Lara's Admirers

Episode 20's

The parade line from each school has been arranged neatly. Our school is third. The sun was much more intense than I imagined. I had expected my skin would definitely burn and strip. Being a woman is a complicated thing.

And I'm not the kind of person who likes to beat around the bush.

  Gitapati and the whole major line instructed us to get ready to play the first song. Everything looks serious, we will prove if we can. We will do the best of each of us. Teamwork is needed to maintain the tempo and the most important line is the song.

  If we can give up, honestly our legs are no longer able to go any further. But, given all our hard training during this time. And moreover this was the last appearance between the eight and nine forces. Of course, we will not all waste this moment. The parade route was finally completed. Sangking tired so as not to have time to find a place to shelter, we knocked down beside each musical instrument.

My head turned a hundred and eighty degrees observing my surroundings. Wait a minute, something's weird, something's missing. But, what is that missing thing? Or just my gut feeling? Hey, come on anyway my hunch is always right. I checked everything around me to make sure that this time my hunch was wrong.

"Everyone back to the inn. After that, replace your uniforms with training shirts. Pack your things. At three we'll be back." Instruct Mr. Chandra.

Without a word we immediately got up and walked in an irregular line to return to the inn.

***

  Everyone has entered the classroom that is our lodging place. But, suddenly my footsteps were restrained in front of the man. I turned back my memory, my little heart said that I had found something missing. Now I'm trying to remember what happened a few minutes ago. Last time, on break I didn't see this guy. Yeah, right he wasn't there after the parade.

  My body was filled with a blank look. While the man in front of me was looking at me with sharp eyes. Well, now I have found the answer.

"Where was he?"

"Sorry gua sha."

"Where did he go!"

"The cave suddenly dropped sha, so the cave can't follow the show."

"ill? What pain? Why never tell a story?"

"So the cave malem had a fever. And the next morning was quiet. Gua thinks the condition of the cave has improved even healed."

"Well eat?"

The man just nodded resignedly to the current state of affairs. I can see the guilt that dominates the look on his face. I can't force things anyway.

***

  Now, all the students were lined up in front of their respective buses. Sis and I are still on the same bus. The weather will be clear all day. I leaned against the bus with my backpack on my shoulder and the acoustic song from the airpods.

"Drink first."

A hand handed me a bottle of mineral water.

Without opening the slightest sound I immediately took the bottle of mineral water and drank it a few gulps. I can't deny that this city is really hot.

Some students seem to have entered the bus. Regardless of Brother Sendy, I walked leaving him to the bus. A moment after climbing a few steps on the bus, my steps stopped for a moment. I spread my eyes to all directions. Almost all seats in the front and center are fully filled. The seat in the middle of the bus was my favorite seat. Even without any reason why I like that position. Yes, the point is I feel more comfortable and can fall asleep throughout the trip.

Not wanting to make a traffic jam at the entrance, I immediately walked straight to the back of the bus. Towards the back of the long chair. I actually hate this place. But, yes it's been than I didn't sit at all the way.

I put my backpack on the bottom of the seat, of course because the trunk was full.  I hope nothing happens during the trip. I'm not sure I can survive the trip if I have to sit in the back. Because I'm usually drunk on travel if I sit here.

"Yes!" My heart goes out to one of my friends in front of me.

His full name is XiYao. But me and some of the people in the school called out to Yao. Not some actually, everyone who knew him would probably call him Yao as well.

He just looked over and down and downed the soda in his hand.

"Tukeran dong, cave ahead."

"No, no, it's a cave."

Of course hearing that rejection sentence, my mouth immediately went forward a few centi.

"The cave is here." Said someone in the middle of nowhere since when it was next to me.

Again, Sister Sendy. I'm not angry, hateful, or anything like that with a man a year older than I am. It's just that I'm lazy to follow his words.

It seems that man already understands my sign language. It seems so even though I'm not too sure about it. All of a sudden, he pulled my hand and made me lose my balance in the position I was standing at that moment. The bus suddenly went on without prior notice.

My body fell on top of the man, our faces were only a few centi apart. There is hardly any distance between us. The owner of the brown eyes also looked surprised by the incident just now. My legs that had been bent trying to hold my body, seemed to not be able to last much longer. Now I fall back, my legs bent as if I were bowing my knees to the man. I clasped tightly onto the man's hoodie, drowning my face among his backpack that he had deliberately placed right next to him.

"Hey, why? Nothin?"

I just shook my head, while I was still in my position.

"Sorry, the cave did not mean evil. Earlier in the cave narik hand you mean tell you to sit because the bus already wants to walk. But you're falling down."

"This is a help cave." He helped me to get up.

I immediately confirmed my sitting position.

"Thank you."

***

Slowly I opened my eyes. The bus was silent, no one was silent. Did I really fall asleep earlier? I'm not a travel drunk, am I? Mercifully. My body is still limp in the chair. I opened the curtain of the window cover of the bus. My eyes frowned suddenly as the light of the afternoon sun carelessly pierced my net. It seems that it was not only me who was disturbed by the sharp light that pierced through the glass back then. The man next to me also seemed awake from his sleep after I opened his closing curtain.

"Looks huh? Sorry."

