The steps are slow, but each trail seems to leave the echo.
Seri Arjuna Elite School Black Gate open automatically with a slow drill, as if to welcome .... or maybe warning. In front of him, a beautiful building of modern colonial concept, decorated with stone carvings and colored glass windows. It looks luxurious, classic, and cold, like a secret that has been hiding for too long.
17 -year -old Arissa Elina, standing with a shabby bag and almost torn yellow files. His breathing was drawn deep. At first glance, he looks like a simple, quiet, and slightly rigid student. But for those who look longer, there is something odd. Her eyes were not like a normal girl. There is something in his reflection ... in. Too deep for his age.
"Are you a new student?" said one voice, joking his fantasy.
A male student stands in front of him, complete with a gold -colored black school blazer. Her smile was professional, but her eyes were watching as if to judge.
"Yes. Arissa Elina." He reached out. "Full scholarship."
The man welcomed Arissa's hand with respect. "I'm Firas, senior students. Welcome to Seri Arjuna. We rarely have scholarship students. Hope you are mentally strong."
Strong mental?
Arissa just smiled a little.
"Thank you. I'll try to survive."
As he stepped into the school area, his gaze began to land. The other students, all as stylish as the billboard model, turned around. And some look cynical, some whisper to each other.
"Why is it ... so familiar?"
"He's like ... but it's not possible."
"His name is Arissa, not Nayla. Don't be paranoid."
Arissa pretended not to hear. But his heart started to flutter. Not because of the sharp view of the elite student. But because of the strange feeling that has been haunting since he wakes up in the morning. It was as if he had been in this place. It was as if his footsteps were following in his footsteps.
She arrived at the female dormitory and was given a room upstairs. In an empty room for years, it is supposedly because of the old structure. But the hostel manager just replied briefly, "You are in this room. Comfortable and far from interruption."
Room 307.
As Arissa opened the door, the cold wind greeted her face. The old lavender smell and old wood stormed to the nose. At the end of the room, an old table with a large mirror still stands intact. There is an empty picture frame. On the table, there are small carvings: N.E.
Arissa researched the room slowly. Somehow, his heart ached. It was as if this room kept a sad sadness.
He opened the closet, and a white scarf fell to the floor.
Slowly, his hands took it. And as soon as he touched the cloth, a foreign memory was in his head. One voice of someone laughed, running in the hall, piano melody.
"Ash ... wait for me!"
Arissa is sitting.
Who is Ash?
Why does that sound sound like ... my own voice?
He closed his eyes, trying to calm his heartbeat. But when he opened his eyes again, the reflection in the mirror was not his face. Not entirely.
Her face is ... different.
More adults. More strictly. More like ... someone he doesn't know, but somehow feels close.
And the mirror ... for a moment, grab a piano note, slowly ... full of sadness.
Ding.
~~~~~
The mirror is back to normal.
Arissa's real face is now re -enabled. The face looks pale, with small eyes. Her fingers shivered as she put the white scarf back on the table. His breathing breathed, but the room remained quiet, as if nothing had happened.
"Don't panic, Arissa. Maybe you're tired. Tired. Stress."
She spoke on her own, trying to calm her heart. But his heart refused to calm down. The voice in his mind was getting more and more whispering.
Why does the reflection feel right? Why is that face so ... familiar?
Suddenly, a loud knock was heard at the door. Tok! Tok! Tok!
Arissa was shocked, almost dropping a table light. He ran a little towards the door, opened it. Outside, a girl stands with a face and ears clogged earphones.
"Oi, you're a new student in this room, okay?"
"Yes ... I'm Arissa."
The girl glared into the room. "The room ... it's quite famous. But I think you'll be okay. My name is Tina, the neighbors next to the room. If you feel weird or anything ... ignore it."
Arissa holds her breath. "Why? What's with this room?"
Tina raised her shoulders. "People say there have been cases before. But I can't believe those kinds of things. This school likes to hide strange stories. But yes, if you dream weirdly ... be clever."
Tina's smile was vague, before she turned around and returned to her room.
"Have you ever had a case? School likes to hide strange stories?"
