Secret Reunion

Kaluna stepped into the room and froze for a moment as a young man with short black hair and square-rimmed glasses sat waiting for her with a judgmental look.

"Kaluna Demetria?" the man asked in an ice-cold tone. The young man's broad back arched slightly as he sat in his chair and his sharp eyes seemed to be judging Kaluna for a mistake that could never be forgiven.

Kaluna was surprised by the atmosphere in the room that felt so different, plus the presence of the young man he recognized as Estefan, a math teacher and his homeroom teacher at Oasis High School.

"You... called me?" Kaluna whispered, uncertainly looking into Estefan's eyes hidden behind the lenses of his glasses. "What is it, Sir?"

"Sit down," Estefan pointed with his eyes toward the chair in front of him.

Without needing to be ordered twice, Kaluna obeyed and immediately sat on the empty chair.

"You're a final year student, and you've changed schools several times based on the additional notes written by your teacher at your old school." Estefan flipped through the book spread out on the table. "Your reasons for leaving are almost always the same: skipping class, making noise with male friends, not doing your assignments, and answering test questions carelessly."

Kaluna remained silent and did not argue.

"You always repeat the same mistakes in this school," Estefan continued, closing the book and looking at Kaluna straight on. "Do you intend to change schools again to break the national record?"

Kaluna remained silent, but his mind drifted to the last moment that made him choose to leave his old school and be stranded at the new school where Estefan taught.

***

That morning Kaluna should have arrived at school earlier because her boyfriend Dewa wanted to celebrate their first anniversary, if only Aunty Ola hadn't told her to have breakfast at home first.

As an apology, Kaluna stopped by to buy a box of cakes for the two of them to eat on the roof of the school.

Once arrived, Kaluna eagerly climbed the stairs that would take her to the roof while carrying the box of cookies she had bought earlier.

"Dewa!" called Kaluna with a cheerful face. "Sorry, I'm late ...."

The joy that radiated on Kaluna's beautiful face instantly dimmed in just a split second when she saw Dewa tightly hugging another girl who turned out to be his own close friend: Rara.

"Dewa?!" repeated Kaluna in a high shrill voice and successfully separated the two humans of the opposite sex.

"Uh, you... you came already Lun?" Dewa straightened his hair and uniform immediately. Rara moved away with a slightly mischievous look.

"What are you two doing?" asked Kaluna in a judgmental tone, her gaze staring at Dewa and Rara in turn.

"Lun, let me explain first..." persuaded Dewa as he approached Kaluna. "I was waiting for you and you didn't come."

"I didn't ask about that!" Kaluna snapped, looking at Dewa sharply. "I asked about her and you!"

Kaluna's index finger pointed clearly at Rara who stood not far from him and Dewa.

"Answer!" snapped Kaluna when Dewa remained stunned. "Today we're supposed to be celebrating one year of our relationship, but you're... celebrating by cheating on my friend?"

To Kaluna's astonishment, neither Dewa nor Rara denied her accusation at all. Did that mean the two of them had really been in a secret relationship behind her back?

"You better be honest, Dewa." Rara ventured to speak up.

"Who told you to talk?" asked Kaluna fiercely while looking at Rara with eyes narrowed with anger.

"Didn't you ask for an explanation yourself?" Rara still dared to answer. "Dewa and I want to explain it to you, Lun."

Kaluna snorted.

"You two are very good at acting," Kaluna commented pretending to praise. "Before class, it's good to relax here while eating cake ... it also happens that today is exactly one year of my relationship with Dewa."

"Lun, I can explain..." Dewa aka Dewangga interrupted. "I accidentally met Rara at ...."

"I remember, I just bought a cake!" said Kaluna as she opened the cake box and walked over to Rara who was looking at her with suspicion.

"Lun, I know you're angry with us," said Rara logically, while Dewa just kept quiet and let Kaluna do as he pleased.

"You have to eat this, Rara." Kaluna opened the cake box and held it out to Rara with a sweet smile. "So you can share in the celebration of my anniversary with Dewa."

Rara looked at Kaluna hesitantly. Just as she was about to take the box, Kaluna dropped the cake on Rara's head, making her hair smear.

"Arghh ...."

"Luna!" scolded Dewa angrily as he grabbed Kaluna's wrist to stop her. "What the hell are you doing?"

"Let me go!" snapped Kaluna with his eyes focused on Rara who was trying to get rid of the cake that had soiled her hair and uniform. "Doesn't that cake taste as good as you cheating on your friend's girlfriend?"

Rara shook her head hurriedly.

"I just feel sorry for Dewa, Luna ..." She said reasonably. "You're insensitive to Dewa, who wants your attention and affection."

