Jerry stopped the car in front of a neatly arranged yard, a villa that was not well-maintained but still looked tidy. The one-story villa was decorated with white paint and flowers beside the door. The neighbors were quiet, as the houses were far apart. The weather was cloudy that day, and Jerry immediately took out Keyli's bag and suitcase.
Keyli put on her jacket as she got out of the car, looking around at the not-so-tall grass, or maybe Laura had already tidied up the wild grass. Keyli wasn't sure if Laura was there, seeing her as a spoiled and dependent person, always spending weekends at the mall, eating French fries, cheesecake, and chocolate milk. But Jerry was sure Laura was inside, alone and crying.
The doorbell still worked, and Keyli peeked through the window, hoping to hear Laura's voice, saying "Hey, I'm here" with a smile.
"Are you sure Laura is inside?" Keyli was curious, trying to knock on the door, ringing the bell several times, and trying to force it open.
"Key, I know you're a good person, but don't break the door?" Keyli was getting panicked. "Are you sure Laura wouldn't be out of control?" Jerry tried to calm Keyli down.
The door handle seemed to be pulled from inside, and Jerry looked at the door, Keyli's heart beating fast, they were sure it was Laura. The door opened, and they saw a blonde woman with a pale face, looking weak, as if she had just exercised.
"Jerry? Keyli? I thought it was you," Laura's voice was very soft. Laura went inside, followed by Keyli and Jerry. The villa had complete furniture, but it was dusty, as it was rarely cleaned.
"You're living here?" Keyli was curious, asking why Laura left without telling her. "I'm isolating myself, after the news about my mom spread to the foundation, I held back from doing something bad, feeling disappointed with my mom, and I left," Laura said.
"You didn't tell me?" Keyli felt disappointed. "My reputation is ruined, my dream of going to Harvard is gone, I can only come here," Laura seemed desperate, and Keyli saw her friend sad, drinking alcohol, looking drunk.
Jerry took Laura to the room to rest, closing the door gently, letting her sleep. Keyli sat on the sofa, looking at her phone, with many missed calls, one of them from Sarah. Sarah was worried about them, and Jerry sat beside Keyli, making her feel uncomfortable being watched.
"Sorry," Jerry said. "Sorry for what?" "My words earlier, you don't have to respond," Keyli looked down, not knowing her feelings, Jerry still looked at her, even though he knew she didn't like him.
Sarah felt very worried, calling Jerry, making him jump and answer. Keyli didn't want to disturb the mother and son, so she went to check on Laura.
"Yes, Mom?" Jerry said. "What's going on? Are you guys okay?" "Yeah, Laura's not doing well, she's a bit drunk," Jerry said.
"Oh, poor her, I can't go there, I'll let Holand go and accompany you guys," Sarah said. "No need, Mom, Keyli and I will go home soon," Jerry said.
"Are you sure?" Sarah asked, and Jerry reassured her. "Yeah," the conversation ended, Jerry felt Holand's presence was disturbing, where the closeness between Keyli and Holand was growing, feeling the night weather was good, Jerry looked for snacks for Keyli and Laura, some snacks for dinner.
Laura was still sleeping, her friend was probably thinking a lot when all the problems happened, but waiting for someone who was sleeping didn't make Keyli feel hungry, she hadn't eaten dinner yet.
"You're not skipping dinner, are you?" Jerry brought pizza and Coca-Cola, making a noise, waking Laura up. She was still weak, wanting a bottle of wine.
"Oh no? You've already finished a bottle of wine?" Keyli said, Laura sat on the bed, her hair looked messy, the blanket still wrapped around her legs, even though she was wearing socks.
Jerry tried to wake Laura up, inviting her to eat dinner, but she didn't seem to have an appetite.
"Are you guys alone? Where's Holand?" Laura asked. "He's busy organizing the event," Jerry said.
"But I miss him, I want him to hug me and take off my clothes, pouring wine on my body," Keyli and Jerry looked at each other, Laura's words were impossible to believe, she was drunk and went back to bed.
A word that might be true, Laura had been at Arkenstone longer than Keyli.
Jerry opened the trunk, shouting loudly, as if he saw a ghost in the morning, a teenage girl like she was suffocating, what she experienced inside the trunk full of stuff.
