CHAPTER 13 : Justice For The Naughty Girl

"I am pregnant."

 "Buffftt!!!"

 Vanilla latte gushed smoothly from Deandra's mouth.  Along with that, several astonished gazes immediately fell upon the table of the two of them.

"Cough Cough!  Huh… what do you mean?!"  Dean coughed between his questions.

 Meanwhile a girl across the table just stared lazily at Dean's reaction.  It even seemed as if she didn't care about the fact that her words had caught people's attention.

 "It's been three weeks late."  Her said again.

 This time, Deandra was flabbergasted with his mouth half-open.  Meanwhile his ears began to catch the whispers coming from the table occupants around them.

 "Psst.. what's with that young couple?"

 "She said she was pregnant."

 "That's high school Nusa's uniform, right?"

 "Oh right!  How terrible."

 Deandra held his forehead which felt dizzy.  At the same time, he tries to hide his face from the view of the people around him.  In an instant, he had once again regretted his decision to save someone.

 "No… I mean why did you tell me?  And can you not say it like that?  People can misunderstand me!"  Dean protested in a whisper.

 Across the table, Erika was sipping her order of esppresso casually.  Strange, indeed.  In fact, less than an hour earlier she had been a girl on the verge of death until Dean managed to persuade her to speak.

 "You brought me here to talk about my problem right?  So, that's my problem."  Erika spoke casually.

 Deandra is not stupid.  He clearly knew that the girl across the table was trying to get back at him earlier.  Now Dean understands why most men always avoid women who are in a sensitive period.

 "This woman is terrible, isn't she?"  He had a monologue in his mind.

 For a moment, Dean was silent.  Trying to make people who pay attention bored and return to their respective activities.  Then when the whispers about them finally stopped, did Dean dare to lift his eyes and look at the girl in front of him.

 "So, who's the father?"

 "I don't know."  Erika shrugged.

 A cross appears on Deandra's forehead.  His lips curved into a wry smile a sign that he was really annoyed when he saw the girl's reaction.  Erika looked so nonchalant, as if what had happened was nothing big.

 "How can you not know?  Just how many boys... ah!  Forget that part!"  Dean corrected his words.

 "So you've told your parents about this?"

 "You think?"  This time Erika responded sarcastically.

 Dean was silent for a moment.  He didn't need to answer the question of the girl in front of him, or protest that Erika answered his question with another question.  More or less, he could already guess.

 "How did you get pregnant?"  Dean took another sip of his vanilla latte.

 For a while, there was no answer from Erika.  The girl was instead busy twirling the straw in her half remaining espresso glass.  His gaze was sluggish.  Erika obviously has a lot on her mind right now.

 "I don't really remember.  As far as I know, at that time I was playing in a club with my friends.  Maybe I was drunk or something, as soon as I woke up in the morning I was already in the hotel room.  Alone, and naked."

Erika spoke in a low voice, much to Dean's annoyance that only now had she deliberately kept her voice down.

 "Have you tried discussing this with your friends?"

 "I did… but they said it was my own fault.  I'm the one who doesn't carefull of myself."

 Erika's words this time made Dean put on an awkward face.  Honestly, he had no intention of refuting the words of the girls' friends.

 "Indeed ... it's your own fault actually ...." Deandra said in his mind as he took a sip of his drink and glanced the other way.

Erika Salma, to be honest Dean doesn't really know her.  Ever since he was in the first year of high school – about ten years ago, Dean didn't remember the names of his classmates except those he was close to.

 But as far as he remembered, there was once a student named Erika.  For some reason, Dean felt he had heard her name several times.  Maybe because it's been too long so he forgot.

 "If it's not based on mutual consent, that means you were raped.  If you died earlier, your rapist would be free.  Are you stupid?"  Dean sneered.

 "Even if I was raped, if there were no signs of violence, it would be useless.  I can't go to the police, right?"  Erika didn't want to lose either.

Once again, Dean fell silent.  What Erika said was true.  And if it was true that that girl was drugged or something, then the rest of the drug in her body would have been gone by three weeks.

 "Hah!  What are you dragging yourself into now Deandra?!"  Dean started cursing himself.

 He was so dizzy, Dean massaged his forehead with his right thumb and forefinger.

 Silence appeared between them.  As if separated from the surrounding crowd, nothing could prevent the awkward feeling that existed between these two different kinds of people.

 After all, they didn't even really know each other.  This was the first time they sat down together and drank something they ordered together.  Yet the heavy talk between them now, Dean still felt that he didn't deserve this pressure anymore.

 "Well, you don't have to worry too much.  They're right anyway, it's all my fault."  Erika chirps, while taking another sip of the rest of her espresso.

 Hearing that girl's words, Deandra raised his eyes.  Now all he saw was a sad smile.  Erika seemed to have completely given up on the situation.

 "I am not a good woman.  It's no longer strange to end like this."  Erika spoke again.  This time, she couldn't even look at Dean and chose to fix her gaze on the glass in her hand.

 Deandra feels sorry.  Of course, even though he's an asshole, he's a human too.  Once again, even though Deandra is a asshole, he's still human.

 "That's not the problem.  Even if you're naughty or you're an unrighteous girl, that doesn't justify anyone touching you without your permission."  Dean spoke quietly.

 The remaining vanilla latte in the glass he drank until it ran out.  For a moment Dean's gaze was distracted when the corner of his eye caught something.  But a second later Dean looked forward again as if he didn't see anything.

