All Which Remains

Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Arron

Ramelan didn't come home the next night either, and I'm starting to worry about him. I want to talk to him. I want to make sure that he is okay.

The thought that he might not be is making me anxious.

I want to ask his parents what happened to him, but at the same time, I don't want to feel too close to them.

I don't want to get attached.

If I get attached and it turns out that I'm a murderer or something... I smack myself in the face to get my mind back on Ramelan. I can figure out what happened to him. I'll probably see him tomorrow at school, anyway. It's likely he just stayed over with his friend longer than what was planned. It's all going to be okay. I press my hand on my chest where my heart is and breathe in and out to calm myself down.

The next morning, I get dressed to go to school and, for the first time since I woke up, I look in the mirror to see what I look like. I'm surprised at the way I looked. I have freckles all along my nose in a scattered line until it stops at my cheeks. I looked at my eyes, and I saw that I have heterochromia. No wonder people made fun of my appearance. One of my eyes was blue that ombréyed into purple at the bottom and the other was just plain dark brown. My skin is a milk chocolate color. I twirled in front of the mirror. My hair is long, making me look feminine. I'm also pretty slim with hips that are wider than my torso. It made me look more like a girl. But I'm sure that I'm, in fact, male. How can I look so different from how I feel? I look away from my reflection and focus on getting myself dressed for school.

I feel nervous.

And yet, I'm excited to see Ramelan again.

Or rather, I hope that I can see Ramelan again.

When I get to school, I see a large crowd around the entrance to the building. As I get closer, I see that police officers are blocking the gateway into the school. I start to hear shouts of, "Get out of the way POLRI!" and "No one wants you here!" along with, "You're not allowing us to go to school, that is against the policy of our government!". I don't understand, what's going on? Why is the POLRI here? Why are they not allowing anyone to go to school? Did something happen? A pit of anxiety starts to fill up in my stomach. What happened to create such an uproar? I wrap my arms around myself, trying to keep myself together. Trying to not think about what might have happened here. Then, I see something. Something that shattered the world around all of us. Something that would leave most of us with scars.