The school bell's final rings echoed, signaling the end of another day's lessons.

Students swiftly packed their belongings, streaming out of the classroom until it lay empty.

Once bustling hallways stilled to quiet, a deserted calm descending post-dismissal as each pupil ventured home.

Except for Julia, an eleventh-grade science stream student.

Julia earned the title of brilliance, championing her school to accolades and prevailing in competitive contests.

Alone in the classroom, she gathered her bag and made her way to the restroom.

She locked herself in the farthest changing stall there.

Tears streamed down Julia's face as she reached into her bag, her fingers closing around a concealed blade.

"Mom, Dad, forgive me," she whispered, pressing the blade to her wrist, "I can't make you proud."

As blood flowed from the wound and pain engulfed her, Julia could only cry and bear it.

Her blood began to pool on the floor, her senses dimming as weakness took hold, and eventually, she collapsed, unconscious.

Hours slipped by, and no one discovered Julia, who breathed her last alone.

As night approached, her parents' worry turned to panic—Julia had not returned home.

"Julia isn't back yet. I’m so worried," Ayu, her mother, said anxiously.

"Have you called her?" Bagas, her father, inquired.

"I have, but there's no answer."

"Let me call some of her friends then."

Bagas dialed Julia's friends, but none knew of her whereabouts.

"How did it go?" Ayu asked, desperate for news.

"I've called Roy, Kevin, Indra, Olivia, Erin, and Siska, but they're clueless about Julia."

"And her class teacher?"

"Yes, I’ve spoken with Mrs. Fitri too. She's unaware."

"What if something dreadful has happened to our Julia?" Ayu fretted.

"Let's hope not," Bagas comforted, embracing his wife.

Night deepened, but still, Ayu could not bring herself to retire to their room.

Ayu remained in the living room, hoping for Julia's return.

Awakened, Bagas found Ayu absent from their bed and searched, finding her in the living room.

"You haven't slept?" he sat next to her.

"No, I can't stop thinking about Julia. This isn't like her; she always lets us know where she is," Ayu said, her heart heavy.

"We can only pray that nothing's amiss. We should rest, my dear," Bagas said, his concern evident.

He coaxed Ayu, and soon, they headed to bed.

Sleep gradually overtook Ayu, and within her slumber, she envisioned Julia at school, adrift in thought upon a bench.

"Why are you here alone? The school's empty; why haven't you come home?" Ayu approached her daughter.

Julia's silent sobs were her only answer, prompting more questions from a bewildered mother.

"What's wrong, darling? Talk to me."

Julia turned and embraced her mother.

"Forgive me, Mom... I can't come home with you," Julia said through tears.

Breaking their embrace, Julia retrieved a blade from her bag and swiftly drew it across her wrist, her blood spilling out.

Aghast, Ayu screamed, hugging her child.

"Julia, what have you done?! Let's see a doctor!" she implored, cradling Julia.

"Forgive me, but I must stay," Julia insisted. "Go, Mom. Leave me to finish my unfinished business."

Ayu's screams for Julia pierced the silence of the night.

Startled awake by Ayu's cries, Bagas saw her thrashing, calling for their daughter.

"What's wrong?" he asked, handing her water to soothe her.

"I had a terrible dream... something's wrong with Julia," Ayu gasped.

"It's just a nightmare. Please, think positive thoughts about Julia," Bagas encouraged her.

"But I'm her mother; mothers sense these things," Ayu replied.

Bagas consoled her, tenderly wiping her tears.

"Rest now. We pray for Julia's safety," he said, kissing her forehead.

"Thank you... I'm sorry for how I reacted."

"It's all right, my love," Bagas replied, a smile breaking through.

Together they returned to sleep, Bagas's embrace slowly calming Ayu's troubled heart.

On a gloomy Tuesday morning, a group of female students made a shocking discovery at Tunas Bangsa High School. As Olivia, Siska, Erin, and Tina entered the girls' locker room for physical education class, they were confronted with a horrific scene.

"Aaaaaa," screamed Tia.

Upon hearing Tia's screams, Olivia, Erin, and Siska immediately ran towards her.

