Aidan not regretting his mother's decision to move to a small town called Mountain Side, but maybe his life was a little more fun when he still in his school in his old town, Angel Bay.  His lonely nature makes him not have many friends. But Aidan never bothered about that, maybe even a little grateful because not many people intervened in his affairs. At least that's what happened at Angel Bay, but on Mountain Side High, it's very different. The residents of that small town know each other. They greeted him and were curious about him. Trying to make friends and get along with him. Aidan hates that. That useless chit chat. So, what he does is avoid contact with other humans. That's makes him look like an outcast in school. The students who tried to get to know him were increasingly away from him because of his very distant attitude.

A new habit that Aidan does on weekends is to explore the Mountain Side streets with his bicycle. Mountain Side Air is much cleaner and fresh compared to Angel Bay, making it possible to pedal his bicycle as far as he want to without feeling tired. On This Saturday morning, he traced the outskirts of Upper Side, an elite residential area on Mountain Side. The Upper Side road is overgrown with shady trees because it is directly adjacent to the Mountain Side forest. There were no vehicles passing by this early, only a few people jog passing him by. He kept directing his bike into the Upper Side area, passed the Pension House and turned towards to Lake Brooke, then stopped his bike at the side of the lake.

Thick mist still floated on the surface of the lake, rolling like have a lot of mystery in it. The air around him was still covered by a thin mist, Aidan zipped his jacket to his chin and put his hands into his pocket, to reduce piercing cold. The quiet atmosphere in this lake has attracted his heart. While standing on the edge and staring at the slowly moving fog, you will feel as the only human living in the world. So quiet, even the sound of a lake-dwelling animal was not heard. In a strange way, the atmosphere on the lake had given peace to Aidan.

"Beautiful, huh?"

A voice made Aidan aware of his reverie. Next to him has stood a girl who might be two or three years older than him. Her hair was shoulder-length blonde with a wide band of red salmon accent around her head. The girl is wearing knee-length dress and cardigan. For a moment Aidan stared at the girl in surprise. The girl beside him seemed to emerge from a different time with him.

"He-eh," Aidan said briefly.

"You also like to stare at the mist hovering over the lake?"

"It seems so ...," Aidan answered reluctantly. He felt his quiet morning had been disturbed by the presence of the girl.

"Me too. Sometimes I stand for hours on the side of this lake, waiting for the mist to disappear. What do you think when you staring at the mist?"

"Nothing."

The girl looked at Aidan disappointed. "Don't you hear their soft whispers?"

"Huh?"

"Sssh ... listen closely." The girl placed her index finger on her lips, then turned, staring at the surface of the lake deeply. Aidan just stared at the girl in wonder.

"Listen to the moans of the inhabitants of the depths of Lake Brooke, " she said sadly. "They feel lonely, their sad songs roll up carried by the mist."

"Err ... I didn't hear anything," Aidan said frankly. What he had in mind right now was how weird is the girl in front of him.

But the girl didn't seem to care about Aidan's answer, because she kept talking. "I am the same as them, carrying a sad song to this lake." The girl spoke in a dreamy voice, "I am always waiting for him. But he never came. Even though he promised to take me away. "

Patiently Aidan remained standing there, listening to the girl's story. Or maybe he still stood there because he didn't know what to do? The girl's presence seemed to confuse him. Although standing only a few steps away, the girl's presence was like an echo, which felt close but came from a distant place. Her body was like a mist moving slowly on the surface of the lake. There is something about that girl that looks unreal and shouldn't be there. But her sadness is real, Aidan can feel that painful feeling breaking through the swishing wind.

"We used to take a boat to the middle of the lake," the girl continued. Her pale finger pointed towards the lake, "on a clear day, we will have a picnic there. He will play his guitar and sing a love song for me. But one day ... " a tear rolled down her cheek.

"... he never came again."

Maybe he met another girl that more attractive, Aidan thought to himself.

"Did he meet another girl?" asked the girl sadly. Aidan was a little surprised, the girl seemed to be able to read his mind.

"Maybe ..." Aidan muttered.

"Why doesn't he just say it to me? But instead let me continue to wait here?" The girl stared at the mist that have begun to thin with teary eyes.

"I don't know ...."

"Will you accompany me boating to the middle of the lake?" The girl asked suddenly.

"Right now?"

"Yeah, c'mon!" The girl grabbed Aidan's arm, "I think the boat is still moored there!"

Aidan followed the direction in which the girl pointed. A wooden dock seems appeared from behind the mist, there was an empty boat bobbing on the surface of the water. Aidan never remembered if there was a dock there. Hesitating, the teenager followed the girl who led her. They walked around the banks of the lake, several times Aidan's feet fell into the moist soil on the edge of the lake. His feet felt wet and moist, making his body more cold.

"I thought, maybe we could do this just another time. When the sun is high, "Aidan said. He gently try to let go of the girl's hand.

"No, we better go now." The girl insisted. Aidan could feel the girl's grip tightening.

"Yeah, but ...."

"Come on! Don't be such a coward!"

With Aidan's resignation following the girl's orders, even though his heart said he had to stop, his legs continued to follow where the girl was going.

"Hoi! Hoi! What are you doing?"

A grip on his shoulder made Aidan gasp. Like he realized from a dream. A man in sport wear holds his shoulder.

"What are you doing?" the man asked again. "Are you want to swim?"

"What?" asked Aidan confused.

The man pointed down, Aidan looked down, he saw that he had stepped into the lake. Maybe about a meter from the edge. His feet were already submerged in water as high as a calf.

"What happened?" said Aidan frantically. He never felt stepping into the water. Aidan immediately grabbed the man's hand and got out of the lake.

"Do you know? At the bottom of the lake are there lots of algae that can wrap around your body? You can't get out of there alive."

"I don't know ..." Aidan said weakly. He is still trying to digest what happened to him. What really happened? Aidan circled his gaze around, but the girl who was with him was nowhere to be seen. "Did you see the girl who was with me here?"

The man looked at Aidan confused, "which girl? No one is with you before. "

*End*