A day after I was allowed to go home, I now feel like my body has fully recovered, sometimes I find myself thinking about this super regeneration, I guess it's given me some kind of advantage.
I went to school in the morning like usual, some parts of my body were still wrapped in bandages, but that didn't bother me since the bandages were only on my stomach and chest, I could still hide those wounds under my school uniform. Luckily, it's already winter, so I could also add a scarf wrapped around my neck to cover the bandages there. From the street corner I usually pass, I could see some stores had already started being decorated with Christmas ornaments. I guess there's only about one month and a week left until Christmas. I stopped for a moment. Watching workers putting up long lights hanging beside the streetlamps. They also added some decorations on the lamp posts. Once I was satisfied watching them and the city decorations, I continued my walk toward school.
Here—in front of the school gate, I usually wait for someone to enter with me. I stopped for a moment and looked through the slightly rusty gate bars. They haven't repainted it even though Christmas is coming soon. I didn't worry about it too much, but waiting in front of the gate like this made me miss someone. The hallways in some classrooms were starting to show signs of Christmas decorations. A few classroom doors were decorated with red ribbons and had entrance signs with Santa Claus on top, his hat made out of cardboard. I think I'll suggest this idea for my class later.
The moment I opened my classroom door, Linette suddenly jumped at me when she saw me enter.
"Sylvia!!!!"
She hugged me and cried. A few of my classmates started to crowd around me, asking questions about my absence over the past few days.
"What happened to you?" one of them asked.
At first I wanted to lie, like the scenario made up by Nico and Mr. Yuki, but then I remembered that Linette was part of the fight too.
"Right! What happened to you, Sylvia!" Linette shouted, staring at me sharply.
Eh? Isn't she supposed to know? Or maybe…
"I-it's… kind of hard to explain…"
Linette tilted her head slightly and frowned. "Huh? What do you mean by that?"
"Weren't you there with me? Remember? When we met Andri?"
"Andri? Who's that?"
"Eh? Didn't you already know him? You two met at the shopping mall with me, remember?"
"Shopping mall? With you? When?"
"It's…"
Eh? What's going on? Why can't she remember? And worse… she forgot Andri!?
I shook my head and took a deep breath, then explained everything I went through, "Sorry, the truth is I got hit by a car on the way home. The car skidded because of a flat tire and accidentally hit me while I was walking on the sidewalk."
Hearing that, they all gasped and shouted "WHAT!!!" at the same time. Linette started checking all over my body like she was making sure I was really okay.
"W-what are you doing?" I asked, slightly annoyed.
"Of course I have to check your whole body now, not a single wound should be on you! You're really okay, right!!"
"Y-yeah… more importantly, there's something I need to confirm later."
"What is it?"
I gently shook my head and nudged Linette to sit back down. "Nothing important, I'll explain later."
"Heeehhh…."
– –
Lunch break. I hurried to Andri's class. If I remember right, it's not far from mine since we're in the same grade.
Here it is! Class 2-F. I opened the door and the entire class immediately looked at me. Of course, I stood out here. Ignoring the unfamiliar stares and swallowing my nerves, I stepped further into the classroom and started looking around. It always feels a little weird entering someone else's class.
I found them—two of Andri's close friends I often saw with him. I walked toward them and one of them spoke up. "W-what is it?" asked one of them, the one with a center-parted hairstyle. I think his name is Keant.
Honestly, I don't talk to many boys, especially those my age. He was the only one who, for some reason, made me feel comfortable enough to start doing that more often. Nervous and unsure, I finally worked up the courage to speak to them.
"T-there's something I want to ask you two. Sorry, but could you spare a bit of your time for me?"
They exchanged glances, and suddenly the boy next to Keant—with a round face and a buzz cut—shouted, "Y-yeah! Of course!"
I took them to the rooftop. It was colder than I expected. The damp air made some of my wounds sting slightly. The cloudy sky blocked the sun, making the afternoon a bit dark. Maybe once this is over, it'll start snowing—or maybe by the time school ends.
I turned around and stared off for a moment, and faintly, I could hear whispering behind me from Keant and Ghoell.
"Oi… what's going on? Why did she bring both of us here?"
"I-I don't know, maybe she does have something to talk about. Still, it's not nice to whisper behind her back like this."
"Ah! True… but aren't you curious too, Keant?"
"Yeah, of course! What if you did something again?"
"What? Of course not, you idiot!"
I could hear them clearly, but I pretended not to, just to keep the mood from getting worse.
I turned around and looked at both of them standing close.
"S-so why did you suddenly b-bring us here…"
Why is he stuttering like that? Whatever. "Sorry for suddenly dragging you two here, there's something I need to ask you."
"I see, what is it?"
Keant seemed more approachable than Ghoell, whose face was still nervously stiff and voice shaky.
"Maybe I should just get to the point—are you two friends with someone named Andri?"
As I asked that, they just stared at each other, clearly confused, until Ghoell answered.
"Andri? Who?"
"Eh? You guys don't have a friend named Andri?"
They both shook their heads in sync. "I don't remember ever knowing someone named Andri. Do you, Ghoell?" Keant asked.
"Didn't I just say 'Who's Andri?' Why are you asking me again…"
"Oh, right. Haha, sorry."
With a slightly raised voice, I tried to confirm again. "Is there really no student in your class named Andri? Andri Brandt, he's in the same class as you!"
The tension spiked, but somehow Keant managed to ease the awkward air.
