That afternoon, as the day edged toward evening, the sky looked slightly overcast. A gentle breeze drifted by, swaying the tree branches and occasionally sending leaves fluttering to the ground.
At Ibu Pertiwi Public High School, students streamed out of the school building with their bags in hand, hurrying home. A few, however, were still lingering outside their classrooms, joking around with their friends or happily taking advantage of the school's free Wi-Fi.
There were still several students in 10th Grade Social Sciences 1 who weren't ready to go home yet, including Nadeera, Karin, and Rita. They were waiting for Rangga to get up from his seat. As it turned out, the person they'd been waiting for was already aware of them and was deliberately staying completely still, absorbed in the phone in his hand.
Elsewhere, a beautiful long-haired girl strode quickly through the classroom corridors, accompanied by a friend who was struggling to keep up with her. The beautiful girl looked disheveled, her face flushed bright red.
She continued toward her destination without caring about all the eyes turned in her direction. Then she stopped at a classroom and walked in without warning, heading straight for someone inside.
"Rangga," the beautiful girl called loudly to Rangga, who hadn't noticed her presence before.
Everyone in the classroom immediately turned toward the source of the voice, including Nadeera, Karin, and Rita. Nadeera was the most startled of them all and instinctively gripped Karin's hand tightly.
"Calm down, Nad," Karin said softly when she noticed the change in Nadeera's behavior.
Nadeera ignored Karin and kept her eyes fixed on Rangga and the girl.
"What is it?" Rangga asked the girl who had called his name, briefly glancing at her before turning his attention back to his phone.
"Come with me!" the girl said.
"Where?" Rangga asked without looking away from his phone.
"Just come on!" the girl insisted, grabbing Rangga's arm.
"What do you want?" Rangga asked again.
"I want to talk!" the beautiful girl explained, emphasizing every word. Her eyes and cheeks were beginning to redden. Seeing that, Rangga had no choice but to agree to go with her and started to get up.
"Wait!" Nadeera cut in from the back row. She hurried over to Rangga, pulled the beautiful girl's hand off his arm, and immediately wrapped both arms around him.
"I'm coming too!" Nadeera declared to Rangga, who stared at her in confusion. She was still clinging to his arm with both hands, while the girl in front of them looked furious at Nadeera's behavior and tried to pull her away from Rangga.
"What the hell is wrong with you?" the girl snapped, shoving Nadeera. But Nadeera held her ground and tightened her grip.
"Let go!" the girl yelled again when she failed to push Nadeera away.
She then reached for Nadeera's shoulder-length hair, trying to yank it so Nadeera would release her hold on Rangga.
"Stop!" Rangga barked at the girl. Her hand, which had been about to grab Nadeera's hair, stopped abruptly. Nadeera merely squeezed her eyes shut and tightened her arms around Rangga's arm.
"Ngga," the girl whispered as she looked at Rangga. Her eyes were red, and she could no longer hold back the tears gathering at their corners. They spilled over freely.
Rangga tried to pry Nadeera's arms off his, but Nadeera only clung tighter.
"Ra!" Rangga said firmly, still trying to free himself from Nadeera's hold.
Rangga clearly didn't want to hurt Nadeera by roughly pushing or pulling at the arm she had wrapped around.
"Mm-mm," Nadeera mumbled, shaking her head and tightening her hold again.
"I'm coming too!" Nadeera whispered, her eyes beginning to well up.