MOON IN PESANTREN

Adelia Princess

Tomorrow is the long-awaited day. Tomorrow is the first day of the holy month of Ramadan, so later tonight we will perform tarawih prayers. For santri from the seventh to the eleventh grade it is mandatory to perform tarawih prayers in the mosque. For santri Madrasah Ibtidaiyah performing in dormitory.

I sipped the iced tea I bought in the cafeteria with Aidha. “Ahhh .. seger really, Dha. In the afternoon like this drink ice.”

“Puasin was drinking his ice. Tomorrow it can't. Tomorrow we must endure thirst and hunger. May Allah accept our fast,” said Aidha who sat with me at the end of the corridor, facing the dormitory garden.

“Iya, Aamiin,” I said then looked back. “Eh, that's the one on my sister's ladder isn't it, anyway?” I pointed towards the main staircase of the dormitory.

Aidha followed my direction. “Iya, that's Faaz. He'll come to you, deh.”

I sneered. “Surely he wants to ask for money, nih.”

Now Faaz was in front of me with two of his friends. “Kak, money dong.”

With a little laziness, I handed over a piece of ten thousand money. “Duit mulu.”

“That's a bit, Brother?”

“So many times for one snack. Twice a snack is also enough.”

Faaz grunting. “Iya-iya. Uh, Sis. Brother knows a girl whose name is Adelia Putri?”

“Who is that? Your girl? Brother don't know.”

Faaz pursed his lips. “Nak aja my girl. Lt's not. I saw that name in the chat notification Kak Andra.”

“You pinjem hp Andra?”

Both Faaz's eyebrows shot up and he laughed. “Udah often minjem times, Sister. Stingy sister doesn't want a minjemin. Andra nawarin Minjemin his mobile phone, yes obviously I accept,” he said proudly.

“Emang fill chat Adelia Putri why? How did you take her to Brother All?”

Faaz laughed and followed his friends to mock me. “Wah, Brother kepo, but not papa, deh dikolah just know. You see Kak Seli likes Kak Andra.”

My eyes are enlarged. Again Faaz said that. This boy really likes to make me angry, but my anger is trying to quell me. I am also actually curious about Princess Adelia, I feel familiar with her name.

Faaz behaved coolly and said, “So gini, sister. At first Adelia Putri sent a message that contained, ‘Still for the expression of her condolences. Aamiin, may my brother be accepted to all his charities’. Not long after that he called. I was confused whether I wanted to be lifted, but after he called many times I finally picked up. I said that Brother Andra again in his dorm and his cellphone again I pinjem.”

“Oh, so. Keep saying what?”

“Say later Brother Andra told me to call him back as soon as possible. Yeah, I'm going to the cafeteria first, brother. Assalamualaikum.” Faaz kissed me and Aidha's hand followed by her two friends.  After that, they left.

Aidha who saw me silent could immediately guess. “Who do you think Adelia Princess is? Didn't you say that Andra died a few days ago? Maybe Adelia Princess is her sister when viewed from her message reply.”

I thought for a moment. It seems that Aidha's words were right as well. I nodded at Aidha and opened the phone. Go to the Instagram app, then type someone's name on the search page. After finding the profile of someone I was looking for, I opened it. Scroll through some of the posts and find a photo of a man and a woman standing on the beach.

“That's who, Cell?” ask Aidha curiously.

“This is the friend of Andra who died, Dha. He's the one who once took me to that horrible dark room.”

Aidha was surprised as she covered her mouth with a palm. “He's the guy who slapped you? So, it was Andra who died? How come you didn't tell me that the friend Andra who died was a bad person with you?”

I smiled a little. “Yes, why do I talk about the crimes of people, let alone that he has died. I should have tried to avoid that incident. I'm sorry about him, but honestly until now I haven't been able to lupain it.”

The woman who always hears my complaints touches my hands. “You can already forgive him already Alhamdulillah, Sel. You are not required to forget his actions, you just need to forgive him.” Aidha grabbed the phone that was in my hand. “Whose girl is this? Her boyfriend? Oh, or his sister? Her name was Adelia Putri?”

I grabbed the phone back and tapped on the screen to see the name of the account marked in the post. After appearing a username that says ‘adelia_put’ I casually open his profile. Then scroll through some highlights on his account and find one of the highlights with the title ‘Memories SMP’. I looked in the spotlight and found some photos that confirmed my guess.

“It turns out I'm a real guess, Dha. This is Adelia Putri, she is the sister of Temen Andra as well as Andra's ex-girlfriend at Junior High School.”

“APA?”

“Not to be surprised. Andra is a lot of her ex, Dha. And he's one of them.”

I'm musing. My mind justifies Aidha's opinion. It was possible that Andra helped the deceased avenge me because the deceased was the sister of his girlfriend. However, everything has already passed, why would I bother about it, right?

...***...

