We, From The First
#15. Competing With the Past is Heavy
"I will never, ever regret the things I've done. Because most days, all you have are places in your memory that you can go to."
^^^ - Jojo Moyes, Me Before You^^^
...****...
Rakha, Aira, Rio, Yumi, Natta, and Bia are seen gathering together at the same table at Rio's Coffee Shop, while discussing the grating of the English exam which is the last subject tested on the midterm tomorrow morning. Everything seems serious. Sometimes they are seen discussing, and both solve problems that they do not understand. And Rakha's there, helping his friends.
As they are engrossed in their busy lives, Nico, Nana, and Sheryl come together and approach them. Sheryl is shocked to see Natta in their midst. Lately, Natta rarely joins any group study, which is why Sheryl had thought that Natta did not come.
Realizing that Sheryl is about to leave, Natta hastily restrains Sheryl's wrist while remaining focused on taking down something in her notebook. What Natta did, of course, made his friends who were there feel a little surprised. Natta then shifted his sitting position while saying, "just sit down. Don't go."
Sheryl is about to dodge when Yumi suddenly gets up from her chair and makes Sheryl sit next to Natta by force. In times like these, the soul of thug Yumi is indeed very beneficial.
"Udah lo diem. Don't make a fuss. We're all busy." Said Yumi before finally returning to the original place.
Nico naturally takes a position next to Aira, while Nana who has begun to sensitize deliberately relented and sat next to Bia, and faced directly with Nico. Nana seemed to be the audience, while Nico and Aira who were sitting side by side right in front of her became the main characters today.
Aira was seen trying to smile kindly at Nana, who was immediately greeted with a smile and a wave of hands from Nana.
Not only that, when Nana lifted her face from the printed book she read, accidentally, her gaze was fixed on Nico's gentle gesture that pushed the snack plate slowly in front of Aira. Aira turned her head towards Nico, and Nico did the same thing while saying without volume to Aira; 'eat first' .
Aira also ate one of the cup cakes on the plate, then pushed the plate plan back to Nico with a signal so that Nico took a snack as well.
Nana smiled sorely watching the pretty sweet scene. Whether Nico or Aira, they both look natural when doing everything. From the way they looked at each other, anyone knew that they had been very close for a long time.
"Sher, if Natta doesn't want to reverse the same lo, you're the same as me." Said Rio suddenly who deliberately wanted to heat up Natta. But Natta, who he tried to heat, did not seem to care and remained focused on his record.
As the others laughed at Rio's flirting, Sheryl immediately threw her puplen towards Rio with a murderous look. But Rio deftly managed to catch the puplen. Rio then stuck out his tongue and said, "no need."
"Udah, Yo! Back away. Rivals from his past. Weight." Rakha's back chirps make everyone there laugh, except Sheryl and Natta of course. This time Sheryl throws the keys of Rio's motorcycle towards Rakha, and again fails because it was captured by Rakha.
In addition to Sheryl and Natta, there is also Nana who did not laugh at all hearing Rakha's curse just now. Instead of laughing, Nana actually felt that Rakha's careless curse had struck her chest mercilessly. Nana felt stifled for no reason.
"Return. Rivals from his past. Weight."
The words continued to lurk in Nana's mind nonstop. But even so, Nana still tried to look calm and refocused on the material she was studying at this time.
Nana let out a long sigh so that her chest could be slightly relieved. He returned with a smile on his face, and laughed as the others laughed at Sheryl and Natta.
...****...
After the relationship between Nico and Aira improved again, they began to go through the days as before. They joked, ate together, chatted again at two in the morning when Aira could not sleep, and exercised the other morning as before. Aira tried to understand Nico's position, as well as Nico who tried to refrain from asking Aira anything.
"Lake in!" Nico continued to play a game on his phone when he heard someone knocking on his bedroom door.
A moment later, the door opened and greeted Aira from behind the door, "Nic, can you flash, right? I'm moving files for a presentation tomorrow. The flash drive I don't know where I've been looking for." Said Aira while carrying her laptop which is still open.
"It's at the study table. Take it yourself." Answer Nico while staying focused on the game.
Aira came closer to Nico's study table. After finding what he was looking for, he sat down on a sofa that had his back to Nico's bed. Aira connected the flash to her laptop. And as he was copying the files, his attention was suddenly drawn to the file that Nico named '2009'.
Unable to hold back her curiosity, Aira quietly opened the file. And his laughter immediately broke when he saw the photos of Nico Junior High with his alay style.
"Hahahaha, ever been alay too, Nic?"