"So because I don't pay enough attention to Dewa, you feel the need to take my place?" asked Kaluna in a high tone. "Don't justify your reasons because what you did was wrong!"

Kaluna pushed Rara without being able to hold back anymore, so Dewa had to hold both of Kaluna's hands to prevent her from attacking Rara.

"Rara, you better leave!" said Dewa who was still trying to hold Kaluna who was struggling. Without needing to be told twice, Rara immediately walked away and left the school roof.

"Rara, I'm not done with you yet... let me go, Dewa!" Kaluna jerked Dewa's hand with all her might until it came off. After that she ran to catch up with Rara who hadn't gone too far, but Dewa nimbly wrapped his arms around Kaluna's waist and pulled her back.

"I said let go, Dewa!" cried Kaluna as she smacked Dewa's arms tightly around her waist. "I want to make a deal with that traitor!"

"Shut up Luna, or you'll be even more embarrassed than this." Dewa threatened as he lifted Kaluna's body easily.

Kaluna struggled with all her might but Dewangga continued to carry her away so she wouldn't chase after Rara. The boy shackled Kaluna until he stopped struggling because he was tired.

"Sit here, let's talk nicely." Dewa only released Kaluna after making sure the girl wouldn't struggle anymore.

"No matter what you say, I will never trust you again." Kaluna replied angrily without paying attention to Dewa's order.

"I want to explain everything properly Lun," Dewa said sharply. "Isn't that what you want to hear?"

"I've heard enough," Kaluna said, shaking her head. "I don't need any more explanation from you or Rara. You're both untrustworthy."

Kaluna turned around, but did not leave immediately.

"From this moment on we're breaking up," she said without turning around. "I want to transfer to a faraway school so I don't have to see you anymore."

Without waiting for an answer, Kaluna immediately left the lover who had just betrayed her.

To Be Continued-

Kaluna immediately asked Aunty Ola to organise her move to school because she no longer wanted to go to the same school as Dewa and Rara.

In her new school, Kaluna who had lost trust in people tended to be antisocial and would overreact if a student deliberately nudged her. Countless times Kaluna has had problems with male students, both seniors and juniors, skipping class, not completing assignments, and doing test questions carelessly.

Amazingly, Kaluna is always serious during midterm or grade promotion exams, even though in one semester she can change schools at least twice if she is bored.

How can it be that easy? Aunty Ola was the type of person who didn't want to bother and she just donated a million to Kaluna's new school using the money left by Kaluna's deceased parents.

"Kaluna, I'm talking to you." Estefan's voice rang out again, snapping Kaluna out of her reverie.

"Yes, Sir," Kaluna nodded as she sat up straight in her seat.

"Do you want to repeat your transfer to another school?" Estefan asked curiously. "From some of the notes written by your old school teacher, it seems like you like to change schools or something?"

Kaluna scratched the back of her ear which was not itchy.

"If you don't feel at home, what else can you do?" Kaluna said lightly.

Estefan wasn't sure if Kaluna's answer was one hundred per cent honest. Judging from his academic grades, Kaluna was not a stupid student. It was just that he was very lazy based on the number of skips and the value of schoolwork that he often put aside.

"Do you still intend to go to school?" Estefan asked finally.

Usually Kaluna would immediately answer with a shake of her head every time her previous homeroom teacher was very tired of dealing with all her mischief. However, this time he was mute as if he was thinking about whether or not to continue school.

"I don't know Sir, I don't know yet." Kaluna shrugged his shoulders. "If there's a school that will still accept me, I might transfer."

Estefan was stunned, in all his life he had never faced a female student like Kaluna who was ignorant of her surroundings like this.

"Think this through," Estefan said as he looked at Kaluna over his glasses. "You're in your final year and you're about to graduate, don't you want to take responsibility for yourself for once in your life?"

Kaluna looked back at Estefan and did not answer. If in previous schools she had only briefly stopped by the teacher's office to say goodbye because she was reluctant to prolong the problem, this time Kaluna was forced to stay long enough to think.

It was as if there was a magnet inside the teacher's office that bound Kaluna to stay in front of Estefan who was waiting for her answer in silence.

"I'm not worried about my education, because my parents' inheritance will never run out." Kaluna finally spoke without looking at the teacher.

"Is that so?" Estefan responded flatly. "From your test scores, you're actually pretty smart. But why do you have to act like this?"

Kaluna didn't want to answer Estefan's question because she knew that the young teacher was just doing his job.

"I'll think about it, Sir." Kaluna said after a few moments of silence. "Thank you for your guidance today. Excuse me."

