Shane and Kara walked out of one of the college classes. The two of them, especially Kara, seemed to be walking in a very grouchy manner.
"You still haven't heard from that brat, Shane?" Kara snorted.
Shane shook his head. "Nope. The one who replies to my messages is always Mimi. She said Evan was still locked up in his room. Mr. Williams also answered the same thing when I asked him.
Kara's teeth clenched. She was clearly holding herself back from screaming in annoyance. "I know he's still sad because. But, how come he shut himself up for three days? Doesn't he think that the people around him will be worried, huh?"
They continued on their way, down the hall with the other students, turning at an intersection to get to the parking lot.
"Looks like, we still have to go to his house, Kara. Even though he asked us to leave him alone." Shane suggested.
"I agree. If necessary, I'll drag him out of his room!" Kara started cracking her fingers.
Just leaving the campus building, they were blocked by several people: one girl and two boys. The girl, black-haired, with heavy makeup, and wearing a fashionable but tight outfit, looked at Kara arrogantly.
Kara puts on a smile. "Good afternoon, seniors. Is there anything I can help with?"
Shane could only swallow hard because he got an unfriendly impression from that girl.
"Hey, look at the boy. He looks scared because of you. " One of the boys — wearing glasses and a hat — whispered to the girl.
"Yes, don't let your jealousy of her beauty make you unwilling to ask nicely, Bianca." The other boy — short and a little chubby — added.
The girl named Bianca immediately bit her lip in annoyance. Kara then widened her smile. The whispers of the two boys just now can still be heard clearly.
"Good." Bianca scratched her hair in a huff, then flashed a forced smile. "Hello, Kara. I'm Bianca, the one with the glasses is Roy, and the short one is Mike. We are members of the student council."
"Okay ..." Kara kept her smile on.
Roy took one step forward. "We just want to ask, do you know where Kevin is? It has been three days since he came to campus. We've contacted him via cellphone, but his number is not active. We have also come to his house. But it's empty."
Kara and Shane exchanged glances for a moment.
"So, you know about Kevin, don't you?" Bianca asked again. His body was twitching impatiently.
"Errr... Why are you asking me about Kevin?" Kara asked in a careful tone.
"Because we heard that you were very close to Kevin," Mike explained. "Well, maybe you can tell us where he is? His role in the student council is very important. We really need him."
Kara gaped while blinking her eyes. "I'm close to him? What are you talking about? Kevin indeed came to me several times, but we're not exactly close either."
Now, Bianca, Roy, and Mike exchanged glances.
"Is it true?" Roy asked in a tone full of inquiry. "He said it himself, you and he have dated a few times and almost every night the two of you talk on the phone."
Kara's mouth immediately drops to its fullest. Meanwhile, Shane was just scratching his hair in confusion.
"Seeing your expression, I can already guess that Kevin is lying." Bianca wore a victorious smile. "His pride is damaged because you don't want to be invited by him, so he spreads nonsense .... Aah, I am talking about insignificant things. Forgive me. If you don't know anything, we'll just leave then."
Kara hasn't replied to the words yet, but Bianca has already left. The two boys initially gawked in surprise at Kara's words, but then waved their hand and walked away.
"Well, we are lucky," Shane whispered when the three of them were far away. "We are still allowed to carry out normal activities, while no one knows about Kevin's fate. They even said that the house was empty. I don't know what happened to his family. And I don't want to think about it."
Kara tightened her grip on the straps of the bag she was carrying on her back. "Yes, we are very very lucky."
***
In his room, which was dark because the curtains were closed, Evan sat on the floor in silence. His eyes that were very gloomy from lack of sleep stared at a jumbo bag of potato chips that was placed on a chair.
It's been a while since he showered. Hell, he even forgot the last time he changed his clothes.
His body was weak due to lack of rest and lack of food. However, he had not given up yet. When he feels relieved after bringing Popo back, he promises to go out and do activities as usual.
He considered activities such as eating, sleeping, bathing, and going to college as a waste of time. Instead of wasting time, he better try to give life to that one bag of potato chips.
Even now he felt like he was wasting time. He was silent not without reason. It had been three days since he had been continuously turning on his power. Now, his hands were tingling violently and couldn't feel anything. The hand felt like it was not his own.
Even so, he still didn't want to give up. He won't be able to calm down until he feels the warmth of Popo.
Therefore, for the umpteenth time, the young man stretched out his hand to reach for that bag of potato chips. Then, he tried to focus. This time it took quite a while for his right hand to give off a dim light. Mimi said it happened because Evan was too tired, so he couldn't activate the power faster.
"Please." Evan hissed in a hoarse voice.
After that, Evan could only wait in silence. Seconds turned into minutes. Evan continued to wait with slow breaths.
Unfortunately, instead of feeling the warmth as a sign that the object had been successfully given life, the light in his hand quickly vanished.
"Don't ... Please ... Don't ..." Evan shook his head. Her tears began to fall. "Oh, Popo ...."
Now, there was no more light coming from Evan's hand. The young man buried his head in the foam of the chair, letting his tears continue to come out.