The classroom is filled with echoes of students' loud voices as they do their own busy things mostly unrelated to school. On one corner of the room, there's a group of boys surrounding one desk, with a phone on top of it. They are watching something.
"Oi, I can't see, lemme watch too." He tried to fix the angle of the phone.
"Woah, I didn't know you watch this type of stuff?" the owner of the phone says as he turned back to that student.
"Who the heck still has pure thoughts at this age? No one."
"Right, we are all in our last year of senior high already anyways."
They all collectively agreed, and proceeded to watch whatever video is on that phone.
In another side of the room, a group of girls are gossiping about their private life whereabouts.
"We almost kissed yesterday! It was seriously so awkward but ah! The tingles still remains." She was the only one excited.
"Lucky you, my boyfriend is such a shy guy, I can't get the perfect momentum..."
"You don't need that momentum! Just go straight for it."
"Oh I see, you're the bold type."
The whole group laughs.
As the classroom continue to create noisy echoes, a sound coming from the entrance door was heard. A girl whose rich auburn scruffy hair is tied, whose eyes are four, and someone who seemed composed and look disciplined appears as she walks going to the teacher's table.
She looked at how messy the class looks like and felt the need to say something.
"Go back to your respective seats. Our teacher's coming."
But it wasn't taken seriously.
"We won't believe you until she's actually here y' know?"
"Maybe if you go first to your "respective seat" then we'll go back."
Two of the girls complained, the same girls gossiping about their boyfriends.
"I'm repeating this again for the last time. Go back to your seats."
She didn't back off from the rude comments. She's the class representative after all.
"Then I'll also repeat myself, go back to your seat first!" the girl replied back.
The other girl from the same group started whispering. "Who does she think she is anyway? She wasn't event voted to be the class rep, she only had become one because the teacher likes her. So how can we even listen to her ordering us around like this? No way."
Amid the unnecessary argument, a tall guy who seemed to not care of his surroundings enters the room without notice, followed by two guys on his back.
"Oh the teacher's not here yet?, damn what a lucky day!" He shouted as if no one could hear him.
As soon as he realized that there was an ongoing argument due to the tension he could feel in the room's atmosphere, he tried to break it.
"Hey now everyone, you heard her. Go back to your seats".
This confident guy who has a loud voice, wearing steel hoop earrings in one of his ears, the look of his hair in ash-brown color, close to what they call a "delinquent" is named Jetroharu. They continued to go back to their seats successfully breaking the tension.
"Oi Chi! Jetroharu's here!" A random girl whispered on Chi's ears. She was dissapointed.
"Tsk. Wrong timing." as soon as she cleared her thoughts, she stood up.
"Ok everyone, you heard him. Go back to your seats."
Chi is the prettiest girl in class, just by thr look of her long curly caramel hair, paired with her pale skin and skinny figure, it's understandable to mistaken her for a model. Because of this privilege, everyone in the class respects her and hold her in high regard.
So the students started moving after, and so as the class representative who also goes back to her seat. Her seat is at the back of the room, she is the only one who has no seatmate. This lone girl whose classmates find weird because of her nerd nature is named, Nikee.
Jetroharu sat beside Chi, who is his seatmate.
Chi got excited to talk to him.
"Hey! How's your gig last night? I only knew you had one when my friend told me only a while ago. I would attend if I had known earlier."
"It's fine" He replied.
Chi noticed the tone of his voice, he sounded uninterested, still she wants to keep the conversation going.
"When's your next gig? So that I would know earlier and take note of it in my calendar. I will be sure to attend that one!" She happily promised.
"There's no fixed date yet. I'll tell you once it's set."
She really can feel the nonchalant tone in his voice.
"Um, okay."
As soon as their conversation ended, their teacher had finally entered the class. Everyone stood up in unison and greeted her politely. They sat down after the teacher had told them to do so.
"I have computed your current grades. As usual, Ms. Nikee has the highest grade among all of you. I hope everyone works as hard as her."
The students were all in awkward silence.
"Again, the teacher's favorite student, are we surprised?" Chi smirked as those words wander in her mind.
"And as for the lowest again, Mr. Jetroharu. Are you prioritizing something else instead of your studies?"
Jetroharu stood up.
"I'm prioritizing both ma'am."
"Then why aren't your grades improving? You are still the student with the lowest grade in class. What does this tell you?"
Jetroharu didn't utter another word.
"You do realize that you're in a really tight spot right?
Jetroharu kept hearing the same words and was just waiting for the nagging to end.
"Ms. Chi, since you're his seatmate anyways, as someone whose grades is one of the highest, can you help him if you have the time?"
Chi stood up, eyes shining brighter.
"Oh yes ma'am! I have no problem with that." She's looking forward to it more than ever.
"Good. I hope you would also cooperate Mr. Jetroharu, you can sit down now."
The two sat down in unison. One looked annoyed and the other was blushing.
"Me studying alone with him? It's actually happening in the real world?" Chi's thoughts were only filled with it.
-
Both of the class had finished, the students were all leaving the classroom.
Jetroharu and his friends was also about to leave when suddenly, someone pulled his arm.
"Uh Jetroharu, I'm... I'm free today to help you study. If you'd like, we can study together in the library."
Chi's other friends, Jana and Rain, who were standing at her back, were silently cheering for her.
"Eh? Today? But I'm-"
"You're seriously making excuses to not study alone with a pretty girl? Are you kidding?"
