Chapter 25: Chapter 25

"I swear, Nez, I can't understand what you're thinking, you know?" Ghea grumbled to Inez after stuffing her mouth with the half-eaten dumpling. Her sardonic gaze was aimed at Inez.

Ghea then took a glass filled with her favorite mango juice and downed a few sips. When she was done, she spoke again, making Inez roll her eyes and let out a long sigh.

"It's nothing, but you're too mean, Nez. You overreact, you go too far, you're selfish, and you don't respect other people's feelings. And you—"

Inez pounded the table hard enough to make a few pairs of eyes turn around. A few moments of silence took over the atmosphere. Ghea was the most surprised by what Inez did.

Ghea glared and immediately locked her mouth. Her gaze was directed straight at Inez's tense face. A few seconds after all the students were struggling with their respective activities, Inez took a deep breath while closing her eyes.

"You keep mentioning my mistakes one by one," Inez said irritably, looking at Ghea with her eyes flashing sharply.

Ghea put her fork down on her plate while glancing to the side. "Now that you're honest with me, do you feel guilty?"

"Why should I?" Inez snapped, not thinking to digest Ghea's words.

"And you're asking me that?" Ghea squinted her eyes, then chuckled. She couldn't get enough of her friend. "You should feel guilty, Nez. Rian is like that because he likes you and is sincere with you, Inez. You realize!"

Inez smiled wryly at Ghea's words. She took a sip of her drink. "And you know that I don't like him, why are you angry with me? Because feelings can't be forced, you should understand."

"Yes, I know about that," Ghea argued. "I understand that feelings can't be forced. But right—"

"But what?" Inez quickly cut Ghea off.

Ghea exhaled slowly. "The method you used was wrong, Inez. You should know that. Do you understand what I'm saying? If you don't want to accept the chocolate, all you have to do is say no. Then it's done, and instead of making Rian happy first, you end up throwing away the chocolate. It really hurts, you know. If I were in Rian's shoes, I would be really disappointed with you."

"Heartache?" asked Inez. A little later, she laughed blandly. She shook her head. "What does he know about hearts? Does he even have a heart?"

"If he didn't, why would he chase you from the moment you got here? He likes you with his heart."

Inez was silent.

"Try, Nez, open your heart a little for Rian. Don't you feel sorry for him? He's not tired, even though you reject him. Where is there a boy like that? If I were you, I'd already accept Rian. He's handsome, popular, a basketball leader, and rich too. What else do you need?"

"Lack of morals," said Inez while chewing her dumplings.

Ghea smacked her lips in annoyance. "You'll regret rejecting Rian. There are so many people waiting to be his girlfriend. Are you sure you don't want to date Rian? You just have to choose if you want to find a replacement for you."

"Important to me?" Inez replied, looking at Ghea with no interest.

"It is, and you have to remember one thing, Nez." Ghea took a deep breath. "Regret is only at the end."

Inez moved her face forward, her lips parted, "And I will never regret my decision," she said as she locked in a charming smile.

"But still, it's too much for you to throw away Rian's gift, it's a shame to throw away the chocolate, it was just for me."

"I don't want to talk about that anymore."

"You should apologize to Rian Nez," Ghea pleaded.

"Apologize?" Inez's laughter burst out. "I apologize to that boy? I don't want to!"

"But you were wrong."

"He's wrong!" argued Inez, "I already know I don't like him, so why are you hanging around me? Besides, I already like Cakra, if you want to take Rian away. Just eat him if you have to, I don't need him."

Inez placed a blue bill on the table before getting up from her seat. She gave Ghea a sharp look, then turned around and left Ghea in place.

Ghea grimaced, "Ouch, I'm wrong again," she said unpleasantly. She took Inez's money and walked straight to the dumpling shop to pay for her order.

***

Rian walked out of his class to the school rooftop after hearing the second break bell ring. The boy quickened his pace to get there as soon as possible.

The location of his class was a little far from that place. Making Rian have to run. However, suddenly, a voice pierced his sense of hearing, bringing his steps to a halt. The boy swept his gaze, then his eyes stopped at a girl wearing glasses.

"Calling me?" Rian pointed at himself, just to make sure whether he was hearing things wrongly or not.

The girl with glasses nodded firmly. "Yes, I call you, Rian," she said honestly, with a warm smile.

Rian gave a small nod. "What's wrong?"

"Can I talk to you for a moment?" she asked, trying to find the courage to look him in the eye.

Rian nodded briefly, "What can I say?" he asked coldly.

The girl in front of him looked up again. "Can we talk in the cafeteria or the park?"

"I don't have much time," Rian cut in. "Just here if it's not very important."

"Okay," the girl replied, nodding. "I just want to say to you that I'm sorry for what you did to Inez yesterday. I'm her friend, and I know that you must be really disappointed with Inez. Are you willing to forgive my friend?"

Rian gave a long sigh, "I'll go first, I don't have time anymore." Rian then immediately ran after saying that sentence. He didn't even receive a response to the conversation that the girl with glasses started.

After arriving at the school rooftop, Rian caught his breath for a moment. Then he walked over to someone who was waiting for him. Rian walked up to the person, then stood next to him.

"I want to collect what you promised before," said a boy beside Rian without looking at Rian at all. The boy's gaze was directed forward as he enjoyed the breeze that hit his face.

Rian sighed. "You did it?"

The boy immediately turned his face away, looked at Rian for a moment, then chuckled. "Didn't you know he was punished? Not only that, his parents were even told to meet the counselor."

"Seriously, you managed to trap Cakra using that cigarette?" Rian confirmed it again.

