Chapter 5 TWO FRIENDS

Below the shade of the tree, Rea sat down, enjoying the gentle breeze tousling her hair.

"Ugh, so bored!" she thought.

Rea got up from under the tree and went back home.

Once she arrived home, she felt bored again. Life was too dull for Rea. She was fed up with her daily routine.

Rea followed the same routine every day. Her life seemed to be governed by rules she had been following for who knows how long.

She flopped onto her bed and thought, "Is there anything I can do?"

For a moment, her gaze landed on her study desk. There were piles of homework waiting for Rea to complete.

"Argh! Why does everything feel so exhausting? There's nothing interesting in this world! I'm so bored with life like this!" she exclaimed in frustration.

Initially, Rea just stared at her laptop, not knowing what to write. Then, her fingers began to dance on the keyboard, typing word by word. With a sense of weariness, Rea poured her thoughts onto those keys.

Suddenly, a fleeting memory crossed her mind. It was the other day when Ms. Intan entered the classroom with bad news.

Flashback.

"Rea, are you okay?" Rafa asked, noticing Rea's silent gaze out the window.

Having a seat by the window was an advantage for Rea. Besides enjoying the free air, she could also see the vast school field from inside the classroom.

"Why, do I look like there's something wrong?" Rea retorted, turning her body to investigate in Rafa's direction.

"Because you've been staring out that window in a daze," Rafa replied, once again observing Rea's actions as she looked out the window.

"Mind your own business!" she snapped, still looking out the window. Meanwhile, Rafa chose to close his mouth and focus on his own activities.

A moment later, a young-looking teacher entered the classroom of XII Science 1. It was Ms. Intan, the homeroom teacher for XII Science 1. It was expected since today she had the duty to teach Rea's class.

"Good morning, everyone!" Ms. Intan exclaimed enthusiastically as she entered her classroom.

"Good morning, Bu!" all the students in the class responded in unison, equally enthusiastic to see their homeroom teacher.

"I'm so happy to see you all looking bright and cheerful this morning," she concluded with a smile, looking at all her students.

"Of course, Bu, your face is even more beautiful than the angels in heaven," Natan joked, known for his playful nature.

"Oh come on, this guy can't resist flirting even with teachers. Just discovered a new planet, Neptune, didn't you?" Bagas chimed in, feeling disgusted with his classmate's behavior.

"Come on, don't act like you've never been attracted to someone attractive. At least I still like the pretty ones. But you, even married women are not safe around you."

"Pssst, what are you talking about? That's my secret. There's no need to spread it around, is there? It's cool not to be ashamed," Natan whispered, but everyone in the class still heard him.

This instantly became the subject of laughter for all the students in the class, including Rea and Rakan, who just remained silent, hearing the laughter from their classmates.

This also succeeded in bringing a smile to Ms. Intan's face as she watched her two students. It was normal for her to see Natan and Bagas constantly debating about their personal matters during class.

"Be careful, guys, with all those married women, you might end up with an unexpected child," Bagas quipped.

Meanwhile, Rakan, sitting next to Bagas, tried to interrupt his friend to avoid wasting the lesson time with their classmates' noisy banter.

Ms. Intan, noticing Rakan's disturbed expression, decided to put an end to the banter. However, one of her students beat her to it.

"Can you all please be quiet? This is a place for learning, not for senseless jokes like you're doing!" Rea exclaimed with emphasis, making all the students fall silent.

Ms. Intan continued to look in Rea's direction. The other student was still the same as before, stern and abrupt with everyone. Then, she turned to Rakan. She smiled.

She recalled an incident from the meeting yesterday. She smiled meaningfully at both her students.

"Ahem, I have some information about the meeting results yesterday," she began, pausing. "Two of you will be representatives in this year's National Science Olympiad," she continued, smiling at Rakan.

Instantly, all the students clapped happily for their classmate. They congratulated him, including his three friends, who instead of congratulating him, asked for treats. They were quite the opportunists.

"And...," Ms. Intan continued. All the students immediately fell silent, waiting for her to finish her sentence. "The second representative is...," she continued, keeping everyone in suspense.

"For heaven's sake, can you just say it already? Being kept in suspense is uncomfortable," Bagas, who had been impatiently waiting for her words, finally burst out.

"Oh, come on, stop being such a suck-up!" Jack retorted, glaring at Bagas next to him. He thought Bagas was ruining the moment.

"What's your problem? We're all friends here," Bagas retorted, then turned his attention back to the front.

"Even better for me; it's a sign that I still like beautiful people. But you, you're even trying to hit on married women."

"Pssst, what are you talking about? That's my secret. There's no need to spread it around, is there? It's cool not to be ashamed," Natan whispered, but everyone in the class still heard him.

This instantly became the subject of laughter for all the students in the class, including Rea and Rakan, who just remained silent, hearing the laughter from their classmates.

This also succeeded in bringing a smile to Ms. Intan's face as she watched her two students. It was normal for her to see Natan and Bagas constantly debating about their personal matters during class.

"Be careful, guys, with all those married women, you might end up with an unexpected child," Bagas quipped.

Meanwhile, Rakan, sitting next to Bagas, tried to interrupt his friend to avoid wasting the lesson time with their classmates' noisy banter.

Ms. Intan, noticing Rakan's disturbed expression, decided to put an end to the banter. However, one of her students beat her to it.

"Can you all please be quiet? This is a place for learning, not for senseless jokes like you're doing!" Rea exclaimed with emphasis, making all the students fall silent.

Ms. Intan continued to look in Rea's direction. The other student was still the same as before, stern and abrupt with everyone. Then, she turned to Rakan. She smiled.

She recalled an incident from the meeting yesterday. She smiled meaningfully at both her students.

"Ehem, Mom has information about yesterday's meeting," she said, pausing for a moment. "Two of you will be the representatives for this year's National Science Olympiad (OSN)," she continued, smiling.

"Wow, they're really lucky! Wait, now there are two people? I remember only one person went last year," Nita, one of the students in the class, replied.

"I'm sure Rakan is one of those two," Saka, the class president of XII Science 1, chimed in.

Bagas, who had been listening to Bu Intan's speech, immediately turned to Rakan.

"I'm sure it's you, Bro," Bagas said with a confident smile to his friend. Meanwhile, Rakan simply nodded in agreement. He was grateful if he was chosen as one of the school's representatives.

If Rakan wasn't selected, he could only accept it as fate. At least he had experienced what the National Science Olympiad was like, precisely last year when he was chosen as one of the students representing his school at that prestigious event.

Rakan had made the school proud back then by achieving the highest score among all the participants.

But the question now was, were there really two students participating in the National Science Olympiad this year?

To be continued...

One word for Rafa?