8. Eldorado

"Move aside," Garneta shooed away the boy standing casually in front of her. This morning was a very unlucky morning in her opinion. How could it not be? Her bicycle chain came off in the middle of the road on her way to school. Not to mention the sudden arrival of Alba, which made Garneta dizzy.

"Get out of the way you idiot!" Garneta shouted loudly once again. Come on, her patience was running out now. Her chest was heaving as she refrained from kicking the handsome hunk's future assets.

Alba casually shook her head, "No. I don't want to. I don't want to," she argued.

Not knowing who to vent her frustration on, Garneta kicked her bike so hard that it bounced off the ground and into a large ditch. The water splashed a little on her school uniform.

But instead of getting angry or panicking, the girl who wore her hair down this morning started walking. As if she didn't care about the passing people who were looking at her with various expressions. She left Alba who was stunned at her crazy behavior.

"I was left behind?" muttered Alba in disbelief. She glanced at Garneta's poor bicycle, which was lying horribly on the ground. Then she shook her head slowly. What a magical girl! She thought.

Didn't she think about the fate of her bike. What if someone took it? Or even damaged it. Garneta was really angry with him.

"Ta! Garneta wait!" Alba shouted behind Garneta. She was running quite fast because the girl was already far ahead of her at this point. She didn't care about her favorite bike that she had left on the side of the road near Garneta's bike. After all, who would take it anyway, right? Alba could be sure that the bike would reach her school before she returned.

This is Alba. Not some tin can.

"Hosh-hosh-hoshh. Crazy..." Alba took a deep breath. Her chest felt very tight now that she had to run after Garneta. Fortunately, she was still able to align her steps next to the indifferent Garneta.

"Ta?" Alba called out but Garneta didn't turn her head or respond at all. She continued walking as if Alba was an invisible being.

"Ta? Tsk! Turn around, kek," Alba was annoyed at being ignored. For the sake of everything this would be history in Alba's new life. Where for the first time she was ignored by a woman. Woman man!

Who would have thought, behind her current indifferent attitude, Garneta secretly felt anxious about Alba's existence beside her. Not because of the bike she left behind, but because of how the Jubels would react when they found out she and Alba were walking together.

This was going to be disastrous for her!

Garneta's eyes glanced at the clock on her left hand. It was already past seven. That meant the ceremony had already begun. Her head was very dizzy at the moment. Add to that Alba's incessant chirping like a parrot.

Then slowly her vision began to blur, and everything went dark instantly. Garneta was unconscious.

The sound of loud laughter made the girl lying weakly on the bed slowly open her eyes. She looked at the plain white wall paint. As if realizing what she saw, Garneta spontaneously stood up stiffly. This was neither her class nor the school's uks. So where was she now? Various negative thoughts began to fill Garneta's headspace now.

"Akhhh!!!" she cried in pain. Her right side of her waist was in a lot of pain now. Damn it! How could she forget that she had a guest this week.

Garneta's eyes grew wide. Oh, my God! What the hell? Timidly, she glanced at the bed with white sheets that had turned red. My God, what was she doing?

Garneta tried to remember what had happened to her earlier. That caused her to sleep in this room of God knows what. But to no avail.

"Shit!" she hissed.

The sound of laughter that had disturbed her sleep was now ringing in her ears again. Garneta began to step closer to the door of the room, trying to peek at who was outside. For God's sake, what had she done wrong to be stuck in this situation? Garneta put both hands over her mouth. She was both surprised and confused by what she was seeing. A group of men playing uno. Garneta's eyes kept looking at each one of them. Who knows if she knew anyone?

"Oh my God..." Garneta whispered sadly as she looked down. She was really scared now. Maybe Julin would laugh out loud seeing her weak now. Where was the Garneta who wasn't afraid of everyone? Where is the Garneta who bravely fought two people at once? Where is she?

"Uh, are you awake yet?" the chirp in front of her made Garneta flinch. She had been caught snooping.

Everyone in the room stared at her at once. The various expressions they showed, made Garneta's guts shrink instantly. Especially with the cold expression given by the man in the corner of the room. Handsome yet creepy!

"What was his name?" asked the man with the name Centauri with one of his friends. Judging from the name tags on their white uniforms, it looked like they were still in school and around the same age as her. Ah, Garneta remembered, it was a typical Skanepal school uniform. Yes, she couldn't be wrong.

"Garneta," her friend replied a little nonchalantly.

Centauri nodded in understanding, "Sit here Ta. You don't have to be afraid, okay?" she invited Garneta kindly. Garneta, who didn't know anything, just complied.

