• Caylie watched Reid as he settled the opened plastic of melted chocolate on the roof of the door. No matter how roguish or clumsy or naughty he might be, he is still and will always be the light in her dark world.

    He was a known prankster at their school. Not a bully. No, certainly someone who doesn't take advantage of those who are smaller than him, but just someone who has lots of mischief on his min, always being mistaken as fun.

    Reid Abraham Adler, Caylie's childhood crush. She could never tell any one, though. Because in their school, Reid is someone who you do not associate with. He is a nobody, a loser. But to Caylie, he isn't. Blonde, blue-eyed, and no matter how loud or noisy or annoying he may be, Caylie knows he'll always bring a smile to her face, whatever the circumstances.

    “Reid, you’re going to get us all in trouble!” Their classmate Sandy shouted as she tried to pull the mischievous student from the door. Reid was again planning something nasty to Mr. Campbell, their teacher, and this time, a waterfall of melted chocolate just as the door opens. Fitting the ooze onto the door frame, Reid grinned and looked at the brunette.

    “Come on, Sandy! Just wait till you see Mr. Campbell’s face when the chocolate covers him! It will be a blast!”

    “Yeah, and when we all get punished because of what you’ll do you better run or else who knows what I’ll do to you!” Deep inside, everyone’s curious of as how Mr. Campbell will react when he gets covered with the delicious treat. Last week, Reid’s scheme didn’t work, so the moment they all had been waiting for ended in vain. This week, everybody hoped, especially Reid and his best friend Chris, that his conspiracy results in laughter.

    “Okay, everything’s set. Now all we need to do is wait for Mr. Campbell to come in through the door! Five more minutes before eight o’clock!” The blonde boy happily said as he ran back to his seat.

    “Reid, we’re going to tell Mr. Campbell that it’s your idea, and we have nothing to do with it.” another classmate warned.

    “Oh, shut up. It’s no fair. You won’t be punished after you’ve had your share of fun? No way!”

    “Seriously,” Aaron, a football player in their school, interrupted suddenly, “Not taking that loser’s side or whatever, but let’s just think that the punishment is worth the scene. I mean, come on guys. He’ll be coated with chocolate!” Someone shouted in affirmation when he finished. The other guys chorused in.

    “Alright, whatever.” their classmate finally agreed.

    A minute passed by and the excitement rose higher. All of them were excited, except Caylie, who was nervous and scared. Another minute passed and some of the girls stopped chatting. The third minute went goodbye, and everybody held their tongue. The fourth minute passed by, and all of them were already fidgeting in pleasure.

    “I don’t think I can do this!” Sandy fiercely whispered to her seatmate, Henry.

    “We’re all in this together you idiot! We’re all going to have fun!”

    And going to be punished...Caylie continued in her thoughts. Of course she isn’t a chicken. She’s not afraid of the death penalty ahead. In fact, she wasn’t thinking of the future at all. For her, it wasn’t only the punishment per se. It was her father’s reaction when he hears that she, Caylie Madison, heir of their family's business, the only obedient, tamed, daughter of one of the most wealthy families in the world, is punished fatally for pulling a prank on her teacher. What. A. Disgrace.

    No! I must find a way to stop this! Caylie bravely concluded to herself, rising from her desk and quickly ambling towards the closet of their classroom where all of her classmate’s things were. She opened the closet and found a sack of feathers, sitting snugly at the base of the wooden wardrobe. They were supposed to use them as a decoration for their project on that very subject. Feeling uncertain, she grab hold of the sack and made her way towards the door.

    “Caylie, what are you doing?” Sandy bluntly asked.

    “I…um…the f-feathers…uh…to…the door…” Caylie stammered, composing herself to keep on going down the stairs.

    “But Mr. Campbell’s going to come in any second!” Sandy said, and the others chimed in. Caylie’s cheeks reddened, and for a moment she felt crazy for being a heroine. But as caught a glimpse of Reid, who was looking at her, she knew that she could not let her beloved blonde, and, alright, the others as well, to fall into the deep pit of misery. No, not her Reid.

