He had to try so hard to be the ideal son, he never played when he was a kid like other kids. He can only focus on learning and improving himself to deserve the name Maxwell. Those little shoulders always carry heavy burdens with him. Eventually, he started to forget how to smile, failed how to cry, and forgot how to enjoy life. He also grew up as an ideal child on the outside but crushed on the inside.
But since meeting Ruby little by little, he began to feel cured. There is something about Ruby, something that makes him interested and understands how to smile. Ruby is like the moonlight illuminating it in the dark. That cheerful and innocent girl somehow made Alex felt things he couldn't before. Only Ruby can catch his attention like that.
With a happy heart, Alex entered his room. He then sat at his study table and took out the brush that Ruby had given him earlier. He looked at the brush with a fixed gaze. Old memories flashed through Alex's mind, remembrances when he was very young, maybe he was 6 years old at that moment.
Alex was still a cheerful child and liked to paint. Alex loves to paint landscapes and people he sees, and he never leaves pencil and canvas. He is incredibly talented in painting even those who see the results of his drawings ever praise him as an extraordinarily talented person in art. He has always been called a genius artist.
Alex is delighted every time he paints, but when he has set foot in school and become a student who is judged by academy grades, he has to give up everything he enjoys including painting, and just focus on studying. All of his painting tools were thrown away and they filled his room with books for him to study. Alex again lost his smile and continued to be the perfect child for his parents.
Seeing the brush given by Ruby made Alex remembering what made him happy. He also opened the drawer of his desk which he always locked and looked at the empty picture book he had been keeping. Alex thinks back to the little happiness that once made his life so precious.
Alex then took out a sketchbook, grabbed a brush and a pencil, and started stroking line by line onto the canvas. The lines formed a Portrait of Ruby, and then he colored it. With the study lamp highlighting his face, Alex looked delighted and focused on the portrait he was painting.
Alex is so serious about his portrait that he doesn't notice that time is running out. 2 hours have passed and Alex finishes the Ruby portrait he painted with great care. Alex also smiled at the portrait he made after a long season ago he stopped painting.
“Hope you like it ...” said Alex with their smiles on his face.
***
The dawn sun shines again, illuminating the earth with its orange light. Angus blew quietly, shaking the leaves he was trapping. The birds were chirping to welcome this sunny dawn. Alex is so happy that he keeps smiling every step of the way as he enters his school.
While holding the painting he painted for Ruby, he continued to smile while imagining Ruby's smiling face with her beautiful face. But he had to suffer the harsh reality when all his thoughts had to be destroyed. His steps stopped when his ears heard the ambulance sirens echoing and his eyes saw the teacher and his friends gathered with panicked faces seeing several nurses running to put an unconscious Ruby into the ambulance.
His mind went blank, the time seemed to stop, and it felt as if something had hit his heart. Alex couldn't think of anything and could only gallop toward his best friend Drake with maroon eyes because he was so panicked.
“ What is this? Why was Ruby being taken in an ambulance? What's the matter, Drake? “ Asked Alex with red eyes glaring at Drake as if he was looking for an answer.
Drake, who was seeing Alex for the first time, had an expression as he could only be silent because he couldn't give the explain that Alex demanded. He knew nothing, the only thing he could say as he looked at Ruby passed out was just that. But hearing that made Alex panic indeed more. He also ran and did not look back at all. He didn't think about everything and just ran fast. Alex just wished to catch up with Ruby, and indeed then his feelings became obvious both to those who looked at him and to Alex himself. The feeling that was still gray is now obvious, this is love.