The Yellow Envelope (English)

 It's been a year since Ruby first received an anonymous letter in the school locker. Today she received it again.

The first letter Ruby received was when she was in 1st grade of high school. At that time she was confused and afraid. Suddenly, in her locker there is a yellow envelope. She brought it home. It turned out that the contents of the birthday greetings were written in beautiful sentences like poetry. The handwriting is neat. Along with the letter, there was a painting of a rose in the moonlight and had the words 'In a moonlight garden, when roses never fade' written on the back. What does it mean?

Ruby never found out who sent the letter. All she knows is that she has a secret admirer. Maybe. But if it's true, how cool is that. But to be honest, Ruby was really curious. However, she never told anyone about it.

Today Ruby received it again. The envelope is still the same, yellow. Realizing that someone had bothered to deliver it to the locker made Ruby flutter. She quickly stuffed the envelope into her school bag before anyone noticed.

"No exul, By?" asked Ale who suddenly came, patting Ruby's shoulder softly.

"Oh, no, today is free," Ruby replied with a smile.

"Does that mean you're going straight home?" she asked.

"Yups!"

"Let's watch the Barbie movie, shall we? With the other kids. They said it's good."

Ah, Ruby really wanted to go home and open this secret letter she received.

"Oh, sorry, Le. I can't go, because I also have a stomach ache right now." Of course Ruby was lying.

"Oh, all right then. Maybe next time. You can go home alone right?” Ale said with a worried look. Ruby immediately felt guilty.

"I can. Don't worry. Have fun, you guys," Ruby said.

*

Arriving at home, Ruby immediately opened the yellow envelope. She stared at it for a long time. It seems like it's pounding too. Is this time the sender will tell their identity? There's only one way to know.

Inside there is a sheet of paper containing a few short sentences.

The letter begins with, “Dear Ruby,” Seriously, whoever's handwriting is so neat. Is there a boy whose writing is as pretty as this? Or maybe Ruby's secret admirer is a girl? Oh God, no please don't.

The following sentences contain happy birthday wishes, wishes for a healthy and happy life, and thanks for being born on earth and being an inspiration to them. On second thought it was so cliche, but she loved it. Never in her life had such a secret admirer.

And yes, again, the sender did not reveal their identity. But it turns out there is a black bracelet in the envelope. No more paintings. This year it's just letters and a black bracelet. Should Ruby wear it? Would the sender show himself if Ruby blatantly gave the go-ahead sign? We never know, she will still wear it. The bracelet is beautiful too, it has her initials in the middle.

*

Time flies so fast. Now is the time for the school performing arts. At the end of the year, Ruby's school always holds an art performance to celebrate a year that has passed. Usually, each class is asked to presenting something, whatever it is. Ruby's class seems to be giving a dance performance. There are Ale, Michelle, and Olivia who are talented dance extracurriculars. The other students no need to bother anymore. 

Ruby was having lunch at the school canteen with Luna when several people simultaneously left the canteen.

“The lunch break is over, eh?” asked Ruby confused.

"Not yet, I think they want to see the preparation of Social 2 class who want to perform," Luna answered coolly. She was still enjoying his meatball while scrolling through her phone.

"You're not interested, Lun?" asked Ruby again.

Luna glanced at her briefly before looking back at her phone screen. "I'm interested, but too lazy to push people around. Let's just watch from afar. It's just this Social 2 grader."

Ruby nodded. That's right. It's better to have a leisurely lunch.

Loud music could be heard faintly. So, even without looking at the situation, Ruby knew that the whole school was having fun with the performance of Social 2 graders.

They brought pop songs from famous Indonesian artists, so it was only natural that everyone at school would know about it.

After finishing with their lunch, Ruby and Luna joined the crowd. Of course they were just watching from afar. Now, the Social 2 class will present a new song. They say this song is their own song. They're so cool.

There is Liam who holds bass and vocals, then Jefa who holds guitar and vocals, Erion who holds keyboards, and Ridam who is responsible for their drum parts. Ruby just realized that Social 2's children are indeed members of the band extracurricular.

The soft strains of the keyboard passed through Ruby's ears very politely. Just the intro, Ruby already likes it. It seems the instrument is very pretty.

Liam's voice can then be heard singing the lyrics to the new song.

With trembling hands, I sent it away

Twice a charm, hoping not to betray

Every day you wonder who this mystery could be

The clues within the yellow envelope, like a key

Ah, did they say the title of this song yet? Ruby wasn't sure. She looked at Luna next to her who had picked up her phone to record. Most of the people around her also did the same. Ruby immediately took out her phone because she didn't want to miss it.

Behind the yellow envelope in the locker,

There's a heart, beating like a firecracker

Wait. What was that? Ruby froze. Did she hear correctly?

A secret rendezvous, a midnight serenade

In a moonlight garden, where the roses never fade

Ruby's heart was beating so fast it hurt. Of course she remembered those words. The sentence on the back of the letter sender's rose painting.

Behind the black bracelet in your hand,

There's a smile that never ends

Ruby stared at her left hand in surprise. She had worn the bracelet the letter sender had given her from the first day she received it. Then she looked at Liam who was performing the song, continuing it.

That boy was singing while looking at all the audience, as if his eyes were looking for someone. When those eyes met Ruby's, he immediately turned his gaze to the stage floor and suddenly smiled. Ruby was still staring at him in disbelief. Her heart was pounding more and more. Shit. Why is he so cool?

The question is, who wrote the song? Is it just a coincidence? What did Liam's smile mean?

© dipricey Diva Dipxie // Diva Alayna Suwito