In this chapter, I'm going to introduce Caleb Maxwell, and I imagine this guy as Sean Altemose (@seanaltemose on Instagram). This precious bean is going to accompany our baby boy, Derek, throughout his journey. I'm leaving a GIF and a picture for you all so you can thirst for him.

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Twitter: JMSenar

"I feel like I'm just missing something whenever you leave. You've got all the ingredients except you loving me." --Cake, Melanie Martinez

Today is the first day of class.

My heart is racing because I'm not really sure what to expect. College is very different to high school, and since I'm majoring in film studies, I really have no idea what to do. I mean, I love films and I used to watch old movies along with my parents. I love criticizing films, making arts, and it's actually one of my dreams to be able to produce a film, and well, edit videos.

Most people would say that majoring in film studies is useless because everything is expensive – film equipment, locations, and as a student, there's a high chance that you wouldn't be able to afford those. But I beg to differ. I have a different insight on my course and although it's one of the degrees that a lot of people consider as useless, I really don't care and put much thought about it because for one, I'm the one who is going to study it and not them, and second, I'm the one who is going to apply those critics in the future and make films and not them.

"Nervous?" Caleb asks me.

"Kind of," I respond, chuckling.

Caleb and I met just yesterday. I was just walking through near the West College when he accidentally bumped into me. His stuff fell down, and what made it interesting is that he was carrying DVDs, and they are very old. One DVD that caught my attention was The Sound of Music, which is one of the best musical movies of all time and one of my favorites.

Caleb has this cute pair of light blue eyes, and his dark hair is naturally tousled over, giving him that boyish, teenager look. His beard is trimmed, and man, those eyebrows are to die for. He height is 6'1", and he is damn fit. If I were to look at him for the first time again, I would definitely think this guy is a model. Just like me, he's also majoring in film studies and would like to be a director someday, and he criticizes a lot of works to get an in-dept understanding about why it's told.

"Come on, we can do this," he chuckles as he ruffles my hair.

"Right, because first day is not really that scary,"

"I don't know if you're saying that sarcastically or not, but fine," Caleb taps my forehead and I roll my eyes at him. "It says our room is... somewhere around Arts and Events Venues. It's marked here on the map. Says here near... ah, here it is, Wyllys Avenue."

"I thought you're already familiar with the place,"

"Exactly, familiar, I didn't memorize the place." Caleb laughs when I make a face.

"Um, Caleb, there's literally a building that says Center for Film Studies,"

"Oh," he says, dumbfounded.

"You're not good with places, aren't you?"

He nods, then we burst out laughing as we begin walking towards the direction of our building where our classroom is. Now, I haven't really gotten a chance to explore the university further, but the building awes me. Seriously, the building is designed to look like a house, Victorian-style, and attached to the side is a building that has so many glasses. It's fucking awesome.

Caleb and I run towards the entrance as if we're on a race, and when we reach there, he stops me before going inside and laughing at me. I flip him off, which makes him laugh harder, and I enter the building. When we find the room, almost everyone is already seated at their desk with their own group, and Caleb and I seat next to each other, fourth row behind the back. We wait for a few minutes before an old lady, a bit chubby, with blonde bob hair, enters the room.

She looks at the class before clearing her throat. Every student stops at what they are doing and they seat properly, looking ahead at the lady in front of us. She smiles at us, and write her name on the board.

"I'm Stephanie Sanders, but you may call me Stephanie, or Mrs. Sanders," she begins as she moves to the front and takes a seat on the large desk. She scans the room once again before continuing. "Major in Film Studies, I would say this is not of the popular degrees out there, and as I know that you've already heard, this degree is considered as useless because they think we all just want to watch movies and give unpopular opinions. But we're more than that. In this course, we will hone you to be the best critical thinkers; we will let your skills develop such as technical analysis, visual, expressions, and research to assess the technical merit of films. It will be a long way, but it's definitely going to be worth it. Now, what I want you to do is introduce yourselves. Tell us your name, what you usually do, why you chose this course, and what your dream job is. Starting with you, young man."

Each student in the class begins introducing themselves. Most of them would like to be a director or producer just like Caleb, and most of them respond about how they like movies – it's their primary reason why they chose this degree. When it's finally my turn, I stand up from my seat and take a deep breath.

"Hi everyone," I begin. I feel like I'm losing my breath already due to nervousness. Everyone waits for my answer and I just directly look at Mrs. Sanders. "I'm Derek Reid, from Russia. I don't really much do anything like hobbies or anything like that, but whenever I can, I watch a lot of movies, sometimes with my friends. The reason why I chose this degree is because I wanted to discuss and write films critically someday. Form ideas, and be able to tell and see emotions and ideas beneath the stories the movies tell. And someday, I would like to be a scriptwriter."

