CHAPTER 15 : She's Lied

"I'm late."

 Deandra kept muttering the same sentence in his mind.  With his head held high up, the young man froze while staring at a body that hanging and swinging lightly in front of him.

 Pale faces and horrified whispers were heard all around.  The students  who filled the surroundings made this room feel cramped.  But of course, it had no effect on the beautiful lady up there.

 Because from now on, Erika Salma doesn't need oxygen to fill her lungs anymore.

 A thousand questions raced through Deandra's mind.  Why?  How could it be?  Even though last night, just last night.  The young girl sent a string of messages that Dean was late reading.  Even the message is still displayed on the cellphone screen that is currently in his hand.

*Ten Minutes Before*

"So? Is it true that a toss of pots hits you as soon as you get home?" Ivan laughed.

 By his side, Devan seemed to be trying not to laugh.  Meanwhile on the other hand, there is Deandra with an annoyed face and both cheeks are flushed red.

 "Yeah… as soon as I opened the front door, there was a floating pot."  Dean snorted in annolaughe

 Suddenly Ivan laughed louder than before.  Their journey from the entrance gate to the classroom was long and fun.  Especially for Ivan and Devan who got a rare chance to laugh at Deandra.

 Sick of hearing Ivan continuing to laugh at him along the school hallways, Dean chose to occupy himself with his cell phone.  But when he took the rectangular object out of his pocket, Dean realized that his cell phone was dead.

 "Ah ... no wonder mom was furious last night."  Dean muttered.  His footsteps stopped in the middle of the stairs leading to the second floor.

 Seeing their friend stop his step, Ivan and Devan reflexively stopped as well and simultaneously looked at Dean.

 "Your phone is dead?  Damaged?  Want to buy a new one?  I'll tell Papa later."  Ivan asked so innocently.

 "No, maybe squeezed.  It can live anyway."  Dean showed him the screen of his phone which slowly turned on.

 Feeling the problem has been resolved, Devan chooses to move on first.

 "Come on!"  he said curtly.

 Ivan immediately followed his twin brother up the stairs.  But not with Deandra.  The young man remained in place and instead looked glued to his cellphone screen.

 "Dude!  Come on!"  Devan was getting annoyed.

 "Dean, what's wrong?"  out of curiosity, Ivan actually went back down to Deandra.

 Deandra was glued to a series of incoming messages that appeared on his cellphone screen.  To Ivan, it was an ordinary message sent by an unnamed number.  However, Deandra who knew who sent this message showed a different reaction.

 "Dean!  This is Erika.  Save my number!  Okay?"

 "By the way, what's pocket friendly?!  I've run out of money for you!  Tomorrow, I'll be the one asking for a treat."

 "Well, that's if I can go to school tomorrow anyway.  I guess I'll be on trial first.  Haha."

 "Oh yeah, I wanted to say that too.  I will speak frankly to my parents tonight.  I just hope he doesn't get mad!"

 "It's not because of you!  Don't be big head!  I can only think straight now!"

 "Okay?  So I'll explain more tomorrow!  Pray for me!"

 A row of messages studded with sticker, Dean read in his mind.  The message was sent at seven-thirty last night.  An amused feeling rose in this young man's heart when he imagined what kind of face Erika made when that girl was writing all these messages to him.

 "I wonder how it will turn out."  His mind mumbled.

 "Oh?  You gave your number to Erika?"  Ivan interrupted Deandra's daydream.

 "Erika our classmate?"  Devan replied as he stepped down the stairs to approach his brother and friend.

 "Hm… yes you could say that."  Dean answered in an unconvincing manner.

 "What kind of girl do you think Erika is?"  This time Dean asked back while looking at Ivan and Devan alternately.

 Devan was silent for a moment.  Trying to remember what the Erika he knew was like.  From his face, he looked like he was deep in thought.  Though in truth he even had trouble remembering what the girl's face looked like.

 "Erika huh… many say she's a problem child.  Bullies, gang members, basically good kids usually stay away from her and her gang."  Ivan answered while holding his chin with his right hand.

 "So now you with Erika?  And what about Amelia?"  said Devan.

 "Me and Erika are not that close either.  We just met last night and well… chatted a bit."

 "After chatting for a bit she immediately asked for your number?"  Devan started to sneer.

 This time Dean was silent with an annoyed expression on his face.  He didn't like it because Devan felt like he was interrogating him.  In their midst, of course, there was always Ivan who was ready to separate if the two of them got into a fight for who knows how many times.

 "Excuse me!  Excuse me I want to pass!"

 The tension between the three of them was broken when a girl burst into their midst then hurriedly descended the stairs.

 "What the fuck is wrong with you?!"  Devan who was annoyed unconsciously snapped at the girl and made the girl stop in her tracks in surprise.

