Bubble Gum Kisses
CHAPTER 55

**Kapittel 55** ***Vanessa***

**"Then what do you that will work?"** Fuck. This was what I was talking about. God, what was he up to again? Why was he so silent during Philo, but is pretty much talkative now? Hopefully, he'd say something helpful instead of cutting me off for the sake of irritating me.

"Vellum paper is best to use as pages in this notebook," he replied, crossing one leg over the other like some sort of guy thinking he was an edit. Yet, his suggestion didn't fail my previous thought. "Maybe a cream-colored one." "No, I think it's best if we reuse old notes and scratches. Vellum papers are usually used for scrapbooking." I shook my head at his suggestion. "Plus, it costs money."

"But it doesn't cost that much?" Dang, I forgot this guy was a prince born with a golden spoon in his mouth. "And using a vellum paper would be best if we want the material to be strong. Better yet, if you want to save money, an ordinary notebook page or coupon bond will do. It has almost the same quality as reused scratches."

"And the material's durability? Part of our goal here is that the material lasts a long time so it could be used in the school's Open House," I retorted, glancing at my notes to see the goal I had summarized.

"That's why I suggested the vellum paper in the first place," he stated.

"God, you're not making any sense." I rolled my eyes at him, no longer holding back the groan I have been struggling to keep in. "Don't tell me you'll suggest covering the book's page with Grafix Dura-Lar instead of acetate paper," I mumbled sarcastically.

"Why not?" he shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly. It makes me wonder profoundly how long this guy was going to sit on his throat and act like a king. "It's not that it costs much. Moreover, it's heat-resistant and doesn't tear easily like how acetate does." Okay, that was a good point, but it didn't deny the fact that it was gonna cost money.

I drew a deep breath. "Listen, Friso-"

"Listening, babe," he cut me off, his eyes glistened in obvious amusement while I furrowed my eyebrows at him for another deathly glare. Oh, how I wished that the figurative phrase "glaring daggers" was fucking literal.

"Mr. Mosbey said a few things in making this project. One of which is that it needs to be cost-effective. The second is that it needs to be durable so that it lasts even until the Open House. The third is that it needs to be made from scratch. What else aside from using reused scratches does not make it qualified enough to be our source of the pages?"

"I did say to make things from scratch, but not make it literally from scratch," a yawny voice laced with a poised tone spoke, seemingly to enter our conversation. I looked behind me, only to jump in my seat.

"Mr. Mosbey!" I gasped in surprise. It looked like he was going around to monitor us. This is good, so we could address questions regarding my conflicting ideas with Friso.

He gave me a small smile, like an unconcerned response to my little outburst. "Listen, kids. You can use any kind of paper as pages and whatnot as long as it followed the guidelines I pointed out. My point was that you cannot use an already- made notebook for the output. That would ruin the essence of creativity and construction, yes?" he asked, his eyes boring at each of us like he was hoping that we understood what he meant.

Okay, that was an eye-opener, looks like I've been too close-minded and took his words too literally. "Yes, sir." I nodded my head in unison, understanding what he was going at.

His gaze seemed to have changed into relief. "Good. But it's up to you as well if you make recycled paper, though I have to give a little disclaimer that I don't provide brownie points, I will only be grading you as is." he paused, his small smile stretching widely. "Now, continue," he said and left."

"Now that I think about it," Friso suddenly spoke moments after our instructor left. "Do you suppose that we have our notebook put together with a comb binding?"

"Sure, that's the same as using gorilla glue when you can use regular glue," I replied, crossing my arms. "Stitching the pages or using ring binders are good enough. I don't think availing book binding services or even buying a comb binding machine is necessary here, it's a notebook, not a portfolio. Plus, remember what Mr. Mosbey said? The essence of creativity and construction."

"Hey, I'm thinking about what's good for our output here." He clutched his chest, pretending like he was hurt by my sarcastic remark. "Plus, your suggestion's giving us a lot of work."

"By giving bizarre ideas? Right. And isn't this output supposed to be made with a lot of work?"

