The one who entered the room was one of my best friends, Raffi Saputra. He happened to be a member of this club too. Yeah, the Japanese Club seemed to be busy these days that some of the members dispensed from their classes. I just realized how bad my choice was to hide in here just because I owned the spare key room.

Raffi somehow acted weirdly. He sniffed the room and walked closer to our position. This friend of mine was an idiot, but sometimes he did unexpected things like this.

I gulped when Raffi squatted before us and smiled. “Yo, Adrian. What are you doing with a girl in this room?”

My heart jumped when he called my name. I reluctantly took off the shroud and revealed our heads. “You freak. How did you know there are people in here?”

“Dude, really? I mean from my perspective, this black shroud revealed the contour of people’s bodies.”

Now I felt like the stupid one when he said it. “Then, how did you know it was me?”

“Simple, man. Your perfume. I like to use it when I visit your house after all.”

“Bruh, that’s somewhat creepy.”

He only smiled at me and glanced at Maria. “But man, I admire you. You bring one of the four prettiest girls here. Don’t worry. I will protect you.”

Maria blushed, but she didn’t say anything. I felt my blood flowing faster throughout my body. That meant I was already on her good page.

“I owe you one, Raffi. I will treat you later.”

Raffi slapped his chest. “Roger, man. Let me handle this.”

He gestured to me to bring my head closer, so I complied. He whispered, “Bro, you look at the white plastic bag over there? There is a condom box in there. My senpai bought it as a joke even though he doesn’t even have a girlfriend. If it is you….”

I was stunned by his words. He slapped my shoulder and stood. “Then, I won’t bother both of you.”

He took something from the table in front of us and left the room. He didn’t forget to lock the door too.

“Luckily, it was your friend. What did he whisper to you?” Maria asked.

“He only said he will prevent people from coming here.”

“You have a nice friend.”

Our eyes suddenly met. Our bodies were too close because we hadn’t moved our position, so our faces were only one finger away. Her gaze was gentle and comfy. I had an urge to do this thing and that thing with her at the moment, but I didn’t want to betray her trust when she began to feel comfortable with me.

I stood and walked forward, so she didn’t notice the bulge in my pant.

“Where are you going?” Maria asked.

I looked back at her and smiled. “Do you like chicken katsu or beef teriyaki?”

“Oh, do you want to go to the canteen at this hour?”

“Yes, I haven’t had breakfast yet. I like to eat something heavier. How about you? It is my treat.”

“Eh, there is no need to do that. If you are hungry, let me treat you instead.” Maria stood on her knees and groped the pocket on her skirt.

“Nah, that’s fine. Just treat this as an apology for resulting your nose bleeding before. Then, please wait here. You can use my phone too. The password is 123456.”

I waved at her and left the room. Luckily, the canteen wasn’t far from the club secretary rooms. It was on the left side at the end of the corridor. Even in this hour, there were a few people skipping classes. It made me thinking why were we hiding in a room? Teachers rarely checked the canteen anyway for some reason.

I forgot to get an answer about what Maria would love to eat, so I bought one portion of chicken katsu and one portion of beef teriyaki. When I came back to the Japanese Club room, I realized women probably didn’t eat something this heavy in the morning, but luckily she wanted to take the chicken katsu and ate it.

We ate together. I watched a certain movie where a woman ate with a small bite, but Maria ate just like a normal human. In fact, she was quite voracious, making me wonder if she hadn’t had breakfast too.

Maria realized my gaze at her. She took a spoonful of her food and pointed at me. “Do you want to taste it?”

“Sure.” I ate from her spoon and enjoyed the taste of chicken katsu.

“You seem to enjoy chicken katsu more.”

I gave her an awkward smile. “To be honest, I like chicken katsu more, but well you seem to love it too. By the way, you can have a taste of my beef teriyaki too.” I spooned the beef, rice, and salad together and took the spoon closer to her mouth.

“Hehe, this portion is so big, as expected of a boy.” She tucked her hair behind her ear and opened her mouth as I fed her. “Nyum, this is delicious too. It isn’t that bad, but I like my chicken katsu more.”

“Maybe eating those two together will be more delicious.”

“That sounds nice. Can I?”

“With pleasure.” I pushed my food box beside her box, and she took a spoon of my beef teriyaki. She combined it with salad, rice, and chicken katsu.

“Yum, this is so delicious. You have to try too.” She cut a big piece of chicken katsu and put it on my food box. I did the same thing as her and enjoyed two different flavors in my mouth.

We enjoyed our food together and sometimes chatted about things we liked. It was so comfortable and enjoyable that I didn’t realize the bell of the second course rang. Luckily, we had finished eating. We took our belongings and prepared to leave.

“It was enjoyable,” Maria said.

“What class are you?”

“10-1.”

“Hehe, as expected of a smart girl like you. Let’s go. I will escort you to your class.”

“But what about your class? Didn’t you say the next course is math?”

I winked and gave her a thumb up. “That’s why I am planning to skip class again. Anyway, don’t worry about me. Let’s go to your class.”

