Chapter 1

“Help! Someone help me!”

I heard a voice coming from my left. It was dark. Thick smoke covered the entire room. I could barely see the area in front of me. The darkness caused me to stumble on something; I was lucky I didn’t fall. I didn’t have time to fall.

“Where are you?” I called out.

“He- help! I’m stuck!” replied the frail voice. I reached out, feeling a wall on my left. Following the wall, I arrived at a closed door. I wrestled with it, trying to pull it open, but the door refused to budge. Even when I tried pushing it, it refused to move.

“Stay clear!”

“Y- Yes!”

I slammed my body into the door, throwing all my weight on it. It took three attacks before the door fell.

“Where are cough you!?” I fanned the smoke from in front of me. We didn’t have much time; the smoke made it harder to breathe with each passing second.

“I'm here!” Sitting at the corner was a girl, her legs stretched to the left. She leaned on the wall, using it for support while holding her left arm.

She looked like she was in late elementary school, close to my age. I couldn't see too well, but something that looked heavy lay on her leg. I could only make out its general shape, a box on top of something thin and long with three smaller cylinders extending from its middle point. With all my strength, I pulled the thing on her leg up and threw it away. It fell to the floor with a clang, accompanied by the sound of something shattering. I couldn’t pay any attention to it, however.

“Is your left arm alright?”

She nodded meekly. “It hurts… but I think it’s fine.”

“How about your leg? Can you walk?”

“It hurts...” Tears welled up in her eyes. The smoke thickened. Not much time left. I picked her up and made my way to the exit. I couldn’t tell if I headed the right way, but I remembered going through this hallway before. Even if I didn’t, I didn’t have any other options. The room grew hotter, the flames fast approaching. I couldn’t see clearly. I could only hope that we stumbled on a door or a window.

“It hurts…”

“Don't worry, we're almost out. Stay with me!” I ran as fast as my legs could take me.

•••

“... So it was a dream…”

It all felt real, maybe because I saw that scene before. Six years ago, on a calm December afternoon, in a building near my hometown.

It was a miracle I didn't get hurt back then… I wonder how that girl is doing.

I remember her crying nonstop after I brought her out. Things were chaotic. I dropped her off with her family, then went to look for mine. After that, we went to the hospital. I remembered how tight she clung to her mother’s dress, refusing to let go. We parted ways and never saw each other ever again.

Well, there’s no use thinking about it.

I’m grateful I’m still alive, and there’s that. I got up, stretched my limbs, and looked around. The room was bright, light streaming in from the gaps in the curtains, forming a thin line on my bed. It must be sunny-

I froze. The clock showed six in the morning. School began at six thirty, and I need at least twenty minutes to get from home to school.

I’m late!

I rushed through my morning routine as fast as I could. I usually rode my bike, but I had no time. While I changed, I ordered a motorbike from an online ride-hailing service. I didn’t know if it was just my bad luck or something else, but the driver I got needed a couple of minutes before they could get here.

The second I finished, I rushed to the ground floor. The driver arrived around three minutes after I arrived at the lobby. When he saw the panic on my face, all he could do was apologize. I didn’t blame him; it’s my fault I’m even late. Without much time to exchange pleasantries, we headed straight to school. The traffic didn’t help. I checked my smartphone over and over, watching helplessly as the clock continued to tick.

Horns and vehicle smoke filled the morning air. A sight far different from the small town I was born in. The experienced driver weaved through traffic, going as fast as he could while still driving safely… Although, depending on which country you come from, the definition of ‘driving safely’ might be different. Thanks to his skills, I managed to arrive right before they closed the gates. My smartphone clock showed seven thirty in the morning, and I’m already exhausted.

My travels weren't done, though. I still needed to reach the classroom. With quickened steps, I headed up the stairs and arrived at the classroom before the teacher. Lucky. I dropped my bag onto the floor and flopped onto my chair, letting out a big sigh.

“You okay?” Ian asked. Unlike me, he had his black hair combed and his clothes tidy. Meanwhile, I was covered with sweat. I took my tissue and wiped myself down. What an intense morning.

“Did something happen?” he asked with concern. I didn’t normally arrive at school late, so maybe that made him think something bad happened.

“I had a bad dream last night.”

“What dream?”

“The fire.”

A scowl appeared on Ian’s face. He had heard me tell this story several times before. I remember the shock he showed when I first told him this.

“That again? Is the universe trying to send you a sign?”

I shrugged. Maybe it has something to do with the anime I was watching. It told the story of heroic firefighters who fought off the raging blaze. Maybe a bit of their adventures got into my head and disturbed my dreams.

“Did you save that girl again?”

“Yeah.”

“And you didn’t ask her name?”

“Why would I do that?”

“You might have a girlfriend now if you did.”

“I was eleven back then. I didn’t care about that stuff. Besides, even if I ask her, do you think she’ll give me a correct answer? It’s just a dream, I’ll definitely forget by the time I wake up.”

I doubt I would hear anything other than gibberish. We didn’t talk about our names back then. I had no way of knowing if whatever new information the dream could give me was even remotely correct. Besides, I didn’t help her because I wanted something. I didn’t do anything major. The firefighters managed to extinguish the fire in the next couple of minutes. Had I not saved her, someone else would. If anything, my little stunt probably made things worse to an extent, but they couldn’t tell me because I was just a child.

“Yes, but-”

Before Ian could say anything else, the door slid open. Our math teacher, who would be teaching the first subject of the day, came in.

“Everyone, you have a new classmate today,” he announced.

For a few seconds, the class fell silent, then it turned into a ruckus. We had heard rumors about this since last week, but we didn’t think much of it. Many believed it was fake news. People rarely transfer in the middle of the school year, especially after the semester has just begun.

A girl entered behind him. She had her bright yellow hair tied into two ponytails, her red eyes shining. She turned to us and smiled. Instantly, the class fell silent. I’m sure most of us had the same thoughts in our minds.

Isn’t that… Lily?

I couldn’t remember the actress’s name, but Lily is a girl from a famous kids’ show named Lily’s Long Adventure... Yeah, not too creative of a name, but hey, it worked.

This girl looked very similar to her.

“Nadia!?” One of our classmates shouted, which caused murmurs to spread throughout the class.

“Everyone, calm down,” our math teacher ordered, and the murmurs faded away.

“Yep! It’s me, Lily!” The girl rolled with it, doing one of her signature moves. She formed a V with her index and middle fingers before bringing them horizontally to her right cheek. The Lily in the show always did this every time she won something, to show her happiness over her victory.

“Although I’ll be attending school as Nadia Handayani. Nice to meet you all.”

Nadia Handayani… So I guess that’s her real name?

Now that she mentioned it, her name did sound familiar. I must have heard it somewhere before.

“As for where you sit… Harto, there’s a spot behind you, right?”

“Yes, Sir.”

Each class had forty students, but ours only had thirty-nine. The space behind me had been empty since the start of the school year.

“You can sit there.”

“Thank you, Sir.” Nadia headed my way. She sat down and poked my back.

“Hey, hey,” she whispered, her voice hidden by the surrounding whispers. Everyone had their attention on her, so our math teacher clapped his hands, trying to regain their attention.

I leaned back and whispered, “Yes?”

“You’re Harto Pradana, right?”

“... How do you know my name?”

The teacher had called me, so I assumed that was how she knew about my front name. But he hadn’t mentioned my family name. There should be no way for her to know.

“Do I know you?”