"Alifya Arianti?"
"Here, Ms. Ani."
"Anila Harum?"
"Me, Ms. Ani."
"Azi Hermawan?"
"Ms. Ani, you haven't called my name yet." Arga's words interrupted morning attendance. Every face turned toward him, staring at him in confusion. Yet no one said a word.
"Are you a student in this class?" Ms. Ani asked, breaking the silence.
"Yes, Ms. Ani. I'm Arga Cahyadi."
"Are you new here?" Ms. Ani continued. Doubtfully, she began opening the student record book on her desk. But the name Arga Cahyadi wasn't on the page.
Arga fell silent. What was happening today was exactly the same as what he'd experienced yesterday. His parents didn't remember him, his name wasn't in any of the official documents he possessed, and even his own teacher didn't know he was one of the students here.
Everything had suddenly changed by 180 degrees. Everything Arga had possessed until now had vanished in an instant. His teacher, his friends, even his own parents were unaware of what had been lost. It wasn't his body, but the existence that had always marked the fact that he was there. A name.
Arga wanted to lash out at everyone who was pretending not to know him, treating him like a stranger they'd never met before. But the strangeness wasn't felt only by the people around him; it was present within him too. He realized that his name was gone. His existence was gone.
Knock... knock...
The sound of knocking drew Ms. Ani and the tenth-grade students' attention away from Arga. A girl with shoulder-length hair and bangs greeted them. "Excuse me, Ms. Ani and everyone. Sorry I'm late. I'm Narasati, and that's my cousin, Arga Cahyadi. We're new students at this school."
Arga stared at her in bewilderment. He clearly didn't know the girl claiming to be his cousin. They had never met, not even in his dreams. Strangely, none of the people Arga had encountered recognized him as Arga. Yet this girl knew about him—she even knew his full name.
"Oh, I see. It looks like the attendance list hasn't been updated yet. Nara, you can come in. Go ahead and sit next to Arga."
Nara smiled until her eyes narrowed. She nodded, then walked over to sit beside Arga, who had regarded her skeptically ever since her ridiculously far-fetched introduction.
"Tell me the truth. Who are you, and how do you know my name?" Arga pressed Nara, who had been claiming to be his cousin to everyone since earlier.
Since entering the classroom, the girl had been busy with Arga's friends, who swarmed around her like ants around a grain of sugar. They asked where she had gone to school, where she lived, why she hadn't come with Arga, and countless other questions. She answered them with unbelievable stories, thanks to her extraordinary ability to make things up. Arga couldn't understand why this strange girl was doing it—or why she was claiming to be his relative.
Nara ignored Arga's questions. Instead, she smiled at Alifya, who had invited her to go to the cafeteria with them, and politely turned her down.
"Nara," Arga called. Nara continued to ignore him.
"You really don't want to come?" Anila asked again, making sure Nara had decided whether or not to join them in the cafeteria.
"Yeah, go ahead, Nila. Thanks for inviting me."
Nila nodded, then followed Alifya, who had already started walking ahead.
"Nara!" Arga called, exasperated.
"Can't you be patient?" Nara shot back curtly.
"Explain what happened earlier. What was that supposed to mean?" Arga demanded. "And why did you claim to be my cousin?" he added in a whisper so their other classmates wouldn't hear.