    “Exactly… I mean…I… just… going to…count them if they’re enough…” Caylie trembled. She knew it was the lamest excuse she ever heard and the first one she ever made, but anything is better than nothing. She was ready. She was determined. She’s going to save everyone from the principal's office.

    She was already midway through the stairs when suddenly her foot was caught at a crack on the floor – just as the door creaked open.

    “OOOHHH…!” She managed to squeak, the sack of feathers flying to their teacher who was too flabbergasted to move an inch as the melted chocolate consumed him. And in her eyes unfolded a series of events that she would never forget in her whole life: Her arm being caught by her classmate, which prevented her from being tipped and completely humiliate herself even more, the white feathers flying from the bag towards their teacher, Mr. Campbell, their heavy-set, annoying, physics-teacher-eating-children quickly being powdered with feathers, and the faces of her classmates laughing and clapping and Aaron barking out loud.

    Oh no… Oh no….!!! What have I done?! Oh, no!!! Mr. Campbell's looking at me… and h-he looks like he wants to... he wants to...

    “’Talk to you right now, at the Principal’s office, Caylie Madison.” He said as he wiped the chocolate from his angry face, plucking feathers from his hands.

    The laughter quickly subsided. It was the first time ever in History that Caylie Madison was called to the Principal’s Office. First time ever they saw Mr. Campbelli mad as a mad dog. First time ever that after he left the class no one laughed, not even a smile. First time ever that Reid became worried.

    Caylie silently tottered behind Mr. Campbell as he left.

    A minute of Silence. Then,

    “There you go, folks. The entertainment you’ve been longing.” Sandy’s sarcastic voice permeated the room.

    “You know…” Aaron suddenly said in a sad, haunting voice, “I don’t think it’s fun at all, having Caylie caught up like that…”

    “Yeah. I’m sure she only got those feathers as an excuse to stop the prank, and yet in the end she was the one who took the blame.” Henry added.

    “We should’ve apologized when Mr. Campbell was still here.” another added. The others were already joining in the group of sympathizers, having Reid’s guilty feeling rise higher and higher until he could not take it anymore. He stuck his fist onto his desk in agony and wildly made a dash out of the room.

    ---------------------------

    “Caylie?” Reid’s voice quivered. He quickly held his hands in front of his face, ready for the blows that will come to him.

    None came.

    Slowly, he lowered his hands and looked in front of him. Caylie was looking at him with innocent eyes, mystic and teary. Her clothing and hair was a mess; strands of hair covering her forehead and beads of sweat rolling down on her face, arms and on her back. Her jacket was crumpled and dirty, her pants stained from grass. Caylie also noticed she has cuts on her fingers and arms and on her legs, and several scratches on her face. It was the first time Reid saw Caylie dirty, quite smelly (yet he still could feel a tint of her expensive perfume), and oh-so poor looking. Holding a sack in one hand, and with the other free hand wiping the sweat off her forehead, she smiled.

    “O-oh, it’s you, Reid. What brings you here?” She said with the sweetest smile. Her clothes still full of mud and dirt, along with her hands. Seeing that Reid was looking at the sack, which is full of leaves, that she was holding, she quickly explained the matter to him.

    “I’m supposed to gather all the leaves on t-the ground here at the academy park… using my hands and without any rake or whatever… but everytime I finish a part, the wind blows and the leaves fall again… and well... before that I was… I was cleaning the whole school…”

    “So… that’s what you’ve been doing since this morning?” Reid asked, gently taking the sack from her.

    “Yes…you? It’s… it’s only half past four… classes finish at five… did you… cut classes again, Reid?” Caylie asked as she scooped a handful of leaves and flung them onto the sack. She did not tremble, nor did she shake. She was just standing there, looking at the grassy ground.

    “I still haven’t any l-lunch…if you want…please wait for me and we’ll… grab a meal…” she continued without any enthusiasm.

