“And you just—ran away?!”

Chandra took her phone away from her ear as Elga yelled into the phone. She had expected her friend to react in this way and wasn’t surprised to hear her yell in shock. She would’ve actually been worried if Elga had reacted calmly instead.

Chandra glanced around at the other passengers on the bus, hoping their conversation wasn’t too loud before she brought her phone back to her ear.

“El, I really didn’t know what to do,” Chandra sighed. “My body just… moved on its own. Like I was moving on autopilot.”

“But Dra,” Elga groaned. “What if that was a sign? Like what if the universe is trying to tell you something and you keep running awa—” 

“I know, I know,” Chandra fidgeted with the edge of her shirt, knowing full well that her friend was probably right.

“Well, did you at least say hi back?” 

“Not really,” Chandra slowly said. “I was kind of flustered so I just... up and left.”

There was a pause before Elga suddenly hooted with laughter. “Wait. You? Flustered?? Oh my god—”

“Okay, listen—” Chandra began before the bus driver abruptly stepped on the brakes and she bumped into the person next to her. She apologized to them before turning her attention back to the phone. “Actually, can I call you back later? I’m still on the bus.”

“Oh, alright,” Elga cackled in glee. “I’ll let you off the hook for now. My gosh, you of all people? Flustered?”

“Says the person who was flustered enough to avoid her old work colleague last week,” Chandra snorted.

“Hey, I’m scolding you right now,” Elga huffed. “Anyway. What did I call you about in the first place again?”

Chandra laughed. “You're still coming over tomorrow, right?”

“Oh, yeah! I’ll be there after lunch,” Elga said. “Don’t forget to send your sister’s address to Biru, by the way. He’s never been to her place and he's bound to get lost without directions.”

A warmth spread in Chandra’s chest at the reminder that she would be seeing her closest hometown friends the next day. "I will. Text me when you get there tomorrow and I’ll open the gate.”

“Alright. Call me when you get back to your sister’s place, okay?! You've got a lot more to tell me.”

“I will, I will. Talk to you later, El.”

They both hung up. Chandra stared at her phone and let out a very slow sigh before she reached up to take hold of the bus strap, leaning her forehead on her hand. The bus continued to make its way through town, oblivious to the turmoil swirling in the mind of one of its passengers.

It was true that Chandra had abruptly left the other anthropology students when she had arrived at the canteen. Chandra had used the excuse that her sister needed her all of a sudden and excused herself, promising Nadira that she’d text her to reschedule their dinner. 

But the question was: why had she done that? Chandra could find no clear answer in her mind. 

She stared blankly at the wall of the bus as if the answers would suddenly appear on its surface before her phone buzzed in her hand. It was a text from Nadira. 

Nadira Shahab: 

Hi Kak, I hope you got back to your sister’s place okay! 

The others said they would love to see you again if you’re interested. 

Kak Kyra asked if you wanted to swing by our gathering again sometime? Lmk :)

Chandra froze as she read the last line of the text.

Kak Kyra asked if you wanted to swing by our gathering again sometime?

Her eyes went over the words again and again until the screen of her phone went black, leaving her to stare back at her own bewildered expression. 

Kyra. 

That was a name she hadn’t seen nor heard in a very long time.

She jumped when the bus attendant announced her stop, quickly signalling to them that she was getting off. Her feet began walking on the asphalt streets near her sister’s neighborhood before she heard someone call out her name. She turned around.

“Tika!” Chandra smiled and stopped, waiting for her sister to catch up to her. 

Kartika slowly jogged over, holding the straps of the bags on her shoulders. “Hey, you’re back early! How was dinner?”

“It was alright,” Chandra said, gently swallowing the knot in her throat. She eyed the large cloth bags that were slung on Kartika’s shoulders. “Were you just at the grocery store?”

“Yeah, I went to get vegetables. Al’s here by the way,” Kartika said, referring to her fiancé, Alvaro. “He’s in the hardware store and I was just about to go fetch him. Wanna come?”

Chandra nodded. “I'd love to. Also let me carry some of these groceries,” she gently pulled one of the grocery bags off of Kartika’s shoulder despite her protests. 

They then made their way down the street, chatting about their day and Chandra was glad Kartika didn’t pry further on why she had gotten back so early. They walked into the hardware store and headed towards the electricity section, looking for her sister’s fiancé.

They found Alvaro squatting in one of the aisles with two different light bulb boxes in each hand, eyebrows scrunched together in concentration. His dark, wavy hair was loose and his checkered button-up was rolled up to his elbows. He stood up when he noticed them approach him.

“Hey! It's Chandra,” Alvaro grinned. “How are ya?”

“I’m alright,” Chandra smiled at her soon-to-be brother-in-law. Despite Alvaro being a few years older than her, they stood at each other’s height level. “And you?”

Alvaro held up the two boxes. “Just getting some light bulbs for Tika's lamp," he showed them to the siblings. "Which one do you think will last the longest?”

Kartika hummed and went over to take a closer look. “This one should last fine. It’s cheaper too," she said as she read the description of the box on the right. "But it's white light. You’re a light sleeper, so you might have trouble sleeping when I stay up to work.”

“I don’t mind. The other ones are more expensive.” Alvaro pointed at the prices of the light bulbs on the shelves.

Kartika frowned. “But what if it really stops you from sleeping at night? Maybe we can get one that dims?” she glanced at the dimmable light bulbs. “Oh shoot, but they’re even more expensive.”

Alvaro laughed. “For you Tika, I will learn to sleep with white lights.”

Chandra watched them playfully bicker about the prices of the light bulbs before she quietly went off to look at the air fryers on sale.

The idea of a life companion was something that she knew in theory would be nice to have, but she had never felt the need to actually find one. It rarely occurred to her that it was anything important, even if seeing Kartika and Alvaro together made her think that it would be pleasant. Chandra would even go so far as to say that no one had made her consider what having a companion would mean in her life.

Kak Kyra asked if you wanted to swing by our gathering again sometime?

Chandra stopped in front of the air fryers and found it very hard to focus on comparing their prices.