The Second Rani

Cannot Sleep

Cannot Sleep

The tring!

There was a sound coming in from my phone. Right enough. I've been waiting for news since. Sunday night felt empty without reprimand from him through chat.

Especially considering our time together at school. Most of the time my hands are not out of his grasp. It could look into his eyes, his nose, his lips, as well as his unceasing lips deciphering a smile, from such a close distance. All the wonderful things about her just popped into my memory.

[Russia ... ]

Chat entered from Ringga when the clock on my phone showed the number 21.05. I hurriedly answered.

[Yes Ringga?]

[Cangels ... 😞]

Hahaha, my heart aches while reading the chat from him.

[Newly all day we were together 😁]

I lie. Pretend to be ordinary. Though in my heart, my longing for her is beyond anything at this time. Waiting to hear from him since this afternoon made me so nervous.

[But still missing, how dong? 😔]

[Sabar Ringga, Monday we meet.]

[I'm sad, I miss, I still want to talk. But these are my eyes heavy 😑]

[Sleeping?]

[Yes, finished the same basketball match earlier. Until the house directly tepar gini.]

[Huum, ga papa. You sleep first. We'll talk again tomorrow.]

[Tp battery msk pngn ngbrpl]

I read the not so clear chat. Lots of typo there. Lingga, you seem really tired. "But I still want to talk" , maybe that's what the chat means.

[Met sleep lingga, rest yaa]

And sure enough, I see his phone is now offline. My chat has not been read by him. Ringga, I miss. Really miss you now.

I hugged the bear next to me. Hoping to reduce my longing for the current Ringga.

"Ringga, evil yea," I said as I pointed at the doll, as if she was a lingga who could hear.

"Now you sleep. I was kangen. Same as the tree!" I said again while pinching the two golden cheeks of my doll. But suddenly ....

I heard my phone ringtone ring. Did Raja suddenly wake up from his sleep? Only five minutes passed from the last time we talked to each other. I hurried to see my phone.

Wasn't it! This is not a Ringga. The unknown number that came in my phone call. And a profile photo was plastered onto my phone screen.

Who is this guy? Why is he ...? Wait, wait!

Him, Star Brother?

I doubt if I should swipe my phone up to answer his call, or should I refuse?

Yes really! I had to press the red button to reject the call.

For some reason, my heart was pounding amazingly. Helow Rania, this is just an incoming call. He just called you, why are you so sweet? I bit the tip of my lip, and clasped my phone tightly.

What did he call me? On a night like this? How does he know my WhatsApp number? I don't know why I'm such a parno. Why am I so scared? He's just a phone call.

A moment later, my phone rang again. Still from the same guy. I pacified my chest, which there was my heart whose rhythm was irregular. Swipe my phone screen up, and ...,

"Hello" I said a little hesitantly.

"Rania?" his voice from across there.

"Yes, who is this?" I pretended I didn't know him.

"Me, Star. You remember?"

"Sorry, whose star?" I was pretending to be amnesiac.

"Haha, Vanessa. I know you remember me."

"No, maybe Bintang's brother is misaligned,"

"Well, remember."

Wretch! I said the wrong thing. I closed my mouth with my left hand, waiting for a response from him.

"Rania hasn't slept, has she?"

"You why? Afraid of me? Confused, I know where your number is, right?"

"Yes, anyway."

"Hahahaha, if it's a secret."

"Hm, brother why call me?"

"Just say good night Rania ..."

"Good night too,"

"Rania, don't you like the song I sang for you?"

"Which song?"

"No, pretend again."

"Yes, likes. Goody. Uh, wasn't that song for Maharani?"

"Who? I don't know. I know him only as you."

"Hm ..., "

"Rania, you don't have a boyfriend, do you?"

The deg! I was confused, should I answer that I already have a boyfriend? Can I call Raja my girlfriend? I'm pretty close to him, even if it's only been a matter of days. I don't know why I feel trapped here. And I finally said, "Not yet."

"Rania, so my boyfriend?"

Tik tok tik tok tik tok, the clockwork on my study desk sounds so obvious. Slowly. The needle moved very slowly in my ear. Tics. Geck. Tics. Geck.

Again the symptoms of this 'slow motion' hit me again. It was like this afternoon at school when I heard him sing. I fear.

"Rania, so my boyfriend?" he repeated the question again.

Without saying anything, I hung up my phone. I pressed the power button to disable it, and just put my phone on the table. I lay my body on the bed, I hugged the bear in the hope that I would feel comfortable. I forced my eyes to shut. However, it cannot.

The shadow of his face singing and playing his guitar while staring at me, constantly appearing in my eyes. Even as I closed my eyes, his shadow became increasingly visible.

Why am I being like this? What the hell is going on? Why did Star Brother become like a virus, which suddenly came and made me restless like this.

*****

"Ran, aren't you that excited? Tumben, it's Monday! Usually you're the most excited." Stevi said early in the morning when I just got to her house.

"No idea" I replied a little lazily. It's because I slept less last night. Last I saw it was midnight, almost two o'clock. My body rolled to the right left, trying to find any position that was comfortable for me to sleep in. My eyes are heavy, but I can't fall asleep.

If this is indeed magic from the Star Brother, I hope to be destroyed soon. I said all the prayers I could, but nothing changed. I started to wake up at five in the morning. I don't even know when I started sleeping.

"Woi, smile, smile!" Stevi pulled my cheek. "Later to meet Rangga you know, um .." he continued.

"Ringa?" my many.

"Well, what am I now. The spirit!" stevi encouraged me.

And sure enough, remembering about the Ringga made a different feel in me. I was thinking, how did Stevi know about Ringga? I haven't told her at all.

When I got to school, I was a little surprised because in front of my class so many children were gathered. I don't know what or who made the noise. And I was stunned, when we had a look in the eye. On the sidelines of the horde of girls, I saw his reflection. Smiling, almost waving her hand, yet I immediately turned back towards walking aimlessly, intending to ignore her.

But after I walked for a while, I was a little sorry. Dimple. Yeah, I just found out that she has dimples that only appear when she smiles.

Nope, no! Oh, Rania ..., are you out of your mind right now? How could fear and awe come together?

Among the question marks, I stood glued to the edge of the school gate without knowing what to do.

*****

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Hanny Achmad