3

Friday was Aaron's day to visit his cousin Raymond. Aaron and Raymond are cousins, and Aaron admires Raymond's kindness and friendliness toward his acquaintances. Raymond had informed Aaron of his approach to his friend, Kate. Aaron did not believe Raymond's story until Raymond sent Aaron a photo of the messages by him to Kate.

How does he get an introverted girl out of their zone?

Raymond's tactics were completely foreign to Aaron. Then he contacted Raymond, saying he would meet him at the café where he worked after school. Aaron gets called to the teacher's room by his teacher to tackle the issue of his peculiar behavior. Aaron sat in front of the principal, with the teacher beside him, in the teacher's room.

"So, there you have it, Aaron. I would like to discuss your strange attitude at school. You are a student with a poor reputation who enjoys hurting other students at school, yet you are also a smart student. What is the reason you have these two opposing characteristics but can employ them effectively? Nothing has changed; different personalities will continue to exist."

Aaron remained silent as he listened to the principal's explanation; what he said was accurate, so he did not know what to do with his attitude. He is the son of a market thug and a typical housewife. Nothing more, he has an attractive cousin who is shy when it comes to communicating with other people. Until now, his guilt-ridden life has made him melancholy.

"Sir, I simply do not want to be bothered by other people. Those who like to disturb me with their noise, on the other hand. I just warned them, not to bully them. I know the teacher was keeping an eye on me throughout recess, right?"

The teacher opened his mouth, unable to believe Aaron was aware of his spying during recess. The principal could only shake his head before telling the teacher to leave his room. The principal stood up and showed Aaron something important to him that the other teachers at school were unaware of.

"You know what I mean, Aaron? I used to have a daughter who was bad and unhappy, just like you. At home, though, she is a caring youngster who loves her family and is concerned about their well-being. Until she was involved in a car accident at the market where your mother works."

An accident?

"Alexa is the name of my daughter. So, now, I requested her to go to the market and get supplies. Without saying anything, she agreed to help me and went to the market. If I am not mistaken, she was carrying a smartphone at the time, so if I forgot something, I could contact her. Then I realized something I did not want but forgot to tell Alexa about. I called her right away to inform her of the situation. She picks up her phone when she hears it ring, but... We only spoke for around 5 seconds.", The principal held Alexa's photo and handed it to Aaron.

"That's when I learned she'd been in a car accident right in the midst of the market."

When Aaron sees Alexa's portrait, he discovers she is his first best friend and the principal's daughter. Aaron, like, was surprised when Alexa died on the first day of high school. They had both hoped that one day they would be in the same class, graduate together, and study together. Until Aaron became a witness to the two of them last meeting.

Flashback…

January 2019.

Aaron wanted to go to Alexa's house at the time. Aaron has just returned from monitoring the market (as part of Mom's daily errands), where he will maintain his promise to Alexa to study together. As he was leaving the Market, he noticed Alexa on the sidewalk with a shopping bag. Aaron yelled her name to no one's attention. Alexa raced to meet Aaron after hearing his shouts. However, …

Because Alexa is unaware of her surroundings, cars pass by at fast speeds. Alexa was hit because she failed to see the road. Aaron immediately dashed towards the mob of residents who had come to Alexa's aid.

"Let us contact an ambulance!! There is a dying girl in here!"

"Faster! We need to save lives! Please do not let this child perish!" said one person to another, who quickly dialed the ambulance number.

Aaron immediately dialed 112 and found an open ambulance. Then he alerted the hospital of the accident's location and dashed to the market to retrieve his motorcycle before heading to the hospital.

Aaron flees to the hospital, wearing only a gray hoodie, training trousers, and a wallet, to catch up to Alexa. When Aaron arrived at the hospital, he witnessed Alexa's body being taken by hospital personnel to be inspected in the intensive care unit. Aaron waited quickly but had to flee when several residents arrived with Alexa's dad (where there is a school principal who acts as her mother).

