A little before 6 P.M., the committee announced the end culture festival's first day, immediately after Pantun Stand-up Comedy brought by Sasa and that one guy finished. The audience, who were patiently indulging themselves up until then, quickly dissolved into their own destination. Indah, who was sitting beside me, rose up and quickly approached the direction of Sasa, while I followed along.
"Whoa, wait. Where are you going?" Kim asked from behind me.
I had assumed that he would follow me anyway, so I didn't even bother to ask him. "I'm going over there," I said while pointing in the direction of Sasa and that one guy with my thumb. "They're my classmates. Wanna come?"
"Actually, I thought of going straight home."
"Oh, okay. Take care, then. Thanks." I said as I patted his shoulder.
Instead of saying goodbye, Kim furrowed his brows instead and said, "Hmmm? You're not coming with me? Let me drive you home."
Despite the fact that he was still a high schooler and yet to have a driving license, Kim was already allowed by his parents to drive his own motorcycle. It's not uncommon for high school boys in Indonesia to drive a motorcycle, despite being prohibited by the law. Only a small portion of boys didn't ride motorcycles. I was one of them.
Though the intention was good, unfortunately, I couldn't take Kim's offer at that time. So I waved my hand to gesture rejection and said, "Nope. Thanks for the offer, though."
"Hmmm…" Kim looked at me, then he looked in the direction of my classmates. His expression seemed like he was in the middle of a thought, and then he said, "Alright. You take care, too. See ya."
"Yeah. See you." I replied and turned away towards Sasa and Indah who were hugging each other.
As soon as I got close to their vicinity, I said to Sasa and that one guy who performed with her, "Congratulations."
"Thanks, Uril." Sasa replied, still holding on to Indah.
"Man, I was nervous the whole time." He said while shaking his head as if he couldn't believe what he just did.
"Thanks, Cokro. You did great." Indah said, complimenting him for his effort.
So his name's Cokro, huh? I gotta take note.
Sasa looked around after she got off from Indah. As she fixed her gaze on a certain old man at a distance, she said, "Um, my dad's waiting for me, so… I'm heading home first, alright?"
"Yup. Thanks a lot, Sasa!" Indah said to her in an apologetic but cheery voice.
Sasa and I waved at each other as her figure grew distant.
Soon after, I declared to Indah and that one guy I forgot the name of, "Well, then. I'm going to help tidy up my club's stand."
"Okay. I'll wait for you." Indah said her confirmation with a nod.
I quickly entered the student hall to get to the Handicraft club's stand. Now that there was no visitor, the mess resulting from the crowd had become apparent. The cleaning division from the student council was busy cleaning up the floor. At the same time, students from various clubs were also preparing to close each of their own stands.
I approached the 3 fellow Handicraft club freshmen that were on duty and explained my situation. They quickly agreed to receive my help, and without further ado, we tidied the stand. For such a small stand, 4 people were more than enough for wrapping up. In the end, it took us less than 10 minutes to finish closing our stand.
Immediately after I was done with my business, I went to the school gate where Indah was standing.
"Faster than I thought." She commented.
"Well, I wasn't doing it alone."
Indah adjusted her bag, signifying that she was ready to go home. I mirrored her, and took a step outside the school.
A silence took place only for a fraction of a second before I asked her what was bugging my mind for a while. "So… How is she?"
"… Wretched." Indah said with a pitiful look on her face.
"Tell me about it."
As we walked towards the busway station, Indah was recounting her part of the story.
As soon as she saw the video sent by Laras on the group chat, she tried to ring Shakira. However, since I was already on the line with Shakira before her, Indah's call wouldn't reach her.
Then, without any warning whatsoever, Indah popped up at Shakira's place in the morning. Shakira was the one who welcomed her, and, according to Indah, she looked disheveled.
For the whole day, pretty much Indah tried to cheer up Shakira, while her parents were busy discussing on the phone with the school's party regarding Shakira's incident. Because Shakira was off limits, Indah felt bad about using her phone, so she turned it off. Hence explained why she also couldn't be contacted.
When the day was about to conclude, Indah went to school to check on Sasa, since she asked her a favor to substitute for Shakira.
And so we came across each other.
Hearing all that didn't make me feel better, as I imagined how Shakira felt. Nevertheless, Indah tried her best to make her feel better, and that made me feel glad.
"What about you? What happened at school?"
Then came my turn to tell my part of the story, so I told her, "Well, the school festival took place as scheduled, and it was very crowded. Like, way much more than when you sat beside me."
"I see."
"And I met Laras."
"Huh. How shameless of her to show her face at school."
"I know, right? She seemed like she was unfazed by her own wrongdoings." I added fuel to the fire.
"What the heck!?" Indah responded with a pitch much higher than her usual voice, showing her distress.
"Right? So I threatened her."
Upon hearing my latest bits, Indah dropped her jaw in disbelief. She looked at me as if she was saying, 'Why in the world would you do that?'
"Threaten, as in, like, what?" She asked while unable to make a clear sentence.
Her expression made me feel like I just did a bad thing. Well, it is a bad thing, but still, I felt the need to justify my action. "It can't be helped, you know. I was frustrated with her, too. So I told her to stop bullying Shakira, or else I'd do a payback."
Indah nodded at my answer, sympathizing with me. "Huh… Yeah, I get what you feel. Maybe I'd do the same if I was there."
"I also made her delete the video from her phone."
"Okay, that part was unnecessary."
Not quite getting what her response meant, I furrowed. "What do you mean? In case you don't know, the video was shared outside our class' group chat."
It sounded a bit exaggerated since I only know of Jiwo who had been exposed to the video in question, but it was not unlikely.
"Let me tell you something. On Monday, there'll be an inspection."
Her piece of information made me intrigued and confused at the same time. Is that something that you could share with anyone?
I wouldn't know, but it wouldn't hurt to ask for more. "How do you know?"
"Shakira's parents told me. Laras' parents will be summoned by the school, and a reconciliation or something will take place at school. This is a serious matter for the school, too. It might affect the reputation."
The school authorities sounded like they had their own agenda to do. While I wouldn't know whether Laras or her parents will show up, or whether the reconciliation will happen smoothly, there is only one thing that I can say at the moment.
"… I hope for the best."
"Me too."