Kazu interrupted, he's one of Jetroharu's friend whose spiky golden blonde hair is enough to distract the two.
"Ah, I forgot, I have a part-time work after class, see you tomorrow Jetro!"
Wei, the most handsome among the two, who never dyed his natural black color hair, his thin wispy air bangs covering his eyelashes, also supported Kazu's intention. Not that he was teasing, he simply just have to work.
"I also have something important to do, go study with her Jetro, you need to improve your grades."
"Ha? You're literally the second lowest in class!"
He calls him out as the two started going ahead first, leaving him alone with Chi.
"So are you free today?"
He was hesitant to reply with an honest answer.
"I guess...yeah."
"Then you go eat first! I'll meet you at the library after lunch!"
She went ahead first with the other two girls joining her as they go to the direction heading to the canteen.
"Nice one, Chi!"
"Way to go!, Chi!"
Jana and Rain cheered.
-
Jetroharu is walking at the school ground, seemingly in deep thoughts.
"This is ridiculous, those two jackass. Where did my "yea" came from? I agreed in words, but I actually don't want to! Should I just ditch her? But where do I go..."
As he slowly walks around the campus to find a hiding spot, he discovers a mysterious narrow entrance at the back of the building he's heading to.
"Huh? What is this place? It's the first time I'm seeing this."
He continues to take a step on the narrow way covered of vines with leaves on both side of the walls. Upon entering, he can see a mini garden from afar.
"Huh!? A garden!? So this is where that big tree I see outside came from? I thought it's already outside the school premises, but It's still actually within here!?"
As he walks closer to the place, he can finally see the big tree in full view, upon seeing it whole, he noticed a student sitting below.
"What the!? Isn't that-"
Nikee, who's studying quietly alone in there suddenly heard footsteps, she looked away from her book, and looked at the entrance. As her ears would only believe it's a pet, her eyes betrayed her. She was shocked to see a student in this place aside from her, and moreover, it's not just some other student, but her classmate.
"Wha- what are you doing here!? How did you know this place!?"
"I should be the one asking that to you." He replied.
He noticed that she's wearing an earphone in one of her ears, and holding a book in her hand.
"Oh...so this is where lonely nerds study?"
"Who are you calling lonely?"
"Isn't that you who's studying alone in this weird spot where no one else probably knows in the campus?"
Nikee got mad about it.
"Just because I'm alone that doesn't mean I'm lonely, who are you to call me that when you're the one who got the lowest grade in class?"
"What did you say? How is being called lonely offensive than undermining me because of my grades?"
Jetroharu got offended.
"Tsk. I have no time to argue with someone stupid like you anyways. I'm leaving."
Nikee didn't like how this situation was going. Her safe haven just got discovered by someone, and that someone had to be the delinquent looking guy in her class.
Jetroharu looks at her as she exits the place. "She's got some guts for a nerd." Then he smirked.
"You're stepping on the wrong person."
-
Outside the library, Chi looked impatient waiting for Jetroharu as she was standing there for a few minutes already. As she kept looking at her surroundings, she saw Jana and Rain running to her.
"What is it Ja? Did you find him?"
"I think I saw him heading at the back of the building."
"Huh? Why is he going there?"
"Dunno" Rain added.
"Should we go there then?" Chi looked at Jana.
"Yeah, Let's do!"
The three headed there as decided, but before they could, they already saw Jetroharu going in their direction while they stopped on the same stairs.
"Ah! Jetroharu! I've been waiting for you! I heard you went at the back of the building, what are you doing there-"
"I'm sorry but can we not study today?" He cuts her off.
"Huh?"
"Actually, can we just not study together?"
Chi cannot believe this.
"Wh-Why? What happened? Do you not want to study in the library? Do you want to study in that back of the building because there's a study spot there-"
"No. There's nothing there. I'm just telling you that I don't want to study."
"Th- Then why?"
Jetroharu wasn't in the mood to explain things to her after what happened at the back of the building.
"I can study on my own. Sorry for dissappointing you. I'm going."
As soon as Jetro begins leaving by going downstairs, Chi left her friends and ran away.
The two girls noticed this and called her attention as they followed her.
"That jerk." She whispered to herself in anger.
-
While Jetroharu slowly takes a step on the staircases as he goes down, he sees Nikee who's about to go upstairs. They passed each other as if they didn't notice each other's presence. But Jetroharu actually tried to make his presence more obvious by walking pass closer to her, but he was annoyed that she didn't make a fuss, so he tried to say something when she just passed by.
"You're heading to the library now since your weird-ass study spot had been exposed huh?"
Nikee stopped but she didn't say anything nor did she turn her back. Jetroharu was pissed.
"Hey now, stop acting like you didn't saw me. Why are you ignoring me all of a sudden?" he scoffed.
"Judging from my impression of you, you might have already exposed that peaceful study spot of mine to others. That enough satisfies your ego right? Why the need to make matters worse-"
"I didn't." He cuts her off.
Nikee got shookt, she finally turned her back and looked at him.
"But it will not remain secret for long."
Jetroharu made a step closer to her, he reach out his arms and pulled Nikee's wrist.
"Unless you agree to help me pass, then why shouldn't be that a reason to make that secret spot of yours remain a secret?"
Nikee was able to take a closer look on Jetroharu's face.
"Huh?"