[1.1] One Fateful 'kinda' Day: Accidental Meeting

Another day, another shopping.

Mei had had enough of it. She spoke her mind to the "leader" of her group. Astrid Derma.

"Astrid, I know this is sudden, but could we...?"
"One more! One more! We'll be finished after this one", she smiled for a bit, and then, "I... promise..."

She didn't think so. Mei stood at the entrance to a retail shop her friends loved visiting. She was standing there, alone, just staring at them having fun with their "boy".

"Hey, Mei. Why are you not joining? I'm willing to..."
"I have to decline. Sorry."

She rejected the boy who came with the other boys. The boy seemed upset that Mei rejected him. He walked toward the middle of the mall and looked down at the hanger.

"Be careful not to fall, Ajeng."

Huh? She remembered his name? He did a take and asked, "Did you just... call my name? "

Mei turned around and replied, "I was just declining you. It didn't mean I would care less about you. I mean, you come all the way over here because she invited you and your buddies, right?" Mei pointed her thumb at Astrid while still looking at Ajeng.

"I... Wow... Sorry for that weird interaction. I was just..."
"Being nice. I know. Thanks. You can go back to stare at the event on the bottom floor. Just be careful not to fall. We're on the fourth floor."
"Yeah... Thanks for your concern. I'll be fine."

Then Mei and Ajeng waited about thirty minutes before Astrid, and the others finally finished their business. Astrid came out of the store and approached Mei. She looked annoyed, and Mei became concerned.

Astrid side hugged her and whispered to Mei, "We are paying these goons. You're wasting his potential."

Mei was shocked by Astrid's statement. She pushed Astrid and escaped from her hug. She looked at Astrid with disgust and said, "Astrid. You..."

Astrid stared at Mei, upset. She never thought Mei would push her like that. Astrid approached Mei once again, "Mei...", and delivered a loud slap.

"Astrid? What happened?" one of their friend asked Astrid.
"Yo, girl. Calm down. That was a loud slap", another one joined with a statement.

Astrid spoke in a low voice, "Disgusting", but Mei heard her. Mei looked at Astrid once again before dashing away from her.

"MEI! Wai..."
"Let her be, Nanda", Astrid stopped Nanda from catching up with Mei. "Let's see what she will do tomorrow. She deserved that slap."

Nanda looked at Astrid, who smiled from ear to ear. She was worried Astrid might slap Mei for personal reasons, not because Mei misbehaved.

Mei ran, ran, ran until she reached the bus stop that was just outside the mall. She couldn't take it any longer. She felt unwanted in the group for a long time. She wasn't feeling a genuine friendship in the group. She finally realized she was played by her so-called "friends".

"Astrid. How could you?"

The bus arrived. She went in but couldn't find a seat, so she had to stand.

"I want to go home. I hate... I hope I didn't see her tomorrow."

In that moment, Mei remembered a certain boy, "I wished I had friends like he does. He looked happy with them."

Mei's mind wandered, leaving her vulnerable. In this state, someone took advantage of her and touched her butt.

"EEEEKKK", Mei looked back and didn't see the culprit. With fast thinking, she asked the driver to let her out at the next stop.

When she arrived, she quickly got out and sighed in relief, "I never thought I would be groped like that. Are my butts really getting that thick? Surely not. My butt isn't that attractive, is it?"

She was wandering off again and checked her rear out to make sure nothing happened to it. At least, she was out of that bus quicker than later. She could've been in so much danger if she were.

"Wait, where is this?" She looked at a sign "Ujung Teluk Terminal", and scanned the list below for the next bus.

"HUH? Two hours until the next bus? Is this place hard to reach? What the heck?"

She looked at her back and saw a park, "Might as well check it out while I'm here."

She walked toward the park and saw that it was abandoned. The seesaw was broken, one of the swing's chains looked rotten, and there was a puddle of green water below the slide tube.

"Well, at least one of the swings is still attached."

She went ahead and sat on it. When she sat on it, she recalled the time when she joined the group. She remembered how desperately she asked Astrid. Thinking back on it, she regretted that she did that. If she could turn back time, she would warn her younger self not to join the group.

"I'm such an idiot", she let out her tears. She felt weak and desperate. It didn't seem like she was having it. "Should I end our relationship? It's been almost five years, and I think I would let the vibe down again. They will definitely hate me even more."

Not long after that, she heard a loud voice, "Dad! I wanted ice cream. Come on."

Mei looked at the kid and his father on her right without moving her head. She wiped her tearing face and thought, "Right. I'm still in the neighbourhood. Someone from my school might know me, and they might make fun of me." She looked to her left, "Greanna High School outfit?"

She realized, and did a double take, "Male?"
Triple take, "Messy long black hair?"
Quadruple take, "Nike and it's a brand new model?"
Quintuple take with her eyes, pinching a little bit, "Small mole at the upper left of his eyes?"

She was drenched in sweat and finally came to a realization, "Yu? YU? YU LIVED AROUND HERE?"

Without second thought, Mei ran on her tippy-toe, avoiding her foot from tapping the soil too hard, to the way she was. But instead of going to the bus stop, she ran the other way and hid behind a pole.

"He will do his usual triple-take and confirm it to this side of the park. I knew he would. I have to hide. I need to hide. Calm down, Mei. Calm down!"

She was right, "Huh? Mei? Where did she go?" He looked around the side and saw nothing.

"Please, Yu. Just be done with it. Go home!"

"She's really gone. Or am I hallucinating? Is my feeling of her gotten this bad that I could see her out of nowhere?"

He went back, and Mei sighed in relief. Her body stopped functioning for a couple of minutes, though.

"Ugh, I need a minute."

Not a minute. An hour passed.

"Shit. I wasted my time just crouching behind this pole. I looked like a gangster."

She pulled her mirror and said, "I still looked okay, though. I hope he was not there when I cried. That would be embarrassing."

She stood up, brushed up her skirt, and went back to the bus stop.

"This has been an eventful day. I wanted to rest."

Her mind wandered off again. She inhaled the air and said, "Wow, I never thought I would smell this freshness of evening wind. It relaxed my mind a little bit."

*Cracked*

The sound of a twig breaking came from behind her. She turned around and saw him.

"Yu?"

He was at his back, and he turned to face her. 

"Mei."

That was the first time they had spoken in ten years.

<To Be Continued>