Two months have passed since the beginning of the school term and I've quite adjusted to the school by now. I would take the bus every day in the morning at the same time to not be late no more since the first day, and my school days pretty much consisted of the same thing: study, recess, study, lunch, another study, then go home.
It sounds like a mundane routine on the surface, but in reality, every day was a new day. The subjects that we studied are ever-changing every few weeks, and I get to enjoy club activities. Above all, it was needed for our future. To get smooth sailing toward renowned universities, I had to endure it.
And then mid-term came, the first segregation of students' academic ability. The test for each subject was done in a span of one week from the end of September to early October.
I was quite confident that I would pass with flying marks. It's not like I'm one of the smart dudes, but I did study outside school hours to review what I had learned every so often and would try to remember what I had studied. Pretty much what I'd done back in elementary and middle school. Besides, what else do I need aside from confidence and hard work?
Oh right, talent. But that's not something in my control.
Speaking of talent, there's one person in my class that showed their high academic prowess quite subtly. It was never shown in her daily conduct in classes, but when mid-term test scores were revealed, surprisingly she scored almost the highest in all subjects. That person is Permata Indah.
It was mind-blowing. I mean, she always appears to be a happy-go-lucky girl, what with her being frequently seen laughing in every conversation, especially when she talks with Sasa.
The first time I found out about this was at the first test score to be distributed to their respective student, History. Our teacher, Mr. Rasun said that he would give students answer sheets based on roll call. One by one the students went to the teacher's desk and returned to their respective seats. Some would brag outright, while some just return quietly. Kevin was among those without discernible expression.
But I got curious about his score, so I asked him, "How much did you score?"
Instead of answering, he just let me take a look at his sheet. At the top right square, the number seventy was written in black. "That's good." I commented.
"Thanks." He said.
Not long after, Indah got her roll call and returned with a grin. Upon reaching her desk, she immediately showed her answer sheet to Sasa. Since I was sitting behind her, I tried to take a peep, but it wasn't possible.
But Sasa was astonished by it. "Wow...!" She said, "95? That's almost perfect! congratulations!"
Indah broadened her smile at the compliment, and said, "Thanks, Sasa."
And just like that, I gained information on Indah's score. Although Sasa has a soft voice, it can't be helped that her remark reached my ears. I became as amazed as her at Indah.
Several other students got their roll call after Indah. When Sasa returned from her roll call, she looked quite dejected. "I should've studied better..." She said to Indah.
'The result wasn't to her expectations, it seems.' I said inwardly.
Indah took Sasa's sheet, then proceeded to say, "It's okay, we can do better next time! I'll help you!" Then gave Sasa her thumb up.
'Wow, that's a pretty sweet encouragement.'
Then came my turn. Mr. Rasun gave me my sheet without much of a word, so I just thanked him and returned quickly.
'I got 85, huh? This is pretty good.'
I glanced at Kevin for a bit. I was hoping that he would ask for my score too. But he just glanced at my answer sheet, and I am doubtful that he could see it from that angle, so I took the initiative to show him my sheet and said, "I got 85."
"Oh, congratulations." Kevin said, seemingly unimpressed.
"I was about to ask you," Indah said while looking back at me. "That's great." She added.
"Yeah, you too. Congrats." I said.
"Do you even know how much I got?" Indah asked while her brow furrowed.
"95, right?" I said. It was obvious, so why did she even ask again?
"How did you know? I haven't told you." She said.
Ah, right. She never told me directly. I was seated behind her and Sasa, so I could hear them, but never did I ever think that I wasn't in their conversation.
"Oh, um... I eavesdropped." I looked away from her. I felt guilty about the act.
Indah and Sasa shot their gaze at me like an arrow with a piece of ice on its tip. I glanced at them for milliseconds before looking away again. I felt blood rushing to my cheeks, so I put my hands together in front of my face to hide it. gotta act cool, gotta act cool...
"Sorry." I admitted my fault.
"Ew." Indah expressed her disgust, then turned away toward the whiteboard.
'Wait, didn't you guys do the same thing before?' I thought to myself, but I kept it inside. I held my hand in front of my face until class started. Her disdained face made my body freeze. gotta act cool, gotta act cool...
****
Several classmates surrounded Indah during recess. Their intentions were simple: To befriend someone with academic achievement in hope that they could get better themselves. They would ask her tips on studying or try asking her what they don't get with the material. It can be clearly said that Indah made new friends.
