To Murder your Love

The Runaway

 Hobart has turned to be docile after the deep discussion with mom. He listens to teacher and their subject once my mom’s two hours ‘isolation’ was over . All I know from her punishment is the way of himself to beg when it was finished. Just like what happened to Marco Diabolo, or we often call him ‘Marco Angelo’ in the name nowadays, Adrian Hobart has been surrendered from being a delinquent for eternity.

Hobart speaks to us in formal, mostly avoiding to use slangs and even forgetting to put his head straight up sometimes. He tuck-in his uniform for going to school, wearing socks properly, even combed his hair to be slick and shiny. Reino Gardna has left after he learned of his boss’ drastic change. The former-accomplice makes his own criminal group, led by himself and Reino Gardna as the co-founder, but then deciding to disband two weeks later after none of the students feared of his rather-tiny physique.

When I questioned on the methods to mom last night, She simply said,” It’s not quite much, Yuda. The stuffs I’m building is significant in tending someone’s bad signals in the brain.”

“By tweaking the fear, I suppose? From what I have...”

“No, you’re a horror one, Yuda. There’s no problem on my device and its function before your experience has came to my lab.” She answered, patting my head for a token of comfort,” Are you in distress, sweetie? I don’t know about you much, but I hope I can be of help.”

“Nah, I’m okay. It might be my fear on the tape, mom.”

No, I’m not fine at all. The unusual projection is tilting me up for more than a day, and I’m still wondering on why it happened at the first place.

---

It is five minutes to six in the morning. My mom has to depart before the students for the ‘gate greetings’, a custom for fifteen minutes until the bell rings to shake hands with students as they entered the school’s entrance. In schedule, my mother would be one of the three teachers for volunteering on this tradition, so here I am doing my best to stay awake.

Nah, might be turning down to sleep as soon as I hit the desk.

(Krieek)

Whoa, how amazing! I don’t expect to see people from my class in this hour. A basic rule for 7F’s student are for them to be slightly-racing against the clock. Most of my classmates will be arrived at five minutes ahead of the ringing bell’s time.

Yes, especially Adrian Hobart. He might be 360 degrees changed after the trial, huh.

“Good day, Yuda Sulistyo. Have you done homeworks for today?” Hobart asked me as soon as I entered the class in the morning. How humble he has been after the 'hypnotic' care from my mom. I don't realize of how magical my mom's invention could be to this world, since my mom never patented those discovery in the first place. 

However, since I'm not really into it this time, I choose to reply to him half-hearted,“ Yeah, kinda.” I said, while sweeping across the entire class for a short wake-up call to my eyes.

“Nice, may I copy your homework? I forgot to do it yesterday.”

Yes, because of the treatment, he’s truly started to become polite on people, but still a 7F at heart.

Oh, there’s Tifanny. She arrived so early today. If it’s Hobart, he must be here already because of the homework, but for her? What’s so important for her to attend?

“Hey, Tif-“

She pretends to sleep once I gazed at her. Yes, I swear on her to fake it, because she’s so into her n***********g a second ago. Might be so tired after reading books at night, since she’s so diligent at being a book-worm from what I could remind myself of her character, or doing something fishy with Hobart, maybe?

Nah, it’s impossible. She hates him, no matter how the current Hobart has a turn-around difference to the past ones.

 Huh? What’s this? A crumpled paper, just like Nia Cassandra and her dramatic way of telling me to stay away from her. In contrary to the past, however, a person laid a three-clovers leaf on the top.

How could this person found something so rare?

(Krssk....Krrsssk....)

Time’s still early, a perfect time to open this secret-message. No actual witnesses other than sleepy-head Tifanny. Hobart has been leaving our class when he gained my permission on copying homework, could be flying away to pendhapa for a little bit of focus.

(Krssk.....Krrsskk...)

I can feel her peeking at me over the corner of my sight. She might haven’t notice, but that’s my talent since birth to count upon. People said that everyone can observe in a hundred eighty degrees, but it’s not actually that easy in particular. You have to concentrate on the overall of the view, and capturing those images on the edge by the course of your thoughts. From which, in time, has only been useful for evading danger, so nobody primarily honing those corner-side eyesight in reality. For my case, in the other way around, as a result of my training under the roof of my house, I can see throughout the far-point of my eye as clear as I’ve been on the front.

Yeah, your low-key movement has been read, Tifanny. It’s pointless to hide something from the superior beings like myself.

(crumple-crumple)

‘I’ll wait at the tulip’s alleyway at second lunch-break. Something’s need to be talk about with you.

P.S. Don’t bring anyone other than yourself, m’kay?’

Huh, a P.S. is uncommon for new seventh-graders, notably 7F-ers that doesn’t even know how to present an english in its actual form. There’s no past perfect that’s clear and concise, just a twist of tense with ‘bean’ inside.

Yup, have ‘bean’, has ‘bean’, sounds so similar, yet far to be done.