"Hmm, interesting. Majority of the class wants to be a producer, director, and sometimes, they want to be archivist. You, why do you like to be a scriptwriter?" Mrs. Sanders asks me. I take a deep breath.

"I want to write scripts and tell stories that are honest and raw, and I know that screenwriters are just as much as important as the others who work in the film industry because these people have great imagination and they've got a lot to tell, and I want to be part of that industry where I can share ideas and be able to make a story that can keep the audience grounded just like Billy Wilder, Quentin Tarantino, William Goldman."

"Interesting. I like your reason. Very different." Mrs. Sanders nods her head. "Thank you for sharing, Derek. Now onto the next person. Young girl, introduce yourself. I like your hair. Pinkish, like the cherry blossom flowers."

"Nice one, Derek. Future screenwriter." Caleb whispers beside me, grinning.

"You're not so bad yourself, Caleb. Future director." I grin back.

---

When the classes are done, Caleb and I are spent. My head is not working properly. There has been a bunch of topics that has been discussed and since I don't have much idea about the film techniques and whatnots, I spent more time studying it rather than just doing a plain review.

Regardless of how much spent I am today, I still love learning about it.

Caleb seems to have the same mindset as well. We head out of the building and stretch out limbs, groaning. He runs a hand through his already tousled hair and lets out a sigh, his shoulders plumbing down. He seems really exhausted for the day.

"Okay, we have to think about that early project we are given."

I let out a groan, remembering what Mrs. Sanders said about making a short film. The film could tackle anything, and it's up to us what genre we will choose – romance, horror, indie. Me, I'd definitely go for romance but I'm not the only one who gets to decide about this. I don't know what Mrs. Sanders was thinking. Today is just the first day of class, and I think we deserve more freedom.

"Don't be a downer," Caleb laughs.

"I'm not being a downer," I roll my eyes.

"Fine," he ruffles my hair and I swat his hand away. He chuckles and gives me a perfect smile that shows his pearly white teeth. Damn it. This guy is almost too perfect. If it weren't for that annoying childishness he has sometimes, he'd be 100% ideal guy. "But I do think that we should work on it as soon as possible. I'm thinking romance."

"Don't you think we have to discuss this with others?"

"Well, I don't seem them reaching out to us even the group has been assigned," Caleb runs his hand again through his hair. "But yeah, I understand them. It's not like this is super urgent. I just have this habit to work on the tasks to complete it before the deadline comes, you know what I mean? I mean, I rather work on it now then do random stuff later, like drinking or partying, without worrying about my academics so I can have constant fun."

Chuckling, I nod my head. "Yeah, I get what you mean. So what are we going to do now? Do you like go to my dorm so we can work on it? Share ideas and insights. You be the director here, and I'll write the script or storyline, whatever."

"That is a nice idea, okay. But first, let's get food. I'm hungry."

"Alrighty,"

Caleb and I head over to the nearest cafeteria to get some take-out foods. There isn't really a long line, but the server of the food moves slowly. It's a student, and it seems like she's just new considering how she looks for certain utensils and items. Caleb and I patiently wait in the queue, gazing on the menu board. I certainly like to eat some spicy noodles, but it's not ideal since I don't like to sweat in front of my hot friend. That would be embarrassing.

When the girl takes our orders, Caleb buys four chocolate granola bars, nuts, and 2 Gatorades. I ask Caleb if he wants some Chinese food, and he nods his head. I buy us each, and we head over to my dorm.

The dorm is empty.

Somehow, I expected it. That's the reason why I invited Caleb over since I had a feeling that I'm going to be alone in this dorm. Plus, it's not like Nero is excited to see me here. It's just a huge coincidence that we share the same dorm, but I think I'm starting to get the idea and the fact that he'll never be mine and there's no chance for us.

Instead of chasing the boy, it's time to put myself on a priority list. As what my best friends have always said, there's plenty of men there that would like to date me. I mean, I'm not really that ugly. As a matter of fact, I consider myself handsome or attractive. It's just that, Nero prefers dating girls than me. And the message has been clear to me since day one; I just decided to ignore it.

"Okay, what's our approach here?" I ask Caleb.

He puts his bag on top of the table before putting his index finger under his chin, looking at the ceiling before letting out a sigh. He shakes his head, disappointment etched on his face. I flick his forehead, and he pouts.

"If you were to tell a story now, what would you like?"

"Don't ask me. You're the screenwriter here," he chortles.

"крыса," I flick his forehead again. I remember the first time I called Nero rat, and I laugh at the memory. Caleb watches me confusion on his face. "It means rat, and I usually call people rat if they are being an idiot."

