Morning sunlight painted his green highlights naturally, showing off the exceptional gradients in it. Felix leaned closer to the windows of the bus, letting his face pressed against the cold surface. He felt unnaturally energetic to start his day, even managed to execute a thirty minutes workout before cooking his family breakfast. He packed Leticia her favourite cabbage and onion salad together with a bottle of lime water. Felix never understood her sister's obsession with lime water, but he respected her choices just like how he respected his parent's choice of living separately.

In his palms, Felix cuddled the lunch box tightly, waiting anxiously for the next stop to get down. He hated to sit at the end of the bus only to notice that he is the only person to get off at the stop. He didn't know if he should press the broken bell or shout aloud for the bus driver to stop. Seeing the stop coming into sight, he stood up immediately, pushing his way between the sandwiched humans. He repeated the word 'excuse me' multiple times, ignoring the grumbles and mumbles of those mundane skyscrapers. Felix breathed in a strong sigh of relief the minute he stepped out of the bus, greeted by the wisp of the morning air.

"Fel!"

Gale exclaimed from the other end of the car park like a child losing sight of his mother. His jet black hair tied up into a neat man bun, putting shame on those trendy messy buns. Felix halted his feet that instant, waiting for the taller man to jog closer to him. He studied the gym pants his best friend had been wearing, hands clutching tightly onto the bottle containing strong espresso who then stopped instantly next to him. Gale's cologne stung his nose, causing him to take a few steps back and swatted his hands in the air aggressively.

"Stop being dramatic, Fel. It's just cologne, not the pile of rubbish you seemed to have fun standing next to," teased Gale, sipping onto his espresso.

"A very wonderful start to my morning, Gale. Wonderful. Your cologne stirred up my drowsiness to be awake for Mrs Cutler's monotonous health economic class," Felix said, rolling his eyes as they stepped into the compound of their university next to each other. "Speaking of that have you finished up the analysis she gave last class? I need to double-check my answer with you before she pulls the Felix card again."

Gale hummed, stuffing the bottle to the side pocket of his bag. His muscular fingers brushed across the fringes falling off from his man bun that stole the ladies' attention. Gale is well – known for his muscular and athletic physique, yet his chubby cheeks were the ones that captured unwanted attention. Despite the idea of Gale being the university's athlete, he had extremely chubby cheeks which caused the misinterpretation of his age. Fishing a thick blue file from his bag, Gale handed it to Felix who caught it easily.

"The fifth divider, Felix. There seemed to be a problem with question number five. It might be my problem because I was rushing out for a club meeting yesterday evening," said Gale, chugging down more espresso. "How are you feeling by the way? I hope Tommy did not hurt you terribly. I decided to give you a call earlier, but I figured I do not want to disturb your healing hours and I wanted to be surprised by your presence today. I just had a gut feeling that you will be here today."

Felix laughed, pushing the doors of their lecture hall opened and found a place in the second row. They settled their bags down calmly, placing their files onto the tiny table. He crossed his legs, flipping Gale's file to the fifth divider and took out the paper they needed to discuss today. Keeping his phone silent, Felix turned to face Gale who looked out in the open as if searching for prey. Reaching out, he tapped onto the male's shoulder, pointing towards the tiny mistake in one of the questions.

"I'm feeling much better, Gale. I had a weird encounter, but I'm alright now. Thanks to my sister's skill on herbs, I am doing fine now," answered Felix as he handed his best friend a new piece of paper. "Tommy is the least of my concern now. My sister decided to break things off with him considering what he did. He deserved to be punched, Gale. He hurt my sister and cheated on her. I would care less if he hurt another girl, but Leticia is my elder sister. If I can't protect her, who could? Tommy better not touch a single strand of her hair again or I will rip his thick skin off his fragile bones."

"Leticia's lucky to have you. You are a strong man, Felix. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise. What matters most is that the person you are today is better than the person you were yesterday. There is always tomorrow to make things right," said Gale as he picked out the scientific calculator, pressing the numbers on it.

"Tomorrow?" Felix sighed, flipping through the pages of his book. "I feel like I have been living in the same moment for most of my life. I am living in a copy and paste life, just like how our group members copied and pasted the materials from the internet and expected us to correct them. I don't think life is going to get any better tomorrow. I don't even know what I want to do in life."

"You are not wrong. We are currently living the moment, trying to go by each day, but if we stay positive and keep doing things that are closer to our dreams, then I believe, one day, Felix, you will be the top of the world you have created. You are a man of many talents, Felix," Gale said seriously, his fingers patted on the back of Felix's body, massaging them gently. "You just need more time to figure out. The sun and moon always rise in rhythm no matter how the world is. It keeps rising and setting, knowing one day, they will benefit all the creatures in this world. Just don't give up. There is always another tomorrow."

