THE THIRD WHEEL CHAPTER 2: Her Voice
Previous Chapter: Color
Next Chapter: More Coming Soon!
Disclaimer: This story is based from a lot of animes, such as Your Lie in April and Waiting in the Summer.
Author’s Note: If the “Keep reading” doesn’t work, go here for the full post. Since my brother’s drawing monitor is being borrowed by his friend, there won’t be any chapter artworks until some time around March. Italicized narration is told by one of the protagonists, Kyle Collins. And lastly, to pay respects to non-American sports fans, I’m going to call it “football”, not “soccer”.
Tags: @princessstellaris, @mechaspirit, @xo-endlessmayhem-xo, @i-miss-trr, @aquamarvel, @mysteli, @choicesyouplayandmore, @skyila, @brightpinkpeppercorn, @sceptilemasterr, @scgdoeswhat, @endlessly-searching-for-you
Recommended Music: Can You Forget? (YLIA)
On the Spring of 2018, something colorful came into my monotone life...
Vivian: I’m Vivian. And I am in love with your artworks!
How did it come to this...?
Lunch period, March 5, 2018; Kyle is seated by a cafeteria table. Sitting opposite him is Vivian, the redhead girl who suddenly came up to him and confessed her affection towards his artworks. The redhead girl joyfully wolfs down her lunch meal while the boy still hasn’t partaken on his meal. He is still left dumbfounded by his encounter with Vivian.
Our encounter occurred just a few meters from the art club room. Mr. Ross steps outside the room and spots me and the girl. He invited her in and she was introduced herself to us. Her name was Vivian Richards and she’s a transfer student, currently pursuing arts, specifically musical arts. I can tell right away why she was so enthralled by visual arts as well. Everyone likes my work but I’ve never met someone as joyful as her and instantly claiming that she loves my work. I was still frozen from the encounter as Mr. Ross and Vivian chatted about my artworks until the lunch bell rang. And now, we’re in this situation.
Kyle shakes his head and starts eating his lunch, while Vivian finishes hers and wipes her lips. She then smiles at the boy.
Vivian: So, what’s your next artwork going to be?
People kept asking me that question and I always say that I don’t have anything planned at the moment. But knowing this girl’s enthusiasm, she’ll just keep bugging me about it and I just can’t snap at her. So, for the first time, I gave up to that very question.
Kyle: Well... I am working a Spring-themed artwork of a couple...
Vivian squeals in silence. She tries to scream as happily but as quietly as possible.
Vivian: Aaahh! I can’t wait!
Kyle just smiles shyly.
Recommended Music: Violence Over (YLiA)
Soon after, Karen and Sam approach the table. They did not notice Vivian yet as they are used to Kyle being alone at the cafeteria.
Karen: Hey, Kyle. What’s going o--
Karen freezes at the sight of the redhead girl. Sam walks up beside her and looks at her curiously.
Sam: What’s wrong, Ka--
Sam glances at Vivian and freezes as well. Kyle sighs.
Kyle: Guys, this is my new friend, Vivian.
Vivian waves at the two with a bright smile.
Vivian: Nice to meet you two.
Sam quickly sets down his meal on the table and drops to his knees. He raises his hands upwards and screams at the ceiling.
Sam: THERE IS A GOD!!
Kyle does a facepalm and Vivian just laughs shyly. Karen quickly sets down her meal and walks up to Kyle, grabbing her brother’s collar.
Karen: TELL. ME. EVERYTHING!!
Kyle: Alright! Chill!
Of course, they’d be curious and excited to know about my encounter with Vivian. They’ve been waiting for this very moment.
The couple sits with the two newly-acquainted friends and Kyle tells the entire story of his encounter with the redhead girl and what happened between them until lunch period. Karen and Sam let out a bright smile while Kyle gives them an annoyed look.
Karen: Well, look at that. My twin brother has his very own Number 1 Fan.
Kyle: Oh, shut it.
Karen and Sam offer their hands to Vivian.
Karen: I’m Kyle’s twin sister, Karen.
Vivian: I’ve known about you because of your book, Endless Summer. But still, nice to meet you!
Karen smiles at the compliment.
Sam: And I’m Sam, the twins’ childhood friend and Karen’s boyfriend. Also...
Vivian: Captain of the Skylia Dragons Football Team, I know.
Sam looks at Kyle with surprise
Sam: Damn, Kyle. You have one helluva friend here!
Kyle: Stop.
Karen suddenly remembers what happened in the Story & Film Club.
Karen: Oh! I almost forgot.
She pulls out the poster that Elizabeth showed and gave to her.
