The steady beat of marching shoes filled the main field of Nusantara High School. The morning sun was beginning to sting their skin, glinting off the rows of tenth-grade freshmen standing neatly according to their respective groups. On the ceremony platform, Reyhan stood at attention with a military posture. His hands held a thick stack of attendance sheets, while his sharp eyes behind clear glasses swept over the lines with meticulous focus, searching for the one person who had been circling his mind like a thorn in his flesh.
Kirana Paramitha.
The girl was not standing properly in her line. Instead of keeping her feet together and placing her hands beside the seams of her pants as instructed, Kirana stood slightly hunched over, busy scribbling something in the small pocket-sized sketchbook she had brought from home. She completely ignored the ceremony supervisor's instructions, preoccupied with studying the shapes of the clouds in the western sky with a 2B pencil in her right hand.
"Dimas," Reyhan called without taking his eyes off the field, his quiet voice nevertheless firm enough to reach the Student Council Vice President standing beside him.
"Yeah, Yan? What is it now? Don't tell me you're going over to Group Three's line. The ceremony's only just getting to the main event," Dimas replied in a half-whisper, his brow furrowing worriedly as he watched his best friend's jaw tighten.
"Look at Group Three, third line from the back. The fourth line from the left," Reyhan said coldly.
Dimas turned his gaze toward the indicated spot. The moment he saw Kirana happily drawing in the middle of the solemn ceremony formation, he let out a long sigh and slapped his own forehead. "Oh, come on. That girl really is something... It's only the first day, and she's already picking a fight with the entire core Student Council staff. You want me to drag her to the counseling office right now?"
"After the ceremony ends. Make sure she doesn't slip away to the cafeteria or restroom when the lines are dismissed. My black notebook is ready to record her first demerit," Reyhan replied emphatically.
The opening ceremony for the School Environment Orientation finally proceeded smoothly until the first-recess bell rang sharply. As soon as the duty teacher called for dismissal, the main field erupted with the voices of hundreds of students scattering in search of shade or heading toward the cafeteria, where the savory aromas of Malang meatballs and chicken noodles had begun to waft through the air.
Reyhan did not take a break right away. Together with Dimas, he strode toward Group Three's line. His firm steps immediately parted the crowd of freshmen, who fell silent the moment they saw the Student Council President approaching with a dense, icy aura. Several female students whispered, both awed and unnerved by Reyhan's handsome face paired with his threatening expression.
"Kirana Paramitha," Reyhan called from directly in front of the girl, who was preparing to put her sketchbook into a shabby moss-green backpack.
Kirana slowly looked up. She showed no surprise whatsoever. Instead, she gave him a crooked smile and tucked her pencil behind her ear. "Oh, Mr. President. Wow, you caught up fast. Miss me after I was gone from the radio room for half an hour?"
Dimas, standing beside Reyhan, nearly choked on his own spit at the casual remark. He glanced at Reyhan and saw the vein in his best friend's left temple pulsing faintly as he held back his anger.
"Come with me to the Student Council room. Now," Reyhan ordered without preamble, his voice heavy and intimidating. "You need to answer for your indiscipline during the ceremony just now. Ignoring the ceremony supervisor's instructions and drawing in the middle of the formation is a serious violation on the first day of school."
Kirana snorted softly, then stood straight and slung her backpack over one shoulder. "Oh, the drawing thing? Hey, Mr. President, my brain works faster when my hands are moving. Besides, instead of standing at attention like the Pancoran statue while listening to the principal's speech—which lasts long enough to watch an entire Korean drama—wouldn't it be better to summarize some visual inspiration?"
"Your excuse is unacceptable," Reyhan cut in sharply. "Walk ahead. Don't even think about running away, or you'll be suspended for three days starting today."
Without waiting for a reply, Reyhan turned and walked ahead toward the second-floor hallway where the Student Council room was located. Kirana merely shrugged indifferently, then followed behind him at a leisurely pace, deliberately dragging the soles of her shoes slightly across the ceramic floor to produce an irritating bress-bress sound in Reyhan's ears.
When they reached the Student Council room, which was cool from the air conditioning and smelled of fresh paper, Reyhan immediately slammed the door shut and locked it from inside so their conversation would not become a spectacle for the other students. At Reyhan's request, Dimas waited outside, leaving the room occupied by only two people whose personalities were like fire and ice.
