Aurelio, ".........."  

What an asshole.

Aurelio scoffs and glares at the back of the other boy fiercely. He doesn't say anything, not because he can't, but because there is no need wasting his saliva on this human who wouldn't appreciate it in the slightest.

As such, Aurelio stays in the hole for a long time. It is nearing dark and he's sitting on the ground, drawing random stuff on the soil with his fingers, when a voice enters his ears. He perks up.

"Jesus Christ, where the [beep] has that dumbass gone to?" He hears the ruffling of grass and leaves, the sound of footsteps getting closer. 

"Asia, probably." Another voice retorts and the familiar sarcasm has Aurelio rolling his eyes.

He doesn't need to guess to know who the two are.

And as he expects, it doesn't take long before Josiah and Marco find him in the pit. When they do, Josiah is staring at him with eyes full of judgement, "What the [beep] are you doing in there?" 

"Chillin', can't you see?." Beside him Marco's eating an apple and his boredom is evident.

"Shut up, Mickey Mouse." Josiah turns to Aurelio, "Yo, you plan on sleepin' in there?"

The two helps Aurelio out of the pit. At the time he's out the sky is already dark, and the three boys are walking side-by-side as they chatter on their way home, carefree and casual.

"Hey, so my father dropped his hopes of me passing college in the city--"

"You mean passing college in general." Josiah interrups and smirks. 

Marcus glares but soon a smirk also creeps up his lips, "I learnt from the best, laoshi."

"I also learnt from the best, classmate." The two glance at the preoccupied Aurelio and chuckle.

Aurelio is utterly oblivious of this.

They are nearing the field when Josiah and Marcus, who're busy playing rock-paper-scissors, notice Aurelio's silence. The two look at each other, then nudge the other continuously. Eventually Marcus lost. He glares at the grinning Josiah and turns to Aurelio.

"You okay, man?" He asks, voice careful.

It's then did Aurelio only snap out of his thoughts. "Uh.. what?"

"I just asked if you're okay. You've been out of it since we headed home. If Jo could get a penny for every word you said he'd be flat broke all his life - virgin too."

"Hey!"

"Shut up." Marcus turns to the other again, raising his brow.

"It's nothing. I'm just wondering when Philips returned."

Josiah snaps his head to him, "What? He's back?"

"Un. Besides, he didn't really move far. He was just on the other side of Tongass." Marcus replies.

Aurelio, "Yeah, I also saw him in the woods."

"But who cares, really. Did he piss you off again?"

Just then, one of their neighbors calls, "Hey guys, have you seen my sister?"

Josiah greets, "Yo, James. Which sister?"

"Maria, the obnoxious one. She ran off to the woods this morning."

"I think.." The boy beside James mutters, looking to the side. "Isn't that her?"

All of them turn and there indeed is James's little sister Maria, playing with pigs in the field.

Upon seeing this Aurelio's eyes turn wide as Marcus suggests, "Hey Lio, aren't those your--"

"Shit!" Aurelio sprints to the two pigs playing around Maria, in the meantime shouting to Julius who's with the sheeps, "BRO! Dumpy and Liam got out!" Then proceeds to the pigs who immediately run off when they see their owner.

On the other side, Marcus whispers to Josiah, James and his friend walking off to somewhere, "Does he actually remember all their names? How the fuck does he does that?"

"How the hell would I know?" Josiah retorts, joining Aurelio in chasing the pigs. "Yo, you chase the fatter one I chase the other!" He shouts to Aurelio who only returns a nod.

___

The night passes and it's time for its lover to do the work. Shining brightly, the sun radiates off its heat to all matter. The whines of the animals are heard through the wooden walls. Aurelio raises his arm to cover his eyes as he lie, sighing at the content sleep he had.

He didn't have dreams that night. Aurelio lowers his arm and stares at the ceiling when he remembers the dream he had yesterday.

It is weird. He can't remember the face of the girl that's with him, and that is the only thing that passed by his memories. For what remains, he isn't lucky enough to forget it. He can't recall what the girl looks like. It just feels as if she is familiar to him. That he had spent time with her before.

And that's scarier - to see someone he is familiar with end up in that state.

He suddenly feels relieved he can't remember who she is.

It's a few moments after when he decides he spent enough time slacking off. He hauls his body up, glacing around. His brother is not by his side, the other side of the futon messy and empty. Where is he?

