Journey

There is a Strange Feeling Coming

Three months have passed since my relationship ended with Leva. I go out with a different woman almost every night, just hanging out or just telling stories and drinking coffee. But none of the women knew that my relationship with Leva had ended. Indeed, I don't like telling the story that I live, whether it's a life story or a love story. Previously, every time I came home from campus, I always went straight home with my best friend, but as time went by I often hung out with my friends from campus. As time got closer to the start of the second semester, I started to get to know Kia more and more. As I said from the start, he is not my type at all, in fact very far from what I want. From her appearance, her style is like a tomboyish woman, her tone of voice even seems rude and doesn't reflect a woman, her physical appearance can be compared to most other women on my campus, I also don't like her social interactions, and she also smokes and drinks alcohol, which is wrong. One thing I don't like the most is being with women who like to smoke and drink alcohol. It's fine to be friends, but to be lovers? I don't like it. But for some reason my gaze always looks that way, she is like the woman she is, like she doesn't care about harsh joking words, she thinks it's just a joke and doesn't take it to heart. Honestly, I like the nature of a woman like that, not the spoiled, overbearing, whiny, pretentious nature of most other women. The longer and more often I evaluate him in my mind, the more I like his personality even though there are other personalities that I don't like.

When the second semester started, I started to like her, not that I had feelings but just liked girls who weren't spoiled like her. I often hang out with him, even though I'm with two other male friends who are also starting to get close to me (let's call them Diego and Novan) we often hang out together, spending time until the long nights pass. Until finally a friend of mine who was also close to us (let's call him Jones) dropped out of college. He returned to his place of birth after suddenly deciding to leave campus at the beginning of the second semester. The four of us decided to come over to him and ask why he stopped. Because we feel like our five friends have disappeared, leaving only four friends.

"We'll follow Jones to his place."
Said Diego who invited the three of us to go meet Jones in his hometown. The three of us agreed and arranged our departure schedule together after the mid-semester exams were over.

Friday night we went to Jones' hometown, the four of us went by car, Diego sat in the car, I was next to him, Novan sat on the right and Kia sat on the left right behind me. The four of us enjoyed the trip while laughing and singing together. Until we got lost in the middle of the road, we got lost in the woods where the off-road cars were. We all panicked because the road was so dark and there weren't even any street lights at all, but my words made us not panic anymore. Those words calmed us down a bit.

"All the village streets are like this, when I go back to the village the streets are also dark like this."

We continued our journey until we finally found an exit onto a bright and large street. We all looked calm again because we had found the main road. We stopped at a crossroads to buy drinks, Diego and Novan got off while I was in the car with Kia. There were no awkward moments at all in the car even though there were only two of me.

"My head hurts really bad, I haven't slept yet."

The clock was showing more than 1 pm, the drowsiness that was being held in made my head start to hurt. Suddenly a hand grabbed my head and massaged it.

"I massage here, I usually get massages like this and it's really delicious"

When his hand massaged my head, my smile suddenly rose on its own as if there was a feeling of pleasure and embarrassment, for some reason there was a feeling like that, he was not my type at all there shouldn't have been an awkward moment for myself, but at that time I felt very awkward but comfortable. Until finally my friend came after shopping, making the awkward moment disappear for me. My two friends didn't suspect my expression at all when Kia gave me a massage, because even though they knew I had broken up with my girlfriend Leva, I was still wearing the guitar pick necklace she gave me. They thought that I hadn't moved on yet, so there was no suspicion at all. We continued our journey towards Jones' house, at that time the two hands that had been massaging my head came down towards my neck and seemed to be hugging me from behind. I finally felt a warm embrace even though only his arms were hugging me from behind, his body was blocked by the seat in front of me, he hugged me using only his arms around my neck. I am very comfortable and makes my heart beat fast. I stole glances at him, but the expression on his face was normal, maybe I was the only one who felt my heart beating fast while he was normal. This was the first time after leva that I was hugged by another woman which made me feel very comfortable. I've never felt this way about other women besides Leva before. A warm hug like when I hugged my mother. But now I feel that warm hug again, even though only his hands are hugging me, the warmth is the same as when I hugged my mother.

When we arrived at Jones' house, seeing that he was now like a student, we greeted each other. We were served noodles and coffee for dinner and our friends chatted in the very cold air of their hometown in the early hours of the morning. We talked, asked how things were, joked, took photos and videos together, until finally we found out the reason why he stopped. That night the air got deeper into the bones, the air was cold and the weather was different compared to the city center. Jones offered us to stay at his aunt's house which was not far from where we were talking earlier. Finally we went to the place where we were going to rest, but the four of us had promised not to sleep until we returned to the city center. Arriving there, we rested in a fairly spacious room accompanied by hot tea and some snacks. I took a break sleeping and beside me there was Kia who was also resting beside me, for some reason I suddenly felt warm when she was sleeping next to me. Again, the same warmth when his hand was around my neck in the car, even though when we were both lying on the same bed, only our hands were touching, but strangely I felt very warm, I enjoyed the moment while smiling and stealing a few glances. For me, he really isn't my type at all, but why do I feel nervous? Diego ruined the fun I was enjoying at that time by telling us all to get up.

"Van wake up, we agreed not to sleep until tomorrow afternoon, if you lie down you'll be sleepy so you'll sleep later. Everyone's awake, just find a place to hang out so you don't sleep."

"Come on, let's go to the river. Early in the morning it's nice to relax in the rice fields while watching the water flow in the river."

"It's crazy to be in the river at this time, you're dying of cold."

"You definitely won't get cold when you see the view."

It was 5 in the morning, what crazy person would go to the river in this cold air, but what can I do, if you lie down, drowsiness will appear more and more and can overcome everything. We finally went to the river, while walking there, we didn't forget to stop by to meet Jones' family, who is the village head, before heading to the river we first said hello to his parents. The reason Jones left was because he had to help his father take care of the village, his father was seriously ill at that time. The responsibilities imposed on him made it natural for him to leave campus.
When we arrived there, we were truly presented with a very beautiful view, rice fields growing rice, the sound of birds chirping in the morning, and the sound of a large river flowing fast which made the cold air suddenly disappear because it was contrasted with the amazement of the view that was presented. . Don't forget that city people, if they visit good views, will definitely take photos and videos to upload to social media or save in a gallery. We enjoyed the exciting moments at that time until noon, until we were lulled by the beauty of the natural treats provided. In the afternoon we decided to go home because we still had one course exam that he had to take. Finally we said goodbye to return to the city center. In the middle of the road, unfortunately, our car tire leaked, so we had to change the tire ourselves, we laughed together, enjoying moments ranging from happy, touching to unlucky moments. Until finally we all parted ways in the afternoon to go home. When I got home I started thinking about Kia often, for the first time since Leva I felt the warmth of a hug from a woman other than her. I really have a strange feeling that comes from just a little hug. A warm feeling that I haven't felt in more than a year.