Reyhan sat in his office chair, opened his black imitation-leather notebook, and picked up a branded pen with stiff movements. He stared sharply at Kirana, who instead strolled toward the wall covered in Student Council achievement certificates before examining each trophy neatly lined up on the glass shelf.
"Sit," Reyhan commanded coldly.
Kirana pulled out the wooden chair across from Reyhan's desk and sat down, crossing her right leg over her left knee. She propped her chin on one hand and stared straight into Reyhan's eyes without the slightest trace of shyness. "This feels just like being interrogated by a police detective. Relax a little, Rey. Those wrinkles on your forehead are going to make you look ten years older."
"Do not call me by my first name so casually. At this school, my status is Student Council President, and your position is that of a freshman who has committed an ethical violation," Reyhan said firmly as he tapped the tip of his pen against the wooden desk. "Your full name is Kirana Paramitha, and you transferred from SMP Negeri 2 Kota, admitted through the visual arts achievement track. Your academic grades are good, but your behavior record from your previous school shows that you were frequently suspended for refusing to participate in marching activities and protesting the uniform."
Kirana blinked, slightly surprised that Reyhan had researched her background so quickly. "Wow, your intelligence work is pretty impressive, Mr. President. Thorough, too. Too bad all those records were written by old-fashioned teachers who are allergic to freedom of expression. I refuse to be a sheep in a herd that can only nod obediently without knowing where it's going."
"School is not a place to seek freedom of expression by breaking the rules everyone shares!" Reyhan's voice rose as he struck the desk—not hard, but hard enough to make the air in the room seem to tremble. "Rules exist so that the thousands of students at this school can live in an orderly, safe, and comfortable environment. If everyone had selfish thoughts like yours—doing whatever they pleased under the excuse of art and freedom—then this school would turn into a jungle!"
Rather than shrinking back in fear, Kirana's eyes flashed with an even brighter fire. She leaned forward, bringing her face closer to Reyhan's until the distance between them was drastically reduced. Reyhan faintly caught the distinctive scent of baby bath soap mixed with the aroma of book paper.
"If this school were filled with nothing but stiff robots like you, living by a manual without a soul, the world would be incredibly boring, Rey," Kirana whispered right in front of Reyhan's face, her voice soft yet piercing. "You're scared, aren't you? Scared that someday someone might destroy the illusion of order you've worked so hard to build here?"
Reyhan was stunned for a fraction of a second. His breath suddenly felt slightly caught by the distance between them and the utterly honest yet challenging gaze in Kirana's eyes. His heart beat twice as fast as usual—not from fear, but from a wave of anger and unfamiliar confusion he had never felt in his entire life while facing anyone.
Reyhan quickly pulled himself backward, straightened his back stiffly, and looked sharply away to avoid the girl's pitch-black eyes.
"Don't talk nonsense," Reyhan said, striving to keep his voice steady despite the slight tremor at the end of the sentence. "I have officially recorded your demerit for today on the first page. As your punishment, starting tomorrow afternoon after school for one full week, you will clean the entire visual arts room and organize the brush and canvas inventory there by yourself, without anyone's help."
Kirana snorted softly, then leaned back in her chair with a satisfied smile curling across her lips. She did not look burdened by the severe punishment in the slightest.
"Clean the visual arts room? Wow, Mr. President, that's not punishment. That's a free pass to hang out in my favorite place," Kirana said casually as she rose from her chair. She straightened her gray skirt, then leaned slightly toward Reyhan in a mocking gesture. "Thanks for the fun punishment. See you tomorrow afternoon in the art room, sweet-but-stiff Student Council President!"
Before Reyhan could protest or add to her list of punishments, Kirana had already turned and walked out of the Student Council room while whistling softly, leaving the door half open and an air of boldness lingering behind her.
Reyhan clenched his fist on the desk, staring at the page of the black notebook where Kirana Paramitha's name was written in thick black ink. The first day of School Environment Orientation was only halfway over, yet Reyhan already knew for certain that this school year would be the most exhausting—and most confusing—chapter in the entire history of his orderly life.