I walked side by side with her. Our steps were slow. Maria didn’t mind about it. Maybe she wanted to be with me longer too. We didn’t talk and enjoyed the warm silence between us.

I wanted this moment to last longer, but sadly we already arrived in front of her class. We met one of her female classmates. When she saw Maria, her body became stiff.

Maria greeted her friend warmly and asked her friend to put her bag. She took Maria’s bag, bowed, and immediately ran inside.

I didn’t mind her friend’s weird behavior. I guessed she didn’t want to disturb our moment. Maria looked up at me and smiled. “This is it. Thanks for everything.”

“It was fun to be with you.”

We only stared at each other, trying to find a topic to talk to. “I will send you some animal videos to your Myapp.”

She didn’t answer me and instead looked over my shoulder. I turned back and saw a male teacher standing behind me. I smiled at him. “Sir, good day, Sir.”

“Why are you standing in my way? Go inside.”

I scratched my head. “I am not from this classroom.”

“Then what are you doing here? Go back to your class.” He pushed me aside and entered the room. He stopped when he saw Maria and he looked at me back. “Ah, so this is it. Youth. You can get flirty all you want, but don’t do it in school. Maria, come back to your seat.”

The teacher walked to his desk. He sighed when we were still standing in front of the door. “Alright, I will give you one minute. Count yourself lucky because Maria is such a smart student.”

“Um, I guess this is a goodbye for now. I will see you later.” She waved at me, and her hand slowed down because I didn’t move from my spot.

I braved myself to hold her hand. “Maria!” My voice was a bit high and I could feel everyone’s gaze on me. “Do you have time after school?” She nodded, and I continued, “Will you go on a date with me after school?”

Maria pondered. Before I got her answer, the teacher clapped and said, “Alright, that’s more than one minute. Everyone, let’s give this boy applause for his courage. Now, you can leave.”

Everyone clapped their hands, and it made me blush. Maria giggled and waved her hand again. This time, she turned back and walked to her seat.

I left discouraged. I thought we were already close, but I was in rush.

I subconsciously walked to my classroom and opened the door. The cruel math teacher stunned when she saw me. She stood from her seat and approached me. Her voice increased each time she stepped forward.

“Adrian. TAHER. I SAW YOU ENTERING THE SCHOOL BY CLIMBING THE WALL! Don’t you realize how DANGEROUS it is?”

My classmates laughed out loud. My condition was so down that I felt fine getting punished by her. Then, I felt my phone vibrating. I groped my pocket and checked it.

Maria Wilona: After school. I will wait near the water apple tree. ;’)

“Do you understand, Adrian Taher? Are you listening, Adrian Taher?” My teacher still reprimanded me.

I laughed and cheered from the bottom of my heart.

My math teacher was taken aback and stopped talking. I was so happy and subconsciously hugged her. After that, I approached Stevan Liontin and hugged him too. It was because of his stinky ferret that I could get Maria’s phone number.

Rey—who was sitting beside him—opened his arms, expecting a hug too, but I raised my middle finger at him. Then, I left the classroom.

“Oi, where are you going, Adrian Taher?” my teacher shouted.

…….

I fell from my bed after trying to shut up the alarm on the desk beside my mattress. Somehow, the alarm sounded like the cruel math teacher’s voice and I shut it off by smacking it.

I sat on the edge of my bed. That was a realistic dream. I remembered Maria again and my heart felt empty. I didn’t want to drown in despair, so I immediately went to the bathroom.

After bathing, I realized I was late again. I rode my bike to the school. When I arrived, the gate was closed. I came back after parking my bike.

I didn’t take the usual place to climb anymore because it made me remember about her. Luckily, the securities weren’t present. I successfully climbed the side gate and entered the school. However, I wasn’t right in the mind as I went to my class instead of hiding.

It was the cruel math teacher’s class. She drew a deep breath when she saw me. My best friends stood in front of the class with one leg. I guessed they didn’t do their homework, neither was I.

“You stand beside your friend,” the teacher said calmly.

I didn’t say anything and obeyed her

“Yo, bro, are you fine?” Rey asked.

I smiled at him. “It is rare to see you not doing your homework, Rey.”

“Well, things happened.”

The school was boring as usual. My best friends invited me to play soccer after school, but I wasn’t in the mood to do so. I planned to visit Maria’s aunt to get more information about Maria, but I only wasted time going there because they weren’t in their home.

I visited a public garden and sat on the bench. The sun already sank by half at the moment. The air was cool too, giving a relaxing sensation that was good for my mind.

No one visited this garden on this hour, except for a female beggar who was sitting on the ground not far from me. She covered herself in black. I could only see her white hands. I judged her to be a young woman.

Life was hard as a young female beggar, so I kind of understood why she covered herself. I felt bad for her and approached her. I took out a quite sum of money and handed it directly at her even though there was a bow lying in front of her.

“Hey, take this money and quickly hide it.”

She took my money carefully and quickly hid it. I didn’t spare my time to hear her thanks and immediately turned back.

“Thank you,” she said weakly.

I widened my eyes. This sweet voice was familiar. I turned back again and looked at her. “Maria?”