Alexa… I hope you are safe, please. Stay with me.

Aaron chose to remain in the waiting room. He looked at his photos with Alexa while sitting in the waiting area. Alexa is already considered his sister, although she does not have a sister. It turned out that there was a girl of the same age as Aaron next to him, and then he noticed Aaron's sorrowful expression.

"She's your girlfriend?" asked the girl.

Aaron looked at the girl with wide eyes, "No, she's just a friend… I mean best friend."

"She's in this hospital?"

"Yes, following an accident near the market. We had planned to study together at her place, but time intervened. She just dashed off the sidewalk without looking around, and then...," Aaron couldn't help but cry.

The girl hugged Aaron tightly, "You are not required to cry. You are not mistaken; all you must do is shout out her name. Isn't the call you answered a shout that you wanted to meet her?"

Aaron nodded slowly.

The girl stood up and quickly left, Aaron forgot to thank her.

Who is that girl? I need to thank her.

That is when Aaron noticed Alexa's parents go past him, and the mother sobbed in despair. Aaron rushed to find a doctor who had treated Alexa. Then he inquired about Alexa's health and whether she was safe. However, the doctor sadly shook his head, "Sorry, kid. Your friend's life is not saved, I'm so sorry."

Aaron did not accept the doctor's statements at the time, and Alexa perished as a result.

Alexa, you are not going to abandon me so easily.…

Aaron returns home empty-handed because his cherished best friend was killed in a single accident. As a result of this occurrence, Aaron pledged to himself that he would be a quiet youngster to avoid being caught a second time.

Flashback is complete.

Back to the present, Aaron is still in the principal's office, listening to the principal's ramblings that are causing his head to hurt. Finally, Aaron requested permission to leave the room and return to class right away.

That woman is Alexa's mother, and she perished because of my actions. Hearing her stories about her has made my head hurt. I cannot believe she brought those memories back to me. I know it still hurts, but I need to go on and chart a new course.

When he entered the classroom, he discovered that it was silent; nonetheless, there was no evidence of students. Sandra, on the other hand, was fiddling with her smartphone behind the window. Sandra grinned as she observed Aaron's arrival.

"Good morning, Aaron. What brought you here?"

"Good morning, Sandra. I walked out of the teacher's office after being counseled by the principal about my school behavior."

"Are you irritated by your teacher's reaction to your actions at school? I believe you are a good student; it is just that you cannot seem to forget what is on your mind. Calm down; one day you will be able to fight the mental disaster."

Sandra's words rang true for Aaron. His life's tragedy must be forgotten, not revisited. Even though he feels horrible knowing the principal that Alexa perished in an accident, he does not inform her. When he heard the principal's story, Aaron came into tears.

The school day began with 7 hours of lessons. Aaron noticed Sandra standing in front of the school gates after school had ended.

Sandra, does she have any friends? She appears to prefer to be alone all the time... Let me approach her; she is aware that she is lonely.

When Aaron went to approach Sandra, he noticed she had been picked up by a blue Mitsubishi Panther. And it can be observed that there is a shadow of a woman with a closed dress, hat, and mask in the front seat. Aaron guessed it was Samantha since he recognized the attire Samantha wore when avoiding crowds on television.

Samantha was in Sandra's car for what reason?

Aaron seems perplexed and unconcerned. Then he looked through his phone for texts from Raymond. Is it her that Aaron sees? Or is it anybody else who masquerades as her?

Raymond: Hello, cousin. Where have you gone? Pull up to the café where I am waiting for you. Let us go on to anything else.

Aaron: Ray, I am still in school. I would want to go home for a while before stopping at the cafe.

Raymond: What a remarkable coincidence. I would like to introduce you to someone later; you must be pleased with her.

Aaron: Okay, I would like to meet her.

Raymond: Sure. See you at the café, Aaron.

