"Yes, Aidan is here, he was swearing outside."
"Okay, you can leave now. I'll paint while I'm here, so I don't think I'll get bored."
"Alright, you go first then." Aaron walked out of the caf, and I continued my work here.
Time flew by without me realizing it. At 10 p.m. at Resville, the tables that had been full were emptying, some people were packing up their things to go home because Resville was about to close and Aidan and I were going to do the closing.
It was exactly nine o'clock in the morning when I arrived on campus, and as usual I went through my lecture world casually even though my assignments were overwhelming. I walked to my class on the second floor. Arriving in class, it turned out that my lecturer had arrived first. The lecture began, all students were busy taking notes on the material presented by the lecturer, including me. Before I knew it, it was twelve o'clock and the class was over. Incidentally, today my class is only one subject, so I can join the association meeting first. Today's meeting discusses the stage that will be organized by the department association. This meeting will take quite a long time because there are many discussions that we discuss, one of which is the division of divisions and determining the person in charge of each division. I became the person in charge of the event division, and got the task of contacting one of my seniors who is also a senior from my department association, to discuss the theme of the stage that will be made. After hours of sitting in the set secretariat room, the meeting was finally over and I packed my stuff quickly because I couldn't wait to meet my mattress at home.
Night has come, after finishing cleaning the body and filling the stomach that has been rumbling since this afternoon, I went up to the room and took the cellphone then lay down on the mattress. I opened WhatsApp and started looking for the contacts that my seniors had given me at the meeting. Ataya is the name I was looking for in my whatsapp contact. Without lingering long I started sending messages to the man. Actually, I often see that person on campus and at the secretariat of the association but never communicate with him. After finishing sending the message, I left my cell phone for a moment and went downstairs because Mom was calling. I hurried up to the room when my cell phone vibrated, displaying a message from Kak Ataya on my cell phone screen. It's too late, tomorrow we'll discuss it on campus after you finish your lecture, I have an exercise so I can't discuss this now.
Instantly my heart was beating faster than it should, my sweat started pouring down my shirt and my room's air conditioner seemed useless. I'm not the type of person who enjoys communicating with new people. It's not that I don't enjoy it, but it's very hard to do. It's hard to get rid of negative thoughts about people's judgment of me when I start communicating with new people. Ah god, why don't you just chat? I muttered with a sigh and then I was forced to agree to Ataya's words earlier. Yes, I'll let you know tomorrow when I finish my lecture.
At three o'clock in the afternoon all my classes were over, I took out my cell phone and gave the news to the strange man I was going to meet. While waiting for his reply, I packed up my stuff that was lying on the table. I don't know why the items in my bag all came out. My cell phone vibrates and then Ataya's name appears on my cell phone screen. Come downstairs, I'm in the corridor. I took a deep breath, took in as much air as possible to fill my lungs, then exhaled slowly, as if with the exhale evaporated all the burdens and negative thoughts in my head. It's the time, take it slow Hana, take it slow. I repeated the phrase silently as if chanting a mantra.
After grabbing my cream-colored tote bag, I then walked out of the classroom. The distance from my class which is exactly on the second floor to the corridor is not far, I only went down to the first floor then arrived at the corridor. The sky this afternoon looked very clear, full of blue clouds without a single white cloud floating there.
I took a breath, counted it to four, then exhaled slowly. I try to neutralize my own heartbeat, it beats like I'm running a race, even though I'm just walking slowly. It's strange, I don't even understand why since yesterday my heart has been beating at a faster pace every time Ataya's name is mentioned. It's strange because I don't even know the man, except for his name and his habit of playing musical instruments.
In the corridor, my eyes roamed, searching for the person who had been waiting for me. Ataya was already there, sitting in the gazebo across the corridor, wearing a gray t-shirt and black pants. I neutralized my heartbeat. Oh my god, what's wrong with my heart? Ataya was just sitting there playing her guitar. I took a breath once more, then walked closer to the man.