Karen: Would you guys like to participate in this?
The group lay their eyes on the Film Festival poster.
Karen: The club is planning on adapting Endless Summer into a film.
Sam winks at Karen.
Sam: I’ll join... only if you’ll be Emily and I’ll be your Jake McKenzie.
Karen blushes and laughs.
Karen: Oh, stop it, you. You know you have to go through auditions first.
Kyle chuckles.
Kyle: I don’t know, but the way he said it sounds like something Jake would say when he’s planning on joining a play with Emily.
Karen squints at Kyle.
Karen: Fine. Why don’t you join the casting auditions too?
Kyle: What?! NO!!
Karen shakes her head.
Karen: Nope, you can’t say “No”. You have drawn an artwork of my story and have read it. That means you have been involved in this film from the start.
Kyle: Ugh... fine...
Karen nods and turns to Vivian. Before the brunette could even say anything, the redhead quickly nods at her.
Vivian: No need to ask. I’m in!
Karen: Perfect! Auditions start later at 4:30 pm at the auditorium. Mr. Cameron has already informed the principal and has posted the announcement on the bulletin board.
Sam then jumps in to change the subject. He tells more about himself, Karen and Kyle to Vivian while they finish their lunch meals. Soon after, they finish lunch period and go on about their usual school business.
Recommended Music: Lower School at Dusk (YLiA)
The clock strikes at 4:30 pm and Kyle is making his way to the auditorium.
I wasn’t really sure if I wanted to participate in the Film Festival. My mind is still messed up. What is wrong with me? I’ve never felt like this since I met Vivian. My heart’s beating fast and I don’t know why. But I should know why. I’ve witnessed this kind of feeling before but I just don’t know what it is.
Kyle enters the auditorium and from the stage, Karen spots him. She waves at her twin brother.
Karen: Kyle, over here!
Her company turns to the brunet boy and waves at him. This company includes Sam, Vivian, Elizabeth, Mark and Danny. Kyle walks up to the stage. Sam takes the time to introduce Danny to the group.
Sam: Oh, by the way, everyone. This is Danny, our new goalkeeper and Mark’s successor.
Danny is startled by the word, “successor”.
Danny: Well... I don’t know about being his successor yet...
Mark pats his junior’s back.
Mark: Don’t be unsure about it, Danny. I can already see it in you.
Danny smiles as he meets everyone else and shake their hands. Karen does the same introductions to Vivian. As everyone finishes meeting each other, Kyle asks about the auditions.
Kyle: So, what’s gonna happen first?
Karen: Well, for now, we’ll start the auditions for our favorite redhead heroine, Quinn Kelly.
Karen signals Mr. Cameron, from the seats, to begin. The literature teacher claps his hands.
Mr. Cameron: Alright, take your seats, people! Auditions are about to start! First up, auditions for Quinn Kelly.
After ten minutes of other students auditioning, Elizabeth comes up on stage, holding a script with Quinn’s lines. The black-haired girl attempts to portray the redheaded beauty in the story but was unable to because she was nervous, rather than spontaneous, on stage. Karen notices this and turns to Vivian.
Karen: Hey, Vi. Will you give Eli your script with Grace’s lines?
Vivian: Oh, of course.
Vivian runs up to Elizabeth and tells her of the situation. Elizabeth agrees and reads Grace’s lines. She nods and tries again. This time, thanks to her shy personality, she was able to portray the smart girl perfectly. Karen claps and gives her fellow club member a thumbs up. The others follow on the clapping and the audition continues.
Recommended Music: You Exist in Spring (YLiA)
Karen again turns to Vivian.
Karen: Vivian, why don’t you try out for Quinn?
Vivian smiles shyly.
Vivian: No, I don’t think I can do her well.
Karen: Please?
Karen shows puppy eyes towards the redhead and the latter eventually groans and chuckles as she stands up. She gets onstage and reads Quinn’s lines. She channels the enthusiasm she had when she met Kyle and used it on her audition. Everyone was astounded by her performance, even Kyle. Soon, the entire auditorium did a standing ovation towards Vivian. They knew that she would be the perfect person to play as Quinn. The redhead girl’s green eyes light up as she skips merrily back to her seat. Kyle is left staring at Vivian throughout the entire audition.
She was... amazing. For a girl who is pursuing musical arts, who knew she could be talented in acting too. Or is it because of her enthusiasm earlier? That could’ve been it. It matches well with Quinn’s spontaneous personality that covers her sadness over her illness. I want to know more, about what makes her tick, and why, no matter how hard I close my eyes, her bright light pierces through my eyelids. I want to audition for Casey.
