“HOW is the procedure going?” Barbara asked the owner of the salon when she returned.
“We’re almost finished. Is that for him?”  he asked, looking at the numerous paper bags she was carrying.
Barbara handed him the paper bags. “Make sure it’s worth what I paid you, okay?”
“I’m sure you’ll be amazed when you see Clayton’s major transformation,” he said excitedly.
She just shook her head and read the magazines in the waiting room to distract herself.
After a minute, the owner emerged, accompanied by an unfamiliar muscular young man. But she wasn’t paying attention. She looked behind the unfamiliar man.
When she didn’t see Clayton, she raised one of her brows. “Where has he gone? I thought you were almost done?”
“What you’re looking for, Miss Barbara, is right in front of you,” the owner said, causing her to look back at the unfamiliar man in front of her.
She didn’t believe he was concealing a lovely face. She didn’t even know who he was in a first glance. The man in jologs and long hair covering his face has vanished. He looks like a model for a well-known clothing company.
Barbara only regained consciousness when she heard the salon owner snap his finger.
“So, Ms. Barbara, what can you say?”
She avoided Clayton’s gaze and turned to face the salon owner. “G-good!” 
She then went straight to the front desk to pay the bills.
“Wait!  I will pay!”  Clayton insisted.
She raised an eyebrow. “Are you sure?”
“Yes!” he replied confidently and looked at the cashier. “How much does it cost?”
“Five thousand three hundred fifty, Sir.”
Clayton rummaged through his wallet and made an apologetic face at her. “I-I think I’m out of budget.” 
“See? I’ll pay,” she said and swiped her card.
“Don’t worry, I’ll pay you right away when I get paid from my students in my tutoring class,” he said as they got into her car.
“Don’t mind it.”
“Why not?  The amount you spent at the salon is not easy to earn.”
“Just think of it as my payment for saving me from those men from the bar. And as for your family, it’s my way of saying thank you for looking after me,” she explained.  
Fortunately, Clayton didn’t appeal anymore so she started the engine. 
“Where are we going now?” he asked. 
“Of course we’re going back to school because we still have classes.”
He looked at her in surprise. “W-when I look like this?”
“Of course! What do you expect, huh? You have a new look now. Be proud!”
“I know! And that’s the thing I’m worried about. They may refuse let me enter the campus.”
“Why not?”
“Because my current appearance is completely different from my ID.”
They came to a halt when the traffic light turned red, so she turned to face him, and the ID he was wearing drew her attention. She moved her gaze back and forth across his face. And he was correct. His appearance has changed drastically from his previous appearance.
“Fine!  Let’s go to the studio first to get your ID replaced so they can’t say anything to you.”
He nodded.  
There was a brief silence between them until Clayton brought up again the subject of the salon fees.
“C-can I get your bank account number so I can pay you rnow? One of my tutoring students just sent her payment to my bank account.”
“Let’s just call it quits!”
“But that’s unfair!”
Barbara rolled her eyes. “Okay. Listen. If you truly want to make up for what I spent on you today, why not just include me in your tutoring class as our midterm exams approach? Is that all right with you?
Clayton smiled, brightening his handsome face, while Barbara averted her gaze as she felt her heart pounding so fast.

 _____________________

“HEY, MER! What are you doing? There is someone who can do that for you,” Carlota said when Meredith was about to paint the wall in their club. 
“It’s okay, Pres! They say that, if you want to go fast, you should go alone. But if you want to go far, you should go together!”
Carlota shook her head. “I had no idea you had such a strong belief in sayings.”
Meredith smiled. “Not at all, Pres!”
“Don’t be stubborn. Give that to me!” Randall retorted as he took the paintbrush to her.
She was surprised to see Randall and his teammates wearing aprons similar to those worn by their club.
“Just bake something for us to eat to help us gain strength,” he said, winking at her.
“Yieehh!”
“Oh my gosh! You two look good together.”
The Cooking Club teased her, causing her to pull Randall to one of the kitchen lab’s corners.
“Didn’t you have a tryout today?”
“Yes, we had!”
“Then what brings you here? Won’t my cousin be angry with you?”
“It’s still early for that. And we are confident that when he finds out that it was your Club that we helped, he will not be angry, so relax, okay?”
She crossed her arms. “Then how did you know that we needed help?”
“Shanaia and Marylex mentioned it to me earlier when I was looking for you.”
She narrowed her eyes at him. “And what makes you agree, huh?”
Randall moves his eyebrows up and down. “Your chocolate pudding, of course!”
Carlota clapped her hands to get their attention. “That’s enough, lovebirds! Let’s get started so we can finish our work as soon as possible!”
“Yes, Pres!” they said in unison.
They were in the middle of their work when they heard some screams and fallen objects on the ground, so Meredith rushed over to where Randall was working, and that's when she realized how the paint had spread all over Randall's hair and body.
Suddenly, Meredith saw and heard waves of laughter in her vision again.
________________________