He shook his head gently. "Sorry, I know everyone in my class, but there's no one named 'Andri Brandt' like you said."
"S-so… is he your boyfriend?..." Ghoell asked nervously.
"W-what? No, it's not like that," I replied, mumbling, "this is weird…"
"Sylvia… what's going on?" Keant asked as he stepped slightly closer.
"Sorry, it's nothing. Just forget about it."
Right after saying that, I left the two of them on the rooftop. I ran quickly back to my classroom and sat down, feeling drained as I stared at the clouded ceiling above.
I whispered softly, "Andri…" and buried my face into my scarf.
For some reason, it really started to bug me. If he's truly been forgotten in this world, then I have to find him. No—not yet. A while ago when Nico visited me, he still remembered Andri clearly. I need to talk to him and go over all these strange things happening. But before that, there's still one more person I want to ask about Andri.
I started to feel a little more hopeful again. Peeking out from behind my scarf, I looked up and saw a faint, glimmering light above the clouds.
"What is that…."
– –
I took my shoes from the locker and headed out of school. Just as I was about to step outside, a snowflake suddenly landed right on my nose. I looked up. A few snowflakes started falling slowly and gently drifted downward. Looks like my guess was right—snow tends to fall fastest in the afternoon after school.
I took a step and walked away from the school gate, which was slowly being closed by the security guard on duty.
In the middle of the snowfall that was now starting to get heavier and covering the leaves on the trees, I stopped near the garden, lit faintly by a lamp near the fence. A few fireflies swirled quickly around the base of the lamp.
As I stood there daydreaming, watching the garden slowly covered in snow, a golden-yellow butterfly suddenly passed right in front of me like it was trying to get my attention.
It worked. That butterfly managed to pull me out of my daze as I stared blankly at the snow-covered garden.
The butterfly slowly flew upward and in an instant disappeared into the falling snow that was now getting heavier. Right where the butterfly vanished—up in the slightly overcast sky—I saw a faint shining light. I tried squinting to see it more clearly, but the snow kept blocking my view.
"Hahh…"
A puff of white steam escaped my mouth as I let out a heavy sigh from the fatigue.
Maybe I should head home quickly before my hands freeze.
I opened the front door of my house and looked around. No one was there. Could it be that Dad and Mom went out to prepare dinner? After all, it's already late—it's 4:30 now. If they did go out to buy ingredients, then I'll probably have to wait at least another hour.
I placed my shoes on the shoe rack and noticed a few maids were busy in the kitchen. They greeted me when they saw me and said the madam was waiting for me in the family room. Hearing that, I hurried over—most likely Mom was relaxing in there. I didn't expect her to be this calm, considering how worried she'd been yesterday.
I walked into the family room and saw my mom sitting on the sofa. Her legs were stretched out, and her hair was tied up in a bun like she just came back from the salon. She was reading a magazine, though I couldn't see the cover, and next to her was a plate of cookies and a steaming cup of tea.
"Mom," I said.
"Ah, Sylvia, my sweetheart, you're home!? Come here—these cookies are perfect with the tea I brought back from Switzerland yesterday."
I sat down in front of her and dropped my bag beside me. "Snacking before dinner is a bit too much."
As she took a sip of tea, Mom turned her focus back to the magazine. "I'm on a diet!" she said.
"No one on a diet eats snacks at this hour."
"T-this is just a warm-up, you know. People in the old days used to do stuff like this when they were about to start dieting."
I knew that was just one of Mom's excuses to eat the snacks she'd brought home from abroad. Honestly, I kind of liked that part of her—her not-so-honest side—and I'm glad I didn't inherit it.
"By the way, Mom, can I talk to you for a bit?"
Mom picked up a cookie and tossed it into her mouth, leaving a little smudge of lipstick behind on her lips.
"What?" she answered.
"Do you remember a few weeks ago, when you and I went shopping together?"
Mom slightly raised her head and started to think back. "Ah, if I'm not mistaken… that was almost a month ago, right?"
Really? That long? I thought it had just happened yesterday. Oh well.
"So why bring that up all of a sudden? Ah! Don't tell me you want to go shopping again for Christmas?" she added.
Not a bad idea—we do need more decorations and ornaments for Christmas—but that's not why I brought it up. I took a breath and got ready to ask. "Do you remember, while we were at one of the stores, you met a boy around my age?"
"A boy your age… I think I passed by a group of boys around your age while we were walking that day."
"No, that's not what I meant. When you were about to enter the store—when you were behind me—you saw me talking to a boy around my age, right? His name was Andri. Do you remember?"
Mom lifted her head again and tried to recall. "Andri… This is the first time you've mentioned him to me. Is he your boyfriend?"
Ugh, the boyfriend question again. It annoyed me a little, but I didn't feel like denying it. Anyone would probably think that if I started talking about another boy.
"No! You really don't remember? Didn't you talk to him too? You even gave him your phone number!"
"Sylvia… I don't know if you're trying to talk about the shopping trip or this boy named Andri," Mom said, closing her magazine and leaning her face closer to mine, "But if you're trying to talk about romance stuff, I've got over 1000 tips ready for you."
I ran to my room and threw my bag onto my slightly messy bed. I jumped and flopped down, letting the blanket cover my whole body.
"Why… why doesn't anyone remember him…" I muttered, peeking slightly from under the blanket.
The snow began to fall harder, and the moonlight shining through my window slowly dimmed and disappeared. A sense of unease started to build in my chest. I think… tomorrow I need to see him. I need to talk to him and figure this out.