"Are you leaking?" asked Centauri, which made Garneta's cheeks red. The man must have seen the blood on the sheets. God... Garneta was embarrassed. Plus they all seemed to be stifling laughter.

"Sorry..." Garneta squeaked unpleasantly.

"Hahahaha. It's okay, just relax."

"Yes, Ta. Just relax," chimed in Aksa. A man with brown skin. Sweet. One word that can describe Aksa's appearance. He seemed like the softboy type.

"Why did you faint, Ta?" asked Aksa curiously. The others nodded in agreement.

Garneta swallowed her saliva which somehow tasted bitter. How could she explain, when she didn't know anything herself.

"Yes. It's a good thing Alba brought you here," said Centauri with a mouth full of food. Garneta smiled awkwardly. Gosh, could she have passed out on the road and accidentally bumped into Alba? But if so where was her bike now?

"Are you looking for your bike?"

"Eh? Ah, yes," she replied clumsily.

"Your bike is at the repair shop. It's broken because you kicked it earlier." The explanation given by the guy whose name Garneta didn't know, was able to make her dumbfounded. What did he just say? Her bike was damaged because of him? Well, that's not important right now.

"Where's Alba?" asked Garneta bravely. There were at least ten men sitting in this room with her. This didn't look like a home but a base?

"I bought pads for you," Aksa replied clearly. For the second time Garneta's cheeks flushed red again.

"Don't be so stupid, she's embarrassed." Centauri gave Aksa a slap on the head which was returned with a horsey grin.

Garneta's loud screech made them all look at her worriedly and simultaneously approached her. Meanwhile, the girl was biting her lower lip to endure the pain in her waist. This was really embarrassing!

"You're okay, right?"

"Buseett!!! How can I make it not hurt anymore?"

"What do you want Ta? What's the soul promise?"

"Sick, huh, Ta?"

Just as she wanted to scream in anger, a hot tea was thrust in front of her. Garneta looked up and found the cold-faced man who had been silent. Apparently he was quite attentive.

"Thank you," Garneta said. Surprisingly, the man shook his head.

"Thank you," he replied, making Garneta frown in confusion. What was he thanking her for?

"For what?" asked Garneta. Instead of answering, both she and the others looked at him confused. Why, what was wrong with her?

"Don't you remember or did you forget?" said Aksa innocently.

Plak

"Not remembering or forgetting is just stupid!" scolded Fomal.

"Because you have no-"

"Garneta!" someone called from behind her, cutting off the cold-faced man's words. Garneta didn't know his name, because there was no name tag on his uniform. Wanting to ask would be considered pretentious.

"Alba?" she saw Alba standing with her hand holding a pink pad.

"M-thank you," Garneta whispered shyly as Alba gave it to her.

Alba nodded, "Go change," she said as she pointed to the bathroom. Garneta quickly ran in.

After making sure she was really in and hadn't heard their conversation, Alba leaned closer and whispered.

"Garneta has dementia. That's why she forgets," Alba said. The others nodded in understanding.

"Dementia? What disease? I just heard about it," said Aksa curiously.

"She's senile?" said Fomal in a serious tone, but the expression on his face made their stomachs tingle.

"Google it, you idiot, I'll explain it here. No way," Alba replied curtly.

"Are you done?" Garneta nodded vigorously when Alba asked.

"What would you like to eat?" Alba asked nicely. Garneta shook her head badly. Although she was hungry at the moment. One thing crossed Garneta's mind. Her heart became troubled instantly.

She didn't mind if her parents knew that she wasn't going to school today. She could come up with any excuse. But what if Julin found out she skipped school, and met Alba. Garneta couldn't imagine how angry Julin would be with her.

"I'll just take the sheets, okay? I'll come back here later. May I?" Garneta pleaded. As if she knew what Garneta was talking about, Alba shook her head no.

"No, it's okay. Let it go."

"But Al, I feel bad for you," Garneta said awkwardly.

"Just relax Ta. We're not bad either," joked Fomal and the others nodded.

Garneta wandered around looking at each of their faces. All of them were handsome and looked like children of wealthy people. But there was one who made Garneta a little curious. The cold-faced man who gave her hot tea, why did his face look familiar?

Then whether she realized it or not, Garneta looked at the name carved on the wall above the headquarters. The name 'ELDORADO' was clearly written there. It mesmerized Garneta to see it.

Eldorado? Isn't that the famous motorcycle gang? Garneta wondered.

"Yes. You're not wrong Ta."

"Ha?" chuckled Garneta. It was like Alba could hear her heart.

"This is Eldorado's headquarters."

"Wh-what?"

"Welcome to Eldorado, Garneta Tambayong!" said Alba with a horrible grin.