As soon as I passed through the student hall's door and got away from the crowd, I was blocked by a peculiar human.
"Ah, there you are, Uril!"
So shouted the boy with a face that rivals a Korean idol as he waved his hand at me. That was Sukiman, nicknamed Kim, a friend from my middle school. The palm of his other hand, stretched away from his armpit, was sitting comfortably on a girl's shoulder. He seemed troubled by the sudden fangirl flocking around him.
"Hey," I greeted him, nonchalantly casual. As I had no time to attend to him, I immediately turned my body away from him. "Bye."
"Oi, wait!" He cried for help. He probably needed me to scare away the girls around him. However, I thought of that as an unnecessary hassle, so I left him with his problems. As our distance grew, his calling of my name gradually fainted.
My first objective was to ascertain Shakira's presence inside the school grounds since I couldn't get in touch with her. For that, I took the stairs to the first floor and went straight towards class 1-A-A.
I looked around the class as soon as I arrived. A few visitors were looking at our small gallery. On the very center, furthest from the door, was Sasa, along with that one forgettable guy. Sasa stood there in a Kebaya, hosting the visitors. It meant that she was acting as the replacement for Shakira. How she came into that position, I didn't know.
It was kind of a relief when I knew that Shakira didn't come to school. Now that the first objective was accomplished, I moved on to my second quest.
I stepped into the class and approached Sasa. Since it was yet time for the performance, she didn't seem all that busy. "Sasa."
The girl before me gave me a face that seemed like a mixture of confusion, concern, fear, and fatigue. "Hi, Uril."
"Where's Indah?"
"Um," Sasa looked away from my eyes, thinking of what to say to me. "Actually... I haven't got news from her since this morning."
Having heard her reply, I turned away from her and looked out the window. My body was even more restless than before.
'Where the heck is she in this kind of situation?' I gave myself an expression of distress.
"Have you seen Laras?" I asked Sasa again.
"Er... No."
Her answer made it worse. I know neither Indah's nor Laras' address. Nevertheless, my uneasy body kept telling me to move. Futile as it might be, I should try to find them on the school grounds.
As I turned my body towards the door, Sasa said, "Calm down, Uril. Everything is going to be alright. Believe it."
Though perhaps her attempt to make me calm seemed like putting down a bonfire with a measly drop of water. I smiled at her for a moment and left the classroom.
****
I searched the school thoroughly. From class 1-A-A, I went upstairs to the third floor and looked at each and every nook and cranny to find Laras. Or possibly, I could meet Indah and consult her on Shakira's matter.
The third floor above ground would be where the third-year students reside. I entered all of the eight classes, and my search resulted in vain, as I couldn't find my target.
From there, I went one floor below and did the same as before. No avail.
I looked around again. This time I searched around the first-year classes, to save my class. I entered every class with hope, anger, and anxiety mixed.
It turned out that my hope was broken once again as I couldn't see Laras. What I saw, though, was Sukiman. Only one girl was accompanying him now, which is significantly lower compared to the flock of girls a while back.
He was a person I had appointed to meet with last night, but that was negligible with the rising problem I had. Thus, without greeting him, I turned my body away from the class he visited and went towards the stairs to search for Laras once again.
It was then that my middle school friend shouted, "Oi, Uril! Wait up!"
Of course, I hadn't the slightest intention to wait for him, so I didn't slow my pace. It turned out that he tried to walk faster than me, and as soon as he caught up to me, he patted my back and said, "Buddy, what's wrong?"
"I'm looking for someone." I said without pausing my steps.
"Who? I'll find the person for ya."
"No, thanks." I said without batting an eye at him. Not only that he was uninvolved in the case, but it was also that I didn't have the time to explain the problem. It was nice of him to offer help, but that help was undeserved.
"Stop, Uril." Sukiman, a.k.a Kim, Walked ahead and blocked my route. I tried to brush past him, but he kept getting in my way.
"What is this?" I said as I expressed my anger with a glare.
"Geez. Calm down for a moment." He said as he massaged his temple, seemingly getting a headache.
'I'm the one with a headache here, you freak.' I muttered inside instead of expressing it overtly.
"Why don't you get help to find that person?" He asked again upon not receiving any response from me.
"This is my problem and I don't want to involve you."
Kim stroked his temple even more vigorously than before, indicating that his headache got worse. "Sometimes I don't get you, man."
His response made my mood get even sourer, thinking that it was an unnecessary distraction from him. I went past him and pressed on, to which he once again picked up his pace.
"Hold on, hold on." He tried to block my way once again, but the same trick won't work. I increased my velocity as soon as I detected his walk got faster. Before long, we were on the school ground
"I won't get in contact with the person you're looking for, but when I see that someone, I'll contact you. How about that? I want to help, dude. I mean it."
My legs paused at his offer. I wanted to reminisce about the times he helped me, but there was no time for that. If only Indah was present, I wouldn't be running around the whole school by myself. But it was the truth that she wasn't there when the world needed her the most.
"Alright," I said, persuaded by his ideas. I took out my phone and swiftly showed him Laras' LINE profile picture. "She's the one I'm looking for."
For a moment, Kim let out a faint smile. He seemed like he just had a weird thought in his head. "Got it."
As soon as he said his confirmation, we split apart to cover more searching areas.
While I did search in several places in the school, there was a possibility that I missed encountering her.
So I went to the canteen. The area was bustling with visitors, and steams were emanating from the open kitchen behind the stalls. The cooking club was busy cooking, while the research club, as part of the joint effort, was busy handling orders from those who wanted to eat. Some of them were also distributing questionnaires and taking documentation.
I looked at every visitor's face. There were no Laras in them. Disappointed by my findings or a lack thereof, I left the canteen.
At that moment, the wild human in my hit list appeared before my eyes. Laras, along with some of her friends, were gleefully conversing as they walked towards the canteen. That she-devil was wearing a face so innocent that no one would suspect her of any wrongdoings.
But she didn't appear sinless in my eyes. The facts of her doings last night made my blood boil even hotter than before, urging me to have an encounter with her.
"Oi," I called her out disrespectfully. She rotated her head to me, and before she even had a chance to react, I grabbed her wrist. "Come with me."