    She was too scared and too weak. After all, her intention was good, wasn’t it? And yet… and yet… She feels so rotten. She felt like she was the most foolish person on earth. She acted like a freak, a weirdo, and to be embarrassed in front of the class, in front of the whole school, and in front of her crush! Surely her father will scold her, and her mean brothers will laugh at her. She’s going to be the joke of the town, the loser among the Madison household. She felt she was such a crap that she couldn’t help crying all day while picking someone else’s trash. Whispers behind her and fingers directed towards her made her more miserable than ever. She never had a high pride to begin with. But to have a punishment despite of the good deed you intended to do, it was more than she bargained for.

    She didn’t want to go home. Her father will surely skin her alive. She didn’t want to be a Madison anymore. The surname only pressures her like crazy. She didn’t want to be a student. All her knowledge is useless if it will only wasted by her cowardice. She didn’t want to make Reid feel bad. It was her stupidity in the first place.

    “Caylie…” Reid called once again, softly, almost caressingly to Caylie’s ears. He then immediately closed the surprised Caylie in an embrace. The beautiful girl gave a faint yell of surprise as she felt him hug her.

    “I’m sorry,” He whispered sweetly in her ear, holding her tightly, “It was my fault in the first place and yet you… yet you took the blame. For me.”

    Caylie’s heart fluttered. It was like a dream come true! The moment he touched her, the moment he encircled her in that embrace, she forgot everything that had happened. To heck with her father who always tells her to be on the top of the class and to heck with the world!!! It is only this time that she might feel Reid’s warmth so close to her. It feels so good, to be finally noticed and her love to be returned. Surely this is the reward for enduring that awful heat in the grounds while cleaning trash across the neighborhood. Her soft, delicate hands that had never been taught household chores or any kind of heavy labor at home forgot the ache they’ve been feeling. She enjoyed every moment he held her in his arms.

    Still cuddling her, he continued, “I know… I know how you feel for me, Caylie.”

    “What?” The black-haired girl released her grip to face Reid. The latter nodded in assurance as he gently took her to a bench nearby and both sat them down.

    “Known it all along. Ever since we were small, right?” and then he smiled, and continued, “Well, I…I… kind of liked you too, Caylie… but well, you see… you being a daughter of a top-ranked business man in the whole wide world, and me…”

    “You are the best thing that ever happened to me, Reid." --she looked at the ground to hide her blatant blush--"You don’t know how much I looked up to you.”

    “Me? You looked up to me?”

    Reid smiled and looked at the beautiful setting sun in front of them, peeking behind the trees. Seems that he doesn’t know that she did not only loved him, but also looked up to him.

    “A lot of people think that they need to be someone great, someone famous to be actually acknowledged by others. But they don’t know… that an ugly, distorted candle and a beautiful, opulent one will always have the same amount of light when lit in the dark.”

    “Caylie…” it was all that Reid could say. What she said truly touched his heart. After all these years, he kept on thinking that being noticed--even in horrible ways such as playing pranks-- is the only way to be loved by others. But at that moment, he realized, he was already loved, and will always be, more than anyone else.

    At once, without permitting his mind to have any second thoughts, he tenderly met Caylie’s lips with his own. They stayed like that for awhile, taking pleasure from the sweet sensation they rarely meet. Her lips tasted of strawberries, although she smelled sweetly of lavender and a little bit of sweat.

    When they finally let go, Caylie gave Reid a promise.

    “Reid Abraham Adler, I promise to love you until the day I die.”

    “And I, Caylie Madison, I promise to protect you, and take care of you no matter what. I will try my best to be worthy of your hand in marriage! Someday, Caylie, all the world will see, that you and I… Are both made and meant to be!” Caylie ended in a happy tone.

    That night, despite of her father’s insulting words, she slept peacefully and happily, free from worry of tomorrow. She knew that no matter how dark and scary everything may be, she’ll always have a patch of light beside her.