Friday felt quieter than usual. Several teachers had been excused to attend official meetings, and some classrooms were empty.
During the second break, after eating in the cafeteria, most of the students went to the mosque in the village behind the school for Friday prayers.
It should have been the perfect time to finish an assignment. Unfortunately, for Dinda, there was no such thing as a truly peaceful day at this school.
Not with the popular clique taking such inexplicable pleasure in tormenting her. Apparently, time wasn't a limitation.
When everyone else left for the cafeteria, Rani excused herself to go to the school clinic because she felt dizzy. Dinda stayed in the classroom. She didn't feel like going to the cafeteria.
Instead, she focused on an IT training module on her laptop. Her concentration was barely disturbed until a voice came from the doorway.
“Din, Devi from the student council told you to go to the storage room behind the equipment room. She said there’s a folder of assignments for the IT competition,” Indri said casually.
Dinda frowned. “I’m not entering any competition.”
“Then go ask her yourself. I’m just passing along the message,” Indri replied lazily, rolling her eyes before turning away.
Before Dinda could think any further, Cindy appeared behind her. Dinda had no idea when the girl had entered the classroom. She acted as though she owned the school, free to walk in and out of any classroom she pleased.
“If you don’t want to follow the student council’s orders, then just say you don’t plan on staying at this school,” she said. Her voice was calm, but her eyes were sharp.
Dinda knew—she knew all too well. If she refused, the story could be twisted into an accusation. She’d be labeled arrogant, accused of disrespecting the student council, or even charged with tarnishing the school’s reputation.
Whatever they said was usually believed immediately. If she refused to meet Devi, her scholarship might be at risk. So she nodded slowly and rose from her seat.
The corridor leading to the auditorium was deserted. The student council room was on the third floor. Dinda had only just started up the stairs when Indri appeared again from around the corner of the hall.
“Over here, Dinda. Behind the equipment room.”
The two of them went down the stairs into the corridor behind them.
“There,” Indri said, pointing to an old metal door that looked as though it was rarely opened. Cindy and Liza were already waiting.
Dinda frowned, then thought, “The storage room? Oh, right. She said it was behind the equipment room.”
She hesitated, swallowing hard, but kept walking. Nervously, she stepped inside—and darkness greeted her at once.
The smell of dust and rotting wood stung her nose. Before she could say a word, the door was slammed shut from outside.
BANG!
“Lock it quickly, Indri!” Cindy’s laughter echoed through the quiet corridor along with her loud voice.
“Cindy! Indri! Open the door! This isn’t funny!” Dinda pounded on the door with both hands. Panic seized her. Her breathing quickened. But no one answered.
All she heard were their footsteps moving away, followed by silence. A silence that pierced straight to the bone. Her knees gave out, and her body went limp.
Dinda sank onto the cold, dirty floor. Her back rested against the rough wall. There was no signal.
There were no windows. No other sounds, except her own breathing and the occasional squeak of rats in the ceiling.
Several minutes later, footsteps sounded again. Dinda quickly stood and pressed her ear to the door.
“You guys are seriously taking this too far,” someone said from outside. The voice was deep. Dinda recognized it immediately.
Leo.
“She needs to learn a lesson. So she’ll stop acting like she’s so smart,” Liza replied lightly.
Leo didn’t answer. He only gave a quiet laugh.
“A country girl like that won’t last long here anyway.” Leo’s voice came through clearly. Flat, almost amused.
Dinda stood frozen. Her tongue felt numb. Her heart pounded. Her knees trembled. She didn’t know what hurt more.
Being locked in a cramped room—or being watched and laughed at by someone she had once trusted.
Classes were in session, and there wasn’t a single student wandering outside. Time seemed to freeze. Dinda had no idea how long she had been locked in there.
All she knew was that it had been more than half an hour, or maybe an hour. When the door finally opened, she was still sitting in the corner of the room with her knees hugged to her chest. Her face was wet with tears.
“Enough. Don’t be so dramatic,” Liza said from the doorway.
Dinda stood slowly, her gaze sharp despite her weakness. Cindy stood behind Liza, chewing gum and looking at her as though nothing had happened.
“You know, you really don’t belong at this school,” Cindy said sweetly—far too sweetly. “You bring bad luck with you,” she added with a satisfied smile.
Dinda didn’t answer. She walked past them without a word. When she was almost at the end of the corridor behind the stairs, she stopped.
Leo stood there with his back against the wall. His hands were in his pants pockets, his expression blank.
“Don’t tell anyone, Dinda. It was just a joke,” he said quietly as he handed Dinda her bag. From the other end of the corridor, Cindy glared in annoyance.
“A joke?” Dinda scoffed inwardly.
Something inside Dinda’s chest felt shattered. She looked away and walked off. Her steps were heavy—not because her body was tired, but because her heart felt broken.
Leo saw it. Leo knew it, too. And Leo had laughed along. It hurt so much.
That night, Dinda couldn’t sleep. She tossed and turned on the thin mattress in her small room, leaving the sheet rumpled.
At last, she got up and sat at her desk, then opened her diary. Usually, writing helped ease the pain. But that night, her fingers were stiff. Her mind was blank.
She couldn’t write, “I’m okay,” because it was obvious she was anything but okay.
She couldn’t write, “I’m strong,” either, because the truth was that she felt fragile that night. So fragile.
In the end, only one sentence appeared on the page:
“Leo didn’t just stay silent. He enjoyed it.”
The next day, Dinda walked to school in silence. In class, Rani looked at her in confusion.
“Where did you go yesterday? When I got back from the school clinic, you were gone. I looked everywhere for you. Everyone clammed up.”
“Hey, yesterday Leo asked me to clean up your bag. Did he bring it to your house?”
Dinda only gave her a faint smile. “I fell asleep in the auditorium,” she said shortly.
That was all. No one knew. And no one ever would. It was obvious that the popular clique would keep doing this. As long as no one dared to speak up, their power would remain absolute.