The boy chuckled. "Lying isn't good for me, now where's the payment you promised? I've successfully obeyed your wishes, right?"

A second after that, Rian immediately smiled triumphantly.

***

Cakra stretched his stiff muscles after sitting at his study table for almost an hour. He had just finished filling out a ten-question math assignment, making his head feel hot and his brain tired of thinking.

While he was cleaning up his books and putting them back, he accidentally dropped his pen, which rolled under his bed.

Cakra exhaled tiredly, then tried to extend his hand under his bed. But unintentionally, Cakra touched a cardboard box.

The boy, who wore a black hoodie, had time to scratch his forehead, until finally he pulled the cube object.

Looking down, Cakra looked at the dusty object. The guy got up and positioned himself on his bed.

Gathering courage, Cakra finally opened the box slowly and carefully. He didn't know what was inside. Cakra had tried to think about when he had stored the box, but his memory was really poor and unreliable.

He even held his breath for a few seconds when he started to open the box. The first thing he saw was a pile of cloth. He tried to unpack it further and then found an upside-down picture frame.

His brow furrowed, and he then turned the picture frame upside down. For a moment, he felt his body stiffen, all his nerves seemed numb.

In the square room, Cakra's hands trembled when holding the picture frame, and his eyes suddenly felt very hot, something stuck in his eyes could also now be felt. Cakra's breathing was so fast.

Unable to hold it in, the picture frame fell from his hand, sliding freely downward, finally landing on the floor, making a sound that made Cakra himself startled.

The boy immediately cupped his face, his tears could not last any longer, and he cried softly. He was sobbing, his chest felt so tight. His breathing was irregular.

Cakra wiped his face, then slumped down and sat on the floor while picking up the photo frame. Even though he tried not to cry, his tears just flowed out without his prompting.

Cakra took a deep breath, then ran her fingers along the picture frame that was now cracked from her actions a few seconds ago.

"Mom ... I'm sorry," he said sadly, accompanied by clear liquid that again escaped from his eyes. Now his tears fell on the cracked glass. "Because of me, you fell, I'm sorry for making you sick."

Cakra's index finger traced the photo of his mother's smiling face, Cakra missed his mother so much, he wanted to be next to her, hug her tightly, tell her anything, and laugh out loud together. He missed those days. Cakra then held the photo frame tightly, as if that was the only thing he could do to cure his longing.

If Cakra could, he wanted to go with his mother now.

"Cakra."

Suddenly his grandmother's voice was heard from outside the room, Cakra hurriedly wiped his cheeks, which were wet with tears, but he was too late, his grandmother had already seen it.

She walked over to him and sat down on the floor, right beside him. Smiling, she brought his head to rest on her fragile shoulder. Cakra didn't refuse, he also hugged his grandmother from the side.

Clear crystals again escaped from his eyelids, but Cakra let it go, he didn't wipe it away. The boy's mind kept drifting to memories of his mother and father.

"Be patient, you must keep his spirits up, I believe that you can do it," said Grandma, giving Cakra encouragement. She knew what her grandson was feeling. Grandma gently rubbed Cakta's head.

Cakra tightened his embrace on his grandmother, he couldn't hold it any longer. His tears immediately burst out, and Cakta sobbed. He was broken, his heart was like being bombarded by thousands of needles, giving him a very painful wound.

"I ... miss mom and dad," he said softly, his voice hoarse and shaking. "I want to meet them, Grandma, I—" Cakra immediately stopped talking and shook his head.

Grandmother couldn't help but smile a little, and her gaze then directed to the photo frame that Cakra was still holding. Grandma's feelings were hurt.

"I understand what you're feeling," she said softly, her hand gently rubbing his shoulder. "You just pray for the best for mom and dad, you pray that they are attached to God and the good people there."

Cakra looked up, watching his grandmother's wrinkled face. Grandma returned his gaze, her grandson's eyes were looking red.

"Grandma, why did I have to get this?" he asked quietly. "Why did God take mom and dad? Why doesn't God love me? It's not fair, Grandma. I want to be like everyone else, I'm tired."

"God loves them more," said his grandmother.

"But I miss my mom and dad, I don't know how I feel. I don't know what you're feeling right now. I also want to be like my friends, take them home from school and laugh with them. I envy them for being happy. I'm really tired of them. Why don't they just take me away so I can be at peace?"

Grandmother couldn't help it, the tears just came out. She clung to Cakra even tighter. Grandma chose to keep her mouth shut. Meanwhile, Cakra was now crying harder, letting out everything he had been feeling.

A few minutes later, Cakra's crying slowly began to stop. His eyes looked puffy, and the sound of sobbing was still coming. He knew he was weak, so he needed his grandmother to win him over.

Her hand gently and lovingly rubbed the top of his head. "God never fails to test his servants," said his grandmother, sighing heavily. "God knows that my grandson is strong. Forgive me for not being able to make you happy, because of me; because of me, you have to work every day. Because of me ..."

"Don't say that!" he cut in, looking up. "I'm not bothering you, I'm happy to be living with you. I've never been bothered by my grandmother at all."

He said it in one breath, his hand moving to wipe his grandmother's wet cheeks. "You are my happiness. I'm sorry for yelling at Grandma earlier, I went too far. I've also disappointed you in many ways."

"I've never disappointed you in the slightest," continued his grandmother. "To me, you're the best. I'm proud to have a good grandson like you."

He shook his head. "I'm already in the counseling room, I made a mistake again."

"Don't talk about that again, I believe that my grandson is not like that. Just be patient there are people who don't like us, even if we do something good."

Cakra also tightened his grandmother's embrace.