121 Intermission

I slowly felt my consciousness return, yet there was no world that I saw other than the slight pink of the inside of my eyelids as they covered over my eyes. As I slowly stirred, I felt the light weight of bed sheets over my body as well as the warmth they provided. It was a soft and tranquil feeling that surrounded me, almost as if I was laying in the clouds, basking in the warmth of the sunlight.

I gradually opened my eyes, staring at an unfamiliar ceiling. I tried to recall what had occurred the day before, and everything came back to me. I remembered what I had done, and I was extremely disappointed in myself, knowing that I had almost succumbed to lust and take advantage of the older sister that Muria loved so dearly.

Slowly, I sat up on the bed, and looked around to see where I was. There, sitting on a chair to my right was the very same woman that I had attempted to take advantage of. Our eyes met and an awkward silence then ensued. I wasn't sure what to say, so I looked down at the white bed sheets with great shame in my eyes.

I wasn't sure what to say, so I looked down at the white bed sheets with great shame in my eyes

"Last night," Mura finally started speaking, "it wasn't your fault."

"..." I remained mute and listened attentively to what she was saying. However, even then I could not wash away the guilt and shame that ravaged my mind.

"I was... weird," she sighed. "Maybe it's because of the alcohol or something..."

Yeah... It was the drugs that those two men had dissolved in her drink...

"But um..." she continued. "Once you lost conscious... I didn't do anything."

I looked over at her without raising my head, simply observing her. I wanted to see if truly nothing had happened between us. The reason why I needed to know was because.. well, it's out of curiosity and the second thing is if something were to happen, my relationship with both her and Muria would definitely change for the worse. It might not be that obvious at first, but things will fall apart.

"I took care of it myself," she continued speaking in a soft and ashamed voice, and her face seemed to be quite red when talking about that. "So... we never did it last night."

I nodded my head to tell her that I heard what she had said.

"So just forget what happened." She then sighed. "You should hurry up and return back to your room. You can take a shower first if you want."

"..." I didn't say anything. The only reaction I had was a simple nod to signify to her that I heard what she was saying.

"Remember to be at the lobby before 5:00 P.M." she reminded me.

I did as she suggested and took a quick shower before leaving her room and returning back to mine. The warm water that flowed from the shower head and down my body cleansed me physically, washing away the stickiness that resulted from sweat. After I finished showering, I dried myself with a towel and put on once again the clothes that I had stripped myself from earlier. Then, I walked up to the bathroom mirror and gazed into those fatigued eyes.

It doesn't matter how much water or soap I used, nothing can wash away this darkness of my heart.

I then left Mura's hotel room and walked down the hallway to the elevator in order to return back to my own room. On the way though, I felt a mysterious anticipation, almost as if I was searching for somebody, and that somebody I believe was Luna. Only when I'm with her can I truly appreciate the small patch of flowers that aren't dyed black in this garden of mine.

I didn't encounter Luna or anyone else on my way back to my room. Even when I did enter my hotel room, the others were no where to be seen. I checked my phone for any possible messages they might've sent me, but what am I thinking? Why should I even expect to have a single notification from people?

I placed my phone on the charging stand before I walked up to my duffel bag and searched for my school uniform, which was what the students are required to wear later on today when we gather at the lobby. In addition to that, I also had to make sure that all my belongings were placed away so that when we do leave, I wouldn't accidentally leave anything here.

I glanced over at the digital display of my phone's screen as it charged, and on the screen, the current time, date, and weather was on display. According to the illuminated screen on my phone, it would appear that the time was around noon and the weather was sunny outside with little clouds. As for the temperature, it was at 68 degrees.

I decided that I wouldn't do anything else today as I laid down on my bed and turned on the television. I'm not in the mood for anything else at the moment, so I just turned to a random channel and watched whatever show was being played at the moment. It was quite boring because it was noon time, but it's whatever. It's not like I'm actually paying attention to what was on television.

I mostly used the television program as background noise as I laid there and thought about what I experienced this week. This one week long school trip is finally coming to an end, and although it was only a week, I felt as if this week was the longest of my entire life. Never could I imagine that the most relaxed portion of my week belonged to the three day mandatory trips and that the more stressful parts came from the free days.

In this week, I spent plenty of time with people. For example, I felt as if I knew Loyd, Zaksus, and Noah better now through the times we had spent loitering about in our hotel room as well as our times outside. In addition, I felt as if I learned more about Muria that night I spent in her's and Irina's room. Then there was Luna, who... well, I know what will happen to her. But... I could only anticipate how much pain it would be to say goodbye with her in the near future. Then there was Mura. Despite the crazy episode from last night, my time with her led to me realizing more about the world and humanity.

All in all, this school trip was pretty meaningful as it allowed me to learn about plenty of things. But... but why does it have to be so stressful at the same time?

I let out a sigh as I brought my forearms over my face and covered my eyes, blocking out the sun's rays.

This week... how do I describe it? I have a lack of words to describe how this week had felt to me. Even though I gained plenty from this week, I felt as if I also lost plenty while gaining. I know this might be confusing, but... it's basically I benefited almost equally as much as I lost.

I must've fallen asleep laying on my bed like that because when I removed my forearms from my face to allow my eyes to take in the world once again was when Loyd and Noah had returned. I didn't have any crazy reactions when I saw them. I simply continued to lay on my bed as I glanced over at them. The two were moving quietly as they packed their belongings back to their bags so as to not to disturb me. I was quite touched by their gesture to try and not cause a disturbance for me, but it was only that gratitude that I felt and nothing more.

Slowly, I rose from my bed, yawning as I sat up. The two seemed to have noticed my actions since they both looked over with a smile on their faces.

"So where were you up to last night?" Noah asked with a playfully evil smile on his face that I know was merely a joking gesture.

"Nowhere," I responded.

"If you don't want to tell us you don't have to," Loyd said as he continued to place his clothes back in his luggage.

"What time is it?" I asked as I reached for my phone and the charging stand.

"It's 4:40," Loyd answered me despite seeing me staring at the screen on my phone. "It's almost time to go. We were going to wake you up in a bit so you can sleep for a bit more since you've already packed."

"Thanks for that," I nodded, expressing my gratitude.

"Alright now!" It was as if he was holding everything within himself as he was forced to remain quiet when packing and he was finally able to release it all at this moment because his voice sounded louder than usual. "You got everything?"

"Yeah," Loyd said.

As for me, I simply nodded in response.

"If we're all ready to leave," Noah said, turning to face the exit with a smile on his face. "Let's say goodbye to this hotel room and get ready to head home."