 "Even if you are naked in public, they have no right to touch you.  We live in a rule of law."  He said again.

 This time, Erika was completely speechless.  Those words were the cheapest words a man had ever said to her.  But when she heard that from Deandra, for some reason she wanted to believe it.  Maybe because of the way the boy said it, or because of the serious look on his face that Dean made right after.

 "And you know what?  it's girls like you that make rapists even more daring.  Because they know, victims will prefer to die for fear of being embarrassed than demanding rights."  Dean ended the advice session by popping a small ice cube in his mouth.

 While he was busy munching on the ice, Erika across the table was seen lowering her head.

 "Then what should I do?"  Erika scoffed.

 "I just told you right? Don't die.  For now that's all.  Because if you die, it's all over."  Deandra answered so lightly.

 "And my parents?  my school?  My future?"

 "Well, it's your risk.  You should have thought about it before you walked into the club that night."

 Hearing Deandra's words, suddenly emotions filled this young girl's chest.  Her hands were clenched into fists, tears streaming down her reddened cheeks.  Erika raised her eyes and looked angry.  Meanwhile Dean just responded with silence.

 "See?!  In the end it's the same!  You're blaming me just like everyone else!"  Erika snapped.

 Suddenly they are back in the center of attention.  If once again a loud noise emerged from their table, it was not impossible that this two teenagers would be kicked out by the cafe employees.

 Of course, Dean couldn't sit still and accept when a young girl snapped at him.  Deep inside this teenager's body was a grown man.  A grown man who has been through a lot in life, and it is this grown man who is dealing with the girl now.

 "But at least I didn't tell you to die, right?"

 Erika gasped.  Her breath hitched, and her shoulders tightened.  One sentence in the form of a question from Deandra made this girl shocked and speechless.

 "You know what? If I were you, I'd rather die instead of being embarrassed."

 A sneer, and a condescending look on the face echoed in her memory.  The figure who until yesterday was still a true friend, suddenly turned into the reason why Erika wanted to end her life.

 But how did Deandra know about it?  Now Erika had a question in her mind.  It's a shame that the question was never answered.  Because this girl first drowned in sobs and regret.

 Everything is broken and nothing can be fixed.  The only thing that can be done is punish him who ruinelif her life.

 In the end, their conversation stopped there.  The eyes that faithfully watched were ignored.  Deandra could only be silent awkwardly while chewing the ice in his mouth, while Erika seemed to enjoy the relief that came with the tears flowing from her eyes.

***

 "What's this?"  His brows furrowed in surprise.

 Deandra's gaze was fixed on a cell phone that the girl in front of him handed without a word.  Meanwhile, Erika seemed to avert her eyes.  Trying to hide her puffy eyes.

 "Your number."  she said.

 Dean still couldn't understand what this women were thinking.  But because he didn't want to be embarrassed by this girl's attitude more than before, Dean gave up asking questions and chose to write down his number on Erika's cell phone without much protest.

 "For your information, I don't often hold my smartphone.  So, don't be angry if I can't reply to your chat immediatly."

 "Who said that I wants to chat with you?!  I'm just being careful.  You hear this carefully! If you tell this problem to other children, i'll kill you!"  Erika threatened while putting her phone back in her bag.

"Because I was treated earlier, so you can just calm down."  Deandra gave a mischievous smile.

 Seeing the attitude of the youth in front of her, Erika snorted in annoyance.  Then walked away leaving Dean in front of the cafe's exit door.  Strolling the sidewalks, and finally blending in with the crowds of people.

 Meanwhile Dean just kept quiet and watched until the girl finally disappeared from his sight.  A smile appeared on this young man's lips.  For some reason remembering Erika's timid and pretentious attitude made him feel amused.

"At this rate don't I look like a pedophile?" Dean asked himself.

 Shortly after, Deandra stretched his arms up to get rid of the soreness from the carrying bag that kept perched on his back.  For a moment he looked up, staring at the night moon above the sky.  Also tall buildings that look as if they want to reach it.

" I guess I should go home now too." he mumbled cheerfully.

 But even if he said that, in fact Dean had just returned to the cafe.  His steps were so relaxed, past the rows of empty tables and chairs.

 Until finally he stopped to pull up a chair.  Then sat himself in that chair.  Facing a table with two glasses of vanilla latte on it.

 "...."

 A hand reached across the table.  Reaching for one of the glasses then lifting it up and then drinking a little, just to tasting.  Not long after, the owner of the hand put the glass back on the table.

 "This is my first time coming here.  So I thought I'd like to try what you like."

Such a familiar voice, with a such familiar face.  Deandra looked at him flatly.  For a moment his lips stopped smiling.  While his hands cupped together on the table.

 "Long time no see, how are you in your new world, Deandra?"  The figure spoke again.  But Dean still responded with silence.

 His figure didn't change in the slightest.  Even the clothes he was wearing were still the same as the last time Dean remembered.  Maybe, the man deliberately so that Dean easily recognizes him.

 Even though all he had been doing since then was just sitting quietly in one corner of the cafe.  But he had managed to make Deandra's attention to him for a moment in the middle of the conversation between the young man and the girl before.

 Then the question is, after three weeks of Deandra passing a confusing time in this world.  Why was he only now showing himself again?  The man who had dragged him into this strange world.

 To be continued....