Chapter 3 Reject From Uti

Uti is cleaning up the assignment papers from her classmates, trying to organize them as neatly as possible.

Just before the bell rang, Uti was told by her math teacher to collect all the assignments and put them on the teacher's desk. Without any argument, of course, Uti immediately obeyed.

The chubby girl was now alone in the classroom, all her friends had gone home.

"Hey, can I help you?"

A heavy voice startled Uti, and the girl hurriedly looked back. And apparently she was wrong, she was not alone in class, Novan was seen walking towards her. The boy hadn't gone home yet, making Uti confuse herself.

"Why aren't you home yet?" Uti asked in a snappish tone of voice as Novan now stood next to her.

The tall boy with milky-white skin smiled slightly. "On purpose, waiting for you."

Uti stared at Novan uncomprehendingly, her forehead furrowed. However, instead of asking further questions, the girl just kept quiet. Uti ignored her, shaking her head slowly as her breath came in short bursts.

Novan suddenly sat down at the teacher's desk, momentarily choking Uti, Novan's eyes locked on Uti, who was still busy organizing the mess of papers on the desk.

"So, do you want me to help you? My hands are idle."

"There is no need, I can do it myself. This is just about finished." Uti answered without looking at Novan's face, then she added, "Even though it's my job, you don't need to help with anything."

After everything was done, Uti held the stack of papers and then looked at Novan flatly. "Thanks for your kind offer, I'll go to the teacher's room first."

Without waiting for a reply from Novan, Uti immediately left the classroom, or more precisely, left Novan. The girl walked with steady steps, Uti was in a hurry, and she had to get home quickly.

Meanwhile, Novan, who was left in the classroom, looked confused. Uti refused his help, even though his intentions were good. Novan quickly left the classroom. He could see Uti, who was starting to move away from him, as Novan hurriedly chased after the girl.

It didn't take long for Novan to match his footsteps with Uti. He was now standing next to his classmate.

"Then I'll accompany you to the teacher's room then." Novan said softly.

Uti suddenly halted her steps. She looked at Novan with confused eyes mixed with annoyance. The two stood facing each other, Novan wearing a smile, while Uti sighed softly.

"What do you want to do?" Uti asked sharply, her tone harsh. Uti stared at Novan with her eyebrows almost drawn together.

Hearing Uti's question made Novan confused. "Yes, I want to help you, isn't that obvious?"

"I know that you have other intentions."

"What other intentions?" Novan asked back. Honestly, he didn't understand what Uti had been saying. It was ambiguous and a little confusing.

Before answering, Uti closed her eyes and let out a long breath. "Look Van, we're in the same class, you're my friend, and I'm your friend. And you know that we don't really get along in class. So, isn't it weird that I asked you that?"

"Yeah, I know that, but regardless, I only mean well, and I want to help you. Isn't that okay?"

"But no, thanks. I can do it myself. I'm not having trouble either." Uti forced a smile, then began to walk back, leaving Novan in place.

"Why is that girl so annoying to me? I wonder," Novan said to himself, his eyes staring at Uti's back.

Instead of walking away because Uti didn't expect him to, Novan chased after the girl even more. For some reason, Novan was attracted to Uti, he had to admit that. Looking at Uti, Novan felt like he was seeing something else. That girl intrigued him.

Novan re-aligned his steps with Uti's, to Uti's surprise, which made her eyes wide.

"What are you doing following me again?" asked Uti exasperatedly, she growled while looking at Novan with disdain.

The boy shrugged his shoulders and said, "I don't know, I just wanted to walk to the teachers' room with you. And, oh yeah, you can't kick me out." Novan smiled-the kind of smile that would make any girl instantly smitten.

"Whatever you want," Uti finally said. She gave up and didn't want to argue with Novan. It was pointless and would waste a lot of time. Meanwhile, Uti also had to go home soon. Uti herself didn't want to delay either.

During the trip, Uti chose to remain silent, her lips locked tightly together. Her gaze continued to be directed forward, not once did she glance at Novan beside her. Uti didn't hate the boy, she just felt that she didn't really get along with Novan.

Novan himself was also silent, but he stole a few glances at Uti. Novan kept pace with her with his hands buried in his pants pockets.

When they reached the door of the teacher's room, Uti turned and faced her classmate.

"It's here, you can go home now." Uti said, her voice flat, and then she went straight into the teacher's room without waiting for Novan's response. Novan remained silent as Uti entered.

Three minutes later, Uti came back out and was surprised to find Novan still there.

"Why aren't you home yet? Do you want to stay here?"

Novan replied lightly, "Waiting for you to come out."

"I'm going home now."

Uti walked on, not caring if Novan was still here or staying the night. Uti had done her job, and now it was time for her to go home.

"Ti, wait a minute."

Novan's words made Uti, who had taken three steps away from the boy, stop. The girl turned around, all her attention now directed only at Novan.

Novan immediately approached Uti again. "Look Ti, I've got something. Will you hold on?"

One of Uti's eyebrows shot up, watching Novan as he took something out of his bag. She doesn't know what it was, but Uti was suddenly quite curious.

Then Novan smiled, and said, "I have two movie tickets, scheduled for tonight. If you have time, would you like to go with me, Ti?" Novan grinned, his white teeth now clearly visible.

Uti's gaze fell on the ticket in Novan's hand. It was only a split second before she turned her gaze towards the boy's face again.

Uti's non-answer prompted Novan to ask again. "So what's your answer, Ti? Do you want to go? It's a shame if you don't use the ticket. If you want, let me meet you tonight.

"I can't," Uti replied, her voice sounding steady. She also shook her head.

The sparkle in Novan's eyes that had been so bright earlier, had now begun to fade because of Uti's answer.

"Why?"