"Ahem." Revel, who had been silently watching us this whole time suddenly cleared his throat. I turned my head in his direction automatically. Fuck, have I been too comfortable with bantering with Friso in front of another person? He took his moment to look at Friso, then at me, before giving us a piece of his mind. "Okay, upon listening to your ideas, I'm glad that you guys are erm... passionate in investing your time and energy for this project, which is what we're supposed to do. But, I have a few things to point out with your suggestions though to rest my reservations. Vanessa, I appreciate your ideas but it seems that you're focusing too much on the aesthetics- which I like, by the way since it has one of the largest criteria in the output. But Drew's opinions matter too. His concern for the items' resilience is a big matter as well. Remember, Mr. Mosbey heavily noted that it should last a long time," he ran his mouth with a waterfall of his factual opinions. His words were polite and careful, but they made me feel like I was the worst. It was purely distant and disdainful, like how a disappointed parent would sound.

"However, Drew," he paused briefly to give the devil a stern gaze, "I see that you're trying to give Vanessa a hard time. Listen, I don't want to assume things between you two with what I have seen and heard, but let's set all the sentiments aside and focus on this project okay?"

"So whose side are you on?" Friso asked, obviously annoyed that Revel wasn't on his side.

"Whichever gets this output the highest score." Our omniscient group mate released a sigh like a sleep-deprived dad with fussy kids. "So if possible, I'd like you guys to be on your best behavior because bantering will get us nowhere." I was squashed to pieces. Pulverized. Scattered by the wind. Converted to nothingness. I was so embarrassed that I wanted to dig myself a grave and rest forever 6 feet under. I didn't expect that Revel was in a level of thinking better than mine, worst, I showed him my worst side. What hurt more was that he was treating me like a child.

"Yes, sir," I responded in a weak voice. I didn't expect that he was actually like this. Gosh, even if he wasn't, I'd still be flustered. I should have been mature and watched my actions. I think I just gave him a bad impression, heck. "A promise from Vanessa will not only do. How about you, Drew?"

"Did you think it's good getting in my way?" Friso clicked his tongue at him, the former's cloudy eyes had coupled into a storm.

The latter shook his head, his clean-cut hair combed to the back never moving an inch. It made me appreciate how sleek he was. "I'm not necessarily getting in your way. What's important to me is getting good results in this group work. I will do any means necessary to do that, getting in your way, even." Wow, looked like there were some people who weren't afraid of Friso or his family at all. His standing was probably somewhere that could equate to the de Vries or something. "Also..." he trailed off with a gentle him, tapping his fingers on his knees, his eyes closed. He was deep in thought. "I agree with Friso on using a Grafix Dura-Lar is much better, but the bookbinding thing is way too much. As for the material of the page... let's just consider things after we talk about the other things first, yes?"

I heaved a sigh as I put my hands together, listening to every word Revel was saying. Amazingly, Revel, whose name was actually Maxim got to fix things perfectly like an experienced manager. I got to contribute by sharing ideas in further discussions, my original idea was even followed with a few modifications suggested and agreed upon by us three, but I still couldn't help but feel like a burden.

I had always been the one to be in check with my emotions and regulate situations like this, but it was no longer the case. It felt like getting demoted. I blinked, and my sights automatically rested on Friso's god-like facade. This was his fault. He always swayed me into a mess like a twister- that his eyes shared a color with.

I hope I'd get a rest from this guy, I hoped but it seemed that Forlorn had been waiting all this time to cut my little sincere wish into smithereens.

"Ugh, you again?!" I grumbled loudly when as the thunder clapped and the rain fell harder. The wind was cold, but my body was hot in raging anger. Here I was again, facing Friso, who was holding his signature smirk on his irritating face.

** **

**Thank you for reading Bubble Gum Kisses! To keep up with my work, future works, and endless frustrations, you can replace me on my social media accounts:**

**https://twitter.org/RiosMorpheus

https://instagram.org/riosmorpheus

tiktok.org/@riosmorpheus**