"Gotta admit, this doesn't look as bad as I thought it would," Roxanne said, one hand on her hip as she wiped grey paint from her face with the other.
"Agreed," Jessica nodded in approval. "Considering the little time we had today, we did a pretty good job."
"See? Told you guys it'd look good," Kieran said, holding up his phone. On the screen was the photo Reis had taken of the moth, now mirrored by the large painted version of it on the wall Infront of the three. Its wings a striking blend of black and grey paint, with two large swirled yellow orbs at the center of the upper wings.
"Also, thanks for letting my brother wait in here, Jessica," Kieran said, pointing to Reis, who was slouched in a desk, blinking slowly as he drifted in and out of consciousness.
"I know how you are about people outside the club being in here, ahaha..." he added nervously, scratching the back of his head.
"Of course. I know how troublesome your brother can be sometimes," Jessica replied, an innocent smile stretched across her face. "I mean, getting held after school by Mr. Griggs to clean the cafeteria because he built food forts during lunch? How embarrassing!"
She placed a hand on Kieran's shoulder, subtly turning him to face the other direction as she caught Reis slowly raising his middle finger at her. Without missing a beat, she returned the gesture—twice—behind Kieran's back.
"Well, we have had a long day..." Kieran said, turning back to Jessica as she quickly clasped her hands behind her back, snapping into Kieran's view, giggling as she smiled.
"I could probably add some nice details to this if I could get that box on top of the supply closet," Roxanne said, inspecting the painted moth.
"Did you ever find the stepping stool?" Jessica asked.
"Nope. But I'm pretty sure the boys' basketball team took it, and—" she gestured to the cast on her leg, "—you already know what happened the last time I tried to climb up there. So, thanks for the idea, Jessica."
"I said I was sorry…" Jessica mumbled.
"I can go grab it," Reis offered with a hand raised.
"Nah, I'd feel bad letting either Penrose take on such a dangerous task, considering you two's severe lack of height," Roxanne teased.
"Uh, ouch," Kieran chimed in.
"I was always wondering why you were both so short. Does it run in the family?" Jessica asked with a smirk.
"You'd think we could just send both of them in to get it, but it'd be like stacking two garden gnomes on top of each other," Roxanne added, Jessica nodding in agreement.
"…I was just trying to help--fuck you guys," Reis mumbled, folding his arms as the two girls burst into laughter. Kieran rolled his eyes in silent annoyance.
"In all seriousness, we can probably get Brandon's tall ass to go get it. Speaking of…" Roxanne paused, looking around the room. "Why didn't he come today?"
Reis and Kieran glanced at each other, then back at the girls.
"…What?" Jessica asked, eyeing them suspiciously.
"Nothing, it's just… knowing how often you two gossip, we're kind of shocked you don't know what happened," Reis said, to which Kieran nodded.
"We don't gossip," Roxanne said defensively.
"Uh, right, well… about that," Kieran started awkwardly. "This morning, me and Reis were walking to class when we saw Brandon putting his hands on some underclassman. I tried to get him to stop, but when I did, he ended up trying to fight us instead."
The girls stood there for a moment, stunned.
"...This happened, and you waited until now to tell me?" Jessica asked, eyebrows raised.
"I thought you already knew, I mean, there was a crowd, and everything—" Kieran replied.
"Well, obviously not, considering we've been here for three hours and I haven't brought it up once," she snapped, her tone shifting with a hint of irritation.
"You're not hurt, are you?" she added quickly, her voice softening with concern.
"I'm fine," Kieran reassured.
"Huh, that's weird, I definitely would've heard about Brandon getting into some shit," Roxanne said, puzzled.
"Did Kyle not send you anything, Roxanne? I'm pretty sure I saw his afro somewhere in the crowd. That dude records everything," Reis said.
"Uh, no, I don't think so. I'll ask him." Roxanne picked up her phone from a nearby desk.
"Did he get suspended?" Jessica asked.
Kieran shook his head. "He got sent to the counselor's office. I haven't seen him since."
Jessica sighed. "This is bad, Kieran. We need at least five people to participate in the festival, and now we're two short." She walked over to the front desk, grabbed a slip of paper, and came back to hold it in front of Kieran's face.
"We have to turn this slip in by Wednesday for the principal to officially register us as a club participating in the festival," she said, a hint of worry on her face.
"If we don't register in time, then all of our work will be for nothing..." She says, waving her hand around the heavily decorated classroom, the walls covered in ribbons and colorful paintings made by each of the 4 members.
"Kieran, I need you to find at least one more person to join the club, please." Jessica's brows furrowed as she held out the paper.
"Hm… uh, yeah. Kyle says he doesn't remember a fight happening this morning," Roxanne said, glancing at her phone before showing their text messages to Reis, who frowned in confusion.
"Huh—I could've sworn he was there," Reis said.
"Poor Penrose, schizophrenic and short. Pick a struggle," Roxanne joked, and Reis's eye twitched.
"Shut up."
