Walk to 17th [TERBIT]

extra iii. midnight rains

this chapter is fresh from the oven, let me know what you think!

. . .

Giory bersandar ke kursi di pinggir lapangan. Kualitas tidurnya sedang berantakan, pertanda tidak baik, apalagi akan ada pertandingan yang berlangsung minggu ini. Suara bola tenis yang memantul ke sana-kemari sudah menghiasi telinganya sedari tadi. Pagi ini, Departemen Hidup Indah menyewa lapangan tenis, giliran Cesar dan Zaydan yang bermain. Sementara di sampingnya, suara Raja, Audi, dan Sharlene hilir mudik memasuki telinga.

"I don't think you can make things up," kata Sharlene, mengetuk kesimpulan. "She barely survives with Baylor Orchestra and recitals. She has too many things to do on her own. Let's be real, your existence is just a burden."

Giory menghela kasar, melirik Sharlene yang mulutnya kelewat tajam.

"I said what I said," aku Sharlene, mengedikkan bahu. "Lo ga dateng ke orchestra, that's your big mistake."

"Orchestra tuh cuma alesan aja," timpal Raja. "Itu Dara emang udah numpuk kali unek-uneknya, bom waktunya baru meledak gara-gara orchestra. Habit lo kan emang jelek, Gi. Lo kalau udah fokus satu hal, langsung buyar kegiatan lainnya."

"Iya, lesson learned," Giory berdecak, "time management gue emang jelek kalau lagi turnamen. Alesan gue juga klasik, lupa. I've learned my mistake, tapi masa gue harus sampai ngeiyain Dara buat putus?" tanyanya, frustasi.

"Because it's not worth the ride, dummy. Kalau kehadiran lo cuman nambah beban, buat apa diterusin? Some people might teach us a better lesson," balas Sharlene, menyandarkan tubuhnya ke kursi. "We're still 18, tho. Too soon to swear, 'to be with you until we're gray and old.' We only met zero point zero of the population at this point."

Kepala Giory semakin runyam, Sharlene terlalu mendukung keputusan Dara. Sementara itu, tawa Raja mengalun pelan.

"Stupid of you to think that Giory is not serious. Marco yang dari orok sama Gio aja sampe bilang cuma Dara yang bikin dia blingsatan gini, Shar. He just sucks at showing up everyday." Raja mencibir sambil tertawa.

"Gio tuh kayaknya ngerasa udah secure banget, Ja." Audi angkat suara, menaruh kindle-nya ke atas paha. "Dia mikirnya, 'ya udah selama gue sayang sama Dara, there's nothing to worry about. Gue fokus bola dulu selagi dia sibuk di orchestra. Nanti kalau semuanya udah beres, kita balik ngobrol intense lagi kayak biasa, saling bagi cerita kemarin gimana.' Gitu kan pikiran lo?"

Giory terdiam, semua yang dikatakan Audi ada benarnya, "tapi ga salah, kan?"

"Well, I don't know, it's not a yes or no question." Audi mengedikkan bahu. "You do your own style."

"Masalahnya Dara bisa toleransi ga sama cara lo yang kayak gitu?" tanya Raja, "yang kalau ditanya kabar malah jawab, 'nanti aja ceritanya sekalian,' kalau lo kayak gitu ke kita mah ga masalah, tapi kalau ke Dara?"

"By doing so, I think you make her feel lonely," terka Sharlene. "Apalagi lo tau Dara lebih sering sendiri di rumah. Om Aksa sering ke luar kota, lo otomatis jadi orang kedua yang dia cari buat ngobrol, tapi kalau lo ditanya kabar, jawabnya malah kayak gitu, what's the point of having relationship?"

"Gi," Audi termangu beberapa sekon. "I remember, there's one sentence from Conversation on Love, the writer says, 'your partner is like the weather: they subtly change every day. So love is about having the capacity to keep asking about the changes of the weather, 'how are you today?' Lo mungkin ngerasa lo udah ngelakuin yang seharusnya, kasih Dara space buat dia fokus latihan piano. Tapi siapa tau sebenernya Dara selama ini berusaha buat terus nanya ke lo, 'how are you today?' dan balesan lo malah, 'I'll tell you tomorrow.' Once she stops asking, it will be hard for both of you to keep up, cause the season might have changed, and you might not be relevant to each other anymore."