Wakey! Wakey!

The voice made Airi’s heart restless.

“Do I miss Jiro that much that I’m hearing his voice?” she whispered loud enough for herself to hear. She shook her head, thinking that doing so could make her erase the thought.

She gently patted her chest to calm down and ignored the voice.

She closed her eyes and focused on the crashing waves against the rocks. She let the ethereal atmosphere created by the singing seagulls and humming crickets and cicadas serenade her. The creaking branches of the nearby sea almond and agoho trees made her dive deep into nature’s embrace.

“Really? Are you deliberately ignoring me? Aren’t you even afraid of the dark?”

Airi jumped to her feet when Jiro’s voice permeated the air, shattering her solitude.

“It’s you? It’s really you!”

Her mind spiraled again when his silhouette came into view.

He was standing above the rock she was leaning on earlier. He smiled when he realized something.

“Have you been thinking about me? You seem to have confirmed your hunch.” He jumped off the rock and took several steps towards her.

She stood there frozen, watching his face under the reflection of the sunset behind her. She couldn’t discern whether it was real or just a dream.

“You’re just tired, Riri,” she told herself.

Jiro stepped closer to her with a taunting smile. “Oh, Riri. Is that your nickname? ” The light shuffling of sand under Jiro’s shoes convinced her that his presence was real. “So, do you really want me to prove that you’re not just imagining me?”

She took some steps backwards, but she stumbled on an empty seashell.

Jiro laughed. “Clumsy.” He extended a hand to help her stand.

She took his hand and almost let go when a mild voltage ran through her veins because of that connection. But before she could even release his hand, he pulled her closer to him. The masculine, sweet scent of his cologne hypnotized her to stay calm despite her will to struggle. His warm hand on her waist sent shivers down her spine.

Staring deep into each other’s eyes made her almost breathless. She turned deaf as the erratic beating of her heart overpowered the nature’s harmony she was listening to before he came.

“What are you doing here?” she finally asked. She gently pushed away from him while dusting off her pants.

“Should I have any reason to come to our resort?”

“Oh. Your family owns this place?”

“Uh-huh! Didn’t Uncle Art and Aunt Lu tell you that you’re going here?”

She shook her head. “Mama said we’re staying at their friend’s resort.”

“Well, it turns out that your family… and my family are friends.” His smile widened. “So, I’m thinking maybe you and I can be friends as well… or more.” The last two words were whispered to himself.

“Sure! We used to be classmates, so I don’t see anything wrong about it.”

“Used to? And how sure are you that we won’t be classmates next school year?”

Airi grimaced at her stupid comment. ‘I almost forgot that they partly own our school.’

*

Back at the resort, a girl with short curly hair ran towards Jiro and snaked her arms around his. “Where have you been all this time? I’ve been waiting for you since this afternoon.”

The girl glanced bitterly at Airi and raised her eyebrows. She completely ignored her after that sour look. Without hesitation, she pulled Jiro away from Airi and guided him into the resort's lobby.

He looked at her as if saying, “Help! ” but she averted his gaze.

The other girl’s sudden appearance startled her so much that her mind went blank for a second before it could even process what just happened.

Her shoulders dropped in sync with her hopes of spending more time with him. Seeing him ignited her hope of getting to know him more as she slowly opened her heart to him. Something in her chest felt so heavy that it sank down into the bottomless pit of a foreign emotion. The feeling was so strange that she couldn’t give it a name. For her, that feeling resembled the pain of being pricked by a hundred needles.

She went straight to their room when the two were out of sight.

Upon stepping into her temporary sanctuary, she slammed her exhausted body on the soft bed. She closed her eyes only to be taunted by Jiro’s smiling face and scent.

“You look cuter even when you close your eyes.”

Jiro’s voice filled the room. But when she opened her eyes in the dark room, she was surrounded by five faceless silhouettes. They swarmed towards her.

“Get up, Sweety. Wakey! Wakey!”

“We miss you, Rri.”

“I thought you liked our son? Why didn’t you tell him?”

“Jiro misses you every day.”

“We are sad here. Help us, Riri.”

The night visitors bugged her with questions. Hearing random people’s voices, including those of her parents, made her jump off her bed.

She ran to the door, sprinted out of the room, and almost stumbled down the stairs just to escape from them.

“Please stop! ”

“Riri? Riri? Wake up,” Allison’s voice pulled Airi out of her nightmare.

“Ma? Pa?” She sobbed. Tears streamed down her cheeks. Her heart was heavy once more.

“Same dreams?” Allison, her friend who was also a writer, handed her a glass of water. She sat by her bedside, gently rubbing her back, as if doing so could help ease her palpitating heart. “You should consult an expert. Mourning alone won’t help you move on.”

“I’m twenty-three now, but the ghost of the past just won’t let me go.”

“The events from when you were sixteen still haunt you. Only a professional can help you. It’s not enough that you just write to alleviate the pain and guilt.”