It has been a routine of the two boys to wake up at the same time throughout the years, how could his brother suddenly forget that? It really strucks him as weird.

However, Aurelio shrugs it off, thinking Julius merely woke up earlier than usual and decided to do something early. He proceeds to do his work while the sun is still yet to rise. He finishes feeding the animals, counting to check if no one was missing, checks the sturdiness of the fences and chasing two playful goats who got loose before finally going towards the farm. It's noon when he reaches the farm, and for the spent half of the day he hasn't seen even the shadow of his older brother - merely the naughty presence of his two best friends who seem to have a routine of bickering in every work they do.

"Maybe if someone hadn't forgotten to open the door last night when they had so _clearly_ invited you, I would've had my sleep and not suffer the wrath of demonic dogs." Marco spits with bitterness.

"I bloody told you I did! Mom closed it and I didn't know that! Why didn't you just call me, then? My room was just by the terrace." Julius retorts with the same animosity.

Marco scoffs, "I did, idiot. And the only reply I got was the loud snoring of a wannabe pig."

Aurelio shakes his head, the sight of Josiah and Marco shoving dirt at each other on the other side of the field naked before his eyes. He wipes his forehead with a towel, the sun harsh and shining. He really is lucky he didn't forget his bamboo hat today. Crouching down before the crops, he picks out a mother wheat, places it in his large basket, and proceeds his work.

It's in the middle of the afternoon when the large basket in Aurelio's hand is completely filled with wheat. He's heading back to their house, pleased at the extra carrots Mrs. Goodsman insistently gave him.

When he comes back, his mother is already there, surprised at the carrots in his basket.

"Did Mr. Dawnsmith give us carrots again?" She asks, helping him put the large basket down.

"No, ma, it's Mrs. Goodsman."

"Ah, that woman, really." Maria smiles, and along with it shows the wrinkles around her eyes. It is an obvious sign she frequently smiles, and that she's aging - something she won't admit. "Feed the pigs, okay? I'll go call Julius." Running out with her slippers, Maria leaves the boy alone in the house.

His mother is a pale woman. Aurelio assumes she had lived in the city in her youth, with that pale skin and soft facial features. She likes wearing long skirts and blowses with fading colors - well, in their situation, no one really has the time to be picky. Still though, Aurelio often insists she's beautiful with those outfits. Because in his eyes, those gentle smiles that tolerate every thing, hearty laughs that reach her eyes, and childish pouts she make when she want to pretend being a toddler, are beautiful. If he can choose who to fall in love and spend the rest of his life with, he'd choose a woman like her mother.

That's a big if.

And besides, Aurelio doesn't have time for romances. That's merely for people who have too much time to waste.

After feeding the pigs again, Aurelio leans on a wooden post and stares at the pigs.

"These little.. pigs. Who told you to run off like that? Huh?" He reprimands and really tries his best to look intimidating. In response, some pig looks at him, turns its butt to him and oinks. It then resumes eating, as if Aurelio is an insignificant, insignificant being who's disturbing his meal. Did the the pig just roll its eyes at him? Aurelio's mouth twitches. With a narrowed stare, he threatens, "I can chop you off into pieces and boil you and fry your insides right now, you fatty. Don't you give me that look." To add to his evilness, Aurelio crouches down and looms over the pigs, an evil grin on his face, before stretching his arms wide as if he's about to take all the pigs in his arms at once. The pigs are terrified and begins scrambling to all sides as Aurelio lets out an evil laugh the main antagonists in theatres do.

Until, of course, the shining, bright, and powerful hero with his underwear out saves the world.

"What madness are you on?" A voice behind him asks.

Aurelio, still with his 'overtaking-the-world' posture, turns around slightly. Marco's fed-up face is met with an innocent pair of emerald eyes. He raises a brow. A pig ran to the side of the fence closest to Marco and whines loudly.

That damn pig dare kiss up to Marco? Aurelio glares at it. That's my friend, you pig!

Clearing his throat, he stands straight, turns to Marco, and greets, "What's up?" He supports himself by putting his elbow on the fence, looking at Marco with a not-so-natural pose. "You got something to say, Mark? Be quick, I'm busy."

_Busy scaring the pigs 'til they piss? Sure,_ Marco thinks. "Whatever, man." Aurelio's behaviors are not unheard of. The animals in the area have complicated feelings about this human who both feed and bully them. "Something's been on my mind lately," Marco holds up the key in his hand, a smirk on his face, "You in tonight?"

