Why Albert Didn't Do It

-“Cristy! WAIT!” Albert yells to the distance. She already got too far.

“She is fast...” he says to himself. He keeps running. Every now and then he raises his hands to his mouth and yells: “Crysty, where are you?”

As he runs and leaves the school grounds, he tries to find her in the area. He shouts, looking for her, and it starts raining. Albert doesn’t stop. He gets wet and cold. He thinks: “If only... this didn’t happen and I was just equipped a little better... This rain could have been a beautiful picture... Crysty has such a unique presence in all of her appearances.

He then starts remembering the past.

Albert walking around the park with his father.

-“Dad, why are you always taking pictures?” Albert asks.

-“It’s so I’ll get to easily remember in the future all the great moments I’ve partaken in. I’m an artist like that.” His father tells him with a proud smile.

Albert comes to and hears a noise close to the school entrance.

-“YOU CROSSED THE LINE! YOU WON’T GET AWAY WITH THIS!” Crysty yells at the group that beat up Arney and Albert.

-“Crysty!

-“It’s that nerd from before. Came to be beaten up like your friend? He was pretty cool, honestly... Just too weak. Great timing though, now we can beat the living hell out of both of you.”

Albert is stressed out. He found Crysty in time but he still doesn’t know what to do.

He keeps remembering.

-“Is taking pictures really an art?” Albert asks.

-“Well... Some believe that it isn’t, but some believe that it is. I believe such great moments captured cannot possibly fail to become art.” His father answers.

Albert then gets punched in the face and back to reality, knocked back to a corner where two walls meet. His mind is all over the place.

He remembers Arney’s words: “...If they messed with you they messed with me... I have to become strong enough to protect my friends...”

Albert then kicks the wall to throw himself forward, falling and rolling into getting up and punching their leader with full force, knocking him back quite a lot. He is impressed with himself.

Their leader quickly gets up and is now pissed. All five of them get closer preparing to hit.

His mind goes back to the past.

-“But dad... You just took a picture of me walking on the grass... Isn’t that boring? Shouldn’t you be trying to capture those great moments you talked about?”

🛡️️-“A great moment is a moment you spend with those who are dear to you. A picture just protects that memory.”🛡️️

Albert then grabs Crysty and moves her to the corner he was thrown to. He then stands in front of her, putting one hand on each wall, facing her, while his back is to the rest of them as he immediately gets punched and kicked by the angry horde.

-“I’m sorry Albert...” Crysty cries out.

-“I promise I’ll take great pictures of all three of us... Gauhh” He says as he suffers the blows.

They keep hitting him nonstop until a voice is heard in the background.

-“HEY!” A red haired girl yells towards them. She is a bit distant but comes closer seemingly fast.

Crysty recognizes that voice. It’s her friend Angelica. She then hears loud steps of somebody else whose closer, running in the rain, as the water spraying from the mysterious figure’s shoes are voicing louder and louder with each step. Suddenly one of the gang of delinquents gets knocked back flying. Sounds of fist fight and beating up are heard. -“Ahh!” -“Guh!”

One by one a mystery someone beats them up. Their leader starts running away. The mysterious figure chases him and combats him.

At the same time, Arney walks towards the outside of the school hoping to catch up eventually, limping, as he is still hurt.

Angelica comes closer and asks: “Crysty! Are you okay? What about your friend?”

Crysty smiles while still in tears, and Albert answers: “I’m... I’m fine...”

-“Is that...” Crysty points at the mysterious figure defeating the young thugs, “Is that your friend, Angelica?” Crysty asks.

-“Yes. His name is Reef, I’ll tell you all about him. Next year he’s gonna join Artisan with me.”

Albert barely manages to see who Angelica is and what she looks like. He feints to the ground, creating a splash of water. The rain gets heavier.

-“Albert!” Crysty yells towards him.

-“Crysty, go call for medical help, he should be safe here, I’m going to make sure Reef is okay while keeping a watch on your friend as well.” Angelica says.

-“Okay!” Crysty confirms. As Angelica goes towards Reef still handling the leader of the gang, Crysty knows Angelica will watch over Albert even if she’s not standing immediately next to him, but is still hesitant about leaving his side instinctively. Then, Arney marches in, still hurt.

-“Arney! What are you doing here? You should be resting and healing. You can barely stand!” Crysty yells at him.

-“Don’t worry, I’ll look after him, you can go call the medics.” Arney reassures her.

Crysty runs towards the school.

Arney then falls on the ground too, reaching his limits, creating a watery splash.

-“Hey Albert... Still alive?”

-“Yea, barely. How about you, Arney?”

-“I’ll live. You saw that guy there? Think I could be strong like that? I want to be able to fight like that... I’ll become much bigger than I am now.” Arney replies.

-“I want to... I want to be able to take cool pictures of all of us...” Albert adds.

-“Man... I can’t really see him from here. Doesn’t it make you wanna be cool like that guy?”

-“I don’t wanna be bigger...” Albert answers. “I think when people push it too far they end up looking like monkeys...”

-“Wha...”

-“But I want to be cool, just like you!” Albert tears.

-“You call me ‘cool’... You protected Crysty well... She is completely unharmed. You are already as cool as me.” Arney answers. “I’ll be an actor, and the strongest guy around!” He pledges.

-“And I’ll be a photographer, and the coolest guy around!” Albert adds.

They are both quiet, barely conscious. The rain keeps pouring.

-“Hey Albert... We got this right?”

-“We got this Arney. We got this.”

Year: 2300. Angelica, Arney and Albert come to from their memories. They had just finished arguing with Sophie in class.

The teacher keeps talking and most of the class is wasted on complaints about the general damage of the littering. When the class ends, Reef leaves alone, saying he needs to “do something”. The teacher and the rest of the students leave. Angelica, Arney and Albert remain inside the class.

-“Sometimes when I remember the actual first time we all met... I just... I still can’t believe you and Crysty didn’t say anything about it on the first day of school when Reef and you joined...” Albert says.

-“I had a feeling, you know? But When we met them officially I couldn’t put my finger on it.” Arney says to him. “About the Vandalism... Of course we don’t have a reason to do something like that... That Sophie girl is annoying...”

-“Well... At least she apologized.” Angelica says. She then proceeds to be a bit withdrawn, looking like she wants to talk about something very serious. “Say... Do you think... Reef did it?”

-“I mean...” Arney is taken aback. “There is no evidence he did anything like that.”

-“Good.” Albert says.

🛡️️“And that’s how we’re going to keep it.”🛡️️