2 -2-

"One more thing, miss. Should you have any question, you can give me a call or directly come to my house next to this building, alright? Don't hesitate to contact me." Ambar added.

"Yes, ma'am."

Then Ambar left, while Dinda unpacked her belongings. She neatly placed her clothes and her new uniform to one of the empty closets in the room. There was an LED TV mounted on the wall. She also saw a fan and clock well ordered by the wall. On her left side there were two beddings that were arranged into an L shape. On the other side, she saw two closets of minimalist style.

Dinda glanced at the messy part of the bed with an unfolded blanket on it along with a heap of clothes. Dinda was certain that the owner was in a hurry, tried several clothes and just left it there.

Dinda arranged neatly everything that was on that bed, she folded several clothes and put them in an orderly fashion on the bed. She dared not to put them in the closet because she did not want to infringe the owner's privacy.

In front of her closet, she looked carefully at two sets of her new uniform. A white-grey uniform, just like any other school girls' uniform. The other one was a blue uniform with a checkered vest. On its right chest, there was an emblem that read "SMA Airlangga", the symbol of strength.

Her previous high school used to be a prestigious high school in her town. She had to study hard and earn a scholarship to pay all the tuition. Rumor has it that her new high school was the school of the rich, a privately-owned elite education center meant for the wealthiest of students. Dinda became more and more uncomfortable by that fact; the rich family always reminded her of Panji's family.

Moments later, someone opened the door to her room and she looked at it to see who was coming. A young girl wearing white-grey uniform entered the room. She has shoulder-length hair, fair skin, and round eyes. She glanced at Dinda and proceeded to put down her bag at her bed.

"You are the new student of Airlangga High School, yes?" that girl asked.

Dinda nodded and reached out her hand. "Dinda." she said.

"I'm Nadya." The tall roommate returned the gesture. "It was unusual to have a student transfer during mid-year. This is a rare occasion indeed. Welcome to my school, I hope that you'd…find comfort." She glanced at Dinda then headed toward her closet. She placed the neatly folded clothes into it. Picked up another one, then wore it. After she changed her clothes, she turned on the TV while enjoying the snack from her bedside table.

Dinda was a little confused as to what Nadya meant by that. There was a moment of suspense before Nadya finished her sentence, as if she knew that something would threaten Dinda. Dinda tried to ignore it and have some rest because she had to buy some school supplies later today.

*****

This morning, she officially wore her new school uniform. She prepared herself to meet new friends and to have new experiences. She hoped that the new place would erase or at least suppress a certain old memory.

Nadya stared at Dinda who was standing still for some time by the closet, her mind seemed to go blank and confused. Not just today, Nadya observed closely at her ever since she arrived. Last night, Nadya barely slept because she heard Dinda sob. Just when Nadya thought that Dinda was sleeping, Dinda was talking in her sleep and even screaming hysterically as if she was feared to death. She called the name 'Panji' several times.

At dawn, many questions were asked by Nadya's neighbor. They did not notice that there was a new resident. They thought Nadya was possessed. Nadya thought that Dinda was not supposed to be transferred to a new school. Instead, she should have been sent to a psychiatrist or any other places that would mentally soothe her.

"You do know the route to our school, right?" Nadya asked.

Dinda glanced at Nadya then nodded while picking up her backpack. But Nadya was not very certain, she was worried that Dinda might be going to do something unexpected. Suicide, for instance. She was curious about what was happening to her. Whatever it was, it must be something so bad it causes a mental trauma.

"Let's go together!" Nadya invited her.

Nadya walked first, closely followed by Dinda. She walked silently while observing every corner of her surroundings. Ms. Ambar's apartment really was close to her school, it only took them five to ten minutes on foot to reach their school.

"Nadya, do we have a bookstore around here? I need to buy several supplies." Dinda eventually said something.

This was the first time for Nadya to hear a full sentence from her silent roommate. She turned left and halted her pace right in front of a large bookstore. The store was full of school students that wore the same uniform as Nadya and Dinda. This bookstore was located inside Airlangga High School grounds.

"You can buy them here, I'll be waiting by that stall, ok? I need to top up my phone credit." Nadya said.

Dinda nodded then entered the bookstore to buy several writing supplies and books. She spent her monthly allowance just to buy them.

This was a fairly large bookstore for a school. Right after Dinda opened a large glass door, there were magazines lined up neatly by the entrance. On the right side, she saw school books, novels, writing supplies, and many more. At the far end, there was a long table, maybe it was placed there for the students to read or just hang out.

Dinda browsed through the bookshelves and stopped by a bookshelf at the far end of the store. As she examined the book she was about to buy, she heard an erotic moaning.

"Nath, I love you."

Dinda glanced at the voice source. Her hands were suddenly trembling; she saw a couple of high school students making out in the less visited section of the store.

She was stunned for a moment, her breath was suffocated. The old scars in her heart ached again. Especially when that boy catched a glimpse of her eyes.

Dinda immediately took her book to the cashier so that she could leave the store as soon as possible.

That glance, reawakened an old memory she didn't wish to resurface.