short story (1)

S T A Rshort story
struck

XI-E SUHAILA ULFA
33

One fine morning at Xavier High School. The glances in the
eyes of the fans were clear, even my back felt hot because of
it. Oh, I'm not the idol here. She is my friend, Maurelle. She
was a trainee at a big agency for almost two years. Not only
that, she is a talented Influencer on a social media platform.
And yes, as you know, I am Maurelle's best friend. My name is—

“Aurelle Smith! Mrs. Grace is calling you.”
“Oh God, what happened to make her call me so

early in the morning?”
“Be patience, Aurelle. Maybe she called you to

leave the task this morning. Or, you will be
rewarded or something for your service for
these 3 years. All of that could happen, right?”

Yes, here she is. Maurelle the good princess. I
admit, if I were a man, I would fall in love
with her at first sight. There are no bad

things attached to her. Apparently, God made
Maurelle when He was happy.

“I agree with the first option, but not with
the second. That's impossible. She is famous
for her calculating nature. I'm even sure, if
she were our country's finance minister, then

there would be no more national debt.”
“Oh, Aurelle! Shhhttt!! You are too much
hahahahaha!!!! I see it, okay?! Hahahah...”

It's break time. Several students in
my class immediately ran to the

canteen, some to the library. While
others chose to stay in class.

Maurelle was not seen for about ten
minutes, she told me she was going

to the toilet. Feeling lonely, I
finally chose to follow her.

However, when I arrived at the break door, surprisingly
something sounded from inside it. I heard the voices of Maurelle
and some of the other girls. It seemed they were having a serious

conversation. I put my ear to the crack of the door to listen
further.

“C’mon. Be honest Maurelle,
aren't you tired of being friends
with Aurelle? She's too dependent

on you.”
“What do you mean? She is my
best friend. That's how she should
have been. I also do the same

thing.”

This is enough. I can't
listen to much more. H-
have I looked like that
all this time? Am I just a

burden to Maurelle?

I discouraged my intention to follow Maurelle. I have to
go, I ran towards a quiet place. The small garden beside
the laboratory building became my place to cry. I know, I
may be overreacting. However, without realizing it, I've
always been worried about what other people think of
me. And it became a reality today. I feel claustrophobic
and afraid. Afraid that their thoughts turn out to be the

same as other friends.

“I know, I may not be better than her. But, am I not allowed to
enjoy time with a friend like her?”

“I don't know what happened to you, but I think everyone
deserves to have some time with their best friend.”

Suddenly a voice answered my question. This is a male
voice. I also looked in all directions to see who was

interfering with my own dialogue. But, no one is here. Oh
God, this is starting to get creepy.

“Excuse me, maybe you could
look up?”

I heard the man's voice again.
I also followed his directions.

I was surprised, suddenly a boy was
hanging upside down above me. Our
eyes are opposite each other. The pale
white skin of his face was reddened
by the weight of gravity. This feels

awkward.

“Oh no. Don't look at me like that,
Miss. I'm not an alien. Yeah, I know
that I'm handsome. But, let's get back

to the topic of conversation.”
He said those words as he climbed down

from the tree, and followed to sit
across from me.

“W-what? Eumm, sorry. But, I'm not talking to you. And in
my opinion, it’s impolite to meddle in other people's words,

you know?”
“Of course I know that. But I think you need someone to talk

to. Do you know? All your emotions are reflected on your
face. Let me guess, right now you must be feeling sad,
gloomy, annoyed, and want to vent everything, right?”

“Oh, you're being ‘The most know-it-all’ now.”
“I’m sorry. But I think, even a child knows how you feel

right now.”
“Hahhh... okay. I give up. Then, what do you think? About
me, according to people, should not spend time with my

best friend because they think we are not equal.”

He looked deep in thought. I
hope he has a solution to my
problem. This really tortures

me.
“Ehm, I wasn't trying to
judge you before. But, I'm
just asking you to try to be
honest with yourself.”
I felt confused and curious at
the same time about what he

would ask.

“Have you ever felt
jealous of her? I think you
have some anxiety about

who you are.”

The question was surprised me. It felt like a
dagger was stabbing my heart. Have I ever
envied to Maurelle? Maybe, yes. Unknowingly, I
was silent. Didn’t answer his question. Finally, I
realized where I went wrong. I looked into his

eyes, as a sign that I thanked him.

“Ah, I know you already
noticed. My advice, you
should go to your favorite
place for introspection and
get to know who you really

are. Thank me later.”

“JACOB BLAKE! GET HERE YOU BAD
BOY!!”

“Oh, no! Mr. Edward had seen me. I
think you already know my name, so...

see you later?”
“Aurelle Smith.”
“Okay, Aurelle. Such a beautiful name.”

He walked away waving at me. A wide smile like a toothpaste
commercial appeared on his face.

I walked along the beach. The sound of the waves was
heard all the way to the shore. I feel calm, watching
seagulls trying to catch fish, fishermen preparing to
go to haul the fish back, and the gentle breeze that
gently slaps my face, making my hair strands messy.

And the funniest thing is, I feel calmer here. No
one looked at me with piercing eyes. Everyone is

busy with their own world. The thing that I
haven't seen for a long time, and I just realized
now that this world is beautiful, if you see it with

your heart.

I looked up at the dim sky solemnly. I miss that reddish sunset.
So bad.

I felt that God stopped my time in an instant, to know more
deeply who the Aurelle figure in me really was. He didn't let my

confidence be washed away by the waves, and just drowned.

Finally, I know that Aurelle is the Aurelle that currently exists.
Only I am. Only Aurelle always spent time with Maurelle, smiled

with her.

I have to understand that, yeah, I'm a human being. It's only
natural for me to feel it, Starstruck. I'm not trying to deny it.
This is exactly where I learned. That there are many types of
stars, even with different glows. I learned that God creates His
creatures in different forms. If everything was the same, then
nothing could be called a star, right? Yep, you're black and I'm
white. Your hair is straight, and I'm curly. You're famous and I'm
not. But, who cares? If you only focus too much on differences,
then that will only make you start to suppress and erase who you

really are. No one wants to get Anxiety. It hurts, you know.

And after feeling better, I decided to contact Maurelle.
Drrttt... Drrttt...

“Ah! Eumm.. Hi, Maurelle.”
“Aurelle?! Where are you? I've been looking for you everywhere. I

was worried to see your pale face. But when the bell rang, you
disappeared. I'm worried. Aurelle, are you all right?”

Look, even Maurelle is really worried about me now. How lucky I am
to have a friend like her.

“Y-yeah. I was just, I was just trying to calm myself down for a
second.”

“Where are you now? I’ll catch up with you.”

“Beach. I'm at the beach now.”
“Alright. See you soon in 10 minutes.”
Maurelle will be here. Following me.
After ten minutes of waiting, I saw a big smile appeared on her
beautiful face. Her passion for coming here was palpable. It

moved me.

I hope we can share and be honest with each other. It's okay, if it
turns out that I'm a burden to her. Thus, I will diet as often as
possible so that she doesn’t mind my presence. Because, I really
love her as my best friend. My star, without being struck.

THANK U
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