Not wanting to make her feel disturbed, I hurriedly closed the curtain. But again he stopped my hand. With his eyes closed, he said...

"No, it's much better."

"Oh? Okay." Okay."

Slowly he tried to open both eyelids even though I knew it took a struggle to do such a small thing. Moreover, his condition is currently not so healthy. I'm sure he's very tired and needs more rest.

"Where are you?" Ask Brother Sendy.

"On the motorway. Rest area again."

"Oh. The next time you listen to music for dong. I want to hear it too."

Sendy protested because I didn't give her the opportunity to listen to music from my airpods at the time.

I took off one of them and gave it to the man.

He put it up and seemed to enjoy the song. Actually our music genre is much different, he likes rock or metal music. While I am a loyal listener of Korean pop music or commonly referred to as K-Pop. But I don't want to bother about that for now.

"Well, until the rest area, will you come down?" My toot.

"I'm on the bus."

"Oh, jude. I'm down for a second, I'm gonna buy a snack."

"Okay, don't be long."

I just nodded at his words. Nearly half of the bus passengers were seen descending. Several other buses that followed behind us also appeared to stop at the rest area.

Not a few also stop by the minimarket which is provided in the rest area. I bought some snacks like grilled macaroni that I don't know since when it became my favorite snack behind this. Two bottles of mineral water and two packs of bread.

Not wanting to linger, finished paying everything at the cashier I immediately returned to the bus. Because I know there's someone waiting for me in there. It seems so, hehe.

"Buy what?"

I was immediately greeted with that question as soon as I got in front of him.

"Say you want to ask, right?"

"It's good that our fellow human beings should share with each other."

"Udah don't have to bacot much. Nih."

I immediately handed him a packet of bread.

"Eating doesn't drink it."

"Udah abisin first."

***

As the sun began to fall, dark colors began to dominate the sky in this city. Some shops on the side of the road seem to light up the lights on the signboard of his shop. The window beside me slowly began to dew. Either because of the air outside the bus or because of the AC inside the bus. It was clear the air was really cold.

"Cold it is." My speech.

"Okayly enough. Look, the sky is good, right? Lots of stars." Reply Brother Sendy.

"Why not hear this song?"

"Have a song, relax. Sometimes we just have to follow our will. There's a lot of things out there that don't go along with our personalities."

"Dasar aneh."

"Why is it weird?"

Suddenly.....

"Bummmm!!!"

Something from the back hit this bus hard. I'm surprised I'm not playing. Not just me, everyone on this bus suddenly panicked. My feet fell to the bottom of the chair in front of me, sandwiched between the iron supports. Somehow his condition, a possible fracture or crumble. I don't think about that anymore. The sound of shouting was heard very clearly from the people sitting behind us. While the man was beside me, his body bounced to the side and his head hit the hard leg of the chair. I grimaced with the pain, unable to dwell in the slightest. Even to just scream for help is no longer able to feel. I rolled my eyeballs, looking at my completely chaotic surroundings. Their bodies were blown in all directions. Some of the glass had broken and the shard left some scratches on their bodies. I bit my lips to endure the pain in my legs. I can't move at all. Slowly my vision blurred. Everything was dark, all that remained were not so clear sounds.

***

It turned out that there had been a series of accidents between the bus we were riding and the bus behind us. The bus in the back lost control due to the brakes blong so it hit our bus. Almost all students were involved in the accident. One of the bus drivers was killed and most of the students sitting in the back were seriously injured. The rest are only minor injuries.  Lucky help came soon. Some students with unconsciousness and severe injuries were rushed to the nearest IGD.

Not much I remember about that incident. Last time, I only saw the atmosphere around me that was completely chaotic. Shouts, cries, blood...

I can still hear the sounds around me. It still sounds clear in my ears. But my eyes are not open. My soul seems to be stuck in another dimension that doesn't allow me to get out of there. A vacuum, dark, with no one there, cold.

***

"pri... Ijen... Anyyeong...."

That voice, again sounded in my head, like it was being played back by someone. It was the last song I heard before the fateful incident hit me. A song I heard with a guy next to me. Damnit damnit! I can't even get a picture of that guy's face.

My imagination was again running wild. Go to a place I've never been before. Far away there, in my subconscious. That place....  Ah, I don't know. Too complicated to describe. A place that is almost similar to a park seems to be. But this is much more beautiful.

Where else are we going?

My imagination keeps taking me to other mysterious places. But is it really just imagination? Now he brought me back to that. Everything was as if it had been set by someone, the incident was being played back inside my head.

Starting from the view of the edge of the city at dusk greet, then the figure of the man....

Who her?

Why is his face not visible? Why did he bounce there? Oh no, his head. Anyone please save the man.

***

"Eresha." Someone's mouth.

With all my might I forcefully opened my eyelids. Just stop! Enough already! I want to wake up from this nightmare. Let my soul return!

"Eresha." The sahurnya once again.

Slowly but surely, everything came back. I was free of that place.

"Doctor! Doctor!" Shouted someone.

I saw a white shadow coming towards me. Maybe that's the doctor he was referring to.

"Thank God, mom, his condition is slowly improving. He's conscious."

"Thank God. Thank you doctor."

"Yes, same mom. I'll go first."