"If she knew how you were doing here, she would have immediately cut you off!"
Aldi got up from his sleep and approached Salsha. "What are you doing?"
"Are you changing the conversation?"
"I don't want to talk about dating anymore. Besides, it's none of your business!" Aldi flipped through Salsha's notebook that was on the table. "Doing math homework?"
Sasha nodded. "It's really hard to find the formula."
"Eat first, then we can work together," said Aldi as he closed Salsha's book and pulled the girl's hand.
Salsha resigned when Aldi took her to the kitchen. The man even prepared the food. Salsha looked strangely at Aldi's attitude tonight.
"So this is how you get other people's attention?" asked Salsha flatly while stirring her fried rice.
"What do you mean?" asked Aldi not understanding.
"You always pay attention to other people. The same as Bella, the same Dinda too. That's to get their attention so they like you, right?" accused Sasha. She grinned sharply. "How will your girlfriend feel in Bandung if you know her boyfriend's behavior is like this here. Likes to spread charm."
"I don't feel like I'm paying attention to them. I only think of Bella as my friend and so does Dinda. For example, if they get carried away with clear feelings, it's not my fault, right?" Aldi doesn't want to be blamed. Aldi felt that what he was doing was not wrong. "It's the girl's fault there, it's easy to get carried away."
"I took Dinda home, I had dinner with her even at my school near Bella, it didn't change my feelings for Tania," Aldi explained. "I can tell the difference between my girlfriend and the people I consider friends. I'm going out with Tania doesn't mean I can't be close to any girl. I still know my boundaries. Tania may not be here, but Tania is always in my heart."
Salsha is dead. She didn't know what to say to Aldi anymore. If she becomes Tania, maybe Salsha will be furious. Salsha doesn't want her boyfriend to be close to another girl, even if it's just a friend.
"Your attitude with me at home and school is also different." Salsha changed the subject. "At school, you always find problems with me. But at home, you're pretty good, even though it's a little annoying. You also never bring problems that are at school home."
Aldi smiled sarcastically. He drank a glass of water. "I don't want to interfere with your problems with Bella. But sometimes I feel like you're childish by looking for trouble first. Let your problems with Bella become your problems. Apart from that, you don't have any problems with me, other than you're a girl who married to me."
Aldi stood up from his seat. "Eat the fried rice before it gets cold. I want to take a shower first, then we'll do our homework in the living room."
Salsha looked at Aldi's departure with a little admiration for the man. Aldi has a mature mind. Salsha can also judge if Aldi is a loyal man. Aldi is also friendly to others. Although Aldi's friendly nature can be misused by others. Like Dinda for example. The girl must have thought that Aldi would open his heart to her without realizing that Aldi is a kind and helpful type of guy.
"Why am I praising Aldi, I should feel the same way, boy," Salsha muttered as she started tasting her fried rice.
****
Farel and his two friends were at a nightclub. After taking Bella to her house, Farel immediately met his two friends.
Farel sipped a small glass of beer quietly. He was used to drinking beer so it didn't taste weird anymore. Farel could even finish a large bottle of beer overnight.
"You only have tomorrow," said Dimas reminding Farel about their bet.
"Tomorrow I will shoot him. Don't worry," replied Farel casually. Farel sure will win this bet again.
Bisma took a deep breath of his cigarette and exhaled the smoke. "Are you sure Bella will accept you? Your rival is the new student."
"Aldi, you mean?" Farel asked mockingly. "He is nothing compared to me. He doesn't even dare to fight basketball."
"But I agree with what Bisma said." Dimas patted Aldi's shoulder. "Your rival is Aldi. I'm sure if Aldi is always by Bella's side, your presence will be threatened."
Farel did not heed Dimas and Bhishma's words. Farel is a thousand percent sure that Bella will receive it tomorrow. After that, the motorbike that they bet on will be his.
"Remember, after you become Bella's girlfriend, you have to make her love you as much as possible. After that, you break up with her in front of the kids. But if Bella dumps you first, that means you lose." Dimas' reminder about their betting rules.
"I won't forget!"
*****
After finishing dinner, Salsha took her books and took them to the living room. It didn't take long for Aldi to bring a notebook.
"Are you sure you can do this?" asked Salsha unsure. "I've been trying to solve the problem for a long time but can't."
"It's easy," Aldi replied nonchalantly as he sat beside Salsha. "Where's the matter?"
Salsha shifted the Mathematics textbook towards Aldi and pointed to a problem about logarithms. "Questions 11 to 15."
"Just like this, you can't?" Aldi mocked while reading the questions in the book.
Sasha rolled her eyes. "You don't have to talk too much. Do it first, you can or not."
"Where were you working on?" asked Aldi starting to focus.
Salsha showed her a notebook containing the random answers she had been doing earlier. "The answer is not in the choices."
Aldi looked at Salsha's book carefully while counting. Aldi likes maths and physics. That's why questions like this are not too difficult for Aldi.
"Your formula is wrong, that's why the result is not in the options. If the problem is like this, the formula is this." Aldi began to cross out Salsha's book with the correct formula.
Salsha researched everything that was written by Aldi. Aldi's formula and method were explained in detail so that Salsha could understand. It's true, the formula she uses is wrong.
Salsha lifted her face and looked at Aldi's face who was focused on doing his job. Salsha is stunned, if you focus like this, Aldi looks very handsome and authoritative. Different from what he had seen so far, sloppy and annoying.
"Well, it's in the choice," said Aldi after finishing working on one question.
Sasha wakes up and shakes her head. What was she thinking just now, he's not praising Aldi right?
"Did you know?" asked Aldi.
Sasha nodded slowly. All this time he was only focused on looking at Aldi's serious face. "Already."
"Now you work on question number 12 first. Then I'll correct whether it's good or wrong."
Salsha just nodded in agreement with Aldi's words and started working on question number 12, while Aldi played with his cell phone.
Aldi's cell phone rings, there is an incoming call from Iqbaal, his best friend in Bandung. Without thinking twice, Aldi immediately picked up the phone.
"Hall--" Before Aldi could continue his speech, Iqbaal had cut him off.
"Do you have a problem with Tania?"
Aldi sighed. Tania must have told Iqbaal. "What did Tania say to you?"
"Tania didn't tell me anything. But she was crying." The voice on the other end sounded annoyed. "Please, your relationship has been around for a long time, it's time to break up just because of a trivial matter like this."
Aldi massaged his throbbing temples. "Tania started first."
"You're a boy, you should be more mature and understand him. I'm upset but I also feel sorry for him."
Aldi sighed. "Okay, I'll talk to him later. It's late, I'll sleep first, okay?"
Aldi disconnected his phone unilaterally. Aldi is tired, and he doesn't want to hear other people talk about his relationship.
Salsha, who had been silently listening to Aldi's conversation with someone on the phone, looked at the man innocently.
"That shitty courtship, huh?"
Aldi rubbed his face and pulled the book in front of Salsha. "I'll just do it fast."
.