On his way to the club, he saw Sonia and Ms Eva conversing in the hallway. Quickly, he hid behind a wall and craned his ears forward. He heard Ms Eva sing praise to her, commending her achievement which she described as ‘unbelievable’. Ludicrous, he thought, wondering what Sonia did that deserved such admiration. It made his blood boil, puffing steam out of his ears as he continued listening. Ms Eva continued congratulating her, and Sonia’s ego visibly expanded in her eyes. The last line spoken would seal the deal, forcing him to fight back for his rightful position, “If I knew you were able to do this… I would’ve put you in charge from day one instead of Sam.”

It was now or never, he stormed towards her, and just before he could utter a word, he was stunned beyond belief. Feeling the saliva in his mouth, he read the words on the board. “Total amount earned: $0.50.” He quickly sat back down, eyes glued to the poorly drawn dollar sign.

“So …” She started. “We actually earned money from the release of ‘Singing Doll’!”

Everyone clapped in confusion.

“Uh… Erin, you wanna explain the miracle you did?”

“Huh? Me? Uh… ok! So basically, I found a way to earn money from showing advertisements before the video… uh the film plays, does that make sense? And so everytime someone clicks on our film and watches it, we earn like… very little. It’s like a few cents per thousand clicks and right now we’ve earned a total of fifty cents.”

Whether Sam wanted to scream out of joy or anger remained unclear. His eyes tried to break free from their sockets, like homing missiles propelling towards its target to meet their demise. He crossed his arms and shook his head a little. Who knew, the one time he gained success, he wasn’t allowed to have it.

“So… uh- thank you Erin, for your miracle. She’s amazing.”

“Stop it!” Erin blushed.

“Ok, so now that the script is finished we can start pre-production. I managed to rent the classroom next door for us to film. So all we need now is to build a set of an island, and we’re gonna figure out how in the hell we’re gonna do that.”

As usual, disorganisation ran rampant, with most students doing nothing whatsoever except scrolling through their phones or chatting with Honey. Sonia had also mysteriously vanished from sight, probably called away by Ms Eva for more praise. He grumbled to himself, mumbling his many grievances to no one, which caught the attention of someone nearby.

“She really is annoying huh? Glad I’m not the only one.” He introduced himself as Bryan, and gave him a firm handshake.

“Which course are you from?” Sam asked.

“Supply Chain Logistics, you?”

“Business Management. I’m Sam by the way, the previous leader of this club.”

“Woah, what happened?”

“I did something dumb, and got my title stripped away.”

“Ouch! Bet you regret it a lot, huh? What’s your role now?”

“Cameraman.”

“Cool, I’m part of the cast.”

“Oh cool.”

“Sonia stole fifty cents from me.”

“Ha-ha! Aren’t you salty?”

“Yeah…”

“Well, if it’s any consolation, I don’t want her to lead either..”

“Hm! Thanks.”

“But maybe like talk to her, since you two like actually know each other. You know?”

“I guess.” Good idea, he thought.

Once Sonia returned, he took his chance, leading her to the next classroom for a conversation. Airflow came to a gridlock once the door closed, stuffing the two in humidity.

“Whatt?” She snapped.

“I-”

“Let me guess, the fifty cents? Here, have it.” She tossed a coin to him.

“No, I just-” It seems he had already gotten what he asked for. “-I know I can’t be the leader, but I deserve to do more than just handle the camera!”

“I thought your main thing was handling the camera? What, do you hate it now?”

“No, but-”

“Oh my god, spit it out Sam, we both know what you’re gonna say.”

“Fine!” He blew up. “I deserve to earn that fifty cents, not you!” He tossed the coin back. “I deserve to be leader, I don’t care if I can’t be, it’s just a title, I can still be the leader while not being labelled it! I mean, it’s not like Ms Eva will check or anything!”

“Hm, I wonder if you’ll even be complaining if I didn’t tell the club about the fifty cents. And by the way, it was Erin who figured out how we can earn money, not you. So by your logic shouldn’t she be the leader?”

“I made this club, and you’re the one who tore it down.”

“Oh? So it’s my fault you can’t be the leader?”

“You’re the one who reported it! Honey would’ve never reported it, and it wasn’t even stalking! It was just some- some note-taking, which was wrong, but thanks to you always needing to protect her like you’re her mom, they called it stalking! And gave me a punishment that’s too severe.”

