Chapter 3

Alyne works at a cafe not far from where she lives, every Monday to Friday the girl works there until 8 pm.

She served as a waiter and also sometimes doubled as a cafe singer when the band that usually perform was unable to attend.

Tonight, she is now sitting strumming her guitar on a small stage in the corner of the room, her melodious voice began to fill the entire cafe, everyone there stopped their respective conversations and chose to stare at the source of the sound, as if they were all hypnotized with the voice of a girl who had been seen performing on the stage several times.

After finishing a few songs, the girl finally put down the guitar she had been using and got off the stage.

"Your voice is just awesome!" said Siska, one of the chefs there. Alyne who got the praise could only blush.

"Don't you have any intention to join any audition? If you pass, you will be famous," suggested the girl who was five years older than Alyne.

Alyne shook her head slowly.

"No, Sis, until now I have no intention of joining something like that," said Alyne before her eyes turned to his boss who called her by waving his hand at her.

"Sis, I'm going back first. I'm called by Mr. Boris," said Alyne, the girl got a nod from Siska and then immediately headed back.

When she arrived in front of Mr. Boris, her boss, she was immediately handed an envelope.

"Here's your salary for this month."  Mr. Boris's words immediately made Alyne''s eyes sparkle. 

But, a second later she immediately look surprised.

"Why are you giving it now, sir? I should receive a new salary tomorrow, shouldn't I?"

A faint smile appeared on the lips of the man, then his eyes turned to Siska who was talking to the connoisseurs of her cooking.

"I heard from Siska that tomorrow will be the last day you can pay your rental house from two weeks ago. And tomorrow I have to go to another city, so I want to pay your salary right away today."

Alyne smiled happily.  "Thank you so much, sir," the girl said happily, then she said goodbye because her work hours were over.

Her feelings are blooming just imagine if she can't pay her rental house, she might be kicked out of the house right away.

The money she gets is not only used to pay rent, he also uses it to pay for her school fees.  Not much, but enough for her.

***

Alyne is now standing in a room with an area of ​​about 1 x 1 meter, the girl takes out her card and swipes it in the space provided.  She was checking her bank account balance, after seeing how much the girl sighed again.

"More?"  A frown is clearly visible on her forehead, she wonders why the balance in her account always increases, every month starting from last year.

"Who?"  she asked herself, was it her father?  Or his brother?  It seemed impossible, that one family had clearly thrown it away. 

Is it from Herrin?  Of course not, he doesn't even know that Alyne have a bank account

Because she doesn't know where it came from, Alyne has never touched the money, she relies more on the money she gets from her hard work in the cafe than the money in the account.

When she came home from work earlier she stopped at the ATM just to check if the 'person' was still sending her money, and it was.

Alyne finally got out of the room and walked back home.

"Whoever that person is, wherever he is, I want to say sorry and thank you, sorry because I will never touch the money at all, thank you because it turns out that there are still people who care about me."

***

 The next day ..

"Sis, I really need it , please return the money .. " Alyne said pleading to the tall girl in front of her.

Violet just chuckled, then looked at the girl with a scornful look.

"What do you want to do with a little money like this, Alyne?"  Violet asked mockingly.  

"Better we use it to buy our snacks, right?"  Violet asked her friends who were sitting on either side of her while enjoying Violet playing with the girl.

"Yeah, better to fill our stomach," said Mia, one of the gang''s members. 

"Don't...!" Alyne begged when she saw Violet throw the envelope filled with money at Mia.

The girl took courage when she saw Mia start to distribute the money that came from the envelope. She held Violet's hand.  "Sis Vio... I really needs that money."

Violet threw Alyne's hand. "Crazy! How dare you touch me!"

"It's disgusting you know!"

Alyne can only bow her head to hear the insults from her sister.  Violet then reached for the girl's hair, pulling her up.  The pain in her scalp didn't stop her eyes seeing how Violet's face suddenly turned sad.

"Why the hell? why are you still alive?"  whispered the girl right in Alyne's ear.

"Why don't you just die!" she continued, then pushed Alyne's head away from her.

"It's okay. I'm hungry, let's go to the cafeteria." The girl pulled Angel's arm who was sitting beside her to stand up.

Violet and her friends left Alyne who was still standing there, holding back the tears that had been wanting to come out. The girl tilted her head to hold back the clear liquid that was already in the corner of her eye. She sighed again.

Today was really the last day he could pay the arrears, otherwise she would have to leave the rented house tonight.

It's her fault for being afraid of losing the money, so she always carries the money everywhere and accidentally meets the gang in the classroom corridor.

***

"It was really bad! Your Sister," Evan said as he sat beside Aslan who was playing a game.

Hes is Aslan's classmate, he  just came back from the toilet and accidentally saw Violet who was bullying Alyne.

Aslan raised an eyebrow, his hand still playing the game.  "My sister? which one?"

"Both."

Hearing this, Aslan immediately turned his attention from the game to Evan.  "What has Violet do to Alyne?"

"She was ..."  

***

Now Aslan is in front of Violet's class, waiting for the girl to come out after asking her friend for help.

"Why bro?"  asked Violet who was now in front of Aslan.

The boy didn't answer and immediately pulled Violet to the rooftop.  When she reached the rooftop, Aslan released his grip from Violet's hand. 

"Aww, bruh!"  The girl grimaced as she rubbed the wrist that Aslan had pulled tightly.

"Are you crazy? What's the matter?"  sprayed the girl did not accept being treated like before.

"What did you do to Alyne?" asked the man directly with a straight face.

"Alyne?" said the girl in surprise, before she finally understood what Aslan meant.

"Ohh, Alyne," said the girl once again with a sharp look.

The girl pointed Aslan right in his face.

"Are you tugging at me like a crazy person just because of her? Is that right?"  The girl's face showed disapproval.

The boy didn't answer he just kept looking into his sister's eyes.

"What's wrong with that parasite, huh? Are you angry to me for her, again? Do you feel bad for her?" attacked the girl with a face full of emotion before her face suddenly turned sad.

All of that did not escape Aslan's view. The girl caught her breath, which had been ragged.

"Do you love her again?

Have you forgotten what she did?"  the girl whispered, she shook her head in disbelief.  But she still didn't get a response from Aslan. 

She turned her back to Aslan.

"You're an idiot for pulling me here."  The girl's shoulders shook, she now began to shed tears that dropped down on her cheeks. 

Aslan, who had been silent all this time, sighed in annoyance and then took a deep breath.  He walked closer to Violet and hugged her sister's body from behind.

A few seconds of silence before Aslan finally spoke.  "Sorry. I'm sorry."

"You're evil!" said the girl, rubbing her cheek roughly.

"Yeah, I'm bad, I'm sorry."  Aslan tightened his arms around Violet's body.  He stroked his sister's hair.

"Don't cry please, I'm sorry," he said while kissing the top of Violet's head.

***