As the audition continues, many other flawless performances were made; Karen portrayed Emily, Sam portrayed Jake, Danny portrayed Diego, Mark portrayed Sean, and Ariya, captain of the Skylia Girl’s Volleyball team, portrayed Estela. However there was one character that no one seems to get right, Casey, the male protagonist. Mr. Cameron and Karen end up massaging their heads from stress. Meanwhile after Kyle reads the audition script, he stands up and turns to his sister and the teacher.
Kyle: Hey, umm... can I have a go?
Karen and Mr. Cameron look at Kyle with surprise.
Karen: Oh, sure!
Mr. Cameron: Go ahead, Kyle.
Kyle runs up to the stage and goes through the script again before doing the audition.
Yeah. I know clearly well how Casey felt in this scene. The feeling of losing someone very close to your heart. I’ve read and loved his character arc, even before Endless Summer started to catch fire. He lost his friends and sacrificed his entire life to become the Endless in the first timeline, against his own twin sister’s objections. I regret turning down Karen’s offer of letting me join here earlier. No one seems to able to play Casey... that’s why I have to do it. Only I can understand and portray him.
Mr. Cameron signals him.
Mr. Cameron: Alright, audition for Casey from Endless Summer. Scene, the mourning of Quinn’s supposed death in Elyy’stel. Aaand..... ACTION!
Kyle quickly kneels down and starts to remember the incident that caused his parents’ death six months ago. Real tears start to fall from his eyes as he pretends that Quinn is either one of his dying parents. He is able to portray Casey so flawlessly that everyone thought that he was also a great actor.
Recommended Music: My Lie (YLiA)
But only a few people know that Kyle wasn’t faking it; Karen, Sam and Mr. Cameron, because they know of his past. Vivian also manages to know that Kyle wasn’t faking his expressions. She can see it clearly on his face. Mr. Cameron stands up and approaches Kyle. He places a hand on the boy’s shoulder.
Mr. Cameron: That’s enough, Kyle. You got the part. Go sit with your sister and let out the rest of your emotions.
Kyle nods and hurries to Karen and Sam, who comforted him. Vivian looks at the brunet boy with concern, while Mark, Danny and Elizabeth notice that he was actually crying. Mr. Cameron checks his watch and notices that it is now 7:00 pm. He claps his hands to catch the attention of the students in the auditorium.
Mr. Cameron: Alright, that is it for the main cast auditions. I will post in the bulletin board tomorrow who will play who. Dismissed.
Most of the students leave the auditorium with only a few people still inside. Karen, Sam and Mr. Cameron comfort Kyle while Vivian, Elizabeth, Mark and Danny watch from the side.
Mr. Cameron: Kyle? How are you now, my boy?
Kyle tries to wipe his tears but more kept coming.
Kyle: I’m...
Suddenly, Vivian approaches him and lays his head on her chest while giving him a warm embrace. Everyone else are stunned by this.
Vivian: There, there. It’s okay to for you to be sad about what happened to you in the past. We all lose... something in our lives... but that doesn’t mean that we are truly lost. Everything always works out in the end, Kyle.
Kyle’s tears stop from falling from his eyes as he nods. Soon after, he was wiping his face and does one last sniff.
Kyle: Alright.... I’m okay now...
That was it. For the first time ever, I was able to say “I am okay.” with all of my heart. It was a hundred percent true and I mean every word of it. Karen and Sam smiled at me because they knew that I wasn’t lying this time. Vivian was truly something else.
Mr. Cameron gently ruffles Kyle’s hair before turning to the remaining students.
Mr. Cameron: Alright, everything is fine now. You should all go home. It’s late.
The remaining students nod and they leave the auditorium along with Mr. Cameron. Elizabeth placed a caring and reassuring hand on Kyle’s shoulder before leaving with sadness pasted on her face. Kyle tells Karen and Sam to go on ahead as he has to clean his face up first in the boys’ restroom. The two smile and nod at him and the boy smiled back, genuinely, and ran off.
A few minutes later, Kyle walks past the auditorium and notices that one of its doors are open. He takes a peek and sees that Vivian is standing by the stage, looking at the red curtains.
I allowed myself to stay longer not because I was curious about what Vivian was doing, but because... she was a completely different person at the time. Even from far away, I could hear her sing... I only heard a few lyrics but I can tell, she was singing Taylor Swift’s song, The Best Day. But she wasn’t singing it happily...
I can clearly tell from her voice, she was crying...
--- End of Chapter ---
