The school bell rang.
The students streamed noisily into their classrooms. Kirana quickly stuffed the last piece of bread into her mouth and swallowed it right away.
"Haha. Bottle! Bottle! Drink bottle!" "Has the lovestruck worshiper found his goddess yet?" "Hahahaha!"
The laughter of three boys walking into the classroom drowned out the chatter of students returning from break.
Aluna and Kirana exchanged glances, then turned toward the source of the noise.
Galang and his two friends entered the classroom. One of them was still laughing as he smacked Galang on the shoulder.
"Ugh, that obnoxious, try-hard guy is in the same class as us?" Kirana grumbled. "I have a bad feeling about him, Lun."
Aluna glanced at the three boys. Galang—the guy who had bumped into her earlier—was walking along, laughing uproariously.
"This class is going to be noisy, Lun," Kirana said again.
"Why?"
"I won't be able to sleep. They look like they'll be loud." Kirana pouted irritably and looked toward the back row, where Galang and his two friends were sitting.
Aluna laughed.
As she took a book from her bag, the corner of her eye caught the boy across from her. Arka.
Oh. That smart guy. She remembered what Sekar had said about Arka. Arka probably didn't think about romance at all. His head was filled with nothing but books.
He must have only been saying hello to me earlier, with that smile of his.
Aluna tucked a strand of her long hair behind her cheek.
But why was his smile so sweet?
Aluna closed her eyes and nodded, steeling herself.
Don't fall for him.
The first day was finally over.
"ALUNA! KIRANA!"
Sekar's loud voice rang out. Her long ponytail swayed with the rhythm of her run.
"Wow, you finally showed up. I thought you'd forgotten you had friends who aren't in your class."
Sekar giggled at Kirana's jab.
"I had something to take care of. Sorry."
"So? How did it go?" Sekar asked excitedly.
"How did what go, Kar?"
"Oh my gosh, Aluna, what I told you this morning. About Arka."
Aluna fell silent.
"Well, Na? How was Arka?" Sekar nudged Kirana.
"Yeah, he's pretty good."
"See? What did I tell you? He's pretty good. So? Does either of you have a crush on him?"
Thump. Aluna felt as if she had been called out. No matter how much she denied it, whenever Arka's name was mentioned, his smile appeared vividly in her mind.
"Pretty good still means nothing special to me," Kirana added casually.
Sekar looked disappointed.
"But if one of you started dating him, the whole school would go crazy. It'd be a record."
"You just met him and you're already thinking that far ahead?" Kirana clicked her tongue.
"Why don't you date him, Kar?" Aluna asked without thinking.
"Exactly. You do it. Neither of us is interested in that Arka guy." Kirana snapped her fingers.
Sekar cleared her throat, lowering her voice.
"That won't work."
"Why not?"
"Actually, Arka has rejected me before."
"What do you mean?"
"I confessed my feelings to him once. But he turned me down."
"Holy crap," Kirana shouted. "Maybe Arka doesn't like gossipy girls."
Sekar glared at her.
"I just like looking for the latest information. It's not gossip."
"Same thing," Kirana teased.
Sekar yelled in protest.
Aluna laughed softly.
Night fell. Aluna gazed at the night sky. The evening breeze blew gently, stirring her long hair.
The moon shone bright and round against the dark sky.
For some reason, Arka's smile crossed her mind again.
Aluna immediately waved her hand.
"Ugh."
Why couldn't she stop thinking about his smile?
Ding. A notification sounded. For some reason, Aluna found herself hoping it was a message from Arka. Maybe he had gotten her number from someone or something?
Aluna shook her head quickly.
"What am I even thinking about?"
Aluna reached for her phone.
Kirana: Aluna, you're coming to school tomorrow, right?
Aluna smiled. Kirana sure came up with the weirdest questions.
CRASH!
Aluna panicked. The sun was already high in the sky.
She hurriedly shoved her books into her bag.
"I'm leaving, Auntie!" Aluna shouted after hastily putting on her shoes.
"Eat breakfast first, honey!" her aunt shouted back, but Aluna didn't answer. She was already sprinting toward school.
Aluna hadn't expected to be late on her second day in eleventh grade.
Especially since first period was science, taught by a teacher famous for his strictness.
Meanwhile, Kirana kept glancing at the seat beside her, worried. Why hadn't Aluna appeared yet? The bell would ring in one minute.
Exactly fifteen minutes later, Aluna appeared behind the classroom door, panting for breath.
Kirana sighed in relief. At least Aluna had finally made it.
Aluna could only surrender. She nodded, accepting the punishment her teacher gave her, then stood at the front of the classroom for fifteen minutes.