“Go complain to the discipline committee then! Stop using me as a punching bag.”

“I want to do more! I’m sitting around doing nothing because you have no idea how to lead!”

“No.”

“Why?”

“Are you seriously asking that?”

“Yeah!”

“Just listen to how you talk, and imagine how long the club will last if you’re in charge again.”

“What?”

“Oh my god, forget it. Just… don’t this again Sam. I’m serious.”

“Or else?”

“Wow… just wow… I- wow.” She fanned herself with her shirt and left. He slammed a table in rage and sent it flying across the floor.

**

He spent the rest of the day grumbling about Sonia with Bryan, who got another friend involved. It seems they weren’t as alone as they thought. He cycled home with his chest puffed out, resisting Sonia’s tyranny in stride. He picked Joe up in cold silence, forgetting to humour and play along with him.

When his father returned home, his anger melted away in place of sheer confusion. Uncharacteristically, his father sat next to him, and for the first time, chatted him up.

“So how’s school Sam?”

“What?”

“How’s school today? How’s business class going?”

“What?” He asked again, wary of his intentions. His father had been acting strange ever since he realised his brother’s existence.

“What? Can’t I ask how my son’s day is going?”

“Um… ok. My day is… fine. I completed one of my projects today, I had to write up a report on-”

“So remember what you said to me when I realised you met your Uncle? About NS?”

His intentions were as clear as day now.

“Uh huh?” Sam asked, secretly rolling his eyes at his father’s desperation. Strangely enough, it reminded him of his own behaviour this afternoon.

“What did he tell you about that, I’m just curious.”

“I have school tomorrow Dad, I’m gonna go off to bed now.”

“I’m not scolding you Sam, relax.” His tone suggested otherwise.

“Ok. Joe, time for bed, let’s-”

“My sergeant, when I was in the army, was… a jerk.” Sam pondered if he bothered enough to listen. “He never bothered to listen to us, even if what we had to say was important or an emergency… once I- your grandma fell sick and I had to book out, but he wouldn’t even listen and assumed I just wanted to slack… anyway-” He spoke solemnly, which signalled to Sam he might not be lying.

His father continued. “I had a friend, a close friend, like you and that pink-hair girl, or the other one… Sonia, right?” This was the first time his dad remembered Sonia’s name. “Anyway, he wasn’t- he couldn’t take heat… very well, it was some kind of condition or just I don’t know- or he just didn’t exercise enough, anyway, one time we were doing drills, like normal…”

Sam shuffled uncomfortably on the couch, tracing the patterns with his finger.

“The weather was insanely hot that day, like holy- you cannot imagine how hot it is having the sun shine in your eyes while wearing military clothes, anyway, my friend, he was getting dizzy because of the heat, and he wasn’t the only one. And I was scared for his health, since he came close to passing out once, so I told the sergeant. He said no. I kept quiet for a bit, told him to exert less strength, and then I asked again. He said no. And by now his face was red hot, so things got serious. I told him again, but more seriously this time, I raised my voice, and so did he, because some people are just-” He swatted a curse away. “And I screamed at him, and he finally listened and let my friend rest.” Sam could see water in his eyes, a hauntingly rare sight that sent shockwaves within.

“I don’t know what your Uncle told you, he only heard of it from the news. But… yeah, whatever he told you, I’m sure it wasn’t this, but what I’m saying is the truth, of what… actually happened. So my point is, your Uncle is lying… and… don’t ever give up… and just let someone walk all over you because they’re a little intimidating or fierce or whatever.”

“Ok.”

“You’re strong.” Sam leaned back a little, crushed by the weight of his words. “You’re a strong man Sam, much stronger than the man I ever was. Don’t… let it go to waste. Got it?”

“Y-yeah.”

He patted his shoulder, cleared his throat, and went upstairs. Sam stayed frozen for a full minute, processing whatever that just happened. And then, his north star came calling. This was his club. He argued with Ms Eva as respectfully as possible countless times to keep it from shutting down, he used his own camera because loaning school equipment proved to be too inconsistent, he bought green spray-paint, and painted his bedsheet bright green just so they had a green screen to work with. What the hell did Sonia ever do? Complain, complain, complain.

He needed to save his own club from her hands, before she ruined it beyond repair. Fifty cents spoke nothing of her competency, and furthermore, it was Erin who implemented it. He would object less to Erin as leader.