 "There was a suicide in our class!  I'm going to call the teacher!"  The girl said in a panic.  Then without further explanation she left.

 Ivan and Devan fell silent in confusion.  Suicide is a rare thing, especially in schools.  Who would bother coming to school just to kill themselves?  That's what they thought.

 But in the middle, Dean just didn't want to waste time thinking.  Random memories flashed through his head when he forced his legs to walk fast, even run.  Passing through the hall to the crowd that has been seen at the end there.

 "Even in real life, quiet times don't last forever.  So be prepared."

 The words that Mirage had spoken last night echoed in his ears again.  Followed by Devan and Ivan, Deandra rushed through the crowd.  Then when he reached the center of the room, Dean was stunned by the sight before his eyes.

 "ERIKA!!"

 Deandra turned.  Suddenly the crowd behind him split to give way to a middle-aged woman who was hysterically outside the room.  The woman might immediately hit Deandra because of her panic if Ivan didn't immediately pull Dean aside.

 "Psst that's Erika's mother."

 "Very pity."

 Whispers of pity were heard all around.  Erika's mother's hysterical cries dominated the room.  Deandra, who was standing closest to the middle-aged woman, could only look at her with a shocked expression that was still clearly visible.

 Seeing how Erika's mother wept and pitied under her daughter's body made Dean reminisce about random snippets from his past life.  His hands were cold, his legs were stiff.  Maybe even Dean had forgotten to breathe when seen from his face that was so pale.

 Deandra wanted to look away from this scene before his eyes but he couldn't.  No, until finally something darkened his eyes.  It was Devan who suddenly covered Dean's eyes with one hand.

 "Dev?"  Ivan called out in a low voice when he saw his twin's attitude.

 "We're going home now.  We can't learn in this state.  Van, call Mr. Budi."  Devan said as he dragged Dean through the crowd and out of the classroom.

 "O okay…." Ivan stammered.

 Ivan quickly took his cell phone out of his pocket and called the family driver.  While walking, he followed Devan who was dragging Dean who still looked silent.

 In accordance with what Devan said, not long after they got home from school all the students were sent home.  The school was closed for three days for investigation.  The police came to unfurl a yellow ribbon around class 11 SAINS 2.

 Within three days the news about Erika was not only a hot topic at school but also almost all residents of Jayaraya city.  Becaus Nusa high school is one of the elite schools in the city, the news spread faster than expected.

 On the fourth day, all the children returned to school.  But something was different, class 11 SAINS 2 was moved to another corner of the second floor.  It was quite a distance from their previous class.  The teacher said it was temporary because their class was still being used for investigation.

***

 "Dean, eat."  A sentence that was not expected to come out of Devan's mouth finally came out.

 It wouldn't have been, if the young man across the table hadn't started acting like his twin brother.

 "Dean want some meatballs?  Here you go-"

 "Ivan.  You eat too."  Devan cut in quickly before Ivan actually gave his food to Deandra's bowl which was still full.

 Ivan snorted and put on a sullen face.  That's normal for Devan.  What was unusual was the look of Dean across their table.  The young man had been looking sluggish and silent.

 "What happened to Erika wasn't your fault.  Stop being bothered."  Despite his nonchalant way of speaking, the fact that Devan was trying to calm Dean still couldn't be denied.

 "I don't think it's my fault either.  I just don't understand why it turned out this way."  Dean answered.  His gaze was dead.

 The more Dean thought about it, the more his head hurt with every conjecture.  But he couldn't stop thinking either.  The case of Erika's death really bothered him even though it had been four days since the incident.

 "I'm sure that night she really changed her mind."  Dean said in a mumble.  His voice was swallowed by the crowd of the cafeteria so that neither Devan nor Ivan heard it.

 Devan gave up on persuading Deandra.  In the end he busied himself with his own food and ignored both Ivan and Dean who were both unruly.  For a moment, they did not speak to each other.

 Busy with each other's thoughts made none of these three young men aware that the noise around them, slowly turned into whispers commenting on the two large men who were approaching in firm steps to their table.

 "Are you Deandra Atma Wijaya?"

 Dean turned his head when a grown man's unfamiliar voice spoke his name.  That's when he realized that now there were two men in uniform standing looking suspiciously at him.

 "Yes, right."  Dean answered with his brows furrowed in confusion.

 "We are from the police.  We were ordered to bring you to the office for an investigation into the case of Erika Salma's death."

 Instantly the whole cafeteria made a commotion.  The adult man in uniform had raised many questions in the minds of the students with a few simple sentences.

 The most astonished, of course, was Deandra himself, as well as Ivan and Devan who were flabbergasted in their respective seats.  Little did these three young men know, what was happening right now was just the beginning.

 To be continued....