"I'm busy tonight, you better find another friend. Sorry, I can't go."

"Oh." Novan nodded awkwardly. For a moment, they looked at each other and were trapped in silence. Novan then smiled and said, "I'm fine then, just call me later if you change your mind."

"I don't think that will happen, I'm really busy tonight, I won't be able to leave the house."

"Okay." Novan forced his smile to come out.

"I'll go first then."

Novan couldn't force Uti, of course, so he let her leave his presence. Novan's wish to take Uti to the movies had failed. But Novan wasn't too sad or bothered about it further, he could try next time. And for sure, Novan realized that he was indeed interested in this girl.

Not wanting to stay here, Novan sighed softly, before finally deciding to just go home. What about the ticket? Hey, he doesn't know. Let Novan think about it later, maybe he will sell it to Marcell? It's okay if the price is cheap, like his friend wants.

Meanwhile, Uti walked quickly away from Novan, afraid that the boy would catch up with her. Hurrying to put on her helmet when she was in the school parking lot, Uti grabbed her motorcycle and hurriedly rode it away from her school.

Thankfully Novan didn't chase her, Uti already felt her heart pumping so fast and beating so fast, even though Novan only asked her to go to the movies together. Uti couldn't, she was saying something serious and wasn't lying about it. Shw couldn't go, she was always busy at home.

Besides, why did Novan ask her to go? Why did it have to be Uti? Why didn't he just ask another girl? It was very strange, Uti didn't know what was wrong with him.

Uti was rarely close to a boy. Not rarely, actually, she never was! No one approached her, and Uti knew the reason behind it, Uti understood why none of the boys wanted to approach her. It was because she had a fat body, and Uti felt that she was not pretty. However, that didn't mean Uti was sad or upset about that one fact, Uti was fine. She was fine. After all, Uti had no intention of getting close to any boy! It never occurred to her that she wanted a boyfriend. Uti didn't need one, she felt safe being alone like this.

Uti just wanted to study, study hard, then graduate well and get into the university she wanted. Uti also wanted to make her mother and father proud.

Uti doesn't need a boy to be her boyfriend, for the time being, this is what she wants. Uti still feels alone at home. Besides, she doesn't want to get hurt and go crazy if she gets dumped by a jerk who plays with her heart.

Her life was still ahead of her, there were still many goals and achievements that Uti was aiming for.

Not wanting to think about that anymore, Uti shook her head and sped up her motorcycle to full speed. Uti wanted to get home as soon as possible.

Seeing Uti leave the school parking lot on her motorcycle, Novan wanted to follow her. Novan had to know where Uti's house was, but honestly, he didn't know. However, Novan was forced to undo this desire, whether he wanted to or not. There was a reason behind that, of course, which was that Novan didn't want to get caught by Uti and that the girl would get angry with him. Yes, Novan couldn't be sure that Uti would be angry anyway, it could be that Uti was just confused, or Novan could make up excuses. But, to anticipate things that are not desirable, it is better for Novan to just stop.

Novan decided to go home, his house was not too far from the school, and after fifteen minutes on his motorcycle at a moderate speed, he had arrived at his house.

Novan lived alone in a big house; actually, he lived with his father, but because his father was busy working and rarely came home, Novan thought that he already lived at home alone. However, when he arrived home and parked his motorcycle, Novan was surprised by a car parked in his yard.

Novan squinted his eyes, "whose car is that?" he asked confused. Novan didn't recognize the car. As Novan remembered, his father's car was black, he wouldn't doubt his memory, even though the man rarely came home, Novan clearly remembered what color his father's car was. Meanwhile, the car that was now nearby was red.

To answer his question, Novan finally turned his gaze, unfortunately, he saw the door of the house open from outside, which made him immediately widen his eyes. Why was the door open like that? No one had a key to the house but him.

As his mind was currently occupied by all sorts of complicated thoughts, Novan finally hurried on his way. All he needed now was the answer to the question he wanted. Novan wanted it, obviously. just in case someone broke into his house and went inside to steal. But, would there really be burglars in broad daylight? Besides, there was a brand-new car in front of the house. And even if it were a thief, wouldn't he openly leave the front door open like that?

Novan had now entered his house, his steps quick and steady. The living room looked empty, and the kitchen was the same after Novan checked. Likewise with the back garden of the house. Everything is still as before, there is nothing unusual.

Until finally Novan let out a long sigh, he turned around to decide to go back into the house. But that's where Novan stood, tense, and he saw his father. Really his father! Standing in the doorway staring at him, the man smiled while slightly waving his hand to Novan.

Novan had not yet recovered from the shock that had ambushed him. He was still surrounded by a fog of confusion. How could this be? Dad and the car in front of them? Novan suddenly blinked his eyes as a thought crossed his brain.

"Hey, why are you so quiet? Don't you like seeing me come back home?"

Novan immediately realized, he laughed softly, then the boy smiled and hurriedly approached his father. Novan hugged his father, which his father returned with an equally tight hug. The hug lasted for what seemed like seconds before the two of them now stood looking at each other and facing each other.

"Dad, when did you come home? Novan thought there were burglars who broke into this house."

"Thieves?" His father looked at Novan with a furrowed brow and one eye squinted upwards. "Why do you think there was a burglar? Didn't you see the car in front?"

"Yes, i saw the car, that huge thing, did i not see anything?" Novan snorted softly, "Is that dad's car? New car?"

"Not new, I bought it two weeks ago." Dad smiled mischievously at Novan.

"That's a new name, Dad."

The man in front of Novan just chuckled softly in response to his son's words. "Yes, it's a new car."

Novan nodded his head slowly, "Let's go in first, i want to change clothes first, after that, we'll talk."

"Alright, I'll wait for you in the living room, okay?"

"Okay." Novan responded without another thought.