Estefan deliberately did not detain Kaluna longer in the teacher's office, because he did not want to rush to take action against him. Especially because Estefan felt that Kaluna seemed to be deliberately doing whatever she wanted for reasons that she alone knew.

***

"Honey, why don't we find Luna a mate soon?" suggested Kaluna's aunt Ola, who had just complained about her niece's increasing behaviour to her husband: Hendra.

"Our niece is still underage, Dear." Hendra disagreed. "People will suspect that we want something from Luna."

Ola exhaled heavily, taking care of Kaluna since the death of her older sibling had put a lot of stress on her mind. However, it would only heal if she remembered how much inheritance was left for Kaluna alone.

As the person who was fully responsible for Kaluna, it was not wrong if Ola felt entitled to a portion of the inheritance.

"What? Matching?" Kaluna widened her eyes when Ola visited her room as soon as she got home from school. "Aunty, I'm only a little over seventeen!"

Ola smiled motherly as she looked at her niece.

"You don't have to get married tomorrow morning," Ola said calmly. "What's important is that you get to know the candidate that Aunty will choose for you."

Kaluna rested her chin in thought.

"Aunty must be bothered to take care of me, so she has to tell me to get married quickly?" asked Kaluna in an unpleasant tone. "You can take some of my monthly money if you need it ...."

"Honey, you are aunty's niece. It's only right that you are cared for without any reward." Ola began to show her tongue-twisting prowess. "I thought of setting you up early so that you don't have to look here and there... how about it?"

Kaluna pursed her lips and did not answer immediately.

"It's okay if you think about it," Ola said so that her niece wouldn't get suspicious. "Now you change your clothes first, then eat a lot."

"Okay Aunty," nodded Kaluna whose thoughts were instantly distracted. As soon as her aunt left, she immediately took a long, heavy breath.

The next day Kaluna still went to school as usual. She did not care about the stares of the students who had considered her a troublemaker despite her beautiful face that attracted the attention of men.

Including Yohan, one of the most wanted at Oasis High School. The pineapple-haired boy squinted his eyes when Kaluna passed in front of his class.

"Hey, new girl!" Yohan called while whistling seductively.

Kaluna, who did not feel called, just looked away without looking at Yohan at all, making Yohan's friends giggle.

"The prince of the school is ignored!"

"No one can conquer Luna, the school thug!"

Yohan, who had been harbouring curiosity about Kaluna, immediately ran after her in order to keep his reputation at school from falling just because he failed to get the attention of the girl he wanted.

"How arrogant, Lun?" Yohan commented while keeping track of Kaluna's steps. "Having your monthly, why are you rushing to class?"

Kaluna stopped her steps and stared at Yohan, making the boy feel like he had caught her attention easily.

"Get out of my sight, or do you want to suffer a painful punishment?" Kaluna said sharply.

Yohan laughed so hard at this that the ends of his nanostructured hair swayed.

"Relax," Yohan said as he touched Kaluna's rosy cheeks with his fingertips.

"You...?" Kaluna instantly became inflamed and immediately elbowed Yohan in the face with her elbow, making Yohan groan in pain.

"You bastard," Yohan swore while rubbing his nose. "You think I can't beat up a girl?"

Kaluna immediately set up a stance when Yohan jumped at her.

To Be Continued-

A Student Who Enjoys Being Punished

Some students who were there immediately got their attention when they saw Kaluna and Yohan who were fighting in the classroom corridor.

"Oh no, keep them away!"

"Scared! Be careful of getting hit!"

Kaluna was not afraid to face Yohan even though he was a boy, while Yohan himself also proved his words that he did not hesitate to hit girls.

Kaluna attacked several times, although she missed because it is obvious that Yohan was good at fighting. He quickly turned the tables and forced Kaluna to defend herself from his attacks.

"This is a girl's fighting style!" Yohan taunted, his proportional body twisting around Kaluna and, before he knew it, one of her arms was already in his control. With a single jerk, Kaluna's arm was easily twisted.

"You're a real bloke, aren't you?" Kaluna commented, with her face pressed tightly against Yohan's shoulder. "Fighting with girls must use full power ...."

"No need to bring gender into a fight." Yohan cut in while the students watching were busy holding their breath. "All of you here, listen up. The new kid who acts up in this school will have to deal with me! It doesn't matter if it's a girl or a boy, I'll finish him when I'm fed up!"

"Argh!" Kaluna whimpered when Yohan pulled on her numb arm.

"Stop you guys!"

Kaluna turned her head when a loud voice interrupted the unequal fight. The crowd of watching students instantly torn into two halves when Estefan walked over to the scene of the battle.

Yohan immediately released Kaluna though with a reluctant face.