Aira's laughter immediately startled Nico. When he realized what Aira was seeing, Nico was aghast, and hurriedly jumped out of his bed to stop Aira, before he looked further.
Realizing that Nico was about to approach her, Aira hurriedly pulled the flash from her laptop. And just as Aira was about to escape, Nico first managed to stop her.
"Aira, don't you think?" Nico said while trying to snatch the flash from Aira's hand.
Aira raised her arm then slightly kept it away so that Nico could not grab it. Aira wants to escape, but her position has now been held by Nico and makes it difficult to find a gap.
Subconsciously, Nico added his strength to make Aira cornered in the corner of the sofa with the body that had been attached to Nico's body. Their faces were only a few inches away. Just then, Aira instantly stopped her laughter with her arms still raised. So did Nico who automatically stopped his movement.
They both freeze. Aira's laughter and Nico's voice were no longer heard. And suddenly, Nico's gaze turned soft.
Degh's!
At the same time, Aira's heart reacted immediately.
Nico could feel the vibration. Their heartbeats are now clashing against each other. Time seemed to stop at that second, when they could both feel their warm breath sweeping across each other's faces.
Then when Aira was off guard, Nico immediately found a gap. With her movements that were no less gentle than her current gaze, her hands slowly climbed up the raised arm of Aira. He also managed to take over the flash. His hand naturally lowered Aira's raised arm. As their hands united, and fell quietly on the sofa, Aira could feel Nico's face getting closer to hers.
One...
Aira involuntarily clasped Nico's hand.
Two...
His eyes closed slowly, waiting with a pounding what would happen next.
And, three...
He suddenly felt Nico shake his head while saying, "don't like the prank! Why do you keep all your eyes closed?"
Aira opened her eyes. He snorted annoyedly at Nico who looked relaxed with his evil smile. Does Nico know what he just did to Aira? Aira's heart almost exploded.
"We're the same, Naira Kelana!" Ledek Nico while rubbing Aira's hair. He did it as if he was rubbing Snowy – favorite cat Aira.
Aira who was already feeling very annoyed, mixed in shame, immediately brushed off Nico's hand violently from her head. He then got up, and stomped on Nico's feet as hard as he could, making the man grimace in pain.
Aira stepped out of Nico's room while slamming the door, accompanied by Nico's laughter.
And as soon as Aira had disappeared from his sight, Nico suddenly stopped his laughter while staring blankly at the door. Then he sighed softly. Trying to control his irregular heartbeat.
...****...
That night Nana entered her mother's room carrying her pillow. He slept next to his mother and hugged her tightly. His mother who was just about to fall asleep, suddenly gasped, and turned towards the Princess only wayangnya.
"Nana ngagetin me, uh!" Said his mother while landing a slow punch on Nana's arm that hugged her stomach.
"Nana's going to sleep with me tonight." Nana tightened her embrace. He then drowned his face in the mother's chest. His mother laughed a little, then hugged Nana back.
"Why? Still confused about the choice to study here with Nico, or want to continue the scholarship to Germany?"
"Nana seems to have a decision." Nana replied softly with her face still resting comfortably on her warm mother's chest.
Since childhood, Nana has lived alone with her mother. Her father died when Nana was six years old. And from that moment on, Nana must be able to get used to her family's shortcomings. The needs of their lives, borne by the pension funds of late Nana's father who still routinely they receive every month. In addition, his mother worked as a tailor to be able to help meet their daily needs.
Nana's life is not like other teenage girls. He was able to attend Patuh Karya High School also because he got a scholarship. As long as he lived, he relied only on his brain. Not a day goes by without studying desperately. But even so, Nana grows up to be a teenage girl who has a good personality. He has friends who can accept him regardless of his background. And also, of course he has a sweet girlfriend like Nico. Until here, Nana felt enough, and was always grateful. He never regretted the life he lived now.
"Mom, Nana promised Mom. One day Nana will become a rich man, and can fulfill all the wishes of Mother. Wait for Nana to be successful, huh, Mom?"
His mother laughed again. He then kissed Nana, and began to close his eyes to sleep. While Nana, unbeknownst to her mother, she shed tears in her mother's arms.
Nana has made her decision about her education. No matter how much she likes Nico, she has a mother she should be happy with, and she should fulfill her dreams. And Nana will never regret any choice she made in the past, or in the present. Nico was a part of every moment. And although Nico may not be there again in his future moments, Nana is happy to remember every moment he has been with Nico in the past.
After all, from the beginning, Nico's heart was never with her, was it?
To Be Continued...^^^