"Please tell me you're thinking of the butts of all the hot girls in this club, and not your stupid Bio project on the Yam plant structure."

    Amber broke away from her long, train of thoughts which were in fact, focused on her Biology assignment. She looked over to her solemn source of company and entertainment of the night sitting across the round coffee table. She gave him a slight chuckle and brought the drink in her hand towards . "First of all, they're Balsam plants. If you had paid more attention during class, maybe you wouldn't have to go around asking for peoples' notes for 'reference' purposes," she paused, "Also, this isn't a club, it's a coffee shop called The Club."

    "So, what? And maybe if you'd stop telling me to study, I'd actually you know, study. It's called reversed psychology, dude," Henry challenged and that made the blonde laugh. She grinned at her impossible friend, knowing that nothing she said would shut Henry up.

    It wasn't the first time Henry had referred to the coffee shop as a club, but Amber still found it amusing whenever he did it. The Club, was actually no different from any other coffee shop around the area, from their round-shaped coffee tables to their relaxing atmosphere filled with the aroma of coffee beans, but what made it stand out from Starbucks, B!ng and whatever coffee-themed shop was its service hours. Instead of the normal 5am to 10pm service hours coffee shops usually practice, The Club only opened at five in the evening and turned their lights off at six in the morning. Hence, the name "The Club". It was well-known for its peculiar opening and closing hours, but it proved to be a successful business strategy. Young adults or teenagers became frequent customers to The Club as they were usually up and about after midnight due to schoolwork and whatnot. Being under-aged and all, what better place to hang out after normal working hours other than a midnight coffee shop. 

    "What's buzzing, guys?" A high-pitched voice came into the picture and the two friends traded glances at each other before looking up.

    "Key." Amber and Henry said together while giving him the dorkiest smile they could do.

    "What's up with the silence? Did Henry call The Club a club again?"

    At that, everyone succumbed to laughter. They knew it was foolish, to be laughing at the same thing again while they were at the coffee shop, but it couldn't be helped. It was like a silly tradition that they just couldn't get rid off. 

    "How many times do we have to tell you that this isn't a club?" Amber laughed at Henry.

    "Oh you know him, he just says it to feel cool and stuff. Unlike some of us, this one here actually needs to try to radiate cool," 

    Key was kind of the Mercedes of the group, you know from Glee? He radiated sass like no other and everyone loved him for it and also, because he went around with that silly smile plastered on his face, spreading love and joy to everyone in his way. "There's a reason why we're called "gays"," he always said.

    "Hey, hey, hey, you don't radiate coolness, it's heat you radiate," Henry tried to turn the tables around by being a smart-, but was immediately shot down by Key again.

    "Why yes, Henry, i radiate heat. That's why all them boys in this house are melting from the hots that I be giving!" Key stood up, winked while sticking his tongue out, giving Henry the y look. On the other side of the table, Amber could only laugh at the scene that was playing out in front of her. Key always had a knack to turn Black whenever he talked about boys, and since he talked about boys a lot, he was usually 95% black, 5% Korean on a daily basis. 

    The boys were still going on about who was hotter and who was cooler when Amber got up and took her leave. Tomorrow was the first day of school, and as much as she enjoyed being around his gay friend and his heteroual friend, she was never one to take school lightly. She had to get home and do her last-minute editing on her Bio assignment before sending it in to her teacher first thing tomorrow at school. It was a holiday assignment tasked to all seniors of the school who were taking the sub, including Key and Henry, but knowing them, it would still be weeks before they actually sat in front of their laptops and did something about it other than curl up into a ball and cry. 

    Amber smirked at the thought of her two lazy friends as she made a turn into the neighbourhood park. The coffee shop was just a few blocks away from her house and it was a habit of hers to walk home every time she had her fix of caffeine. It was a good thing that the The Club opened at night as it gave Amber the chance to enjoy the night air while walking home. She loved everything about the night. She loved how dark the sky looked with the occasional sightings of diamond-like shine from the stars, how the cool wind blew against her face, washing away all weariness she felt, how the world seemed so peaceful and quiet, like everything was where they were supposed to be. She was especially fond of the peace that came with the night. Nothing could bother her as long as she was out in the open night air, breathing in the best of what human life could offer.

    As she was about to pass the tiny playground set up at the park for children to enjoy outdoor activities, she heard a muffled voice. From where Amber was standing, it sounded like someone was speaking with their mouth covered by a piece of cloth. She stopped in her tracks and looked around, trying hard to detect the source of the voice. Then, she heard it once more. This time it was clearer, she figured that the voice came somewhere from the playground. She turned around and slowly walked towards it, careful not to make a sound. As she neared the playground, a figure came into sight. It turned around and Amber immediately jumped into the bush that was conviniently next to her. She didn't know why she had to hide, but it felt like the right decision at the moment. She peeked through the leaves of the bush and saw the figure pacing slowly. 

    Oh, it's a girl, Amber thought. The figure had long, wavy hair draping over her shoulders. She was on the phone, speaking in a manner that would seem normal until she turned around. Amber saw that the girl's free hand was at and it looked like she was trying to stop whatever sound she was making from being heard by anyone else. Aaah, that was probably where the muffled sounds came from. Wait, is she crying?

    Amber focused long and hard at the girl on the phone. She was shaking her head now, with one hand on the phone and the other at . It was obvious that she was crying. Shifting back, Amber tried to stand in a more comfortable position as she continued to spy on the crying girl.

    "You don't have to do this. No. I-I will...J-just let me try-" 

    Amber's ears shot up as soon as she heard the voice. The girl was having a conversation over the phone with someone and from the looks of it, the conversation was going downhill. Amber listened closely again, hoping to hear something else.

    "Kai, listen, it wasn't...it wasn't m-my fault. I t-tried-"

    Her voice cracked as she tried to say something else but was cut off when the person on the other end hung up on her. Amber only assumed so as the girl looked at her phone and then let it slip from her fingers to the ground. Her shoulders were heaving up and down as she breathed rapidly, trying to stop herself from crying. Amber stopped looking at the girl as she contemplated whether she should go and help the girl. She turned her head towards the girl again and as soon as she saw the girl sinking to her knees as she cried her eyes out, a decision was made. She quickly came out of the bushes and made her way towards the crying girl.

    She was sobbing on the ground, with her hair hanging down from her face. Her right arm was stretched out and she had used her palm to support her weight on the ground. Amber closed the distance between the girl and herself. She looked down at the girl and saw that the girl had beautiful brown hair. Amber didn't know what to do so she bent down and picked the crying girl's phone up. She cleared , hoping that that would get the attention of the brown-haired girl who still had her face covered by her hair as she continued crying on the ground.

    Seeing that throat-clearing did not do the trick, Amber finally manned-up and reached her hand out towards the girl. She carefully tapped the crying girl's shoulder. "Um, hey, your uh, your phone."

    The girl didn't show any response and Amber was left there in a tremendously awkward situation. She swallowed and tried again, this time gently shaking the girl's shoulder. "Hey, um, are you oka-"

    Before Amber could continue on with her sentence, a pair of watered eyes looked up at her and instantly, Amber was at loss for words. 

P.S um heyyy so that was the first chapter. I'm sorry that it was boring and dumb ahha I really am :p