Lights On

Chapter II: Follow Your Dreams

  A gentle gust of the coldest breeze caressed my cheeks as I went down from the bus. I attempted to carry my heavy, bulky luggage to get to the bus terminal where I was supposed to meet a friend. However, I don't even know how she really looks like in real life. She was an online friend.

I went to a corner and wrapped my fuchsia scarf around my nose and lips. I started calling her but she's not answering her phone. I started to shiver, probably because of the cold temperature or my fear that she won't appear. Or both.

"Hey."

I looked around to see the man who sat beside me staring at me. I did not look at him that much all throughout the ride, hoping that he's not going to start a chat. I don't like talking to male strangers.

"What is it?" I said in a quite annoyed tone.

"You left something in the bus." His amber colored eyes that caught my attention almost an hour ago looked at me with so much familiarity, making me feel uncomfortable. He hurriedly checked his pocket for something, and finally grinned when he found what he was looking for.

"I think this is yours." He handed it to me casually and waited for me to grab it from him.  

It was a little key. But I shook my head and tried to push his hands away. "No, it's not mine. You can keep it if you like, or surrender it to the office. Someone might look for it. Bye." And I hurriedly turned around, leaving him still holding on to the vintage looking key that dangled on a necklace chain, puzzled.

I didn't think twice about lying about it and leaving it behind a stranger. I do not care anymore about its fate.

It's time to let go of the past.  

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I waited and waited and waited at the bus terminal. It was already an hour passed, but there was no sign of my friend.

Suddenly, a text came from my friend apologizing and saying she can't make it on time because of some emergency but she sent her younger sister to fetch me from the terminal.

After five more minutes of staring at nowhere, a perky girl in a red polka dot dress came poking every female teenager around the terminal. She was also shouting my name.

My face turned red and hastily pulled her away from the crowd.

"Stop shouting my name, I'm here!" I yelled as she turned around to see who grabbed her by the arm.

"Password please, just for verification purposes." She smiled and waited for me to respond. I tilted my head and raised my eyebrows. "Password? Jackie didn't tell me a password." I gulped as she started to walk towards the exit of the building. When she noticed that she was walking alone, she turned around and yelled, "Hey Astridia! Are you coming with me or not? My sister will get angry if you get lost or into trouble!"

Without thinking if I should be skeptic or not, I picked up my bag and ran to her. She began giggling as I came nearer. "No one calls my ol' sis that name. You've got the password right."

She winked at me and helped me load my stuff inside her car's trunk.