As a result, our lunch circle gained a new company. Her name's Intan Shakira. "Indah, can I join?" She politely asked. When she bowed her head to Indah, her long, straight jet-black hair waved from her back to the front.
"Yeah, sure. grab a seat." Indah said.
Shakira took the vacant seat on my right and moved it diagonally from me and Indah, then put her lunch on my table.
I was curious why Shakira would suddenly join us, so I glanced a bit towards Shakira's assigned seat and saw her deskmate Laras stare at us before going out of the class with another classmate.
"You know, Indah," Shakira said while taking a spoonful of her lunch, "I'm… not…" She was about to make a sentence, but her focus was divided.
"Talk later when you're done chewing." I quickly said to Shakira.
Upon hearing my comment, she immediately covered her mouth and looked away. Seeing that, Indah giggled at me. 'What?' I muttered to myself while giving her a questioning look.
After she was done with her bite, Shakira continued what she was about to say, "I mean, I'm not good at studying so if possible I want to be your study pal."
Indah gave her a troubled expression and said, "You're overestimating me."
"That's not true at all...!" Sasa said, joining the conversation.
"Erm, but I don't know if I can help..." Indah said her concerns.
"Well, even then, we have to try." Shakira said.
"True!" Sasa confirmed.
Indah smiled at them, giving in. "Alright, I'll try my best, then."
I can't help but let out a giggle. After all, their conversation was so heartwarming.
"What is it, tapper?" Indah glared at me.
"Hey, don't bring that up." I protested.
"Tapper."
"Darn you..."
"Bad words!" Sasa softly shouted at me.
Our lunch just turned into bickering for a moment. When the bell rang, we were promptly reminded of our unfinished food and rushed it all into our mouths.
****
A week had passed, and everyone had their scores revealed completely. Some classmates were gathering data on the scores, tallied it each time a test score was revealed, then assigned or reassigned ranks between classmates. When the rank was shared on our class group's LINE during the night, everyone finally knew each other's academic ability.
Indah had the highest score in the class, meaning she ranked 1st out of 36 students. While I managed to be at the 6th rank, Kevin landed on the 18th, Sasa on the 17th, and Shakira on the 20th.
On one hand, I'm quite grateful that I did well in the mid-term. But on the other hand, I can't help but envy those better than me. I might have been ranked 6th, but the gap was quite wide between me and the one above me. University admission is quite fierce, so I had to study harder.
During the morning after the ranking was revealed, 6 students were circling Indah's desk, including Indah herself and Sasa. Each of them had their notes open, meaning they were studying. Indah seemed to be overwhelmed by these diligent students.
Well, it is good to be diligent, but there is one problem. They made it hard for me to get to my desk.
"Excuse me," I said, gesturing to the student blocking my path to move a bit.
"Oops, sorry." He said, then moved the chair a tiny bit.
As I was about to get to my seat, Indah suddenly jumped up from her seat and told her friends, "Sorry, gotta go to the restroom. Come, Sasa."
Indah and Sasa were about to pass by me when Indah pulled me to her ear level and whispered, "Switch."
My heart skipped a beat when her voice, out of nowhere, entered my ear at such a close distance. I turned my head towards her figure exiting the class, and muttered to myself, 'What was that just now?'
I faced the circling students and slowly took a seat on Indah's chair which was slightly warmed up by her... body temperature. "Er, what are you guys studying?" I asked them.
One of them, I believe his name's Chandra, answered, "Physics."
"Oh, is that so?" I said.
Chandra then shoved his notes towards me, and asked, "Do you get this question?"
I looked at the question for a while, thinking about how I should solve it, and ultimately reached one conclusion: give up. I'm not bad with physics, but I'm not good at it either. At my current understanding, I can't answer it properly. So I said to Chandra, "No, I don't."
"Oh, okay." He said while looking at me with a dissatisfied expression.
I then decided to join in the fray by taking out my notes too. We exchanged questions and answers one by one, trying to solve many problems on the olympiads practice book. I simply can't comprehend more than half of what was being discussed.
'These guys... Aren't they too serious? No wonder Indah was exhausted.' I muttered to myself.
I was waiting for the moment for Indah to return to her assigned seat, but she never showed up until the first class started.