Day One of School: A Tumultuous Morning
[Adrian's POV]
Two days later, on the first day of school, early in the morning, "tridid... tridid," the sound of a smartphone alarm rang out. "Ugh," Adrian woke up. He turned and grabbed his smartphone from beside his pillow, his eyes immediately widening as the time showed 07:45.
"Aaaah, today's the first day of school... Oh no, I'm super late. I'll miss the ceremony. Well, the important thing is just to get there," Adrian muttered.
He immediately jumped down and ran to the bathroom. With lightning speed, he showered and ran out wearing only a towel, entering his room. He quickly put on his uniform and grabbed his bag, then he left the room and put on his shoes. After that, he opened the door, went out, and locked it. He immediately ran to the elevator and quickly pressed the call button.
"Ding," the elevator opened. He immediately got in and pressed the close door button. "Hey, wait!" a girl shouted, but Adrian kept pressing to make the door close quickly. "Sorry, I'm already late," Adrian said without looking at the girl who had just shouted. When the elevator reached the bottom, he ran out of the lobby and towards the gate.
"I'll just take a regular motorcycle taxi," he thought to himself.
After haggling with the motorcycle taxi driver, he finally set off for his school. On the way, Adrian thought,
"Ugh, in the end, I didn't greet Elsa next door. Two days of going back and forth, and I couldn't even sleep last night. Now I'm late, really bad," Adrian thought to himself.
His heart kept hoping the motorcycle taxi driver would speed up a little so he could arrive quickly. Ten minutes later, he arrived and paid the driver. After that, he ran through the gate and into the school building. He looked for his name on the list posted on the classroom door. Finally, he found his name; he was in class 10-3. After that, he stood in front of his classroom door. Inside, he could hear a teacher speaking.
Adrian took a deep breath and exhaled, then he grabbed the doorknob. "Creak," Adrian slid the door open. He stepped inside. All his classmates and the teacher turned to look at him.
"Oh wow, just arriving? Enjoying your holiday too much, are we?" the teacher teased.
"Y-yes, sir, sorry, I overslept," Adrian replied.
"Alright, introduce yourself in front first, because the other already introduce them self," the teacher said.
Adrian walked in and stood beside the teacher's desk, facing his classmates who were looking at him.
"My... my name is Adrian Miller. That's all," Adrian said.
"Wow, what a brief introduction. Which foreign country are you from?" a student blurted out.
"America," Adrian replied curtly.
"Do you have a girlfriend yet? You're pretty hot," a female student shouted.
"Um... not yet," Adrian replied briefly.
The whole class immediately became noisy. Adrian stood frozen in front of the class. The teacher seemed to be checking a list, then he turned to look at Adrian.
"If you're done, please sit in the very front, next to the door," the teacher said.
"Okay, sir," Adrian replied.
Adrian walked towards the furthest row near the door and saw a desk at the very front. He saw only one chair, even though the desk was for two. He sat near the door. As soon as he sat down, his shoulder was immediately poked from behind. Adrian turned to see a beautiful girl with slightly curly hair poking him from behind.
"Hi, my name's Yuni, nice to meet you," Yuni said.
"Yeah, I'm Adrian," Adrian replied.
"I already knew that, you just introduced yourself. Which junior high did you come from?" Yuni asked.
"South Jakarta," Adrian replied briefly.
"Wow, quite a journey to get here. Where do you live?" Yuni asked.
"At M*I apartment, close to the school," Adrian replied.
"Oh, really? I have a friend who lives there too," Yuni replied.
"Oh, I see. Then why isn't there a chair next to me?" Adrian asked.
"That's a special spot for my friend I just mentioned who lives in the apartment. She uses a wheelchair, so it's difficult if there's a chair there," Yuni replied.
"Oh, I see. Alright then, I thought I was being singled out because I was late," Adrian replied.
"No way, you're funny, hehe," Yuni said.