"What's wrong, Tia?" asked Olivia.

"Look at that!" Tia exclaimed, pointing at the locker room.

The four of them saw Julia's body lying on the floor, lifeless, her skin a pale shade of blue and blood, nearly dry, soaking the floor of the changing area.

Her hand was still clutching a razor blade, her skin beginning to turn pale.

Panic ensued as everyone witnessed a student lying lifeless on the floor.

"Quick, call the teachers and the principal!" urged one of the students present.

Several students sprinted towards the staff room to report the incident.

"Sir! Ma'am! Someone's dead, Ma'am!" shouted one of the students.

"Shush! You think it's a cat. Sir, there's a death in the locker room!" clarified another student.

All the teachers in the room were shocked and immediately rushed outside.

They were all stunned by what they saw.

"Astagfirullah, Julia!" cried one of the teachers.

"Sir, call an ambulance! Quickly, Sir!" she sobbed.

"My God, Julia, why did you do this, child," she lamented.

It turned out that the teacher was Julia's homeroom teacher, named Yasmin.

About half an hour later, an ambulance arrived at the school grounds, Julia's body was lifted and placed inside the ambulance, which then transported her to the hospital for identification.

Not only did an ambulance arrive, but the authorities also came to the school to investigate the crime scene.

Several witnesses and Julia's classmates were questioned one by one.

The area was cordoned off with police tape and was temporarily closed off to everyone.

Meanwhile, word spread, and several local reporters descended upon the prestigious school.

Mr. Darman, the principal of the elite school, chose not to clarify any details of the incident in order to protect the school's reputation.

"Is it true that the student died by suicide, sir?" the reporter asked Mr. Darman.

"Did the student previously have problems? I've received information that she was depressed due to bullying, is that true?" the reporter probed further.

Mr. Darman remained silent, walking into his office and locking the door behind him.

The entire student body was abuzz with curiosity, as were the people in the surrounding community.

Various rumors circulated about Julia's death; some speculated that she was bullied, pregnant out of wedlock, and others thought suicide.

In the meantime, Julia's body was taken to the hospital and underwent an identification process. Hours later, the results came out and the police declared that Julia had died by suicide as there were no signs of physical violence on her body.

Julia's body was then cleansed and taken to the funeral home, where her arrival was accompanied by weeping and sobbing.

After being removed from the ambulance, Julia was bathed, enshrouded, prayed over, and finally carried to her final resting place.

A procession of cars and an ambulance escorted Julia to her final resting place.

"I can't accept this, there must be something wrong. It's impossible for our child to take her life without a reason!" exclaimed Ayu, seated beside her daughter's bier.

"Let me handle this matter, please calm down my dear. Think of our child," said Dimas.

The ambulance and the procession of family and friends' vehicles reached the cemetery.

Julia's casket was lowered and taken to the grave.

Tears accompanied the burial of Julia's body, Ayu, unable to bear seeing her daughter enter the grave, cried hysterically.

Dimas descended into the grave to solemnly offer prayers for his daughter for the last time.

Red soil was gradually filled into Julia's grave, flowers were scattered over the burial site, and the once lively Julia now slept peacefully in her own world.

Classmates and the class guardian Ms. Yasmin were also present to escort the bright student to her ultimate resting place.

Ms. Yasmi approached Ayu and Bagas with heavy steps.

"I am Julia's new class guardian, and I offer my deepest condolences for her passing. I knew Julia for a week; she was very polite and intelligent, although in the past few days she seemed unusually quiet and rarely spoke up," shared Ms. Yasmi about Julia's recent behavior at school.

"Yes, thank you Ms. Yasmi. Last night I called Mrs. Fitri, unaware she no longer was Julia's guardian. Indeed, Julia was a kind and smart child, but at home she was just as usual, so we, her parents, have no idea what really happened," replied Bagas.

"But it's unlike Julia to do something like this without something troubling her," Ayu suddenly cut in.

