After Ms. Ambar gave her permission, Nathan was finally allowed to stay until the rain subsided.
At the apartment's lobby, Nathan stood around like a fool while hugging himself. Dinda, the girl he has followed all day, was nowhere to be seen. She didn't even say thanks to him.
Actually, from a distance, Dinda watched him sitting in the lobby. There were a few tenants that talked to each other about him. Some of them even greeted him and offered if he needed anything. But Nathan unexpectedly turned down their offers. He usually loved being pampered by girls. Dinda shook her head, she thought to herself why would she care about that stud? Whether he accepted an offer, or eventually froze solid, she got nothing to do with him.
Dinda entered her apartment room, Nadya gave that soaking wet girl a weird look. Why was her uniform completely drenched and her face looked shabby like a shirt that had not been ironed for a year?
"Where are you from? You are dripping wet!" Nadya asked while looking at that girl continuously from the moment she entered the room, picking up a towel and new set of clothes, until she finally entered the bathroom.
"I was in the infirmary, the sun was almost set when I finally woke up, and it poured like crazy when I wanted to go home."
"Huh? Why did you find yourself in the infirmary? Were you not feeling well? Why were you forcing yourself to go through the rain? You could have stayed until it stopped or called me to pick you up and bring you an umbrella…" She took a seat beside Dinda that had just come out of the bathroom. She noticed something on Dinda's lips. "Wait, did you fall off?"
Dinda rolled her head.
"Who did this to you?" Nadya asked again. That was obviously a blunt force trauma caused by an empty handed strike. She was certain that there was no way Nathan would ever do such a thing.
"Yellow card." Dinda answered. Nadya stood up and followed Dinda to her closet.
"What do you mean by yellow card? Aren't you already marked by Nathan? Normally when Nathan has marked someone, the other two pillars wouldn't dare to make a move. Defiance against the king is an offense punishable by death." Nadya was getting more curious.
"You got a dry towel, Nadya? Let me borrow one." Dinda asked while ignoring Nadya's question. Dinda was ignoring Nadya because she had no answer to that question, she had no idea what was going on between the three pillars and their dumb rules. All that she knew was that her life was getting worse after she was transferred to Airlangga High School. She couldn't even forget her bad memory from her previous school. Worse, her sadness seemed to be endless here.
Nadya opened her closet and gave a dry towel to Dinda. "What do you need this for? To blanket yourself?" Nadya was still confused.
Dinda accepted it and got out of her apartment, Nadya followed her closely. Dinda pointed at a boy in the lobby across her room.
"There, for him." Dinda answered.
Nadya's eyes almost jumped out of their socket when she saw Nathan, the most exalted boy at school, sitting alone, freezing, and completely drenched…all because of Dinda? No way, Nathan Alfaro, the one who always shies away from the rain, now let himself waterlogged alongside Dinda?
"Is that Nathan?" Nadya still could not believe her eyes.
Dinda nodded reluctantly and sighed. She had no more spirit to carry on her life. Dinda lost all of her passion for life ever since she came here. Luckily, she had Nadya who got her back during these trying times. When it felt like the world wanted to dispose of Dinda, Nadya loyally stood beside her. Nevertheless, Dinda herself realized that Nadya might not be there for her forever.
"Why was he here?" Nadya asked again.
Nathan's home was located right behind their school but that boy did sometimes drive his car around the block before finally arriving at the school. So, where was his car? Why would he go with Dinda through the rain?
"Dunno, maybe he thought that water was awesome. Let me give this to him." Dinda did answer, but that confused Nadya even more.
Dinda walked around the U-shaped building because there was no way she would go across the yard as it was still pouring as if the sky wanted to drown the whole building.
She could hear many tenants peeking out their door and window just to take a look at Nathan. Dinda never thought that Nathan Alfaro could cause a ruckus of this magnitude.
"Hey, that is Nathan, right?"
"Nathan has visited our humble abode, praise the Lord!"
"Nathan, that is Nathan!"
"So damn handsome!"
"He really is!"
"Take a picture, quick!"
That was a few of many utterances she could perceive from the hysterical tenants as if a famous celebrity had visited their apartment.
"Here!" Dinda gave a dry towel to Nathan. He raised his face to see her.
"You got no dry clothes? Is there no shop around here?" Nathan's question confused Dinda.
Then she realized that there was no use of a dry towel if he didn't have a spare cloth to change with. It was really unhelpful.
"Why would I want to have such an item?" she answered.
Nathan sighed and accepted the towel that Dinda gave him. He walked toward the external bathroom while hugging himself with that towel. She knew that he was bare-chested but she didn't care since it was better than wearing a wet shirt or jacket.
"Will it ever stop?" Nathan grumbled. Dinda remained silent. She really hated talking to Nathan.
Actually, what she really wanted was to return to her room and get some comfortable rest. Sleeping while it was storming outside was one of the best pleasures life had to offer. Regardless, she remained in Nathan's company because she thought that she owed that boy something for accompanying her on her way home. Despite her hatred, she was not some uncivilized girl without any manners.
Dinda stared at the stormy sky and its endless rain. Had she was at home, her mother would surely have brewed her a cup of black tea and served her some snacks. They would talk for hours at either their porch or her mother's room. Especially now when she had a lot to tell.
"Oh my, who do we have here? If it isn't Nathan.." Ms. Ambar came into the lobby. Both Nathan and Dinda looked at her.
Nathan that was busy reading only glanced at her then returned to his own book. Apparently, not appreciating other's presence was one of the innate traits of Nathan.