"Hey, Jer, thanks for coming, or I'd be gone," Elis said, wearing a pink sleep shirt, smiling, how could she be in the trunk of the car, with a camera around her neck.
Jerry still couldn't believe Elis was in the trunk of the car, what she was doing.
Laura and Keyli came and saw the scene, Elis was in the trunk, she was really weird. They tried to help Elis out of the trunk, she was staggering.
Elis came for a school assignment, taking pictures in the wild. "Are you okay?" Jerry asked. "Yeah, I'll finish my school assignment before the end of the year, becoming Madam Grace's favorite student, appearing at the school farewell event," Elis said.
Laura looked sad, her mom taught at the lower high school level, and extracurricular activities were fully entrusted to her mom, but the news made her embarrassed.
"Sorry," Elis said. "It's okay, I'll transfer schools, and if anyone laughs at me, I'll just ignore them," Laura said.
"Transfer? You're a good student, you should stay at Arkenstone, we can help, right, Jer?" Keyli said, trying to convince her friend.
"Yeah, I can persuade my mom," Jerry said. "But this is the third time my mom's caused trouble, so I'm not sure," Laura said.
Keyli tried to hug her friend, tears flowing from Laura's eyes, they had been friends since elementary school, and they had to separate because of her mom's problem.
"Sorry to disappoint you, about our childhood dream," Laura said. "We'll go to Harvard together, Laura, remember our promise," Keyli cried, adding to Laura's story that all her mom's assets were confiscated by the school, the house they lived in belonged to the school, and the villa would be sold due to pressure.
"I'll organize a fundraising event for Madam Grace, we'll make a short story about your mom's reputation during school," Keyli convinced Laura and Jerry.
"Do you think it'll work?" Jerry asked, looking at Laura. "Yeah, we'll be a team, right?" Keyli said.
"Oh, excuse me, are you guys leaving me out?" Elis said, feeling ignored.
"No, we're a team of four," Keyli said, and they hugged each other, strengthening each other, Keyli felt happy Jerry was willing to help her persuade Sarah.
Jerry didn't want to miss the opportunity, driving home from the villa, dropping Laura off, Elis was still busy looking at her camera, Laura's villa was near a hill, surrounded by tea plantations.
They stopped to buy snacks, Elis got out of the car, buying a lot of chocolate snacks, Keyli was still in the car, opening the window, looking at Elis still busy queuing.
"Elis likes taking pictures? Does she want to be a photographer?" Jerry asked. "I think so, you're not wrong to lend her your camera," Keyli said.
"My camera?" Jerry was surprised by Keyli's words. "Let's hope we can persuade my mom, Jer," Keyli held Jerry's hand, unexpectedly, Elis captured the moment, when they were busy looking at each other, Elis had opened the car door.
Elis felt it was the best scene.
David saw Holand eating breakfast alone, the weekend was only filled with assignments and volleyball practice, suddenly the dining table was noisy when Keyli and the others arrived.
Jerry immediately hugged his mom, he hadn't been home for two days, and Sarah was calm, seeing they had arrived.
"How was your trip?" Sarah asked. "It was a bit rough, Mom, but we managed to convince Laura to come home," Jerry said.
"Good, because her house will be emptied soon," Sarah said, and Jerry and Keyli looked at each other, hearing Sarah's words, Jerry felt his mom was too quick to decide.
"We want Laura to stay in school, she has a good reputation," Jerry said, trying to convince her.
"But not her mom, it affects the school's reputation if they're still there," Sarah said. "But, Mom, Laura has good dedication, make an exception for her," Jerry said.
"No, dear," Sarah still wasn't ready if the school was affected by Laura's case and her mom's. The bad impression if Laura was still there. Sarah stood up, leaving her breakfast, leaving with David for work.
Keyli couldn't help Laura, remembering when her mom's bakery was about to be confiscated by the bank, but Madam Grace paid off all Claudia's debts.
Jerry hoped Keyli wouldn't be sad about this, he'd try to help Laura, who was also his friend.
Click, Elis's camera captured the moment again, the pool scene looked beautiful from the top of Elis's room window. Holand's camera was reliable, helping Elis with her assignment.
When all the pictures were stored in the camera