“Hmm, I wanna know why do I have to meet this person in secret.” I murmured, acting as if I couldn’t predict on who’s the other person is,” Ah, I don’t have to see him, anyway, might be bugging me to-“

Finally, she shows herself out from the arm-shield she has made. Ugh, that slightly-chubby face is too cute to be ignored,“ Err, you should meet him....err, since he’s waiting for you?” She replied to my out-of-the-world question, before diving to her meat-pillows once more.

If the glasses is on, my sweat would be bursting out from how wild it is to see them fitted in.

---

‘This is it, Yuda. You have to choose from the beginning on who’s who. Remember my word at the first day of your journey.’

It’s the second lunch break. I am slightly been late for meeting her behind the tulips’ alleyway of music room, thanks to Mr. Yono of science. He describes of how global warming could bring a hell of calamity to this world, and the only one to fend it off is clean and renewable energy.

The story brings me back to what I should have in mind for pocket money I had received from Nia’s parents. Two years from now, I have to put some of my deposits for Bitcoin, since it would be a ton of money in the end, and also those electric-car companies that everyone has desperately built their money from a decade later.

Nah, Don’t wanna discuss much about global warming, here. I was dead already.

(Drap-drap-drap)

She’s there, that shy-cat. My bloody-sweat of nerve has drenched my clothes from the beginning of our meeting. She’s my first love, taken together from the threads of memories in my mind that I have to this  very day, so nothing like this would be expected. In the previous years of life, She’s already got taken by someone else before going to 7A in the next semester, ceasing my opportunity to gain her for experience in handling woman and her needs of affection.

Yes, I am totally nervous, and will bite my tongue if I speak something wrong any time soon.

“How’s your wound? Is it all right?” I started the conversation with a knock to our connection. She looks at me eye-to-eye, with numerous times on dangling down after 5 seconds of staring.

“Err......”

A minute of awkward silence. No, it’s not so weird, though, since I have nothing to talk about as well.

“no, it’s on the left side, but it’s healing.”

“Really? What a bum.” I said,” I thought it’s on all right, ‘cuz I’m on the opposite side than you.”

I don’t even know if this is actually intelligent or straight-forward dumb, but I’ll have to press on.

“Hahaha, by the way-“ She answered, masking her reply with a ‘respect-laugh’ of chit-chat,” Er.. don’t tell anyone.....”

She looked a bit pale. I can’t tell of what’s in her mind, but I suppose it should be correlated to the ‘shackly’ thing two days ago.

“About the shack-“

(Muffle)

“Mpph...”

“Yes, that! Don’t tell anyone that!” She desperately shut my mouth before I could speak of the word. Yes, bets on me she’s not yielding those information to public,” It’s for my novel. I want to feel the s****l scene from the one I’ve been working so far.”

Time to tease her more,” For the payment? You have to give me something to close these lips, ya know?”

Another minute of silence. But it’s fine, since she’s thinking of her bribe.

“A lunch? How about it?” She said.

(Ring!Ring!)

The bell of an ending for second-lunch break has ringing twice. Somehow the staff plants too much jab to the knob, huh.

“It settles then, an after-school lunch, okay!?”

She nods slightly and trying to curl a smile, answering my suggestion in quiet.

A win for me, surely speaking.

---

The after-school lunch at the canteen is not recommended for not-a-couple like the two of us, so we choose to go to the mall. In truth, I’m also selecting a mall as our venue because of Amanda’s presence at this hour. Being a teen-model should bring her more accustomed to mall’s foodstands than our canteen’s delicacy, so there would be no way for her to meet us by accident in one of the stalls there.

She’s not having my hands, unfortunately. She lays a gap by her school bag to ensure nobody thought of our relationship at the moment.

“How about there, Tifanny? Kevin’s told me that’s a good steak for lunch.”

She’s just nodding to me, before looking away once more.

What’s wrong with me? Is my body smelly?

Ugh, I’m so freaking nervous right now. The freezing cold air from the conditioner up above saved my guts from leaking out. I was trembling a short time after by the drying-up sweat, which makes me even more in trouble. If she noticed, anyone could listened myself quivering in every sentence I have laid out.

From the first to second floor, we can’t find a good one place to eat. I preferred the steak section on the fourth, though, since it’s the safest haven to avoid danger from Amanda’s leering threat. She’s the most determined person I’ve met in this journey to investigate, and someone in-par to the risk of Nia’s existence in general.

If you ask me, I would select this woman beside me more, but the task is tailing myself behind more than what I could object. For the conclusion on this one, the only choice is between Nia and Amanda, but who’s the terror for me if I put my boots to one of them?

Damn it, that girl’s here. Why she eats at the same place with what I’ve considered before?

I have to alter the route, or else Amanda’s might be noticing our situation and making it worse.

“Hey, what if we watched movie for now? Let’s make something up for dinner after.” I requested.

“Errr, I....”

(Hold)

I have to pull her away, or that woman could see us...

Hmm? She’s sweating? Her hand’s so moist, I thought that was me from the start.

If it’s true, then....