“I am sorry but I don’t know what to do with you, Ms. Arceta. I have asked you to revise your thesis proposal a couple of times already and yet, here you are showing me something that I feel like you didn’t even bother to revise.”

 

She felt her world shattered upon hearing those words from her professor’s mouth in front of the class. She can feel the pairs of eyes staring right into her soul as her professor continues to shame her publicly. It’s college. People have told her countless times that other people’s opinions about her shouldn’t matter anymore because, in college, everyone’s dreams differ. But it was too difficult to ignore. 

 

“I’m giving you three more weeks to come up with something, Ms. Arceta. If you fail to do so, I have no other choice but to fail you in this class. I know how much you want to succeed in this industry so I want to see you try.”

 

Her professor’s words felt like swords piercing through her heart with every word she uttered. She took back her papers with shaky hands and returned to her seat while acting as if nothing happened. She can feel everyone’s gaze follow her movements, making her even more anxious than she already is. 

 

“Hey, it’s fine. Want me to help you out later? We can come up with something.” Her friend, Sheena, says as she caresses Aiah’s back gently as a way to comfort the latter. Aiah wanted to cry but she couldn’t because she was in a classroom and she knew other students could see her, including her friends. She didn’t want to worry them. She looks at Sheena softly, “thank you so much, but I promise I can handle this,” she reassures her. 

 

Sheena is a very smart student and she was often top of the class, but she never used her intelligence against other people or to bring other students down. She’s very accommodating and never turned down anyone asking for help. That’s the reason why Aiah and her immediately clicked and became friends as soon as Aiah moved into the same university she’s part of. 

 

Ever since Aiah moved to the United States, she lived a different life. Her mother is currently working as a real estate agent and her father is working as a teacher in a local high school teaching French. Compared to the life they lived before, their life is better now. Her parents managed to save up enough money to pay for her first year but she immediately took over the university expenses during her second year in college because she found a job that paid her enough to pay for her schooling. Despite her parents’ offer to pay for everything for her, Aiah insists on helping them instead since seeing them work so hard for her and not doing anything in return makes her feel quite guilty. 

 

Right after her classes, she decided to have lunch with Sheena. She just feels thankful that her best friend is taking the same major she’s taking because at least she has someone to confide in if ever her major gets too difficult for her. “Two strawberry milkshakes and a basket of chicken pops, please!” Sheena orders for both of them. The waiter nodded and went on his way to prepare their drinks and their food. “Alright, while waiting for you earlier, I managed to stop by the library and borrow some books that may help you out with your thesis,” her best friend says as she pulls out two books from her bag and then hands them over to Aiah who’s now looking back at her, shocked. 

 

“You don’t have to..” Aiah’s words were cut short when her friend decided to just place the books inside her bag without further questions. The two shared some giggles right after. “Fine, I’ll check this out later. You have no idea how thankful I am for everything you did for me.” Aiah sticks her pinky finger out and extends her arm towards her friend as an invitation for the latter to a pinky promise, “Promise me our friendship will stay like this forever, okay?” She says with a grin to which Sheena responds with a nod and a grin as well, “promise,” she says then locks her pinky finger with her best friend. The drinks and their food arrived just in time. The two then started eating and talking like they hadn’t seen each other for years.

 

-

 

After their short get-together, both decided to go home already since their classes started pretty early and they were already tired but instead of going straight to her dormitory, Aiah decided to drop by the vintage store she had passed by multiple times because curiosity finally got the best of her. As soon as she stepped inside the store, the feeling of nostalgia immediately washed all over her body. The store is filled with old vinyl records from icons such as Frank Sinatra, Connie Francis, Ella Fitzgerald, Perry Como, Paul Anka, and many more. Film posters of iconic movies were also all over the walls which caught Aiah’s attention since she’s a fan of old movies. 

 

“Hello!” A random woman emerged from a dimly lit room and welcomed her with a smile. Aiah jolted as she heard the voice, but upon realizing that it could probably be the store owner, her anxious state was immediately replaced with a calm one. She turns around to meet the latter’s gaze, “Hi! I’m just looking around for inspiration,” she tells the lady then she continues walking around, looking at random displays to see if anything catches her eye. Since she’s particularly looking for inspiration for her thesis proposal, Aiah spent some time in the film area of the store. The store owner caught what was happening so she approached the younger woman to advertise some of her products that may interest her. Well, she caught the signal mainly because of Aiah’s ID which displayed her major and where she studies. 

 

“We have some old filmstrips of old movies. Yes, it’s the original film strips. You see, my great-grandfather used to work in the film industry as a cameraman. He has worked for iconic films, directors, and actors. Name one random famous 50s actor and I am telling you, there’s a high possibility he worked for them already.” The woman says with confidence laced in her tone. The confidence she felt was further strengthened because of the way she kept her proud grin throughout their conversation. She couldn’t confirm its validity because the film strips are kept inside a ziplock bag and there’s no way to check them one by one, except if you purchase it. Aiah picked up a random bag with a faded label, “how about this?”

 

The store owner took the bag from Aiah to check the label, herself, in case there was more identification of it to be found anywhere in the bag but there was none. “I have more film strips from iconic actors. Are you sure you want to-” Her words were cut off when Aiah immediately responded, “Yes, I am sure.” She says sternly. Even Aiah did not expect that kind of tone to come out of her, but for some reason, it happened. Suddenly, the whole store felt quite heavy. She shrugged it off, “Anyway, how much is this?’ She asks so casually as if nothing weird occurred a few seconds ago. 

 

“I’m giving it to you for free.”

 

“What?” Aiah paused as she heard the store owner’s response. Keeping something so valuable like a filmstrip from an old movie is something she didn’t expect she’d have for free, but she refused to accept the gift. She pulled her wallet out of her purse but the store owner stopped her from pulling out some bills, “it’s alright. You can have it.” She tells Aiah who looks even more puzzled right now. But she’s not complaining at all. Aiah nodded and placed the ziplock bag inside her purse, “let me grab some of this-“ she picked out some vinyl records, “and please, allow me to pay for this.” She adds with a smile as she pays for the item. 

 

-

 

Aiah can hear her next-door neighbor’s loud music and the chatters of their guests. It seems like he’s holding a party again. A few weeks before finals? Aiah thought as she mentally cursed her neighbor for being inconsiderate. While she was in the middle of keying her door open, an angered Giselle stepped out of her dorm room and furiously banged her fist on the door of Aiah’s neighbor while holding some books on her other arm— signifying she was in the middle of studying. The two lock gazes, “he’s so ing annoying! I don’t know how you manage to be next-door neighbors with that motherer.” Giselle tells her with anger and annoyance in her tone. Aiah can already practically see the fumes coming out of the woman as she expresses her deep disdain for the man inside the room. 

 

Aiah lets out a shrug and a sarcastic chuckle, “earplugs work— sometimes,” she tells her to which Giselle responds with a chuckle as well, but Aiah can still make out the frustration painted on the latter’s face. The door swung open, revealing Asahi’s drunken state. Before he could even say anything, Giselle’s palm immediately came in contact with his cheek, making him step back and wince in pain. It did startle Aiah quite a bit but seeing him get the taste of his own medicine satisfied her. 

 

The two continued to argue as Aiah got inside her room. She cou