Suddenly, "thump... thump thump... thump," Adrian's heart pounded fast. He turned back to the front, his hand went up and gripped his chest, his face contorted in pain as his heart ached. He rested his head on the desk, his hand still on his chest.
"O-ouch, what is this... it... hurts," Adrian thought to himself.
"Hey Dri, what's wrong?" Yuni asked from behind him.
"N-nothing, I'm fine, relax," Adrian stammered.
"Seriously, if you're sick, go to the infirmary. I'll tell the teacher," Yuni said.
"No need, it'll... disappear soon," Adrian replied.
"Thud!" A loud sound was heard, like something hitting the door. The teacher immediately ran to the door and "creak," he opened the door.
"Hey, what's wrong with you?" the teacher asked, panicking.
"N-nothing, sir. I-I'm l-late, s-sorry, sir... I-I'm coming in," a girl behind the door replied.
******
[Elsa's POV]
Back to 07:45 AM, "tridid... tridit," an alarm sound was heard from the next unit. Elsa woke up. She picked up her smartphone, thinking it was hers ringing. When she saw the screen, she immediately sat upright because her smartphone was off.
"Oh no... I forgot to charge it last night, aaah, because I was thinking about the neighbor. What time is it now?"
Elsa reached for her watch on the table. Her eyes widened when she saw the time on the watch. She immediately crawled down from the bed and climbed into her wheelchair.
"Oh no... late... late... late," Elsa muttered as she left the room.
She immediately showered and returned to her room, then got dressed. After that, she left the room, wheeling her wheelchair towards the exit. When she was outside, "ding," she turned to see someone enter the elevator and close the door. Elsa, who was locking her door, shouted,
"Hey... wait!" Elsa yelled.
But it seemed the person in the elevator didn't hear her. Elsa sulkily wheeled her wheelchair towards the elevator.
"Why couldn't they wait?" she grumbled, annoyed.
"Ding," the elevator opened again. Elsa immediately wheeled her wheelchair inside. Once downstairs, she immediately wheeled her wheelchair with all her might until she was out of the lobby, then she looked around and asked the security guard to call a taxi. Fifteen minutes later, Elsa got out of the taxi in front of the school gate, which the security guard was about to close. After paying,
"Wait, sir!" Elsa shouted.
"Oh, you're already late, ma'am," the security guard replied.
"Please, sir, I wasn't feeling well last night," Elsa replied.
Seeing Elsa's pleading face and her sitting in a wheelchair, the security guard felt pity and opened the gate again. Elsa immediately wheeled her wheelchair inside.
"Thank you, sir," Elsa said.
"Yes, but don't be late again tomorrow, okay?" the security guard replied.
"Yes, sir, I promise," Elsa replied.
With all her might again, Elsa wheeled her wheelchair to the school building and went inside. She immediately looked for her name on the lists posted in front of the classes. As she was looking at the class 10-3 name list posted on the classroom door, "thump... thump thump... thump," Elsa's heart suddenly pounded very hard and painfully. She still tried to find her name while holding her chest.
When she saw her name, she reached out her hand to the door, but she couldn't push the door open because of her aching heart. Finally, "thud," her wheelchair moved forward, hitting the door. Not long after, "creak," the door opened, and the teacher stood behind it.
"Hey, what's wrong with you?" the teacher asked, panicking.
"N-nothing, sir. I-I'm l-late, s-sorry, sir... I-I'm coming in," Elsa stammered.
"If you're not feeling well, just go to the infirmary. I'll take you," the teacher said anxiously.
"It's okay, sir, it'll disappear soon," Elsa said, trying to hold back the pain.
"Alright then, I'll help you in," the teacher replied.
As the teacher pushed Elsa's wheelchair into the classroom, "thump... thump... thump," Elsa's heart beat faster and harder. She also clearly heard a similarly rhythmic heartbeat next to her. Elsa turned to see Adrian, who was also looking at her, and their gazes met.