I walked with Aidha to the mosque. A little way ahead of us, Dilla was walking with Syilla. We carry out prayers along with prayer mats to perform Tarawih prayers, previously we have performed Magrib prayers in the dormitory. Since the president of Santri and his staff have been inaugurated since our generation began to approach the exam period, the eleventh grade santri has carried out his duties in our place. Likewise with the duties of the boarder of MI, then I with friends can perform the prayer Tarawih in the mosque because in the dormitory there is already stewardship of the eleventh grade.

We held a prayer rug at the back shaf. Wearing a mukena and waiting for the Adhan Isya proclaimed. The rumbling sound of one thousand and five hundred santri who are now in the mosque dominates, some of them are reading the Qur’an and some others are chatting and joking with friends. An atmosphere I will miss someday.

This white mosque has 2 floors and there is a large pool at the back. The location of this mosque adjacent to the hotel is not too large belonging to the pesantren. Hotels are commonly used when the santri guardian wants to stay or when outsiders want to visit to see pesantren and other necessities.

I was idling to open the phone, suddenly entered the notification Whatsapp message from Andra. With hesitation, I opened it, apparently he sent a photo of himself with a woman wearing a light blue hodie and a subordinate plisket skirt of a similar color, equipped with a black pashmina hijab. The woman's face was facing Andra so it wasn't clearly visible on camera, but I seemed to be able to recognize her. Day ... .

The adelia?

The next second the photo was instantly deleted by Andra. It seems he sent it wrong. Why do I feel like there's something with Adelia? Is it possible that someone you can never forget is a woman named Adelia Putri? I grimaced to remember myself who had not been able to dispel feelings for Andra. Maybe liking it was my biggest mistake.

“Eh, that Harsa is not the one who is ready to be a priest?” Aidha patted my shoulders pointing to the front row, where the priest was.

“Mana?” I turned towards the place where the priest who was very far from the line I was sitting. Although far away, I know very well that it is Harsa. He wears a milk-brown suit and a black peci. “Iya, the Harsa.”

“Got very good if you look around. Cool wear that color suit. Why can't you like him anyway, Cell? It's weird, deh.” Aidha grumbling.

“Always all girls should like Harsa?” I asked while laughing softly.

“Not that, Cell. You used to have a heavy crush on the same voice, but if you know the person, why did you avoid that, anyway? Confused me. And you even still like Andra who has made you sick many times?”

I can't argue with Aidha's words just now. Everything he said was true. I grimaced about what happened to me. After I found out the man I admired was Harsa, I immediately tried to forget him before I liked him even further. Because, I know that my close friend had liked Harsa long before I came to this boarding school. It was Az-Zahra Maulida.

The worshipers stand after the iqamah is proclaimed. The priest begins his prayer. Harsa's melodious voice read al-Kahfi's letter a few verses after reading al-Fatihah's letter in the first rakaat.

...***...

Before the santri were disbanded by the eleven-part takmir class of the mosque, the twelve-grade alumni had already rushed out of the mosque, fearing that they would queue when picking up sandals. That's how good it is when it became the twelfth grade, even going home did not have to wait for instructions from the upperclassmen. Santri is usually repatriated based on the neatest row so as not to jostle because of the number of santri more than one thousand and five hundred.

“So the younger brother who sat next to me talked about Harsa while he knew that Harsa was the prayer priest of Tarawih. He told his friends that he often DM Instagram Harsa but never bales at all,” said Aidha to me as we walked across the canteen.

I didn't answer, just laughed softly. Inadvertently my eyes caught the figure of young Ustadz, who else if not Ustadz Zidan who recently invited Zahra to get married. Ustadz Zidan was sitting with a middle-aged man, like he was the father of Ustadz Zidan.

“Don't, his father Ustadz Zidan wants to see Zahra, Dha.”

“Hah? See how?”

I pointed towards Ustadz Zidan. “That's his father Ustadz Zidan.”

“Wah, yes it is. Yes, we will tell Zahra so that he is not surprised if his father's father Ustadz Zidan wants to meet him.”

Aidha and I arrived at the restaurant. When we wanted to take the ompreng, we passed by Vira.

Vira smiled at me to say hello. “Eh, Cell. Play to my room dong once in a while. You are busy taking care of MI mulu's child. Oh yes, Cell. Do you know a former Andra named Adelia?”

Vira's question was unexpected. He suddenly asked about Princess Adelia. “Iya, I know doang but do not know and never met also.”

“Oh. Yesterday he asked me for your number, Sel. I'm telling you to forget mulu. But, may I give your number to him?”

Both my eyebrows raised. More and more questions in my head about this Adelia Princess. Why did he ask for my number? My feelings became unpleasant. I'm afraid I'm being blamed because I've been close to Andra all this time. I was afraid that I would be blamed for the umpteenth time by a woman who was jealous of me. Even though they have returned to being friendly to me, I am still afraid that one day they will hate me again.

I caught Aidha taking the rice after allowing Vira to give my number to Adelia Putri. Vira had told me that Adelia Putri was also the ex-boyfriend of her brother, David. The contents of my head were filled with curiosity, the more thought became more and more confusing. So this Adelia Princess is Andra's ex-boyfriend and the late David? Then why did he ask for my number?

...***...