REMEMBER ME?...
The Part 69

Jakarta, Indonesia, residence of the Alexander family, 2000

A freight car stopped right in front of a house next to Alexander's family home. His father told Vano that the house next door was eventually bought by an acquaintance, and that his family would eventually get a new neighbor. As people began removing items from the transport car, Alexander's family was outside the house, preparing to welcome their new neighbors. Vano, who was only 9 years old, was there to witness the arrival of their new neighbors.

Then a black car came and parked right behind the truck. Some people even get out of there. And the next thing Vano remembers is that he met their new neighbor.

A man the same age as his father, and a wife who looks younger than his mother. Then, a girl with two braided hair appeared and stood in front of Vano. The little girl's next words were what made her bring her eyes up.

“You must be Vano Alexander, right?”

Vano was speechless while the little girl with the chubby cheek was smiling widely.

“I'm Kiara Kusuma. Kiara's. You can call me that.” said the girl again.

“Oh yes, my father said, I will attend the same school as you! Please help me, yes!” he continued with a polite bow.

And that's how he knew Kiara Kusuma.

Bali Beach, 2001

This was the first time that the Alexander family and the Kusuma Family were on vacation together. They chose to vacation in Bali because there the Alexander family has a large villa that they can live together. Vano and Kiara's relationship was close enough at the time, and wherever Kiara went, there must have been Vano there. Somehow, something made Vano feel responsible for Kiara's safety. The girl was too free—that's what Vano thought. Too free for an heir who seems too strange. And terrifying.

Once in Bali, one thing that Kiara shouted at him immediately was,

“Beach!!!”

And the girl ran towards the nearest beach as soon as they reached the villa. Back then, Vano even had to bother catching up with the girl due to her extremely fast running.

Upon arrival at the beach, as if that wasn't enough, when Kiara's eyes found a largest rock near the beach, the girl immediately ran up to it and climbed it, making Vano exhausted.

The sun was shining right above his eyes, making Vano have to squint to look forward. He looked at Kiara who was climbing excitedly in front of him.

“Be careful! You will fall!”

“Just relax, I won't fall!” reply Kiara.

Vano was still trying to climb the rock, step by step, finally he reached the top of the rock.

“You were so long, Vano Alexander!” kiara protest who was standing at the end of the rock, staring at the small waves that hit the rock that he inched. “See here, waaah... It's so beautiful! If I jump down, how does it feel, huh?” the girl said unconsciously.

Vano widened his eyes to hear those words. The boy immediately moved quickly and held onto Kiara. A very sudden fear haunted him to make his hair stand up. Afraid that Kiara would actually jump. It turned out to be exactly what he had expected; there was something strange about Kiara.

“You can't jump!” exclaim Vano.

Hearing that, Vano fell silent slowly, his grasp loosened without him noticing.

“Ah yes, starting next month, I will start school in your school.” Said Kiara again.

“Haaah..It's so fresh! Come on, let's go back and take a lot of photos together! Looks like I'll feel at home near you, so you don't get bored of me, yeah!” he continued, pulling Vano's hand and bringing him down the reef, then dragging him back to the villa.

Jakarta, next 6 months (2001)

Kiara actually entered her school 1 month later. The girl was two levels below Vano, so the man could not always monitor her condition. But just like this time, he found himself running back to the first level area in search of Kiara. Vano doesn't understand why, but since he went to school, his friends don't seem to like him very much. Several times, the girl had gotten into trouble with her friends which made Vano have to intervene. His friends say that they don't like Kiara's nature. Kiara who was a little tomboyish and chatty, was also frank.

But isn't it unfair to hate someone for their nature? More so because they don't pretend to be someone else and be themselves? Until now, Vano did not understand that.

This time, he ran back to the first level because one of the teachers asked him about Kiara's whereabouts because it turned out that, after sports lessons, the girl did not return to class.

Kiara occasionally skips class when her friends have just made trouble with her or when she is not fit enough to receive lessons. And a little bit, Vano knew where Kiara was ditching.

But Vano had visited every place, and found none. That's what worries the boy. He kept running through every room and then switched out.

After circling the park for nearly 10 minutes, he finally heard the sound,

“Vano!”

Vano stop. His head was relentlessly searching for the source of the voice. When he looked up, he, he found a little girl with short hair sebahu—long hair was cut when he entered school— was in the middle of a tree branch high enough while carrying a kitten.

The boy widened his eyes. “Yes! What are you doing there! Quick down!”

“Hehe... I just want to help this kitten.. but... I don't know how to get off..”.

Vano sighed loudly. He then approached the tree and climbed it—though in fact he could not climb and was afraid of heights. When he had reached near Kiara, Vano extended a hand that Kiara immediately greeted him with. The two of them slowly came down from the tree. But when Vano's feet almost stepped on the ground, the kitten that Kiara was carrying suddenly revolted and jumped from the girl's arms, making Kiara surprised, until finally Vano slipped and caused them both to fall on the grass with a loud enough sound.

Vano and Kiara could only grimace for a moment before they finally both laughed.

“Yes! You can't help yourself from your friends but you're helping a cat without getting off. You're it's really something, you know?” Vano.

“But doesn't that matter? I have you who will take care of me. So I don't have to take care of myself!” reply Kiara.

Vano. “What if one day I go?”

Kiara tickled back. “Cannot be. You won't last a day without me.”

And hearing that, they laughed again.

...****************...