaliated, "That is literally the roof!"

I knew it would be something like this, like the waterfall that turned out to be a creek at the back of the school.

"Are you scared?"

"No," I lied, but all I'm thinking was, this looks too dangerous but at least if I fall it's survivable. Maybe he felt that I was scared too when he said, "I won't let you fall," and offered me a hand again. This time, I took it. He pulled me up while saying, "Don't look down now."

At the top, there were already flattened carton boxes and two pillows. When we were sitting again side by side, maybe he couldn't stand the silence, he asked, "How are you and Crimson?"

It's funny how I was thinking of him a while ago. "We're still ignoring each other," I said, "I haven't heard of him since the last time." Mix didn't press the topic much further, maybe he knew I didn't want to talk about it. We're at the point that we could sense each other's boundaries. But then I asked, "How about you and Dorothy?"

"Are you jealous?" He teased, "she just wanted to be friends."

"I bet a hundred that she's into you."

He scooted over and ignored what I said, "The fireworks are starting."

We didn't talk to each other for a while, we just looked up in awe while the sky lit up our faces with bright colors. Then as he adjusted his pillow and laid down, he said, "We're living in a world full of clichés, but you make it seem so different."

"What?" I asked while I remained seated waiting for more fireworks.

From that position, we could see the edge of the three-story building sharp against the cloudy sky.

"I mean, ever wonder how things are all the same?" He turned sideways to face me or my back and added, "Does it ever bore you?"

"What do you mean?" I asked again, still looking at the black sky.

"Have you ever felt like your life is written in a bad script? Like you repeat everything you do, it becomes meaningless."

"Ah...I guess it's kinda cliche," I shrugged.

"Sometimes, I just...wanna end it, y'know."

A loud crash filled the sky which made both of us jump. A blissful explosion of colors red and purple etched iridescently in the sky. I usually thought he's joking when he talks about something like that. 

Like when he asked me what's the Japanese for "I want to die?" I would answer, Shinitai and he would repeat it from time to time. He loved saying that word as if a cry for help. I also got used to it like all the teasing he's done to me. I wanted to ask why do you want to end it?

But as the fireworks disappeared, I only struck him back with an open-ended question:

"Why not endure it?"

"For how long?

There was a pause, a firework streak again and lit the dark empty sky.

For how long, he repeated and now his eyes aligned to mine.

As long as you can, I answered. If there's something I'm good at, it's enduring anything as long as I can. I'm not a masochist but I've learned the only way out of pain or problems is to bear with them until it disappears.

He did not speak again until I said, "If we're both living in a world full of cliché, maybe we just have to find something that would make it different, so no matter how life pulls us down you can bear it."

He looked down between his knees, while I continued to gaze at the vague shapes of smoke above the palm trees which weirdly resembled it as it fell.

"It will end, like all things will or have been," I said as the last firework exploded.

"Yeah, you're probably right," I heard him mutter under his breath.

If we wait for life to be better, maybe it will, but for how long indeed.

Mix lay down and laced his hands behind his head.

Really, for how long would I refuse my feelings? For how long can a person keep everything on his own. I remembered the story of the waterfall, how it pulls us down no matter how much we paddle, upwards, towards the top where we could finally rest. But the pulling down will keep going, until we're too exhausted, until we accept our fate and hit the bottom.

I didn't know I was making more mistakes as I went. I should have asked more and said more. I should have known that something's building up, like the clouds brewing thunders and hurricanes the next day.