Aaron: Okay, Ray.

~~~

Aaron went home and changed his clothing before going to the cafe.

Who will Ray introduce me to?

When Aaron arrived at the café, he noticed Raymond serving customers and returned to the cashier. When Raymond noticed Aaron's presence, he became ecstatic and urged Aaron to find an empty seat.

What should he do that for?

Aaron was confused by Raymond's intentions.

'All right, just believe it. Go find an empty seat.,' Raymond beckoned to Aaron with a lecherous expression.

Aaron discovered an open seat. A few minutes later, a woman of Aaron's age sat down in front of him. Aaron could not believe it when the person sat in front of him without saying anything.

"I'm sorry, but who are you? Why are you sitting so casually in this chair?"

The woman does not accept being scolded by Aaron.

"I'm sorry. I am sitting because this chair is specially made for me. Why are you sitting at my table?"

Aaron was feeling confused now, he wanted to scold Raymond but he was at work. Reluctantly, he stood up and left the woman.

Insolent woman.

Aaron sat down in an empty chair near the exit. A few minutes later, Raymond came with the girl.

"So, Aaron..."

"Why is there that girl again? What does she want now, Ray?" Aaron was annoyed.

"Wait, Aaron. Listen, this is Kate. She's a friend I talk to a lot, remember?"

Aaron suddenly remembered yesterday's conversation.

"Aah, the friend you tailed, huh?"

"Hey, I'm not following her! Okay?"

Kate, feeling confused by the interaction between the two of them.

"Raymond, who is he?"

"Kate, this is my cousin. His name is Aaron."

"Ooh, your cousin."

"She's a huge Samantha Elanor fan, you know her, right?"

"Samantha Elanor? Hmm, no.," Kate shook her head not knowing.

"Oh, sorry."

"Okay.," Aaron forgave Kate.

Kate could not believe that Aaron accepted her apology.

"Your cousin is good, too."

"Even though he's like a thug, he's smart."

"Oh yeah?"

"Try the two of you to talk, it must be suitable."

"No, it's late after all. Today's introduction first, tomorrow I will talk again if I can. As long as tomorrow I not busy."

"Ok see you."

Aaron came out of the cafe and immediately went home.

~~~~

That night at home after studying, Aaron was still thinking about the previous incident where he met Kate, Raymond's friend. Subconsciously, he yawned and fell asleep immediately.

Entering dreamland...

You will be in the count---

3…

2…

1.

Enter.

~~~

World of dreams.

Aaron wakes up in an imaginary bed with Samantha beside him. It was seen that they were both half-naked which seemed like they had been intimate. Samantha noticed that Aaron was awake and looked at her happily.

"Morning, honey.," said Samantha while kissing Aaron's cheek.

"Morning too, Sam. What do you want for breakfast today?"

"Bread can be filled with eggs and corned beef, okay?"

"Okay."

Samantha got out of bed and immediately went to the kitchen to cook breakfast for the two of them. Then, she put on a plain white apron, started cooking while dancing beautifully like a ballet ready to practice for a drama performance.

After Aaron got dressed, he headed to the kitchen for breakfast.

"Hmm, it smells good."

"Of course, yes. It's for my beloved husband."

"Oh, I really unbearable with you.", Aaron hugged Samantha while kissing her cheek.

"Oh, I could."

They had breakfast together in the kitchen, quietly.

"So how about today's activities, honey? There's no problem, right?" said Samantha while eating the bread.

"For today, as usual, I must deal with the bitter school life where I must meet the Headmaster to lecture me, even though I feel there is nothing wrong with me. Earlier, I met Kate, she is a friend of my cousin, Raymond."

Samantha seemed to smile, "This Kate seems like a good person."

"Are you sure?"

"Certain."

"Okay, tomorrow I'll talk to him."

"Good, you better get some more sleep. It looks like the trumpet is about to blow."

"Oke see you."

You will return to the original world in a matter of---

3…

2…

1.

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Continued on the next chapter.