As he waited for the bus, he plugged his earphone in and put them in his ears. His fingers scrolled down his phone, and he began playing a playlist that contained a few of his favourite songs. The first song that played was Gnash’s song, ‘the broken hearts club’. As he listened to it, for once, he felt like he could not just enjoy the tune, but also relate to the lyrics. He’s heartbroken after all.

He spaced out a bit as he listened to the song. But, as the song was only halfway in, his phone suddenly rang, startling the hell out of him. He checked his phone, and he realized that it was his mother who was calling him, and who was he to reject a call from her?

Leon took off his earphone, unplugged them from his phone, and accepted the call. And he pressed his phone against his ears, wanting to talk to his mother somewhat properly.

“Hello?” he said, and the woman from the other side of the phone said the same word back.

After that, his mother asked him if he was doing okay—she asked these once in a while, making sure that her son who lives in another country across the sea was doing fine. Normally, he’d tell her the truth. He’d tell her his day, like, for example: when there’s an annoying teacher at school or something akin to that.

However, those things he told her are bare of any significance. It was just light banter, something he only needed to complain about so he could get it out of his head. This time, what was bothering him was a bit bigger than usual.

Leon was lonely. He needed someone to accompany him here in Jakarta, in his home; but he knows asking her to come home would be just for naught. This was his mother he’s talking to—the woman who’s currently struggling with an illness in a hospital far away. He wouldn’t dare to burden her, so he lied to her.

“I’m doing fine, mom. Everything—everything’s great,” he said, pushing out as much sincerity into his words as he could.

His mother began to speak again, bringing up other small topics. “Of course, of course,” he said, “if I need anything, I’ll be sure to tell you or dad, of course. But, I don’t need anything right now, mom,” he responded, lying through his teeth.

The woman across the phone let out a sigh, and then she said goodbye. Leon held his phone in silence for a few seconds before responding to that. He took a deep breath. “Yes mom, bye. Love you,” he said, as he proceeds to close his phone.

The song that was cut short by the earlier call proceeded to play quite loudly on speaker, and he quickly plugged his earphone in as to not embarrass himself any longer. He puts the buds on his ears and continued to listen to the playlist.

His eyes darted up, looking at the bus schedule, and he was confused for a second. Where was the bus that was heading in the direction of his home? Why hasn’t his bus arrived yet? What the hell? he wondered, upset that he was not on his way back to his home yet.

And the song after Gnash’s song proceed to play, and Leon was getting quite sick of waiting. He lets out a sigh and closed his eyes. He was tired, so he decided to take a short nap, and hopefully, he’d be awake when his bus arrived.

Two songs after, he opened his eyes. Not yet, he grumbled. The fourth song played, and it was on the fifth song when suddenly, he felt a hand tapping on his shoulder.

He opened his eyes and he saw a girl—a classmate of his—standing somewhat sideways in front of him. She was a girl with black hair tied into a ponytail, and he looked up at her. She gestured for him to take his earphone off, and Leon wondered what she wanted before taking his earphone off.

After capturing his attention, she began to ask him. “Um, Leon. Are you—are you waiting for someone?”

Oh, she knows his name. He paused for a second, trying to think of who she was. He knows that she was a classmate of his, he should at least be able to figure out her initial. Internally screaming, raking through his brain, he finally figured out what the girl’s name was. Oh yeah, Melia.

He blinked. “Uh, I’m sorry, could you repeat that again? Uh—Melia?” he asked.

“Are you waiting for someone?” she said.

“...No?” he confusedly answered. “I mean, technically, I am waiting for the bus,” he followed up.

Her eyes lightened up. “Oh, which bus are you taking?” she asked, tilting her head.

“The one heading towards Ragunan, uh... why are you asking?”

“Oh, Ragunan? Leon, you missed it,” she said, causing him to freeze.

Her words got him startled off his seat. His hand took off his other earphone, letting it hang from his phone, and he stared at her. “I’m sorry, what?” he asked, disbelief plastered all over his expression.

“Yeah, the bus. To Ragunan, right? You missed it, like... two minutes ago.”

His eyes widened. “Fuck,” he whispered, just under his breath. He missed his ride, damn it! For a moment, he was silent, but then it was cut short when he let out a frustrated sigh. Well, if he looks on the bright side, he guessed that’s better than taking the wrong bus and only realizing that when you’re halfway across the city, he thinks.

“Well damn it, I was sleeping,” he moaned out. He tightened his fist, proceeding to put his phone and earphone into his pocket. Those two things were distracting him—he needed to get rid of them.

“Well, aside from missing your bus, I really suggest you don’t fall asleep in a public place like this, especially when you’re alone,” she warned him. “I guess this is still pretty close to our school, but that doesn’t cut off the possibility that something might happen to you. Be wary a bit, alright?” she said.

He licked his lips. “Yes, of course. Thanks, Mel,” he said, rather not sure if he would keep her words in mind. “How about you, though? Which bus are you waiting for?” he asked.

She shook her head. “Ah, no. I’m not waiting for a bus. My driver told me to just wait by the bus stop so it’d be easier to look for me. I’ve also been waiting for some time now, honestly... where the hell is he?” she mumbled, hastily tapping on the phone in her hand.

A car suddenly honked in their direction, and both of them got startled. Melia looked in the direction of the car and she squinted her eyes, and then she exclaimed. “Oh, finally!” she said. “Leon, uh, there’s my driver. Um, I’ll be going first, alright?” she said, looking at him once before leaving for the car.

“Ah, yeah... yeah.”

“Bye, Leon!” she said, waving at him, and he instinctively waved back.

A few minutes after Melia left, the bus heading towards his home finally arrived. He quickly went up, and then he sat down on the seat. And when the bus proceeded to go, he simply played on his phone as he waited for the bus to arrive at his street.

And that was that for the day.