“LOOK!  He looks like a wet chick!”  a woman said, causing people to gather around the boy to laugh after the can of white paint they had put on the upper portion of the door was poured on him when he opened it.
“Wet chick?  I don’t think so. He looks more like a rotten fish for me,” the guy added, causing everyone to laugh at him once more.
Until a girl came in and made everyone stop laughing and dragged him out of the room. 
_________________

“MER!  Are you okay?”  Meredith snapped back to her senses when she heard Randall’s voice.
“Y-yeah!” She looked around. “W-where are we?” she wondered when she noticed that they were no longer in the cooking laboratory.
“You suddenly dragged me here in front of the pool area when I fell and got covered with paint.”
She frowned. “I did?” 
Randall nodded. She never thought that the visions she saw earlier would happen to them as well.
“Mer? Randall? Why are you here and what happened to you?” John Person asked when he saw them.
“I was just helping the cooking club to paint their laboratory wall when I accidentally fell down the ladder and the paint spilled on me and Meredith suddenly dragged me here out of curiosity.”
John Person looked at Meredith to ask for assurance. “Is that so?”
“Y-yes! We’re not doing anything.” He was convinced because he nodded and then turned to Randal.
“Then go to the shower room now so you don’t have to struggle to get the paint out of your hair and body before it dries.”
“Yes, Captain!” he replied before he turned to Meredith. “See you later!” Then he went into the locker room for a quick shower.
Her cousin wrapped his arm around her after and dragged her somewhere else  “Why don’t you treat me first? I’m hungry, you know?”
Meredith shyly scratched the back of her neck. “Cousin, I do not have enough money to treat you right now. You should be the one to treat me, you know?” she said, imitating his last two words.
“Randall is to blame. You’ve been forgetting to make me snacks since he started courting you.”
“You’re so childish, you know? It’s not Christmas everyday!”
Because Christmas Day is the day of gift giving that’s why she said that to his cousin.
“Alright!  You win! My treat, happy?”
“Super!” she said happily.
“Have you answered him?”  John Person asked as they made their way to the canteen.
“Answer who?”
“You and Randall. Is your relationship official?”
She was taken aback by his question and didn’t know how to respond. She hadn't told him about their pretensions yet because she was afraid he would worry.
She bent down her head when she felt her cheeks heat up.  “N-not yet.”
“Good! He must first earn your trust! Don’t be taken in by his sweet words or charm. Learn everything you can about him. Remember, when men court someone, women can’t say anything bad about their suitor because they will impress the woman as they can, but once their relationship becomes official, their true colors will show.”
She narrowed her eyes at her cousin. “Are you still talking about some random guy out there, or are you talking about yourself?”
“Me? Come on, Mer! I’m a good boy, okay?” he said proudly, slightly hitting his chest where his heart was.
She grimaced. “Really! Then why do you seem to have done that already?” she mocked.
“That was just based on what I observed from my friends, okay? And I’m a one-woman man.”
“Gosh! Why are you being so defensive?!” she added.
He messed up her hair. “I thought we’re cousins? You must be on my side!”
“Whatever!”
“Do you still want my treat or what?”
“Oh my gosh! I was just kidding! Whoever your crush is, I’m sure she’s very lucky to have you.”
John Person smiled sadly. “I hope her memory comes back.”
Meredith turned to his cousin in shock. “Y-you mean, you have a girlfriend but she couldn’t remember you?”
He sighed and shrugged his shoulders. “I’m not sure if she still remembers me or if she wants to forget me forever.”
Meredith sympathized with her cousin. She had no idea he was going through anything like that.
“Could you tell me who she is?  Maybe I can help!”
John Person shook his head. “Don’t mind other people’s business, okay? Let’s just eat!” Then he ordered their snack.
But still, Meredith, on the other hand, is curious about the woman who is causing her cousin grief.