Arissa closed her eyes, trying to ignore the pulse on her head. But the night is getting heavy. The outside wind blows the curtains of the room slowly. There is a vague denting from the mirror, like someone knocking on the glass surface from the inside.
He took a deep breath and locked the door of his room. The steps were brought back to the study desk, where the white scarf was still folded. She didn't touch her anymore.
Instead, he opened the registration file and checked his class name.
Class 5 Orion.
The name of the class feels heavy on the tongue. Like the name that brings memories ... memories that are not his, but it feels close ... very close.
Without realizing it, Arissa's fingers wrote something on the edge of the paper with her blue pen.
Nayla… Estelle.
She was speechless. The writing is not his. The curve is fine and organized, feminine and elegant. And he didn't realize when he started writing that name.
"Who are you ... Nayla?" Arissa whispered slowly.
Suddenly, the wind blows hard towards the mirror, and the mirror returns to fog. In a vague fog, a glimpse of another girl wearing a white dress, long broken hair, standing behind Arissa.
Arissa turned quickly and no one.
But the mirror vibrates again.
And a voice echoed in his mind. The voice sounds like his own voice, but deeper. Mature.
"Please end my story ... before everything starts again."
~~~~~
The first morning at the Arjuna Elite Elite School began with a gentle wind and a cloudy sky. But in Arissa's chest, a small storm was raging. He stood in front of the main entrance of the academic building, watching the other students walk in confidently, gracefully, and as if they were in a different world.
Their black black blazer is neat on the shoulder. Their leather shoes are shiny. Hair is neatly combed, a radiant face like a TV drama actor.
And then, there is him. With a slightly large blazer, unnamed shoes, and hair that are only brushed.
"Arissa Elina?"
The voice came from a female teacher standing in front of the statement board. The woman looked firm, the black frame glasses on her face.
"Yes, teacher."
"I am a Suri teacher. You will be placed in the 5th grade of Orion. You are the first scholarship student for ... seven years ago." His eyes stared sharply. "So make sure you keep that good name."
Arissa just nodded. But his heart ached. Seven years ago?
Teacher Suri accompanied him to class. The school lane feels long. The walls are clean, decorated with the picture frame of the former student. A special frame caught his attention. There is a picture of a female student receiving a major award. That face ...
Arissa stopped for a moment.
The girl's eyes in the picture ... round, shine, confident.
And the name below: Nayla Estelle, Best Student Award, 7 years ago.
Arissa did not realize that she had been standing for too long, until Teacher Suri turned.
"It's our best student.
Before Arissa asked, Teacher Suri continued to walk. Arissa tailed slowly, but her soul felt like she was being dragged back into her past.
Class 5 Orion is located upstairs. The most exclusive class for elite students and rich family heirs. As the door opened, all heads turned away.
The atmosphere is quiet.
Some students clearly evaluate Arissa from the top to the bottom, their eyes are sharp, critical, as if Arissa is just worthy of being a server at their event.
"This is our new student. Arissa Elina," said Ms. Suri. "He will replace the blanks in this class starting today."
"Empty place?" Ask a voice from the back of the class. "Whose place, teacher?"
The atmosphere is quiet again.
"A place that has been not filled for a long time," replied Ms. Suri briefly. "The place that Nayla Estelle has ever occupied."
A subtle deception is heard. Some are obviously not easy.
Arissa was ordered to sit on the bench by the window, there was an old bench. As he sat down, the chair rang, a little bit of a protest. Thin dust flying. At the bottom of the table, Arissa appears to be fine smells engraved on the wood:
N + a =?
He touched the carved slowly. And without realizing it, a pair of eyes had been watching him since the middle line.
Ash Zayn.
Her face was calm, but her eyes were sharp. There was a vague wrinkle on the forehead, as if he were judging something painful. Or ... known.
For a moment, their views are united.
And the world is silent again.
Arissa immediately turned her eyes. But his heart echoed with a strange taste.
Why is that guy ... it feels too familiar?
And from the window on the side, the shadows of the tree twigs sway slowly, as if whispering:
"Welcome back, Nayla."
~ connected ~