Almost in sync, a smirk of his own reaches Aurelio's face.

You see, aside from being the three naughtiest boys in the neighborhood, there's another title suitable for Aurelio and his best friends that no one hear about: the best pranksters.

Well, that's what Josiah like to call themselves, at least.

It is about eight into the night when Julius, who was gone for the whole day, finally returns. Aurelio's at the table, fiddling with the radio, while Maria is cooking at the side. The wooden door opens and reveals a soaking-wet Julius with a weird look.

The two other Daybreaks turns around, and almost immediately, Maria gasps, "Julius!" and runs to her son in a frenzied state. "Oh my god, Juls. What happened to you? Where have you been? Are you okay?" Maria holds her son's shoulders and checks his body. The boy is safe, however. He doesn't bore any injury nor bruise.

Aurelio's just about to ask more questions when Julius ignores them, climbs up the stairs, and enters their room. With the boy gone, his mother is still where she held him, frozen with confusion etched alongside her motherly frown. Her son is \_definitely acting weird\_ tonight. Julius has never ignored Maria before, not even when she acts like a toddler.

Midnight comes. The usual whining chickens and cows are silent, letting the owls take control of the sound. Everything is silent. Julius is snoring beside Aurelio. Then a bell rings.

It's only for a second, and the ring isn't loud either. But Aurelio still hears it. Almost as instantly, his eyes shots open, his arms on his belly making him look like an awoken corpse at midnight.

Slowly checking if anyone else in the house is awake, he carefully stands up when he confirmed they are all fast asleep.

He walks out of the house glancing around continuously. Don't blame him. If his mother found out what he and his friends are on in the middle of the night he'd surely get a spank in the bum the day after, literally. That's the lowest punishment their mother has, saying it would be painful, embarrasing and hilarious all at the same time. Triple punishment. She's bright, ain't she?

Aurelio sneaks to the empty lot a few meters from Josiah's house - their meeting place. It's just on the edge of the forest, away from the fields, a perfect place for naughty teenagers to plot disasters. When he arrives at the area, only Marco, the evil mastermind of all, is there. The empty lot is just what it is: an empty lot. There isn't anything else to even sit on, aside from the rocks. And there Marco the Mastermind is, crouching on the ground, tickling the grass with a leaf, expression screaming bored as fuck.

Aurelio nears over, "'Sup. Where's Jo?" and imitates Marco's crouch.

"Do you see him beside me, man?" Marco spits. Aurelio instinctively leans slightly away at the sarcasm. Marco gets sarcastic when he's pissed, and his temper isn't really the brightest of the three. "How come he's the last to come when his house is literally the nearest?" He mutters.

"How long you been waiting?"

"Fourty awesome minutes. Your welcome."

"Ow. Sorry, man. I'll bring some of mom's cupcakes tomorrow, that good?"

Marco's frown softens and he grins, "You better. That Montenegro better not use traffic as excuse. We're in the freaking countryside."

Aurelio chuckles. Josiah had indeed used that excuse before, back when they held their first 'plot' meeting. What a dumbass.

Ten minutes passes, and Josiah finally shows up. When he approaches the two, he even has a grin on his face, as if he's happy about something. His face is fortunately saved when Marco's fist collides with his stomach.

Josiah let out a pained grunt. "What the fuck, dude? You got a problem or somethin'?"

"You just made me wait for almost an hour, you dick." With a playful frown, Marco pats dust off his clothes and waits for Aurelio to stand up.

"What's the plan?" Aurelio starts, the three of them standing in a circle whispering. "Where'd we use the key?"

"That stuff's done. I used Mr. Dawnsmith's truck - "

"You used what?" Aurelio hisses.

"Oh, come on, man! Don't be like that. We returned the key earlier. All's good." Josiah whines and Aurelio just shakes his head, but soon a playful smile dances on his lips.

"As I was saying, I used the truck to buy some fireworks in town."

"Ooh. Then?"

"I'll tell the rest as we go," Marco smirks, holding out the colorful fireworks from his bag, "Are you ready?"

The two nod. They set up the fireworks around the lot while making sure no one else is awake. When they finish setting it up, they all station themselves to different sides and with Marco's sign, release the fireworks in the air.

The fireworks are unleashed, and the night sky becomes a colorful sea.