Chapter 26
THE LIFE OF INDIVIDUALS
ZARYA’S POV
“Really? Playing with the starfish?”
I smiled widely as I looked at Khal. I was on the beach in the early morning when everyone was sleeping. “You woke up early?”
“Yeah. I panicked when I didn’t see you.” He sat beside me. “Still having dysmenorrhea?”
I moved my head from left to right. “It has gone away. Usually, one to two days.”
“Good to hear.”
I raised the starfish. It was pink in color, cute and small. “Hi, Mr. Actor.” I waved the hand of it to him, which made him chuckle.
“Where did you know about my life?”
“Rozella, she talked about you last night.”
“Did she badmouthing me? How loud my snore is? Or how am I miserable when I’m drunk?”
The sound of my chuckle burst out from my mouth. “Nope. It’s how handsome you are. How you slay at the ramp hallway and all positives.”
I froze when I saw his full smile. He was a true good-looking guy. Perhaps… he was in the acting industry. Far from my world at the Elemental Kingdom.
“Can I show you something?”
“Sure! Let’s go!” I felt so excited. I was jumping when I walked first of him. He brought me to the Music Room, not so far at the Light House. There were so many instruments such as guitar, violin, drum, piano, and others.
“Do you love music?” I asked him. I followed him at the guitar.
“So much. How about you?”
“Not that much. But Hali is.”
He gazed at my face for so long. “How long did you know Hali?”
“Months? Years?” I have known him when he was a child, but I never saw him. I just met him the night I escape from the massacre.
He nodded his head slightly. He grabbed the guitar and started to strum it. “Tonight, down the Light House, the party will be held.”
“Party?”This content belongs to Nô/velDra/ma.Org .
“Yeah, in celebration for the two hundred eighty-one years of the Light House.”
“It’s quite old.”
“Hmm-Hmm.” He started to strum the guitar again. He was a great singer. I did no wonder why he was an actor and a supermodel. He was so talented.
“Great voice.”
We stared at each other for seconds before it was interrupted by our friends.
“You go here with him… alone?” Rozella wrapped on my arm like she used to do.
My eyes accidentally viewed Hali. He was playing with his tongue, bumping on his cheek while he was glaring at me as if I did something wrong to him. Kastrid was enveloping her hands on his lower arm. Froy jumped to Khal, encircled his thin arms on his broad shoulder. Alisha was looking at herself in the mirror, putting on lipstick. Tan Tan was the holder of the mirror.
“Let’s have our breakfast.” Rozella dragged me.
“Seems like Zarya has full stomach… I mean full butterflies in the stomach. The way she stares at Khal. She has something t一” Kastrid stopped speaking when Hali cut him.
“Shut up!”
I closed my mouth when I recognized that Hali was not in the mood.
“Bad morning?” Froy tapped his shoulder, teasing him as the grin was on his lips.
“You’ll have a bad morning, too, if I punch your balls.” Hali teased back at him.
“Not my balls, Buddy.” Froy was naughtily covered his lower part.
They were punching each other’s shoulders as their way of greeting. They were funny to watch with.
“Zarya, where are you going after your vacation?” Rozella was dragging me while we were walking, going to our room.
“Going… home.” There was a doubt for me to say ‘home.’ Sadly, I have no home. The vacation should be one night, but it turned into days since Hali was enjoying the view. Surely, he would have again a whip to his father when he comes back.
“Where’s your home? Can I visit you?”
“Far away. I’ll visit you instead.”
“Really? Looking forward!” She leaned her head on my shoulder. “You know I have family, but I barely saw them. I’m living in the big mansion, but I only have my nanny. My parents are always out of town.”
Hearing her story, I realized we had different stories. She had a family, but it seemed nothing. At least she would still see them after work. Me? I only see them in my nightmare.
“Don’t worry. I’ll tell Hali. I will visit you always.”
“Hali? Why…” She gazed at Hali who was now laughing with Tan Tan and Kastrid. “Why the decision depends on Hali?”
“You’ll find out.” I walked faster as my stomach was growling.
The breakfast went well. We had so many stories for each other. I knew that Froy was a bastard of his father. His mother was just a maid to their house, is now still a maid. His stepmother was so rough to him, he just ignored it. By looking at him, he was not the kind of guy who was affected by any problem. When it came to a family, his emotions changed into a sad man.
Tan Tan was an international gamer, it was virtual, any game he knew. Imagine, Hali’s friend was really an influential person. Tan Tan loved to play games since he was a child. He also talked about her little sister. She was a headache to him because of her weekly changing of boyfriends. We laughed at his face when it became problematic.
Alisha was a daughter of a famous international model. That was why she entered that world, too, due to her mother’s wants. It was not obvious, but she does not want attention from everyone. She just wanted a ramp in the middle of the road without no one was looking. That was exactly what she said.
When the story came to Khal. I was more interested in his life. He was a supermodel, a winning award actor, and a great influential singer. However, even if he had a perfect body finger, face, and life. Her girlfriend was cheating on him. He caught her plenty of times; kissing another man and also sleeping with them. He was so kind not to beat her for that. The good news is they broke up. He managed to stand on his own without her. He decided to start a new life again. He also wanted to resign for being a public finger because it suffocated him a lot. It made him annoyed when paparazzi were everywhere.
Among all of them, the most famous was Khal. He had been quietly hiding from his fans all over the world. He said he liked to go somewhere when everyone did not know him. Unlike Tan Tan, his life seemed to be normal. He could walk without someone following or taking pictures. Hali was in his house when he was in the Human World.
When the story came to Rozella, I knew what she would tell us. The story of how her parents are busy with their work.
I had friends, too. I almost forgot them, but they were not as rich as Hali’s friends. They were just ordinary beings who would love to eat street foods. I missed being a college student. If I would go back to studying. Would Hali let me? Education is important. If one day, I settled to be as free as a human again. I would get work.
“How about, Kastrid? I never hear your story?”
In the middle of eating, Alisha’s attention was on Kastrid. She smiled at her, but Kastrid rolled her eyes as if telling a story was not in her vocabulary.
“I’ve no story to tell. Why would I share my life with people who I only know for days?” Kastrid raised one eyebrow. I noticed, she was a girl who would not easily trust people.
“Be good to them. They’re friends.” Hali placed food in his mouth and then drank water.
“I can’t understand, Hali.” Kastrid gazed at him. “Why are you getting along with these people when you’re just risking their life?”