"Now that is just downright mean," Caleb laughs as he takes a seat on the desk.

"No, but seriously, what would you like to tell?" I take a seat beside him, our shoulders brushing a little. I wonder what it would be like to really have someone to be by your side no matter what happens. Caleb has a deep look on his face, pondering for a moment before grinning. 

"I always wanted to direct a romance film but with a twist. Like, I'm just so tired of seeing the protagonist going after the bad boy. This time, I want the good guy to win."

"All right, tell me more..."

"There's no sequel, there's no backstory," he continues. Caleb has this look on his face that tells me he's really liking his idea. I just listen to him babble about how the story should progress. "There's not much drama. Just a light comedy, romance film that, when pulled right, could make everybody say sweet."

"Can I make a recommendation?"

"Sure, we're in the same group, right?"

"There's this one boy chasing the same person for almost 2 years," I begin, Caleb listening to me intently. Unbeknownst to him, I'm talking about myself. "And then at some point, they got together, and just suddenly, the boy stopped responding to him. You could say that the boy is scared to come out of the closet, or something like that. So the first boy kept chasing the same person until he realized that it's really not worth it, and in that moment, he also realized that he needed to prioritize himself first."

Caleb looks at me with scrutinizing gaze that it makes me uneasy. "Okay. Tell me more."

"It's like a romance, but in a tragic way that they wouldn't end up together," I continue, thinking of more words that would be suitable to use. "But, like, the main character is not really considering it as tragic because he found his worth, and... just like you said, the good boy wins. But the good boy would later come out at the end of the story, so this story is more like self-discovery but with a bit of a romance in the end."

"That sounds like... almost an experience."

I laugh nervously. "I know, I guess my mind works in a different way."

"No, that's brilliant." Caleb looks at me with a huge smile on his face, nodding his head at the story I gave him. "I haven't really thought of that, but that story is quite good. I'm liking the fact that we're moving away from the cliché stuff, you know."

Caleb suddenly hugs me, his arms wrapping around me. He might have applied too much force, as we've gone tumbling to the bed, him on top of me. I let out a small groan when my back hits the mattress, and that's when the door opens, revealing Nero.

He has a shocked expression on his face before going blank. He enters the room, not saying anything. He puts his bag on his bed, pulling out his phone in his pocket. Caleb rolls over.

"I'm sorry, dumb move." He chuckles, shaking his head, standing up. "I just liked the idea and it got me a little excited. So do you think you'd be able to write a script, or like the flow of the story? Just the beginning."

"Um, yes, I can, but only a little." I tell him, giving Nero a wary glance.

Looks like he doesn't care at all. Another expectation achieved.

"Okay, cool, let's work on it," Caleb takes a seat on the chair and I roll my eyes at him. Now where am I going to sit? "I hope your roommate is okay that I'm here right now, though. I promise bro, we're not going to be too noisy. Just a little. I'm Caleb." Caleb offers his hand to Nero, and Nero just looks at it without saying anything.

"Nero." Nero says, his voice monotonous. Caleb pulls his hand back, shrugging.

"Can I borrow your chair?" I ask Nero. Nero looks at me, his face still blank, then he nods at me. "Thank you. I promise I'll give it back."

"We're in the same dorm, Derek."

"Right,"

I pull his chair and place it beside mine, and take a seat beside Caleb who has pulled a notebook. He's scribbling some notes on one of the empty pages, and I join him. I pull out a notebook as well, and scribble a few visual progresses of the story that we're going to make, and I hope the others approve of this concept.

At some point, Caleb offers one earphone to me and tells me that his friends claim his music taste sucks, but when I put the earphone on, a smile immediately creeps up on my face. Of course, if listening to this type of music is considered shitty, then I bet there are a lot of songs going to the trash bin for how trashy those songs are.

Babylon by Lady Gaga, my all-time favorite singer, is playing.

Caleb tells me that he can't focus sometimes on what he's doing without music, so he tends to listen to some songs with his earphones on so he can think and do his work properly. I mutter a few lyrics, clearly enjoying the song, and Caleb joins me.

I'm surprised that Caleb and I are connecting in so many ways. We've got the same shitty music taste, we love films, and we're both carefree. Caleb slings his arm around me as we both sing along to Babylon.

When it's time for him to leave, Caleb taps my forehead without saying goodbye. He just gives me a smile and leaves the dorm. I laugh, shaking my head. As I turn around, I notice Nero is watching me with a blank expression still lingering on his face. I put his chair back to his desk, and clean my things that are cluttered on my table.

The next thing I know, Nero is wrapping his arms around me from behind and I'm at loss for words.