MANDY stared at her plate. The food looked excellent and delicious, especially the colorful vegetables around the main dish. But, for her, it’s nothing. The dishes are colorful, unlike Mandy’s dull and boring life.

“Hey, Mandy.”

She knew that voice. It belongs to Monica. She’s her classmate when she was in high school. Mandy also knew that she doesn’t like her. “What?”

Monica smirked. “You’re alone? Where is your so-called bff’s?”

“Why are you looking for them?” she asked, trying her best not to sound disturbed or bothered by her question.

“Because I want them to invite to my party,” she replied without hesitation. “Only them, not you.”

Mandy laughed. “Oh, thank you for doing me a favor, Monica. I heard your previous party was a mess because you threw up in the pool.”

Monica gasped, not expecting her response. “You freak!” She said and slapped her face. “Don’t you ever dare to talk to me like that—”

“Monica.” Mandy heard footsteps from her back. “Why are you always bothering Mandy?”

Mandy raised from her seat, grabbed the glass of juice, and threw its content to Monica. “Who looked like a freak now?”

She raised her hand and was about to slap Monica, but Michael stopped her arm. “Mandy, stop it.”

Monica took that chance to cry in front of Michael, the school’s student councilor. “I was just inviting her to my party, but she acted strangely and attacked me—”

“Liar,” she cut off. “I hope you go to hell.”

She swept Michael’s hand away from her and started to walk towards the canteen’s exit. Mandy regrets dining here again in the canteen. If she only knew that Sherry and Jennie will leave her, she would’ve eaten alone somewhere, just like before.

When Mandy was just ten years old, her father died in a car accident. Since then, her mother worked to support her studies, but when she went to high school, her mother got fired from her work that brought her to decide to leave the country and work abroad.

That was the day when Mandy realized that she’ll start to live alone. Her parents’ relatives hated her for being introverted and distant to others. And even her mother begged them to look for her while she worked in abroad, they refused. She was nn her junior high that time, a fifteen-year-old teenager with no friends or even pets. She was alone, they say, but Mandy knew that she wasn’t.

When she turned sixteen, her mother got her an apartment in the rooftop of a building just near their house. Her mother said that their home was big for her, and she has to sell it to leave her money that will support her daily needs until she got her first pay in her new job abroad. Since then, Mandy learned to live unaided in a small room on top of a building.

“But, I am not alone after all,” she said and took out her phone. “Elias is with me.”

Mandy sat on one of the benches in their school ground. She scrolled on her cell phone screen until she found Elias videos again and watched it. She smiled as soon as Elias’s handsome face flashed on the net.

Sproutoon saved her from the sadness that covered her life for years of being alone. She was on the verge of surrendering when she accidentally passed by one of their music videos on the music channel. Elias, who was in the center of the group that time singing his part, caught Mandy’s attention and heart. After that, she started stalking their social media accounts and found out that they’re one of the famous boy groups in South Korea. Since then, Mandy became their low key fan.

Mandy was about to start on the next music video of the Sproutoon when she sensed that somebody is watching her from a distance. She turned her head to the side and caught a tall man standing from their school gate. He was staring at her as if he knows her. He was wearing a familiar blue turtle neck sweater and white pants.

Mandy knotted her forehead as she recalled who that man was. “Is he my new neighbor?”

“Hi, Mandy.”

A soft female voice called her attention. When she looked up, she saw Cecile’s smiling angelic face. “H-Hi…”

“Are you alone?” she asked. She was holding her lunchbox on her hand. “Would you mind if I occupy that space beside you?”

Mandy looked around. The other benches weren’t occupied. “Ah…”

“I just want somebody to share my lunch with,” she said and smiled shyly. “But, if you don’t want—”

“Yes, sure…” she quickly cut off and gave Cecile enough space on the bench. “Here, you may have this space.”

Cecile’s smile widened. “Thanks,” she said and sat beside her. “Actually, I really wanted to talk to you…”

Mandy didn’t hear what Cecile was saying. Her attention was on the man that was still standing on the gate. It was as if he’s waiting for her to approach him.

“Mandy, what are you looking at?” Cecile asked her and followed her gaze on the gate.

Mandy glanced at Cecile. “Nothing…” she said, but when she looked at the gate again, the man was gone.

***