The school bell signaling the end of break rang.
The sound of chairs scraping across the floor immediately filled the classroom.
Several students streamed out, some heading to the cafeteria while others chose to stay seated and chat. The stuffy classroom air slowly filled with laughter and shouts.
Aluna was still sitting in her seat.
Her math book was closed, but her mind still hadn't fully returned to the present.
That look.
Arka's look.
She wasn't actually sure whether the boy had been looking at her or had merely happened to be facing her seat.
Maybe Arka had been daydreaming.
Maybe there had been something behind her.
Maybe—
“Lun.”
Aluna jumped.
Kirana stood beside her desk, carrying a water bottle.
“You've been spacing out this whole time.”
“I wasn't spacing out.”
“You were.”
“No, I wasn't.”
“You were.”
Aluna let out a small huff. “Are you going to the cafeteria or not?”
Kirana immediately smiled.
“Now that's more like it.”
She tugged on Aluna's arm.
“Come on, Lun. I'm hungry.”
“We just ate.”
“That was a long time ago.”
“Two hours.”
“Two hours is a long time.”
Aluna could only laugh softly as she reached for the water bottle on her desk.
They left the classroom together.
In the hallway, students from the other classes were beginning to fill the corridors too. Some jogged toward the cafeteria, while others stood around in groups outside their classrooms.
Kirana suddenly stopped.
“Oh.”
Aluna stopped too.
“What?”
Kirana pointed ahead.
“Isn't that the guy Sekar was talking about earlier? That Arka-Arka guy?”
Aluna followed the direction of her finger.
Arka was standing near the classroom window.
He was talking to two of his friends.
His uniform was still neat, even though the school had already started to descend into break-time chaos. He held a water bottle in one hand and occasionally nodded as he listened to his friend.
Aluna only looked for a moment. She tried to make it as brief as possible, because the moment she saw him, Arka's faint smile immediately echoed in her mind.
“Oh.”
“You don't want to look, Lun?”
“I already looked.”
“Look again.”
“Why?”
“So I can find out whether Sekar was exaggerating or not.”
Aluna held back a laugh. “You said he was nothing special.”
“Now I'm conducting research.”
“Research?”
“Yep.”
Kirana looked at Arka again. “Hmm.”
“Well?”
“Not bad.”
Aluna snickered. “You said he was nothing special.”
“Not bad still counts as nothing special.”
“Whatever.”
Aluna was about to start walking again when someone suddenly came out of a classroom and nearly bumped into her.
“Whoa!”
Aluna took a step back.
The water bottle she was carrying almost fell.
The person quickly caught it.
“Close one.”
Aluna looked up.
A boy was standing in front of her.
His hair was slightly messy, but not the kind of messy that made him look unkempt. It was more like he simply didn't care much about how his hair looked. He had brown skin and broad shoulders.
His gaze was sharp, yet relaxed.
He looked at the bottle in his hand for a second, then handed it to Aluna.
“Yours.”
Aluna took it.
“Oh... thanks.”
The boy didn't leave right away.
Instead, his eyes moved from the bottle to Aluna's face.
He fell silent.
Aluna started to feel awkward. “Why?”
The boy raised an eyebrow. “Nothing.”
“Then what?”
“I've just never seen you before.”
Aluna frowned. “Seen what?”
“You.”
Kirana, standing beside Aluna, immediately turned toward him.
Aluna was still staring at him in confusion.
The boy just smiled. “What’s your name?”
Aluna hadn't had a chance to answer.
Kirana cut in first. “Why?”
The boy turned to Kirana. “Why what?”
Kirana raised one eyebrow. “Why are you asking for her name?”
“I'm allowed to, aren't I?”
Kirana crossed her arms over her chest.
“Not necessarily.”
The boy chuckled.
“Galang.”
“Huh?”
“My name is Galang.”
He held out his hand to Aluna. “Now it's your turn.”
Aluna looked at his hand for a moment.
Then she answered without taking it.
“Aluna.”
“Aluna.” Galang repeated the name softly.
As if making sure of how it sounded.
Aluna frowned. “Yeah.”
Galang smiled.
“Perfect.”
“What’s perfect about it?”
“Your name.”
Kirana immediately snorted.
“You just met her and you're already being weird.”
Galang laughed.
“I'm just being honest.”
“Come on, Lun. Let's go.” Kirana pulled Aluna along.
They had only taken a few steps when Galang's voice came from behind them.
“Aluna.”
Aluna turned around.
Galang pointed at her.
“So I don't forget.”
Aluna frowned. “Forget? You just said my name.”
Galang chuckled, then turned around and started chatting with another student.
Aluna sighed.
“What a weirdo.”
Kirana laughed. “You just met him and he's already acting like he's so cool.”
“I'm confused too.”
“What was his name again, Lun?”
“Galang.”
“Oh, Galang.”
Kirana nodded thoughtfully.
“He seems like the type who likes causing trouble.”
“Hopefully not in our class.”
Back in the classroom, things were still quiet. Break wasn't over yet.
Aluna sat in her seat with Kirana.
“Huh, Sekar's too busy showing off in her new class.” Kirana clicked her tongue irritably as she tore open her bread wrapper.
Aluna smiled faintly. She placed the bread she'd just bought on her desk.
“It's okay. She's probably getting to know her new classmates.”
“Yeah, right. She's probably so busy gossiping that she forgot about us.”
“There’s no way she'd forget us.” Aluna shook her head.
On the other side of the classroom, Arka sat as usual.
A book lay open on his desk.
But for the past few minutes, his eyes hadn't really been reading.
He remembered Galang calling Aluna's name earlier.
Arka's gaze lifted from his book again.
He looked toward Aluna.
For several seconds.
Only then did he realize what he was doing and look away.
There was no point thinking about it.
He didn't even know Aluna yet.
They had only been in the same class for a few hours.
There was no reason for him to feel anything.
“Ka.”
Arka turned around.
His friend was standing beside his desk.
“What?”
“Are you coming to the cafeteria?”
Arka shook his head.
“No.”
“Why not?”
“I want to read.”
His friend looked at the book, which had been open to the same page the whole time.
“You've been reading that page this whole time?”
Arka fell silent.
His friend narrowed his eyes.
“Don't tell me—”
“No.”
Arka immediately closed his book.
“Let's go.”
They walked out of the classroom.