Chapter 5 Late Arrival

Cakra looked at the whole class with an interesting look. He secretly gave a faint smile. He thought this was the right class for him. His new friends felt warm and pleasant. Cakra then turned his head for a second after his shoulder received a pat from Zidan, his classmate.

"Yes?"

"Do you want to go to the cafeteria together? Look, they're going there," Zidan offered Cakra while pointing to a group of boys who were standing in the doorway of the classroom. Their gazes were directed at his seat, from which he concluded that they were waiting for him.

He grimaced for a moment as he rubbed his hands. He shook his head slowly. "Go ahead, I'm not hungry yet."

What a big lie Cakra told this morning. He was of course hungry, even the worms in his stomach were clamoring for food. It's just that Cakra is not the type of person who easily gets along with others. He needed time for this. Hopefully, Zidan and his other friends could understand.

"Are you sure you don't want to come?"

Nodding briefly, Cakra looked back at Zidan. His stance was strong, once he said no, he would remain firm. "Yes."

"Okay, I'll stay, okay?" Zidan patted Cakra's shoulder for a moment. He smiled slightly and began to rise from his seat, walking towards his friends.

After they left, Cakra remained seated in his seat. His gaze shifted to the window that directly showed the view outside. Cakra's class was on the second floor. He let out a long sigh and leaned his back against the chair.

For some reason, his mind suddenly went to the girl from this morning-the girl who had helped him find his class without being asked. He was sure he had seen her before, but he couldn't remember when or where. Dizzy himself, he ruffled his hair.

***

Inez, hurry up!" Ghea didn't stop nagging. It had been ten minutes since Inez had struggled with the makeup tools, even though students were only given fifteen minutes to take a break.

"Hold on, I just need to put on some lipstick," Inez said honestly, without feeling guilty because Ghea was waiting for her. The girl now picked up the small mirror that she always carried around, and applied a nude-colored lipstick to her lips.

Ghea chuckled and folded her arms in front of her chest. "We're just going to Inez's cafeteria, not going on a blind date! Hurry up, we might run out of time. There's only five minutes left, for God's sake."

"Patience, dear." Inez smiled widely. "I forgot my softlens this morning because I was in a hurry, give me a few minutes."

"You've been making excuses," Ghea grumbled again. She couldn't hide her annoyance. "Earlier you said you just needed to make lipstick, earlier you said you only needed to make eye shadow, now you're using soft lenses. After this, don't say you want to dye your hair to make it wavy!"

"I am."

"What?!" Ghea shouted loudly as she kicked the table. Her super sarcastic gesture made Inez look at her with an annoyed look in her eyes.

"There's no need to overreact like that," Inez protested, rolling her eyes. "I'm about to finish, patient people have a big reward, and God loves them too. Remember those words so you don't keep nagging."

"I'm waiting for you to get dressed until the break time runs out, how can I be patient, Inez?! You're so annoying. There's no need to dress up, you already look beautiful."

"To make it prettier."

"Whatever you want," Ghea finally broke off. She resigned herself and sat back in her chair. She avoided Inez's gaze, she was too lazy to argue anymore, after all, in a few minutes it would be time for the lesson change bell. There was no point in going to the cafeteria now. I don't have time, I'll be late.

"Ghea?" Inez called softly. She patted her best friend's shoulder, but Ghea immediately brushed it off. Inez had finished working on her makeup kit.

Inez let out a long sigh. "Are you mad?"

"No."

Inez looked down, looking at the clock on her wrist. She rounded her mouth, it was appropriate that Ghea was sulking like this. "Yes, I'm sorry. I was wrong. I'm sorry, okay?"

Ghea was silent, choosing to focus on the book in front of her.

Inez didn't want Ghea to be hurt or avoided like this. After all, Inez had always depended on Ghea. It was only thanks to Ghea that Inez felt comfortable. Inez didn't want to lose her best friend.

Inez smiled slightly and put her arm around Ghea's shoulders again. This time, it was tighter, so it was hard for Ghea to pull away. "Hey, listen to me first."

"Move aside, I want to study," Ghea said without looking at Inez's face. But Inez didn't obey, instead, she tightened her embrace and then forcibly closed the book that Ghea was reading.

"You're already smart, don't read books all the time. Listen to me first."

Ghea shut her mouth.

"Break time is over, we can't go to the cafeteria," said Inez.

"Yeah, because of you!" Ghea replied in an annoyed tone of voice.

Inez confirmed that this was indeed the case. The girl then nodded firmly. "But there's still a second break, right?"

"What the hell?"

A sweet smile graced Inez's face. Her dimples were immediately visible. She pulled the chair closer to Ghea. After that, Inez raised her little finger.

"I'll treat you to an all-you-can-eat meal at the cafeteria, buy whatever you want. You don't have to worry, I'll pay for everything."

Ghea narrowed her eyes, looking questioningly at Inez. "So?"

"Promise not to get mad at me, and don't forget to give me a cheat sheet for the math test in a while. After that, you'll treat me as much as you want."

Ghea thought for a moment. "Is that all?"

"Do you want anything?"

Nodding her head, Ghea smiled meaningfully. "Can you come to my house tonight?"

"Why?"

"Can you?"

Inez hesitated for a moment, but nodded anyway. "Okay, I'll make time for you tonight. So deal, will you forgive me this time?"

No need to use words, Ghea immediately linked her little finger with Inez's little finger. "Deal!"

***

The first day of being a new student at his school made Cakra go home later than the other students. He was asked to meet Mr. Handoko in the guidance counseling room. After spending half an hour in a place that the students thought was a den of demons, Cakra was finally able to get out of there.

Cakra was only told what things should not be done in this school and all the consequences if Cakra dared to violate the rules and regulations that had been enforced. That's it, for the rest, he was asked to study hard.

Running quickly to the school parking lot, Cakra immediately picked up his bicycle and pedaled it in a fast motion. He was already late to go to a restaurant for work. Only his grandmother depended on him financially, they had no other family.

After arriving at the restaurant where he worked, Cakra immediately entered through the back door. He was immediately confronted by his boss, who was standing and staring at him with both hands on his waist.

A man dressed in a slick suit and slick hair faced Cakra and grumbled. Making Cakra let out a long sigh. This is indeed his fault.

"You're 45 minutes late, Cakra, where have you been?! The customers are really busy today, and everyone is overloaded."

"I'm sorry, boss," Cakra replied simply. He looked down while fiddling with his fingers. Cakra didn't dare look at his boss's angry face like this. Not only he, but all the employees would be as scared as Cakra if they were confronted with this famous restaurant owner.

"Hurry up and work!" His boss snapped again, this time followed by a folder that landed on his head.

"Yes, boss." Cakra immediately darted away, maybe this time he was a little lucky because his boss was not too angry with him, the crowded customers were probably one of the factors.

Cakra immediately changed clothes and put on the black apron that had been provided. He moved swiftly toward Ina, one of the employees at this restaurant.

"Can I help you?" he asked.