That morning, the school looked just as it usually did. The sound of students' footsteps filled the hallway. Some were busy talking about unfinished assignments, while others laughed as they headed to their respective classrooms. Amid the crowd, a student named Raka stood in front of the classroom door, checking his phone screen again and again.
It wasn't because he had an important assignment or a message from a teacher. He was waiting for one name to appear on the screen.
Sinta.
Raka had never imagined that a single name could make him check his phone so often. To him, his phone used to be nothing more than a way to play games, look up information, or watch funny videos. But everything had changed since he met Sinta a few weeks earlier.
"Rak, you've been staring at your phone this whole time. Don't tell me you're waiting for someone's message again," Dimas said, patting him on the shoulder.
Raka immediately slipped his phone into his pocket.
"What are you talking about, Dim? I was just checking the time."
Dimas chuckled.
"The clock on your phone must be really special. You check it every five minutes."
Raka shook his head with an embarrassed smile.
"Fine, just leave me alone."
Dimas had been Raka's close friend since tenth grade. He was the kind of person who loved to joke around, but he always knew when his best friend was hiding something. Over the past few days, Dimas had noticed the sudden change in Raka's behavior. Raka had started smiling to himself much more often.
The school bell rang. All the students quickly took their seats. Raka pulled out his textbook, but his thoughts were still focused on the conversation he'd had with Sinta the night before.
At first, they'd only met because of a group project. Sinta was a transfer student who sat near the window. She wasn't very talkative, but she was always friendly to everyone. Her simple smile made Raka feel comfortable whenever he was near her.
Their first meeting had actually been completely ordinary.
That day, Raka had forgotten to bring his math notes. He panicked because the notoriously strict teacher was about to enter the classroom.
"Sinta, can I borrow your notes for a second?" Raka had asked.
Sinta looked at him with a smile.
"Sure, but don't lose them, okay? I only have one copy."
"Don't worry. I'll take good care of them."
"If you lose them, you'll have to take responsibility."
Raka chuckled.
"What kind of responsibility?"
"Buy me iced tea for a week."
After that brief conversation, they started talking more often. At first, they only discussed school assignments. Then their conversations expanded to stories about their families, hobbies, favorite foods, and even little things that weren't actually all that important.
But those little things were exactly what made Raka feel close to her.
When break time arrived, Raka saw Sinta sitting with her new friend, Nisa, near the school garden. Nisa was Sinta's seatmate, known for being talkative and quick to get along with people.
"Raka, come here," Sinta called when she saw him.
Raka walked over.
"What are you two talking about?"
Nisa immediately answered with a curious look on her face.
"We're talking about someone who's been smiling to himself a lot lately."
Raka was startled.
"Who?"
Nisa pointed at Sinta and laughed.
"She said there's someone who sends her long messages every night."
Sinta immediately shot Nisa a look.
"Hey, don't say it like that."
Raka laughed along.
"So it's true?"
Sinta shrugged.
"He's just a regular friend."
"A regular friend whose messages you keep waiting for?" Nisa teased.
Their laughter filled the air. Raka was happy to spend time with Sinta, even though he still didn't dare to tell her how he felt.
To him, Sinta was different. There was a sense of comfort he couldn't explain whenever they talked.
That night, Raka sat at his study desk again, holding his phone. He wanted to text her first, but he hesitated.
Several minutes passed.
Finally, a notification appeared.
Sinta had sent him a message.
"Raka, have you studied yet?"
Raka immediately smiled.
"Yep. What about you?"
"I can't focus. We have a history assignment tomorrow."
"Why haven't you done it yet? It'll get late."
"I can't stop thinking about what happened this afternoon."
"Which part?"
"When Nisa teased us."
Raka was silent for a moment as he read the message.
"Were you embarrassed?"
"A little."
"Why?"
"Because she said it so loudly."
Raka smiled at the screen.
"It's fine if she was just joking."
Their conversation continued for quite a while. They talked about all sorts of things until Raka failed to notice that his phone's battery was almost dead.
When he checked the screen, he panicked.
"Five percent left."
Raka searched his room for his charger, but the cable had broken the day before.
He sighed.
"Don't die yet, please."
Before he could continue the conversation, his phone died.
The next day, Raka immediately told Dimas what had happened.
"Dim, my phone died last night."
Dimas raised an eyebrow.
"And?"
"I didn't get a chance to reply to Sinta's message."
Dimas laughed.
"It's that serious?"
"Yeah. She might think I disappeared on purpose."
"Then just explain it to her."
"The problem is, I ran out of phone credit too."
Dimas stared at Raka for a few seconds, then burst out laughing even harder.
"So your love problem isn't just about feelings. It's about phone credit too?"
Raka laughed along, though he was a little embarrassed.
"Don't say it so loudly."
"Relax, I won't tell anyone. But it is pretty funny. Other people are afraid of rejection, while you're afraid of running out of phone credit."
Raka shook his head.
"You think this is funny?"
"A little."
That day, Raka decided to buy phone credit with his savings. It wasn't much, but it was enough to send messages and make calls if necessary.
When he was about to buy phone credit at the school cafeteria, he ran into Aldi, the cafeteria attendant who also sold various small necessities for students.
"What are you buying, Rak?"
"Ten thousand rupiahs' worth of phone credit, bro."
Aldi smiled.
"Who is it for? Don't tell me it's for playing games."
Raka fell silent.
"For communication."
"Communication with whom?"
Raka only laughed.
"It's a secret."
Aldi handed over his phone so Raka could enter the destination number.
"When it's a secret, it usually has something to do with someone."
Raka took the phone back.
"Maybe."
As soon as the phone credit came through, the first thing Raka did was contact Sinta.
Not long afterward, a reply appeared.
"Where did you go yesterday? I thought you were busy."
Raka typed carefully.
"Sorry, my phone died. I didn't have any phone credit either."
A few seconds later, Sinta replied.
"Hahaha, so it was because you ran out of phone credit?"
"Yeah."
"That's pretty funny."
"Why are you laughing too?"
"Because this is the first time I've heard of someone being unable to chat because they ran out of phone credit."
Raka smiled to himself.
"The important thing is that we can talk again now."
Sinta replied with a simple message.
"Yeah. Don't disappear again."
That short sentence left Raka silent for quite a while.
To him, Sinta's simple request felt incredibly meaningful. He was beginning to realize that what he felt wasn't just ordinary admiration. There was someone he had started waiting for every day.
Someone who made ten thousand rupiahs' worth of phone credit feel incredibly valuable.
Someone named Sinta.