“Then she won’t get jealous, you know,” Rita said, her words muffled by the cilok filling her mouth—the snacks she’d bought at the cafeteria earlier that afternoon.
“She’ll still get jealous. She should be worried that I got close to Rangga before she did. If doing it once doesn’t work, I’ll do it over and over until she’s completely sick of it and chooses to break up. Hahaha,” she explained, then laughed as if she’d already won her battle with Risa.
“Whatever. Just try it first,” Karin said.
“Just wait, Rangga. Your life won’t be peaceful after you made me cry,” Nadeera teased. But deep down, she knew better than anyone that her words weren’t a joke at all, even though her tone made it sound like she wasn’t serious.
The three girls could no longer wait to carry out their crazy plan. This morning might be the last time they felt at peace at school.
Their classroom was already starting to fill with students entering one by one, including their main target, Rangga, who walked in with his friends. He looked like he was happily chatting with them as he casually made his way to his seat. Before sitting down, he glanced briefly at Nadeera, whose seat wasn’t far from his, then settled in calmly as if nothing had happened.
Nadeera had been carefully watching the faces of every student entering the classroom, hoping to see Rangga appear through the doorway. At last, the moment she’d been waiting for arrived. As soon as Rangga came in, Nadeera didn’t take her eyes off him for even a second. When Rangga glanced her way, their eyes met for several seconds.
Nadeera only stared at him coldly without smiling. Her heart still couldn’t accept the answer Rangga had given her the day before. Rangga was no different—he showed no interest at all, meeting her with a sharp gaze and an expressionless face.
Nadeera felt a bloodless cut inside her chest. That look reminded her of the heartless words Rangga had thrown at her the other day.
P.E. started during second period. The students in 10th Grade Social Sciences 1 were busy changing into their uniforms in the locker room, then quickly headed to the field. After attendance and a brief set of instructions from their P.E. teacher, they did some light warm-ups. Then the girls practiced volleyball while the boys played futsal.
“Nad, it’s time for you to make your move,” Karin whispered between stretches.
“The target hasn’t shown up!” Rita said quietly, looking around to the right and left.
“Oh, you’re right!” Karin said, turning to look in the same direction as Rita.
“It’s okay. We’ll wait until he comes out first,” Nadeera said, trying to stay calm, even though her chest gave her no chance to settle her racing heart.
Whether it was because of the blazing sun or the warm-up exercises, her heartbeat felt so loud that Nadeera could hear and memorize its rhythm.
The warm-up ended, and the girls quickly took their positions to practice volleyball, while the boys began forming teams and stormed onto the field.
“The target’s in sight!” Rita shouted from outside the field. She wasn’t joining the volleyball practice, but her shout made everyone who heard it instinctively turn to look at her.
“Hehehe.” Rita merely stretched her lips into an embarrassed grin when she realized everyone was staring at her.
Karin and Nadeera, who were participating in volleyball, gave Rita an okay hand signal.
“When are you going to make your move, Nad?” Karin asked softly.
“In a little while. When Rangga takes a break, I’ll give him my drink,” Nadeera replied, her heart pounding even harder.
“What if he refuses?” Karin asked, still focused on the game.
“He won’t,” Nadeera said confidently.
“How can you be so sure?”
“Because it’s a special herbal tonic made by my grandparent. Rangga has loved it from way back until now. He also really cares about my grandparent, so there’s no way he’d have the heart to refuse it.”
“Then get ready. Looks like they’re about to take a break.”
“Ready, Captain.”