Felix chuckled at the positivity Gale had thrown at him. The taller male had been his best friend for more than a decade. They shared a similar secondary school till now, making them the best duo in any adventures thrown at them. Felix felt lucky to have Gale by his side regardless of the slippery, thorny or cracked roads they are walking on. His best friend would drop anything in the world just to cheer him up. Sure, they do disagree on certain issues, but they never argued. Mostly their differences complement each other in just the perfect amount. If they agree on a certain issue, they challenged each other positively by discussing their thoughts. If they disagree, then they will weigh on the points they executed. All Felix knew that Gale is a gift in his life.

Mrs Cutler's class took a different turn on that day. Instead of having a scheduled discussion, she had decided to hand out the questions for their upcoming tasks. Since it would be a work of two, Felix had no second thoughts of picking Gale as his groupmate. The two worked along well most of the time, earning jealous eyes from the rest of the class. There wasn't a doubt that the ladies were dying to work with Gale, yet each time Felix told him that he could be alone, Gale dismissed the topic saying that they will always be together. Sometimes Felix felt sorry for the girls who sent gifts and chocolates to Gale. Without even thinking twice, Gale would reject them, saying that he already had someone in mind. That was a total lie to get their backs off him.

"So, are we meeting up this Sunday to finish up the task?" Gale questioned, packing his items once Mrs Cutler dismissed them. "I won't be free in the evening. Just a heads up. I have decided to join the upcoming dance tryout, so I will be there for the audition and speaking of which, I was hoping you would come with me."

"Dance tryout?" Felix questioned, walking next to Gale with steady long strides. "You should really rethink your partner choice, Gale. I am not a good dancer. I would be more than happy to support you, but being your partner, I do not think that is a good idea."

Gale stopped his tracks immediately, untying his bun and let those shoulder-length locks to fall freely like a piece of majestic silk cloth. He laughed, shaking his head.

"No, you are good at dancing. In fact, everyone is. All you need is a guide and I am willing to give you dance lessons in the afternoon, the second we are done with the assignment for our health economic class," said Gale, counting the number of hours mentally, his fingers danced in the air and clasped together. "We can make it in time. This is just a tryout. Please."

Felix laughed, nodding in agreement.

"Just this once, Gale. I am not responsible if you do not make it in," said Felix, clutching his lunch box tight. "I'll see you tomorrow. Goodbye, Gale."

"Cool! Remember, tomorrow will be a better day, Felix," shouted Gale as he jogged out of the hallway.

When Gale's silhouette disappeared, Felix arranged his steps towards the cafeteria to enjoy his meal. Usually, he would have Adriel accompanying him, but since the man had disappeared for days, Felix decided that Adriel would not return. He set himself down at the edge of the cafeteria, ignoring the hustle and bustle of it. All he wanted was a peaceful lunch before art classes, but even that was not granted for him. As a shadow blocked him from the sunlight, Felix looked up, seeing Rebecca and her new boyfriend staring right at him. They had their arms linked onto each other like a conjoined banana.

"Well, well, if this isn't Felix, the man who dumped me for the nerd?" Rebecca clucked, wrapping her arms around the boy. "Where's Adriel? Has he been too busy reading that he forgot to meet up with you?"

"I don't see that's any of your concern, Rebecca. Besides, he's better off where he should be. Now, please leave me to my meal," said Felix coldly, biting into the omelette.

Somehow the omelette turned sour in the process. 

"Perhaps he is not a capable lover for Adriel. Even a nerd has their desired taste, Reb," her boyfriend, teased. "Let's head over to the field to watch the football practices. See you later, loser."

Ignore them, Felix. Don't let them ruin your day. Remember what Gale mentioned, tomorrow will be better. That is not a lie. Don't lose your anger on those who do not deserve your attention.

Felix clenched his jaw tightly, plopping a strawberry into his mouth. The sweetness on his tongue turned into a puddle of poisonous mud. Part of him felt angry at Rebecca's evil words, yet part of him raged in anger at Adriel's sudden disappearance. Finishing up the last piece of his fruit, he took out the scroll that sandwiched in between his thick textbook. A new word crafted before his eyes. A word that seemed to have been repeated by Gale multiple times.

"Tomorrow," Felix whispered, closing the book and shoved it into his bag in disbelief. "Yeah, right. As if tomorrow is going to get any better. How are these words even appearing on their own?"

Confusion surged through his mind. Felix arranged his way to the art room, mentally noting to himself that he needed to figure out what it truly meant and what those words were a part of. Clutching his bag tight, he mumbled the word multiple times, trying to recall where he had heard of it before. Those words felt familiar.

A million on my soul with an eternal flame for tomorrow. 

What could they possibly mean? 

Felix tapped his fingers multiple times on the side of his pockets. Eyes lingered around the hallways, searching for a possible idea that could spark his memory.

How could certain things sound familiar yet dissipate far from his mind?

The clue is closer to you than you think. All you need to do is dig harder.

"But, where?" 

Track 04: 2133 words

Cumulative Count: 8806 words