Not long afterward, the bus entered the grounds of SMA Pemuda Nusantara. Once it came to a complete stop, the students began crowding off, joking with their friends.
Bagaskara stood up first. He moved aside to let Aletta pass.
“Go ahead.”
Aletta only gave him a small nod of thanks before walking past him.
As her feet reached the bus steps, she tried to walk as normally as possible. Though every step was painful, she forced herself onward so no one would notice.
But Bagaskara didn’t miss her slight limp.
His brow immediately furrowed.
Why is she walking like that? he wondered.
He watched Aletta’s back as she continued toward the school building. Something felt different that morning. Although Aletta’s face remained as expressionless as ever, Bagaskara could sense that she was hiding something.
Seeing that Aletta wasn’t walking normally, Bagaskara quickly caught up until he was beside her.
“What’s wrong? Don’t you feel well?” he asked, clearly curious. “If you want to go to the school clinic, I’ll go with you.”
Aletta kept walking without turning her head even slightly. Her gaze remained fixed straight ahead, as though she couldn’t hear Bagaskara.
Bagaskara let out a quiet sigh.
“You don’t have to keep pretending you’re strong.”
Still, there was no answer.
Worried, Bagaskara acted on impulse. He reached out and gently touched Aletta’s arm, intending to stop her.
But Aletta immediately pulled her arm away and slapped his hand aside.
“Don’t.”
Her voice was soft but firm.
Bagaskara fell silent for a few moments. It was the first time he had seen Aletta look so cold.
“I don’t need your pity,” Aletta continued quietly without looking at him.
After saying that, she walked on, leaving Bagaskara standing frozen in the corridor.
Bagaskara realized that Aletta’s cold attitude wasn’t merely a habit. It was as if she were building an incredibly high wall so no one could see the wounds she was hiding.
All day, thoughts of Aletta filled Bagaskara’s mind. The way she walked with a slight limp, how much paler her face looked than usual, and the cold look in her eyes when she brushed his hand away kept replaying in his head.
That afternoon, while soccer practice was underway, Bagaskara lost focus several times.
Nathan, who was sitting on the sidelines while drinking bottled water, could only shake his head slowly.
“Thinking about Aletta?” he guessed.
Bagaskara only gave him a small smile without denying it.
Seeing his reaction, Rafael, who had been rolling the ball beneath his foot, immediately chuckled.
“Bro, there are plenty of girls out there who are obviously chasing you. Especially with that mixed-race face of yours.” He shook his head with a mischievous smile. “Why wear yourself out thinking about a girl like Aletta? It’s not like you’ll get anything out of it. She’ll just make your life complicated.”
Bagaskara looked from one friend to the other, then slowly exhaled.
“I don’t get it either.”
“Don’t get what?”
“Every time I see her...” Bagaskara paused. “It feels like she’s hiding something.”
Nathan and Rafael exchanged a glance.
“It could just be in your head,” Nathan replied.
“Maybe,” Bagaskara said quietly. “But I’m sure... there’s a reason she’s always trying to distance herself from everyone.”
Rafael could only shake his head in resignation.
“Looks like you’re starting to fall for her, Gas.”
Bagaskara didn’t answer right away. He only looked toward the field with a faint, unreadable smile as the image of that quiet girl once again filled his thoughts.
Rafael stopped the ball beneath his foot, then walked over to Nathan and Bagaskara. His previously relaxed expression turned slightly serious.
“Actually... I went to elementary school with Aletta.”
Bagaskara and Nathan immediately turned toward him at the same time.
“Seriously?” Bagaskara asked.
Rafael nodded slowly.
“Yeah. She was quiet back then too, just like she is now.”
He fell silent for a moment, as though remembering something long buried.
“Whenever there was a school event, the other students’ parents always showed up. But Aletta... almost no one ever came with her.”
Bagaskara began paying close attention to every word that came out of his friend’s mouth.
“And then something happened. A few kids bullied Aletta. At first she just stayed quiet, but eventually she fought back because she couldn’t take it anymore.”
“And then?” Nathan asked curiously.
“The teacher called all their parents.”
Rafael slowly exhaled.
“I thought her parents would defend her. But they didn’t.”
Bagaskara frowned.
“In front of the teacher and the parents of the kids who had bullied her, her dad instead tore into Aletta. As if everything had been her fault.”
Nathan fell silent.
“Even after that...” Rafael swallowed slowly. “Her dad dragged Aletta away while continuing to yell at her. She just cried at the time, but she didn’t defend herself even once.”
The atmosphere on the sidelines suddenly fell silent.
No wonder.
No wonder Aletta always avoided other people.
No wonder it was so hard for her to trust anyone.
Rafael let out a long sigh.
“That’s why I wasn’t surprised when I ran into her again in high school. She was still the same. Quiet, always alone, and acting like she didn’t want to give anyone a chance to enter her world.”
Bagaskara stared at the grass on the field without blinking.
For some reason, the story only made his chest feel tight.
Now he was even more certain.
It wasn’t that Aletta didn’t want anyone to approach her.
She had simply been hurt too many times, until she finally chose to build a wall so high that no one could hurt her heart again.