"I completely understand how you feel as Julia's parents, but in all my years of teaching and supervising students at Tunas Bangsa High School, never has such a case occurred. This is a wake-up call for the school. If this issue is magnified, the school's reputation might decline, and you both know that Tunas Bangsa is the best school around here. I'm just conveying the headmaster's message, hoping you understand," Ms. Yasmi relayed to Julia's parents what the headmaster had communicated.

"I do not appreciate your approach," Ayu snapped at Ms. Yasmi.

"Please, my love," Bagas gently consoled his wife, soothing her with a shoulder rub.

"Well then, Mr. Bagas, Mrs. Ayu, I must go; may you find the strength to get through this," said Ms. Yasmi as she departed from Julia's funeral.

Julia's classmates also began to leave.

"Uncle, auntie, we're going back to school now. We offer our deepest sympathies for Julia's passing," said Olivia.

"Yes, Via, Siska, Erin, and the rest, thank you for coming to Julia's funeral," Ayu replied, her eyes still brimming with tears.

"Uncle, auntie, we also wish to extend our condolences and now must leave," said Indra.

"Thank you, Indra, Kevin, and Roy," Bagas responded with a look of sadness.

Julia's classmates left the burial site to return to school.

Back in class, the rumor of Julia's death was the topic of heated discussion among all the students.

As Olivia, Erin, and Siska were walking into their classroom, they overheard other students talking about Julia.

"It's a pity about Julia. She was such a brilliant and accomplished student. It's tragic she did something like this," said a student discussing Julia.

Ignoring the comments, the trio walked into the classroom.

Olivia, on reaching her class, pulled Roy aside from his friends to speak privately outside the classroom.

"Hey Roy, what did you do to Julia that made her take her own life? Did you—did you assault her?" Olivia asked with urgency.

"I swear, I did no such thing to Julia," Roy insisted with conviction.

"What about Indra? And Kevin? Or anyone else?" Olivia pressed with a barrage of questions.

Roy called his friends over, and Olivia repeated her inquiries.

"Are you out of your mind, Via? Accusing me of that? I couldn't care less about a bookworm like her," Kevin defended himself.

"And you, Indra?" Olivia interrogated again.

"Ridiculous! Why would I do that? Siska, my girlfriend, means everything to me. What would she think if she heard these baseless allegations?" Indra was indignant at being questioned by Via.

"Well, I'm just puzzled. Once, I accidentally saw a pregnancy test in the bathroom right after Julia rushed out, crying. She saw me, quickly wiped her tears, and I found a used test on top of the toilet with two lines. I suspect that may have something to do with her decision," Via shared her suspicions about the circumstances surrounding Julia's death.

"What if Julia was pregnant? Who could be responsible?" Kevin speculated.

"I have no clue," Via admitted, confused.

Siska and Erin, noticing Via in serious discussion with the boys, approached them to find out what was happening.

"Hey, what's all this serious talk?" Siska inquired.

"We're just discussing Julia's death," said Indra casually.

"Let's not talk about it anymore, out of respect for Julia. Besides, there's this saying that before forty days pass, the soul still lingers in familiar places, and since Julia died by suicide, her spirit would roam," Erin chimed in superstitiously.

"Don't say weird things, Erin," Siska scolded, feeling frightened.

Minutes later, the school bell rang, signaling the end of break time, and everyone went back to class to continue with their lessons.

Hours passed, lessons concluded, and all students headed home.

***

The next day, Julia's death had hit the news, prompting the foundation's head to visit the school and convene a meeting with all the teachers and administrative staff.

"Look at this: 'Top student commits suicide at Tunas Bangsa.' I'm embarrassed to read this. I've built this school over many years without incident, and its reputation has been stellar. Now, because of this case, the name of the school is tarnished," Mr. Damar, the head of the foundation, complained, tossing a newspaper onto the meeting table.

"I apologize, sir. Perhaps this was an oversight on my part as the principal, but we will try to downplay this incident," the principal promised.

"I don't want excuses; I want results. You all must restore the school's good name. That is your duty and mission," Mr. Damar demanded sternly.

"Of course, sir," the staff collectively assured.

An hour passed, and the meeting ended. The teachers and staff resumed their duties, while Mr. Damar left the school grounds, his car disappearing into the distance.