"So, how was your school, Nilam?" Aunt Rosi asked.
At the moment, me and Aunt Rosi were busy kneading the dough to be baked and sold tomorrow. While the store would be closed because we would pay our respect to my late parents, she received a large volume of orders from her regular customers.
"Goes well, Auntie." I doubtfully answered.
I could not tell if my school went smoothly or not. Will my grades be okay after what has happened for the past weeks with Teacher Marita. At least I could keep up the good grades on other subjects. I need to work harder for a better grade.
*TL note: Alhamdulillah means Praise the Lord, a prayer said when one is receiving good fortune.
"I don't want to see your grades plummeting because of that winsome kid that looked for you the other day." Aunt Rosi said.
I knew who he meant by that. I was unquestionably certain that it would not happen, not in a million years. Look at me, I looked like a hen that was about to lay eggs. No one in their right mind would think of me as pretty, my hair puffed up like broccoli. Was there anything desirable about me? Nothing! Maybe Ricky felt nothing but pity for me, because he had ruined my paper that one time. Nothing more, nothing less.
"No way, Auntie. We are contrasting each other. He just felt pity for me, because he bullied me weeks ago." I replied. Aunt Rosi just nodded. She did not deny me, I believed that she agreed with me. If Ricky approached me, that would be driven by nothing but pity. There were no two ways about it.
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"Midterm test is coming, have you made your preparation? Usually, you know which part will come out on the test? Let me borrow your notes!"
"I'm taking notes now, I know that you can't do this." That's how Lala rolled, always panicked over nothing. If she had 5 books to learn, then she would definitely read them all. She just could not find and highlight the important parts. That was why she often got overwhelmed with how much she had to study.
"Thank you, my dearest. Your lunch is in the house!"
"Thanks!"
"Hey, how about me?" Genta came along. They were not the kind of friends who would exploit others. No. Because we, as friends, sincerely wanted to help each other out unconditionally. They also shared with me what they have learned from a privately-owned learning center since I could not afford such a luxury. Besides, I had to make some time to help Aunt Rosi at her bakery. That was an important after-school chore for me.
"Copy that later, Genta."
"I guess we'd better study together, just the two of us. What do you say, Lala?" That was what he wanted, to study together with Lala. He was such a tryhard, doing everything that he could think of to get her attention. Unfortunately, Lala either does not realize it or just pretends to not know about it. She just ignored him all the time.
"ATTENTION!" All the students in the class were shocked as Rian shouted orders out loud.
He wore a flag ceremony officer's uniform with a folder in his hands. He looked exactly like the master of ceremony that we saw every monday.
"STEP FORWARD!" While ceremoniously walking toward me. What got into his head?
Was he hypnotized?
I looked left and right, while Lala grabbed my shoulders in fear. I was sure that the rest of the class felt the same. They were afraid because they thought that Rian was possessed. That could be true since there were rumors about supernatural phenomena behind our school building.
"Ricky and Nilam romantic relationship constitution. First, They must go on a date from monday to saturday every week, one day off on sunday! Second, They must greet each other with 'good morning, sweetheart' and 'good night, sweetheart'! Third, They must maintain constant communication! Fourth, still under consideration! Saturday, 30 May 2015. Signed, Ricky Adriansyah and Nilam Cahya! Report, complete!"
Rian handed over the blue folder with an agreement inside it. On that paper, there was Ricky's picture, blue background, three centimeters by four centimeters, complete with three fingerprint marks. On top of that, there was also a stamp that heavens knew where he got that from. Soon after all that silly commotion. Ricky entered the class with a calm expression on his face. Yup, him, the boy who often dressed however he wanted now looked so neat and clean like a good student he should. He walked closer toward me while staring at my surprised face. I was completely certain that I was not the only person who was surprised at that time. I believed that every single one of us was taken aback with those bizarre circumstances.
I must be dreaming.
"Sign it." He ordered me.
Wait a damned second, he asked me out, right? He proclaimed his feelings toward me, no? Didn't I have the right to deny it? I had the right to say 'no'?
"Sign it." He said again. Lala brushed my arms to persuade me to do something.
"Nilam, sign it quickly!" He ordered me under his breath as if he wanted to end this ruckus immediately. If this goes on against his will, everyone might drop dead within the next second.
"Y..Yes."
I grabbed the pen from Rian's hand and then signed the agreement. I also topped it off with three fingerprint marks just like Ricky did. There was also my picture there, with the same format as his. I could not tell how he got his hands on my photo.
"Now that the agreement is signed, you are officially my girlfriend, you got that?" I still dazed while he grabbed the agreement away from my hands. He folded it and placed it in his pocket while smugly smiled, as if he got his hands on something he had yearned for so long.
We..a pair of lovers?
No way, he was kidding me. This was all nothing but a joke, right? I looked around and they all gazed at me like they were seeing something weird. Some of them also looked at me like they could not believe what they had just seen. Echa was particularly shocked. The girl who was rumored to be Ricky's girlfriend looked aghast. So, including me, how many girlfriends did he have? Oh Lord, I even thought that far.
"Ricky must have eaten something weird this morning."
"Agree, or maybe he bet on this lion cub over something?"
"Probably, she's the one who snitched him to the cops."
"Can't argue with that."
Maybe they were right.
Lala covered my ears, maybe she did not want me to hear what they said about me. I knew for a fact that despite being a delinquent, Ricky's charm was well known throughout the school, many girls would fight each other just to get close to him. I personally saw his charm as something scary.
I sigh as I remember about that time. The starting point of this whole mess is that agreement. If only I could turn back the hands of time, I would definitely deny that agreement. I want to be Nilam before the agreement is signed. Nilam who never got close to him. Nilam who just stood from afar and did nothing. Nilam always goes unnoticed wherever she goes.
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Like a whirlwind, he came and wreaked havoc, then walked away as if nothing had ever happened. Even now, when the class was over, when I had spent some time in the library, Ricky was nowhere to be seen. Was that just a dream? I could not tell. If it was, that would be better for me. That way, I could carry on living this arduous life, alone.
"Nilam, please help me organize these new books." Sasi the librarian came in and placed several stacks of books on my desk.
I closed my book and helped her. Glad that Sasi did not do this alone again.
"I must put these books on their respective shelves, yes?"
"No, just organize them. I'll take them to their shelves. It's getting late, your aunt must've been looking for you." I nodded and smiled. It turned out that she already knew my daily activities while, in fact, she only had visited Aunt Rosi's bakery once.
I quickly wrote down the books. After I was done with this, Sasi would surely be busy making covers for these books. If not, trust me when I say that these books would be ruined, folded, or missing a page. I wonder how they read their books until it became so damaged. They should be more careful because they were borrowing it; they had the responsibility to return them intact. Not in a messy or ruined state.