Chapter 3: Lunch Time (1)

The orientation period has ended, and classes have officially started today, which is Thursday. On the last day of orientation, papers of student distribution were posted on the billboard. I checked it once again to not mistake which classroom I belong to, and after confirming where I should go, I went to said class.

1-A-A, 1-A-A… I repeated my class name as I passed by each classroom. Ah, There it is.

My class was located at the very end of the hallway. As I entered the classroom, there were already 6 out of 36 students inside, and Indah was among them. She sat in the very first row in front of the teacher’s desk, reading something. Who would pick the front row when there were plenty of empty seats in the back?

I went to the seat behind her. “Morning, Celebrity.”

“Morning.” She said, taking a glimpse only for some milliseconds before returning her gaze to her book.

She became famous as she managed to go through the orientation without putting on the attributes coded by the student council. She got reprimanded each day, but she went on being herself. What a strong determination!

After I got seated, she turned around to me. “Why are you calling me a celebrity?” She asked.

“Well, you’re famous, after all.” I said.

“Wha-... Why? How?” She furrowed.

“You’re the only person among the freshmen to ever get called by the student council so frequently. Everyone in this school probably knows your name already.” I explained.

“No way, bad boy. You’re exaggerating.” She said, giving me an indifferent look. 

What she said about me made me curious. “Why are you calling me a bad boy?”

Before she managed to answer my question, a girl who just arrived in the classroom approached Indah.

“Morning, Indah.” The girl greeted Indah in a soft voice.

“Morning, Sasa.” Indah returned her greeting with a smile.

Did she just call her by a flavoring brand name?

“May I sit next to you?” Sasa asked.

“Yeah, sure!” Indah said.

After Sasa got seated, both of them started hugging each other. A typical thing to happen between girls.

Indah and Sasa started chatting soon after the hug, and after some minutes had passed, I felt that Indah had completely forgotten about me. No, she forgot that I asked her a question. 

“Ahem. Indah?” I called her.

Indah turned around from their seats and looked me in the eyes, followed by Sasa that gave me a terrified look. Please don’t be like that. I’m a harmless human.

“What is it?” Indah asked.

This girl played innocent. “I asked you a question.”

“Hmm?” She tried to recall something but decided that she had no clue. “What did you ask?”

I facepalmed. 

“oh....!” Something struck her memory. “Er... I heard a rumor that you’re a delinquent.” She said while exchanging glances with Sasa.

Someone had irresponsibly spread misinformation about me, huh? “Who said that?” I asked. 

“How should I know? It’s called a rumor for a reason.” 

.... She got a point. Now I feel dumb for asking that question.

That being said, It was still a false rumor. “But I’m not.” 

“Really? That’s unfortunate.” Indah said.

“Huh? What does that mean?” I asked. She made it sounds like I was better off as a delinquent.

“You see, You just ruined some girls’ fantasies.” She said with a big grin on her face. Due to her response, Sasa tried to hide her smile with her palms.

“Huh?” I furrowed. Her answer was not what anyone could expect.

“Don't you know that out of two thousand romance stories in Wattpad, almost three-quarters of them are tagged bad boy? That's what I mean."

I looked at her, dazed. No, I don't get what you mean. Just because I looked like a bad boy makes girls fantasize about me?

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As I failed to make sense of her words, a teacher suddenly entered the classroom with firm steps.

“Get to your seat!” The teacher shouted.

The students chaotically returned to their seats and straightened up their poses. I didn’t notice that the classroom was already full.

Just after the teacher had reached her desk, a student came into the classroom hurriedly and sat on the seat beside me.

After he put his randsell on the desk, he turned to see me, then his eyes suddenly widened. “I’m sorry, please let me sit here.”

“Eh? yeah, sure.” I said. 

Why is this guy apologizing to me? I don’t own the seat. I thought to myself.

 

****

 

The first teacher that came was ms. Atika, our homeroom teacher, doubles as a math teacher. The first 40 minutes were spent on homeroom session, then followed by 5 minutes of recess, and then continued on the first math class with algebra as the subject. The following two classes, Indonesian language, and English, also take the same time formula: a session of 40 minutes and 5 minutes recess between sessions. Each class has 2 sessions. After homeroom, math, and Indonesian language, there was a longer recess time of 30 minutes at 10:00 before continuing to English class. 

During recess, students would either go to the restroom or grab some snacks to refresh their minds from studying. Some would also chat with classmates. Given that some are total strangers to each other, they would just start to get to know each other. The same applies to me and my deskmate, Kevin. Throughout the math and Indonesian language class, he seemed to be struggling to keep himself awake, so I decided to make small talk about it.

“Hey.”

Kevin turned his face towards me at Mach 20. “Y-yes?” 

His squinty eyes become quite wide in an instant. I was about to talk about how sleepy he seemed, but it looks like he is awake now... but nonetheless. “You don’t get enough sleep?”

“Y-yes... I- I mean, no...” He started to sweat a bit even though the class was quite cool from the ceiling fan.

He doesn’t seem to be the talkative type. I don’t think I can just ask why directly... Now then, what would be the common reason a student pulls an all-nighter? “Are you playing video games or something?” I asked what I guessed in my mind.

“No, I was watching an anime...” He said.

“Ooooh”, this Panda is a weeaboo. “Do you like anime?”

“Y-yes. Um,” He paused a bit, gulped, then continued, “D-do you also like... anime?”

“Not really.” I gave him my opinion.

“Ah.” He said with a dejected face.

 To be honest, I did watch some like Naruto or One Piece back when I was in elementary school, but I grew out of it. Not to be disrespectful, but people who watch anime as a hobby or anything related to it are... eccentric.

Out of nowhere, the person seated behind Kevin poked his back, so Kevin reflectively turned around. I followed suit. 

This person... What was his name again? He introduced himself back then during homeroom much like everybody else, but I didn’t remember his name. I’ll ask him later.

He looked at me for a bit, then shifted his gaze towards Kevin and asked, “Hey, You like anime?”

Kevin’s panda eyes suddenly showed some glimmer, and the conversation flowed quickly into a discussion of Anime.

I was sitting there listening to both of them talking about this anime or that anime, but I can’t seem to understand what they were talking about. Thus, naturally, I was left out. I looked around the class to find another person I could talk with, but other groups were already indulging in their conversation, and Indah and Sasa were nowhere to be seen. 

“I’m gonna buy some snacks.” I declared to Kevin and... er, his new friend. 

Kevin and... er, his new friend, looked at me. “Right.” 

Then I left the classroom, went to the snack shop in the not-so-crowded canteen to buy some roasted peanuts, then returned to my seat.

I pondered a bit about whether I should share with them. Insofar friends were the most unethical being related to sharing snacks. They wouldn’t hesitate to take half... nay, three-fourths of what I offered. 

But still, It was quite an effective method to get close to another person, so I took some nuts in my palm and stretched it in between Kevin and his friend. “Want some?” I offered.

They seemed startled at my offer and looked at each other. “Well, If you don’t mind...” Then each of them proceeds to take only three measly peanuts out of the bunch in my hand.

I wouldn’t be bothered if they were to take all that was in my palm since I got much more...

I continued to enjoy the salty peanuts until the next class started.

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