The Taruna Bakti Junior High building felt far quieter than usual. There were no more hurried footsteps racing to beat the bell, or shouts from the duty teachers sweeping through the halls. The final exams had ended five days ago. Of the eight-day graduation waiting period, only three days remained before their status officially changed from junior high students to alumni.
Evan Sanders strolled across the basketball court. His footsteps were steady and unhurried, carrying his solidly built fifteen-year-old frame forward. He looked neat and approachable—his clean features and calm eyes made everyone assume he was a good kid from a respected family.
And they weren't wrong. His father, Dimas Sanders, was a stern fifty-six-year-old man, while his mother, Aulia Rahmini, was a patient forty-five-year-old woman. But the fact everyone at school knew best was that his older sister, Victoria Sanders, an elegant twenty-eight-year-old woman, was the principal of Taruna Bakti Junior High itself.
Yet behind his image as an obedient kid from a respected family, Evan had another side known only to those closest to him: he was a highly skilled bare-knuckle fighter. His reflexes, strength, and composure in a fight weren't things he had gained from ordinary street brawls.
Evan took a shortcut behind the assembly hall to the back of the cafeteria—a hidden spot shielded from the security cameras and the duty teachers' patrol route. A faint smell of tobacco smoke greeted him there.
"The golden boy finally decided to show up," Rendy called with a chuckle when he saw Evan approaching. Rendy sat on a long wooden table, swinging his legs as he lit the cigarette between his fingers.
Beside him, Fajar leaned against the wall, blowing a thin stream of white smoke into the air. "I thought Vic had you stuck in her office, Van."
Evan gave a faint smile, reached into his pants pocket, and sat beside Rendy. He lit his own cigarette, took a deep drag, then slowly exhaled.
"Victoria's been in a meeting with the education department since this morning," Evan replied casually. "Besides, if she finds out I'm here, it won't just be me getting dragged in. You two will be hauled into her office too."
Rendy shuddered at the thought of Victoria Sanders. "I'm telling you, Van. Your sister is gorgeous, totally dream-girl material... but she's terrifying when she starts enforcing discipline. I'm still traumatized from being punished by making me stand in the sun after she caught me cutting class last month."
"That's why you shouldn't cause trouble when she's on duty," Fajar chimed in with a quiet laugh. He shifted in his seat, looking back and forth between Evan and Rendy. His expression grew a little more serious. "But seriously... only three days left, bro. Once we graduate, we're really going our separate ways."
A faint sadness suddenly colored the relaxed mood in that corner of the cafeteria. Their approaching farewell was beginning to feel real.
"What about you, Jar? You applying to Public High School No. 1?" Evan asked as he tapped the ash from his cigarette into a nearby metal can.
"I've got maybe a twenty percent chance of getting in through the achievement track, but I'm still going to try," Fajar said. "If I fail, Dad will probably ship me off to Garuda High School. What about you, Ren?"
Rendy blew his cigarette smoke toward the ceiling and stared up at the cafeteria roof. "I'm definitely going to Bakti Mulia High School. Dad's been taking care of it since last month. Everything's settled; all that's left is waiting for this junior high diploma."
Rendy then turned toward Evan. "So what about you, Van? You're the principal's little brother, and your grades are always solid. You could get into pretty much any high school. Which one does Vic want you to attend?"
Evan leaned his back against the cafeteria's wooden wall, staring at the cigarette glowing between his fingers.
"Dad and Mom want me to attend a private high school with a direct path to a good university," Evan answered quietly. "But Vic has a different idea. She wants me to go to Kartika High School."
Fajar's eyes widened. "Kartika High School?! Are you kidding? That place is packed with nothing but tough kids, Van! I've heard the students there are always getting into fights out on the streets."
"That's exactly why," Evan said with a small chuckle, a faint glint flashing in his eyes. "Vic knows what I'm like outside school. She figures that instead of locking me up in a close-knit but boring school, it's better to let me loose somewhere that forces me to take care of myself."
"Take care of yourself, my ass," Rendy cut in with an incredulous laugh. "You're the calm one, but when you fight, it's like you get possessed. The poor Kartika kids are the ones who'll suffer if they pick a fight with you without knowing who you really are."
Evan shook his head. "I never start trouble, Ren. You know that."
"Yeah, you don't start trouble. Trouble always finds you," Fajar shot back.
The three of them laughed together. In that quiet corner of the cafeteria, surrounded by cigarette smoke and conversations about the future, they enjoyed the last scraps of junior high life as they dwindled away. They knew that once they walked out through the gates of Taruna Bakti Junior High three days from now, their world would never be the same.
"Anyway," Rendy said, raising his cigarette into the air, "before we get busy with our separate high school lives, we're all going out together on graduation day. No excuses!"
Evan smiled at his two friends, then slowly nodded. "Sounds good. I'm in."