Orang-orang to Aratha

Chapters. 20 - Hortensia

"Kinant. Promise me you will continue with me. Kinan is mine and I belong to Kinan. Keep it like that until we die."

Kinan placed the flower on top of a tomb belonging to a man named Algi who died two years ago. On his 14th birthday. He was the victim of a bus accident that killed 7 people. Right now, that sadness still enveloped him. However, he purposely covered it up so that no one would notice it.

The dry foliage waste and weeds had been carefully cleaned by him. Kinan poured rose water around the navel wood and sowed it a little flower to make it look beautiful.

"Sorry, I rarely come here. Now I'll keep you company, for the next hour." Kinan sat next to Algi's tomb. Shut up and keep bending her knees. His eyes continued to look at Algi's tomb. Sometimes she rubbed it slowly and smiled at him.

On the other hand, Kinan did not know that behind him was Faiz watching. Faiz looks sad. He and Kinan had known since Junior High and Faiz knew very well that Kinan had been close to Algi, his best friend.

Algi is a very good person especially at Kinan. He's the one who changed Kinan and the one who always cheered Kinan up. Faiz remembered how Algi made Kinan smile and laugh. However, ever since Algi was gone, Kinan was far changed and became rarely laughed and even smiled.

Every Tuesday, Kinan always put the flower hortensia in the tomb of Algi. It was a flower that Algi had always given her. Very fragrant and beautiful. Faiz had no choice but to wait for him for the next hour in the same place.

...~o0o~ ...

"Finally home!"

After Master came out, Sonya was the first to run out of the classroom. Just as he was breathing the different air that was along the corridor, he suddenly felt a chill coming from the left.

”What is this? Not something good it feels.” Inner Sonya, refusing to look to the left.

"Woh!! The alrez! What are you doing here?" rika shouted who knew of Alrez's whereabouts after she stood next to Sonya. Rika's voice managed to create a furore in her class to the point of making everyone there run towards her.

"Can't you have a sane friend?!" sonya grumbled annoyed, staring at all of them.

Boldly, Alrez stood face to face with Sonya in front of everyone who saw her. His hands were hiding something behind his back. His eyes refused to look directly at Sonya. What an amazing thing happened today. Starting from Aretha who pretended to be Aratha then beat up everyone who had mocked her. And today also ended with a deliberate meeting between Alrez and Sonya that brought a surprise.

Sonya first asked, "Why Alrez? You want to say something?"

The silence of Alrez made everyone feel curious. They were willing to wait for that answer at any time until Alrez was ready to say it.

Silence, full of whispers of suspicion.

Slowly, Alrez took out something hidden behind his back then, showing it to Sonya. A favorite pink rose of Sonya, it looks beautiful with a red ribbon tied just below it. Everyone was stunned, disbelieving and not expecting Alrez to do anything to get Sonya back to him.

"I want you to take it."

Sonya froze in place. He stared at the rose which was almost the same shape as Aratha gave him yesterday. Unfortunately, Sonya already had one and apparently, Alrez gave it to her too late.

"Alrez I—

Sonya was immediately pulled backwards by a guy when she was about to reject him. The guy takes him on the run leaving Alrez and the crowd there. Her steps were so fast that it made Sonya almost trip over and over again. Alrez looked very angry. In front of everyone, he had been humiliated by that foreign boy earlier. Once he saw it, Alrez's accusation went straight to Aratha because he and Aratha had previously defended each other.

Alrez directly slammed the flowers onto the floor and stepped on them many times. Emotions control his mind. Most of the people looked at him with pity and it made Alrez feel even more angry. He walked towards one of the guys. His clenched hands, punching the guy in the face until he fell backwards.

...~o0o~...

"Ih! What the hell! Leasin!" Sonya immediately pulled her hand when she and the guy had already run until they both stopped in front of the minimarket. Sonya feels weird about this guy. However, he was also lucky that he managed to refuse a gift from Alrez without hurting his feelings.

The guy turned his head towards Sonya and showed her a warm smile. "You're Aratha, huh?" Sonya couldn't believe looking at his face at this moment.

"Huh? What the fuck are you talking about? Have you forgotten that Aretha replaced Aratha in school?"

"Oh? You Aretha. You look similar from behind."

"It turns out that's the guy, right? Aratha told me something about you. Said you had an ex who was more grumpy than him."

"Oh? I think he already knew from the beginning.” mumbled Sonya.

"You are what you are! Just want to be like a bad guy like him! I can't imagine that you two are really in a family relationship. Aratha is afraid that you will always be hurt by her."

"Aratha used to tell that to you?"

"No. I just eavesdropped on her conversation with Auntie. I'll be back in Makassar in a week. I just want to solve her problem here. I'm not so close to Aratha and I'm a little bit away from her."

"Why? You got a problem with him or he's got a problem with you?"

Aretha suddenly smiled as usual after she held back her sad expression. His hands clenched Sonya's hands and said, "We're talking about it all the way."

...~o0o~...

An hour has passed. Kinan immediately stood up, left Algi's tomb and walked back to his home. A few steps after he turned around, Kinan again stopped when he saw Faiz standing in front of him and had been waiting for him ever since. Her sad-looking face was something that Kinan did not want to see at the moment.

"You were there?" Kinan looked at Faiz seriously.

Faiz nodded then walked over to Kinan. His right hand grabbed Kinan's hand and then pulled him away from this place. Quickly, Kinan immediately withdrew his hand again while keeping his distance from Faiz who was also staring at him.

"Not hold on! I can walk by myself!" the ketus Kinan that immediately went ahead of Faiz.

Faiz chases until the two go hand in hand. Silent. They were both silent, not wanting to start the first conversation. Faiz is not someone who can treat the grief of others. However, there was no harm if he tried it.

"Kinant. I need something."

Kinan did not reply not even glancing at him. He kept walking as if he had no regard for the existence of Faiz next to him. Every time Kinan visited Algi's tomb, he always looked depressed and desperate. He will return to his usual Kinan tomorrow.

Faiz did not remain silent. He pulled out Kinan's hand and took him walking towards somewhere. This time Kinan did not reject her and stepped right behind her. Faiz continued, "I need you to accompany me to the bookstore. So, just come along."