"Yeah, of course. I'll get it done, Jess…" Kieran said, taking the white slip, a faint smile crossing Jessica's face.
"Thank you, Kieran."
Kieran nodded. "Don't mention it. And if worse comes to worst, I'll just put Reis's name on the slip as a placeholder." He grinned.
Jessica laughed. "Well, let's hope worst never comes…"
"I heard that!" Reis shouted from across the classroom.
Golden rays of sunlight stretched into the old classroom as the sun began its slow descent.
"Jeez, it's almost 6:30," Roxanne yawned, checking her phone.
"Alright then, let's clean up," Jessica added. "We'll finish the rest tomorrow." She glanced back at the large, unfinished painting of the moth on the wall behind her.
**********
"See you guys tomorrow—be safe!" Kieran called out behind him, waving as he and Reis stepped into the courtyard, the latter with his hood pulled over his head.
Jessica and Roxanne waved back, smiling as they watched the Penrose brothers walk toward the street.
"I still can't believe that Dr. Priscilla let us paint on the walls," Kieran said as they made their way home.
"Agreed, Mrs. Prescott would've had a full-on meltdown if you even suggested doing something like that," Reis replied.
"I'm even more surprised Jessica was willing to help with it. She's usually so uptight and scared of getting in trouble..." Kieran said, trailing off.
"Sounds like someone I know," Reis quipped.
Kieran smacked his lips. "Whatever. I'm just glad she's finally loosening up a little."
Reis rolled his eyes. "Well, yeah, maybe to you. I'm pretty sure that girl has a crush on you."
"A—crush? On me?" Kieran asked, caught off guard. A faint blush spread across his face.
Reis gave him a look like he couldn't believe what he was hearing. "...There's no way you haven't realized that. She flirts with you like every other day."
"You never flirt back, though. I was honestly starting to think you weren't into girls—but nah, you're just that stup—"
He didn't get to finish. Kieran's fist slammed into his shoulder, making him stumble off the sidewalk and into the street.
"Ow! What the hell?" Reis winced, rubbing his arm.
"Serves you right, I didn't know mom raised such a disrespectful son," Kieran shot back, smirking.
Reis' eyes narrowed, stepping forward. "Oh, I'll show you disrespectful, you—"
"Out of the way, Penrose," a voice cut in as a hooded figure pushed between the two.
Reis and Kieran exchanged glances, then turned to look at the man. That voice—it sounded familiar.
"...Brandon?" Kieran called out.
The man stopped, then slowly turned to face them, his eyes cold and locked onto Kieran.
"What do you want?" Brandon asked flatly.
"Tsk." Reis scoffed, starting to walk toward Brandon, only for Kieran to stop him with a hand on his chest.
"Why didn't you show up to the club today? Did they suspend you?" Kieran asked.
"Huh? No. Why would they do that?" Brandon replied, his tone flat.
A look of confusion appeared on Kieran's face, "Uh... because of what happened this morning?"
Brandon raised an eyebrow. "What happened this morning...?"
"You know what happened, stop playing dumb. You were picking on some underclassman in the middle of the hallway," Reis snapped.
Brandon's eyes narrowed. "You fuckin' with me, Penrose? I'm not in the mood for jokes."
"What, you gonna pick a fight with us again?" Reis retorted.
"The hell are you even talking about?" Brandon snarled.
Reis tried to move forward again, but Kieran had him held firm.
"...You seriously don't remember any of it?" Kieran asked, voice lower now.
Brandon looked increasingly agitated. "No, dumbass, I don't. I had a killer headache on my way to class, so I went to the nurse's office. She called my parents, and I went home early."
He rubbed the back of his neck. "That's why I wasn't at the club after school. Not because I got suspended or whatever the hell you two are talking about."
He turned, already walking away.
"I'll be back tomorrow," he called over his shoulder.
The brothers stood in silence.
"...I think Roxanne might've been right about me being schizophrenic—wait, that would make you schizophrenic too. Can two people be schizophrenic at the same time?" Reis asked, genuinely wondering.
"...Let's just go home," Kieran muttered, already turning to walk.
Reis shrugged, following behind while they made their way down the sidewalk.
The rest of the walk home was rather quiet, the brothers finally reaching their house after walking for nearly 12 minutes.
"Damn, Mom's still at work," Reis said, a bit disappointed as he noticed the empty driveway.
Kieran walked onto the porch, placing his hand on the doorknob. He twisted it, and the door creaked open easily.
"Dude... I thought you said you locked the door," Kieran said, his brows raised.
Reis scratched the back of his head. "I thought I did…"
Kieran sighed, stepping inside, Reis closing the door behind him.
A blast of cold air greeted them from inside the house. The smell of leftover takeout food lingering in the air.
Kieran made his way up the stairs into his bedroom.
Reis yawned, stretching his arms over his head.
He threw his backpack and blazer onto the living room couch, turning the tv on as he plopped down infront of it.
He booted up his console, grabbing his gaming controller nearby and settling in for the night.