No Reason But Us

Chapter 5 : Be Romeo

At night, Oddey had her earphones on as she was finally done with her artwork and let it dry first for a while, so she cleaned her brushes and her paint palette at the sink inside the room.

All of a sudden, there was a knock on the door. She turned to it and saw Felix waving at her through the window, so he signaled him to come inside. "Hey, do you have green acrylic that I can borrow? It's for my clays, I need some retouching?" he asked.

"Oh, sure, I have three shades by the easel," she answered.

"Thanks," so he went over there and took a small tube, then saw her work. "Cool painting."

"Really? Do you think so?"

"Yeah, romanticism, right?"

"Yup, it's an assignment."

"Well, you nailed it. Anyway, thanks again for letting me borrow your paint tube. I'll return it tomorrow."

"No problem, let me know when you finish your film, can't wait to watch it."

"Of course, thanks. I'd better get back to it now," Felix smiled at her support for his passion. "Uhm... You can bring Rita if you want."

Oddey smirked. "Why don't you ask her yourself?"

"You know I do, but I get tongue-tied or say something stupid."

"She'll appreciate the effort."

The guy let out a heavy sigh. "Alright, I'll give it a shot. Anyway, I'd better get back to work," he said, as he exited her room. 

Oddey saw that the watercolor in her paint was already drying, so she closed her art book and put it in her bag, then left.

Hours later, the two girls were at a craft store buying supplies for Rita's niece's birthday backdrop. "Okay, we need styrofoam, acrylic paints, and a cutter," Oddey said.

"That's it?" Rita quipped. "Wow, talk about frugal planning. If we add balloons, paper plates, giveaways, and other stuff, we still have a lot of money to spare."

"I know, right? Now come on, so I can start working on it."

After shopping, the girls went to Usagi Cafe for dinner and coffee. They wanted to relax while discussing the backdrop with the paper bags of their purchases. Oddey even showed a rough diagram on a notepad. "So this is my plan, I will make the barnyard and the farm animals out of styrofoam, and the barn will be five feet high, with the rest of the animals around two feet," Oddey explained.

"Cute, I have a question," Rita said.

"Okay, shoot."

"Why styrofoam again?"

"So that after the party, your niece and her friends can have fun breaking it. I read that somewhere about planning a first birthday party, or maybe someone told me..."

"Wherever it is, it's still good advice. Anyway, thanks for helping me with this."

"That's what best friends are for."

"By the way, what about your art homework?"

"Oh! Not to worry, I just need to do some coloring, then I'll work on the backdrop."

"Awesome."

"We'll be done in less than a week."

"Double awesome, and no one would suspect I used the money for something else, although I should tell them someday, or when my niece has grandkids."

"So never?"

"Yup."

"Got it." Later, they went to the art studio. Oddey began sketching the barn in the styrofoam, and Rita helped with some music to make it more fun.