Galang glanced briefly at Aluna standing alone at the front of the room.
Then he leaned slightly toward Riko.
"Poor thing, all alone," he whispered.
Riko immediately grinned.
"Someone wants to keep her company, Ma'am, so she won't be alone."
Several students turned around.
Riko pointed at Galang.
"Galang can do it, Ma'am!"
Several students burst out laughing.
Galang laughed too, half-rising from his seat.
"If you allow it, Ma'am, I'm ready."
"Enough. Sit down!"
The entire class erupted in laughter.
Galang obeyed, still smiling.
Already humiliated, Aluna clenched her fists as her embarrassment multiplied several times over.
Aluna glanced toward Kirana and saw the last traces of laughter on her face. Aluna sighed.
Even Kirana was laughing.
Aluna glanced over again, this time toward Arka.
The boy was still busy with his book.
Aluna sighed.
What if Arka saw her as a lazy student?
She lowered her head even further.
She could only hope those fifteen minutes would pass quickly.
At his desk, Arka lowered his head again.
The tip of his pen moved across his book, creating several lines of notes.
As if nothing had happened.
Even though moments earlier, his gaze had paused on Aluna.
It was the last period.
A gentle breeze drifted through the room. The classroom was quiet, everyone busy working on their math assignment.
Aluna sighed from time to time, trying to chase away the embarrassment that still lingered from that morning.
Kirana gave her a faint grin, lightly patting her shoulder as she whispered,
"Hang in there. But I kind of got butterflies over that."
Aluna turned to her, confused.
"What Galang did to you earlier, Lun."
"I thought you didn't like him. Why didn't you defend me? He made me even more embarrassed," Aluna grumbled.
Kirana chuckled.
"Sorry, Lun. I was entertained. I didn't mean to laugh. It was only a little."
Aluna shook her head and glanced at Kirana, whose lips were still slightly curved from the remnants of her laughter.
Aluna returned to her assignment, trying to focus.
"I have an unexpected meeting. The boys will turn in their work to Arka, and the girls will turn theirs in to Aluna. Later, Arka or Aluna, put everything on my desk in the office. Everyone has to do the assignment." The teacher spoke, then stood and left the classroom.
Aluna jolted. What? Me?
And Arka?
Oh no. She was still embarrassed around Arka. What was she going to do?
Don't worry about that. The math problems are what I need to worry about.
Aluna sighed. She had only finished five questions.
Several minutes passed. The stack of papers from Aluna's female classmates in the corner of her desk was already neatly arranged.
The classroom was empty.
Those who had finished their work had already gone home.
Aluna answered the questions at full speed. She had lost herself in thought earlier, leaving her as the last student still struggling over her papers. For some reason, she was having an incredibly hard time focusing today.
Beside her, Kirana was busy clearing her desk and putting her books into her bag.
Silence.
"Lun. Luna. Aluna." A boy's voice called out.
It broke the silence.
Aluna abruptly stopped writing and froze.
Someone was calling her.
"Aluna."
Aluna turned to see who it was.
Thump.
Arka stood there with his bag slung over one shoulder.
The hand holding the stack of answer sheets from the boys reached out toward Aluna.
With her heart pounding for some inexplicable reason, Aluna extended her hand and accepted the papers he offered her.
For a few seconds, the room seemed to fall silent.
Arka turned quickly, then walked away and disappeared behind the door.
Aluna placed the stack of papers from Arka in the corner of her desk, adding it to the other girls' assignments.
Beside her, Kirana's mouth had been hanging wide open for some time.
"Seriously? Arka called you Lun?! You two are getting so close!" Kirana exclaimed.
Aluna lowered her face again, but this time she couldn't hide her wide smile.
"What?! Arka really called Aluna?! Waiting for you two almost long enough to grow moss wasn't a waste after all." Sekar shouted when she heard Kirana's story.
The three of them were sitting on a bench in the now-empty school courtyard. The only person in sight was the school caretaker, sweeping up dry leaves.
"Sekar, keep your voice down. Someone might hear you," Aluna said in panic.
Sekar winced.
"Sorry, it slipped out."
"He only called me because he wanted to give me the assignment papers," Aluna explained.
"Ah, it wasn't that simple, Lun. Calling you once would've been enough. He called, 'Lun, Luna, Aluna.'" Kirana quickly added, her eyes sparkling as she embellished the story.
Sekar's eyes widened.
"Wow. As far as I know, Arka has never called a girl three times like that."
Aluna shook her head.
"It was nothing."
But deep down, she couldn't deny the soft flutter in her chest.
Why am I so happy that he called me? Am I starting to like him?