The roar of the school bus engine finally died as the massive vehicle came to a perfect stop in the school courtyard. It was four in the afternoon. The entire combined-practice group spilled out with exhausted faces—except for two people still trapped in the back row.
“Move it,” Kevin muttered, gently shoving his backpack toward the aisle. “My back’s killing me from sitting in the corner.”
“You’ve been fidgeting like a worm this whole time,” Rey replied casually. He stepped off the bus without a care, followed by Kevin, who kept glaring at the back of his head in annoyance.
They had barely walked five meters down the corridor toward class to grab their school bags when they came to a stop. Mr. Gunawan stood in front of the teachers’ lounge, a thick file in one hand and his glasses perched on the end of his nose.
“Kevin! Reynald! Get over here!” Mr. Gunawan called, his deep voice echoing through the corridor.
Kevin hissed and stopped walking. “What now…? Is Mr. Gunawan going to chew us out over what happened on the bus?”
“Probably something else,” Rey replied without changing his expression.
The two of them walked over to their homeroom teacher. Nearby, Nayla and Dimas were tidying up the remaining attendance sheets.
“What’s up, Sir?” Kevin asked, pretending to put on his most innocent face. “The combined practice went great, Sir. I scored ten points.”
“This isn’t about your basketball points, Kevin,” Mr. Gunawan cut in quickly. His fingers tapped the papers on the desk. “I got reports from the Class President and several teachers on duty. Your class has been the noisiest one this week. Messy lockers, a Math quiz that turned into a circus, and even that little commotion in the cafeteria yesterday.”
Dimas, standing beside Nayla, suddenly whistled softly while looking up at the ceiling, pretending he had nothing to do with it.
“What kind of little commotion, Sir? That was just class dynamics,” Kevin protested.
“Dynamics that left the cafeteria table covered in sauce?” Mr. Gunawan shot back. His gaze shifted to Rey. “And you, Rey. You’re a new student, but you adapted to Kevin’s pattern of provocation awfully fast.”
“I was only responding, Sir,” Rey said calmly.
“Same difference!” Mr. Gunawan exclaimed with a long sigh. He pulled out two classroom equipment supervision forms. “Since the two of you are the most dedicated to heating up the classroom atmosphere, starting today, I’m appointing both of you as the people responsible for the classroom equipment inventory until next month’s Class Meeting.”
“What?!” Kevin stared in shock. “Sir, are you serious? With him again?!”
“Why? Do you object?” Mr. Gunawan challenged.
“Of course I object, Sir!” Kevin pointed angrily at Rey, his temper flaring again. “This guy can’t work with anyone! Just look at his face—it’s so blank. No way he’s going to carry balls or rackets!”
Rey glanced at Kevin’s finger pointing at his nose, then gently brushed it aside. “I can work. Your easily-distracted attention span is the problem.”
“I’m easily distracted?!” Kevin shouted, indignant.
“That’s enough! Quiet!” Mr. Gunawan snapped, making several students passing through the corridor turn and look. “No arguing. Your job is to record, maintain, and make sure every ball, net, vest, and classroom whiteboard is ready for use. Every afternoon before you leave, you have to get my signature on this control sheet.”
Mr. Gunawan held out a sheet of paper and a black pen in front of Kevin’s chest.
“Why do we both have to do it, Sir? I can handle it myself,” Kevin bargained, trying to negotiate. “Nayla can help me!”
Nayla, whose name had just been dragged into it, immediately raised both hands. “Sorry, Vin. I’ve already got a mountain of class duties. Besides, Mr. Gunawan’s idea is actually pretty great.”
“What part of it is great?!” Kevin protested.
“Great for teaching you patience,” Aris chimed in as he walked past them, having just come out of class with a stack of books. “The projected accuracy of completing this assignment drops to fifty percent if you two keep fighting.”
“Aris, you should just go home!” Kevin snapped, exasperated.
Mr. Gunawan gently slapped the desk. “Kevin, sign it now, or I’m holding your basketball extracurricular grade!”
The threat successfully snuffed out every argument in Kevin’s head. With pursed lips and a clenched jaw, Kevin snatched the pen from Mr. Gunawan’s hand and roughly scribbled his signature in the left column.
“There, Sir! Done!” Kevin declared.
Mr. Gunawan nodded in satisfaction, then slid the paper toward Rey. “Your turn, Rey.”
Without protesting, Rey took the pen from Kevin’s hand. His fingers danced smoothly as he wrote a neat signature beside Kevin’s messy one.
“That’s more like it. Good,” Mr. Gunawan said with a satisfied smile. “Your first report starts this afternoon. The class sports equipment storage room is in the lower-right corner. Put away the balls used earlier today, arrange them neatly, and get my signature before five.”
Mr. Gunawan walked away, carrying the rest of his files into the teachers’ lounge.
The corridor suddenly grew awkward. Dimas patted Kevin on the shoulder, holding back a laugh. “Good luck on the job, Captain. I’m heading out first. I want to stop and get some boba.”
“Watch yourself, Dim!” Kevin threatened.
Dimas and Nayla walked away, leaving Kevin and Rey facing each other in the school corridor as it began to empty.
“Glad to be working with you, Captain,” Rey said softly, a faint, deeply mocking smile tugging at his lips.
“Don’t smile like that!” Kevin grumbled, folding his arms across his chest. “You’re in charge of carrying the ball basket from the court. I’ll handle the clipboard and the record-keeping!”
Rey walked ahead of Kevin toward the stairs leading to the lower storage room. “The record-keeping is for someone detail-oriented. You sure you can handle it?”
“You underestimating me again?!” Kevin hurried after Rey. “I’m the captain of the basketball team! I know every kind of ball in this school!”
“Good, then,” Rey replied without looking back as they descended the stairs. “Just don’t write down the futsal balls as volleyballs again.”
“What did you say?!” Kevin snapped, his face heating up. “And why do you always remember every stupid thing I do?!”
Rey stopped on the last step and turned around suddenly, making Kevin nearly run into him again. Rey stared at him impassively. “Because your stupidity is too obvious to forget.”
Kevin moved his lips soundlessly, out of words to fire back at the cutting remark. “Just you wait… You’ll see in the storage room!”
Rey only let out a short chuckle and turned the key in the slightly rusted sports storage-room door, leaving Kevin stomping angrily behind him.