"Do you realise what you're doing?" Estefan asked sharply while looking at Kaluna and Yohan in. "You deliberately fought in front of the other students?"

Kaluna straightened her uniform without answering.

"I was just training the new students, Sir." Yohan could still reason.

"Go to the teacher's office now." Estefan ordered firmly. "Let the homeroom teacher take action."

Kaluna, of course, had no objection. Like in his previous schools, she was used to being in trouble and was grateful instead of being in a boring classroom all day.

Upon arriving at the teacher's office, Estefan immediately handed Yohan over to his own homeroom teacher, as he felt he did not have the authority to impose punishment on that one student. As for Kaluna, Estefan himself would reprimand her.

Kaluna and Yohan felt that their homeroom teacher's anger lasted for hours, until finally they were both sentenced to clean all the toilets in the school.

"You already know how much power I have, right?" asked Yohan with the mop handle over his shoulder. "That's why new kids shouldn't be pretentious."

Kaluna just snorted while sitting on the chair and had no intention of joining in cleaning the toilet.

"By the way," Yohan said again while observing his work. "Why am I the only one serving this punishment? You should punish, too!"

Kaluna laughed at Yohan's behaviour.

"It punished me, just like you." She said in a casual tone. "But I decided I didn't want to do it."

"Are you crazy?" Yohan turned his head to look at Kaluna, who looked calm.

"In my previous school, I never wanted to serve the punishment." Kaluna said calmly. "You looked strong on the outside, but inside you were afraid of the teacher."

Yohan glared when he heard Kaluna's words to him. He put down his mop and sat next to her.

"What about this?" Yohan grumbled while propping his chin up.

Kaluna turned her face and saw one of the school guards passing by. She hurriedly stood up and ran over to him, while Yohan sat silently, not understanding what she was going to do.

It wasn't long before Kaluna appeared with a cleaner who was ready to take the place of her punishment for cleaning the toilet.

"I just pay this gentleman, and it guaranteed all the toilets to be clean." Kaluna said with a satisfied tone. She immediately took her bag and leered at Yohan. "With this, I can skip class in peace."

Yohan gaped as Kaluna waltzed away from him casually.

"How could you want to ...?" Yohan asked the school official.

"Luna gave me a lot of money." The officer replied as he began cleaning the toilet, as Kaluna had instructed him.

While Yohan was still reeling from what he had just witnessed, he became even more curious about Kaluna Demetria.

***

"What, arranged marriage?" Estefan frowned when his mother came up with the idea over dinner. "Mum, don't get weird. I'm focusing on my troubled students at school. Please don't add to that matchmaking idea. I don't want to get married yet."

Estefan's mum, Vivian, just smiled at her son's response.

"You know, Rey, it's just an idea." Vivian handed Estefan an empty plate. "Wait until your dad gets home. He'll support your idea too."

Estefan had nothing to say and was more concerned with his stomach than the idea of an arranged marriage, which he thought was ridiculous in these modern times.

After eating, Estefan went to his room to relax for a while. He didn't think too much about what Vivian had said to him because he believed that his mother would not pressure him to get married soon.

For your information, Estefan Reyvonda is a maths teacher at Oasis High School after he got into trouble at his old school because a female student fell for him.

With his model-like height, neatly parted black hair, and flawlessly clean face, it is impossible for women to resist his irresistible charm.

And once he accepted at Oasis High School, Estefan deliberately wore glasses to cover up some of his charm so that no more female students would fall for him.

Although it was difficult. Because on his first day at school, Estefan immediately attracted a lot of attention from his female students.

And his encounter with Kaluna's case was enough to make Estefan shake his head. How not, Kaluna seemed not affected in the slightest by his existence as a homeroom teacher who would take firm action against his outrageous behavior.

And in the history of his career as a teacher, Estefan had never met an antique student like Kaluna.

The next day, they greeted Estefan with the presence of Kaluna's counselling teacher at his desk.

"I'm stuck with Kaluna," Mrs Sita confided when Estefan had just put her bag on the table. "She's already a senior, but her behaviour is still like yesterday afternoon's girl. What other way should I reprimand her, Mr Reyvonda?"

Mrs Sita closed her conversation with a long, heavy sigh.

"From my conversation yesterday with Kaluna, it seems she doesn't mind if we sanction her." Estefan explained. "She's actually happy because she got what she wanted."

Mrs. Sita massaged her forehead for a while.

"This is the first time I've met a student who enjoys being punished like Kaluna," Mrs. Sita commented sadly. "Even though Kaluna is actually a smart student."

"Hatchih!" Kaluna couldn't help but sneeze right in front of Yohan's face.

To Be Continued-