That night, Bagaskara couldn’t stop thinking about Rafael’s story.
Every fragment of Aletta’s past kept circling through his mind. It was as though the girl was carrying so many wounds that no one else had ever known about.
Eventually, his curiosity overcame his sleepiness.
He reached for the phone lying on the table, then opened a search engine.
His fingers began typing a name.
Thom Lesmana.
It didn’t take long for a string of articles and news reports about the man to appear. Thom Lesmana was known as one of the country’s successful businessmen, with businesses spanning a wide range of industries. His name often appeared in the media because of his achievements and wealth.
Bagaskara frowned.
If her dad is this successful... why does Aletta look like she’s carrying everything on her own? he wondered.
He kept scrolling through the screen, reading the available information one piece at a time. The more he learned about the Lesmana family, the more questions filled his mind.
Something didn’t add up.
From the outside, the family looked perfect.
But from the look in Aletta’s eyes, Bagaskara felt that an entirely different reality was hidden behind the doors of the Lesmana family’s grand home.
Bagaskara continued scrolling through his phone until an old article caught his attention.
He opened it slowly.
The article said that Thom Lesmana’s company had once entered into a business partnership with a company owned by Bagaskara’s uncle, his mother’s younger brother, several years earlier. The two men had even attended several company events together.
“Could Uncle Arga know the Lesmana family...?” Bagaskara murmured softly.
He stared at his phone screen for a few moments, then smiled faintly.
If his uncle really knew Thom Lesmana, maybe there was something he could ask him. Not because he wanted to meddle in someone else’s family affairs, but because his curiosity about Aletta was becoming harder and harder to contain.
For some reason, the more he learned about the Lesmana family, the more he felt that Aletta’s life was far from happy. Beneath the luxury so often reported by the media, there seemed to be a wound that had been carefully hidden all this time.
The next day, as soon as the final bell rang, Bagaskara didn’t go straight home. He had already contacted his uncle, Arga, that morning and asked to meet him.
That afternoon, they agreed to meet at a café not far from downtown.
Bagaskara arrived first. He chose a seat by the window and glanced at his watch from time to time. Not long afterward, a man around thirty-five years old entered the café in a still-neat business suit.
“Sorry to keep you waiting, Gas,” Arga said as he pulled out the chair across from his nephew.
“No, Uncle. I just got here too.”
Arga frowned when he saw that Bagaskara’s expression looked more serious than usual.
“What’s going on? It’s not like you to ask me to meet you after school.”
Bagaskara was silent for a moment, then slowly exhaled.
“I want to ask you something... about Thom Lesmana.”
At the mention of that name, the smile on Arga’s face slowly faded. He leaned back in his chair and looked at Bagaskara with an unreadable expression.
“Why are you suddenly asking about him?” he asked quietly.
“It’s nothing, Uncle. I’m just curious,” Bagaskara replied casually. “It just so happens that Thom Lesmana’s daughter goes to school with me.”
Arga, who had been about to take a sip of his coffee, suddenly stopped.
“Thom’s daughter?” he asked to confirm.
Bagaskara nodded.
“Yeah. Her name is Aletta.”
Arga fell silent for a few moments. His expression changed, as though he were remembering something from long ago.
“That quiet girl?” he asked softly.
Bagaskara frowned.
“You know her?”
“I wouldn’t say I know her,” Arga replied with a sigh. “I only saw her a few times when I attended company events involving the Lesmana family.”
“And?”
Arga was silent for a moment before continuing.
“If that’s the girl you mean... I feel sorry for her.”
Bagaskara immediately fixed his full attention on his uncle.
“Why do you feel sorry for her, Uncle?”
Arga looked out the café window for a moment, then turned his attention back to Bagaskara.
“Because behind all the Lesmana family’s luxury... that girl grew up carrying a burden no child should have had to bear.”
His words only deepened Bagaskara’s curiosity. He felt that everyone who knew the Lesmana family always said the same thing: Aletta was the victim of something far more complicated than it appeared.
“Are you close to her at school?” Arga asked cautiously.
Bagaskara smiled faintly, then shook his head.
“Not yet. I’m still trying to get closer to her.”
Arga slowly exhaled as he leaned back in his chair.
“If I can give you some advice... you should avoid getting too deeply involved.”
Bagaskara frowned.
“Why?”
“Thom’s family is complicated,” Arga replied quietly. “There are a lot of things that can’t be explained by what people see on the outside.”
“What do you mean?”
Arga fell silent for a few moments, as though weighing whether he should continue.
“I’m not forbidding you from being friends with Aletta. But if you really want to get to know her, you have to be prepared for the fact that her life isn’t easy.”
Bagaskara stared at his uncle without blinking.
“That’s exactly why I’m curious, Uncle.”
Arga smiled faintly, though concern lingered in his eyes.
“Curiosity can turn into caring. And caring... can sometimes make a person get hurt too.”
Bagaskara fell silent.
For some reason, the warning didn’t make him want to stay away. Instead, he became even more certain that behind Aletta’s cold attitude was a wound she had been hiding all alone.