The homeroom teacher entered the classroom carrying an attendance book. All the students who had still been chatting immediately stood up.
All the students: "Good morning, Ma'am!"
The teacher smiled warmly.
Teacher: "Good morning, everyone. Please take your seats."
All the students sat back down at their desks.
Teacher: "Since this is still the first few days of school, we won't be studying today. We'll start with introductions. Just tell us your name, your hobbies, and what you want to be when you grow up."
At the mention of what they wanted to be when they grew up, Roihan immediately scratched his head.
Roihan (thinking): "Damn... I haven't even thought about what I want to be."
The teacher began calling the students up one by one to the front of the classroom. The mood was pretty relaxed. Some wanted to become doctors, police officers, teachers, pilots, and even YouTubers. Every time someone gave a unique answer, the whole class would burst out laughing.
Roihan could only sit there, thinking as hard as he could.
Roihan (thinking): "What should I say? I can't exactly say I don't have any dreams, can I?"
Not long afterward...
Teacher: "Next... Roihan."
Roihan immediately stood up.
Pendi: "You got this, bro."
Roihan: "Screw you."
The entire class turned toward Roihan as he walked to the front. He took a deep breath before beginning to speak.
Roihan: "Hey, everyone. My name's Roihan. My hobbies are playing soccer and video games."
Roihan paused for a few seconds when he was about to mention his dream.
Roihan (thinking): "Oh man... what should I say?"
For some reason, a strange thought suddenly popped into his head.
"Being a mafia boss like in those cool movies would be pretty awesome..." Roihan almost laughed to himself.
Because he was so nervous, he accidentally said it out loud.
Roihan: "...and my dream is... to become a mafia boss." The classroom, which had been quiet at first, instantly erupted. "Hahahahaha!"
All the students burst out laughing.
Even the teacher covered her mouth as she tried to hold back her laughter.
Pendi, sitting in the back, started pounding on his desk because he was laughing so hard.
Pendi: "Hey! He says he wants to be a mafia boss!"
Roihan's face immediately turned red.
Roihan: "Wait... no... I mean..."
The more he tried to explain, the more embarrassed he felt. The teacher finally smiled.
Teacher: "All right, thank you, Roihan. You may return to your seat."
Roihan: "Yes, Ma'am..."
As he walked back, Roihan could only smack his own forehead.
Roihan (thinking): "That was so damn embarrassing."
As soon as he sat down, Pendi still hadn't stopped laughing.
Pendi: "Han... if you become a mafia boss, don't forget me."
Roihan: "Shut up."
Pendi: "I'll be your right-hand man."
Roihan: "Right hand my ass."
The two of them started laughing again.
The first day of school passed by quickly. After the teacher explained a few school rules, the dismissal bell finally rang.
Ding... Ding... Ding...
All the students immediately put away their books and prepared to go home.
When he got home, Roihan immediately collapsed onto his bed.
He stared at the ceiling while thinking about what had happened that day.
From accidentally saying that he wanted to become a mafia boss to his conversation with Salma.
For some reason, every time he remembered Salma's smile, he found himself smiling too.
Roihan (thinking): "Why does this feel so different?" He tried to ignore it.
"Maybe it's just because it's the first day of school," he thought.
But that strange feeling remained.
Two days passed.
Classes were now getting underway as usual.
In the middle of class, the teacher came in carrying several sheets of paper.
Teacher: "All right, kids. Next week, we'll be giving presentations. You'll work on the assignment in groups."
The classroom immediately grew noisy.
Roihan: "Pend... hopefully we're in the same group."
Pendi: "Relax. We'll definitely be together."
The teacher began reading out the group members' names one by one.
Teacher: "Group one..."
Several names were called.
Teacher: "Group two..."
Roihan began to get nervous.
Teacher: "Group three... Roihan... Salma... Rina... Dimas."
Roihan immediately glanced at Pendi.
It turned out Pendi's name had been assigned to another group.
Roihan: "Aw... we're not in the same group."
Pendi: "Bye-bye, Han."
Roihan: "Damn."
But when Roihan turned toward Salma...
Salma was looking at him with a sweet smile.
Salma: "Looks like we're in the same group."
Roihan: "Y-yeah."
For some reason, Roihan's heart suddenly started beating faster than usual.
Roihan (thinking): "Damn... why's my heart beating like this?"
He tried to calm himself down.
Roihan (thinking): "Don't tell me... this is my first love?"
Throughout the lesson, Roihan glanced at Salma several times without realizing it.
Every time their eyes met, Salma would only give him a small smile.
Roihan immediately looked away, trying to hide his embarrassment.
The dismissal bell finally rang.
Before going home, all the group members created a WhatsApp group so they could discuss things more easily.
They began discussing how to divide up the assignment.
About an hour later, the group chat started to quiet down.
Roihan stared at his phone screen for a long time.
He opened Salma's profile.
He already had her number saved.
His finger hovered over the send button.
Roihan (thinking): "Should I message her? What if I bother her?"
After thinking for a few minutes...
He finally worked up the courage.
Roihan: "Hey." Roihan: "Save my number."
Not long afterward.
Salma: "Who is this?"
Roihan: "Roihan."
Salma: "Ohh, okay. By the way, what's up?"
Roihan started thinking again.
He had no idea what excuse to make.
Finally, he typed casually.
Roihan: "Nothing, really. I just want to add another viewer to my WhatsApp status, lol."
A few seconds later...
Salma: "Hahaha. Okay."
Roihan immediately smiled.
Roihan: "Thanks."
Salma replied with a smiling thumbs-up sticker.
Seeing her reply, Roihan immediately tossed his phone onto the bed because he was so happy.
Roihan: "YESSS! I got her number!"
Roihan then hugged his pillow, grinning to himself.