Rajawali watched the entire class instantly grow noisy the moment the teacher left the room. They weren't causing a scene, exactly, but they were definitely loud.
The person they'd learned was named Ares turned around to face Rajawali. He smiled, and at that moment Rajawali became convinced that the boy named Ares had a smile as bright as the sun.
"Hi, I'm Ares. And this is—" Ares pointed to his freckle-cheeked deskmate. "Koko."
Koko smiled too. They were such a perfectly matched, friendly duo, Rajawali thought without meaning to. Returning Ares and Koko's smiles, Rajawali grinned.
"Raja."
Rajawali studied the two boys sitting in front of him. Ares had blond hair and eyes as blue as the sky. He looked incredibly friendly and smiled easily, just like Koko. Koko's hair was jet-black, while the freckles on his cheeks could only be birthmarks, Rajawali decided.
Rajawali then shifted his attention to the short-haired girl sitting beside him. She was beautiful, but she didn't look friendly at all. Maybe she was the quiet type who didn't really like socializing?
"Hi?"
It seemed Rajawali had judged her wrong. The girl had just looked at him and given him a faint smile. Her irises were pitch-black, just like her hair. With a haircut that short, Rajawali could immediately conclude that she definitely fell into the tomboy category.
"Oh, sorry. I thought you didn't like socializing."
At Rajawali's words, Ares laughed.
"You weren't wrong. Asa's just kind of aloof. She's so intimidating that I usually forget Asa's a girl."
The girl called Asa immediately shot him a sharp glare, which amused Rajawali without him even realizing it. Rajawali then held out his hand.
"Raja. Please take care of me from now on—we're deskmates."
Raja smiled sweetly. Asa turned her gaze away slightly before finally shaking Raja's hand.
"I'm Angkasa, but you can call me Asa."
Raja nodded several times, then let go of her hand. Koko chimed in.
"If not Asa, what would you want us to call you, Aang?"
Ares immediately elbowed Koko. "Watch it! Don't mess with Asa!"
Seeing Asa glare at Koko, Rajawali felt a strange warmth in his heart. They were good people, and they seemed so close.
Rajawali's gaze then swept around the entire classroom until it stopped at the desks across from him. Three people stood out dramatically from everyone else. All three had piercings in their ears, making Rajawali wince just looking at them because his own ears started aching in sympathy.
Ares noticed and immediately turned to look as well. "You looking at those three?"
Rajawali nodded. The three people they were talking about suddenly turned to look at him, making Rajawali flustered on the spot. Ares then pointed to the girl with her hair tied in a ponytail.
"Her name's Bela. She loves eating and even has a YouTube channel dedicated to food content."
The girl called Bela immediately waved enthusiastically. "Hi, Raja!! You have to come on my channel sometime! My subscriber count's gonna go up for sure, hahaha!"
Faced with that much enthusiasm, Rajawali could only manage an awkward smile. Ares then moved on to Bela's deskmate. The boy was bald and had been busy fiddling with his phone the whole time. From his movements, Rajawali guessed he was probably playing a game.
"That guy's Iwan. He's insanely good at games. He also has a YouTube channel for gaming content."
Rajawali nodded several times. The boy named Iwan glanced at him, then winked flirtatiously, making Raja shudder.
"And the guy in front of Iwan..."
Ares pointed to a boy with a long face that vaguely resembled a horse. He had also been busy with his phone the whole time.
"His name's Saka. He's good at gaming too, and he often plays with Iwan. But he never wants to start a channel, even though Bela and Iwan have pressured him countless times."
Rajawali merely nodded. He saw Iwan cursing loudly after just losing to Saka. Saka smirked with a satisfied look. But when Saka's eyes met Rajawali's, he immediately looked away with an irritating expression.
Rajawali stared blankly. At that moment, he became certain he would never like the boy named Saka.
Ares chuckled. "He is annoying and cocky. But once you get to know him, you'll realize he's actually kind, considerate, and smart too."
Deep down, Rajawali didn't agree with Ares's words at all.
The clock showed exactly seven o'clock. The math teacher should have arrived by now. The students began growing restless, wondering if their math teacher was constipated or suffering from something else that kept her from coming to class.
Iwan and Bela were the loudest of all. They danced around nonsensically, shouting that they would throw a feast if the math teacher really didn't show up. Rajawali stared blankly at their antics. Asa leaned slightly toward him.
"Surprised?"
Rajawali chuckled. "They look insane."
Asa laughed too. Several students who saw her immediately gawked for a split second. After all, Asa almost never smiled. She barely spoke unless necessary, let alone smiled.
Asa leaned closer and whispered, "Don't get too close to those three. You'll catch their crazy."
Rajawali laughed at Asa's words. The two of them laughed together until Rajawali stopped after catching Saka's unfriendly expression.
"What?" Rajawali asked Saka flatly.
The boy in question immediately looked away.
"Full of yourself, aren't you? You think I've been staring at you this whole time?"
Rajawali gaped at Saka's answer. Ares quickly whispered to him.
"Saka's jealous."
"Huh?"
Ares pointed at Asa, who now looked completely expressionless and utterly unbothered. Rajawali still needed a moment to understand what he meant, but then it clicked.
Rajawali looked at Saka and shook his head. Seeing that, Saka prepared to stand as if he were about to beat the war drums. But Bela and Iwan restrained him first.
"Easy, boss... You just met the new kid and you're already trying to turn him into a punching bag." Iwan burst out laughing at his own joke, while Saka looked even more annoyed.
"Instead of fighting, eat some potatoes." Bela chimed in.
The girl hadn't stopped chewing for a second. She was even holding two different kinds of food in both hands. Ares then patted Rajawali on the shoulder.
"You'd better get used to it. Nobody in 11th-Grade Science Class 5 is sane."
Rajawali chuckled.
"But from what I've seen, you seem sane."
Koko, who heard that, immediately choked on air. "Don't judge him by the cover. You just haven't seen how crazy Ares gets when books are involved."
Ares smiled sheepishly. He turned back around and stared at the door. Rajawali did the same. He had actually meant to start a conversation with Asa, but before he could, something startled him.
Rajawali nearly jumped out of his skin. The other students looked at him strangely, except Ares. Ares instead leaned closer and whispered to Raja.
"You saw it too, right?"
Rajawali's face immediately went pale. Ares whispered again.
"I'm sure whatever that was, it wasn't human."