I opened the classroom door and sighed.
"..."
I was late. There was no one left in the room—everyone had already gone home.
"Crap… What should I do now? If this keeps up, Betania will definitely be mad,"
I muttered, scratching my head.
Mad... Betania is mad.
"..."
Suddenly, I felt a chill. Ugh, what is this? My body was reacting like it sensed something. I didn't know why, but just thinking about her being angry made me shiver.
"Yeah, it's definitely not a good idea to make her mad. I better start looking for her right away."
But where should I start? Ugh, whatever… in times like this, I just have to rely on luck.
"Yeah, I'm sure I'll find her. Let's go," I said, rushing out from where I stood.
I left the classroom and began searching. I checked every floor, poking into every room where I thought Betania might go. But after scouring the whole building, nothing.
"Damn it… could she be outside?" I said, running down the hallway.
I stopped and looked out the window.
"Well… if I have to search outside, I'll probably pass out before I even find her."
It had already been nearly half an hour. At this rate, she's really going to be mad.
"..."
There it is again—that chill. Why does my body react like this every time I think of her being angry?
"Ugh… I guess I have no choice," I sighed.
I sprinted toward the school exit. Just as I stepped out of the building, I heard someone crying.
"Hmm… that sounds like it's coming from over there," I said, turning toward the source.
I followed the sound and found a girl in a red dress sitting and crying. Hm… I think I recognize her.
"Um… Dinda? What's wrong?" I asked worriedly.
"Ung… hics… hics…" as she turned around and looked at me.
"..."
"HUUAAAAAH!" she burst into loud sobs.
"Eh?!" I jumped in surprise.
"Huaaah! Now there's a creepy pervert boy trying to bother me! Huaaah!" she wailed.
"What?! Wait, I didn't mean anything like that! Calm down—if something's wrong, I'll help you!" I said, panicking.
"Hics… really?" she asked, wiping her tears.
"Yes," I assured her.
"Alright… but if you're lying, I'll shove a needle under your fingernail," she said cheerfully.
"Um… isn't that a bit extreme?" I asked nervously.
"Why? Are you saying you won't help me now?" she said, frowning.
"No, that's not it… Okay, what's going on?" I asked with a sigh.
"Hics… I'm looking for my friend. We promised to spend time together after school today, but I couldn't find her. I've been searching for more than half an hour already… What if she hates me?" she said, clearly distressed.
"Don't worry. I'm sure she doesn't hate you," I said reassuringly.
"Hics… really?" she asked, hopeful.
"Yeah, I'm sure. You're friends, right? There's no way she'd hate you."
"Hics… alright, I'll believe you. But if you're lying, I'm going to hide nails inside your shoes," she said with a smile.
Ugh… whoever your friend is, please don't ever get mad at her.
"By the way, I'm actually looking for someone too. Maybe we could search together," I suggested.
"Hics… okay," she agreed.
"Then stop crying first."
After she wiped her tears, we headed off. We checked around the school gardens, but the search was tiring and fruitless.
"Huaaah, I still can't find her!" she said in a panic.
"Didn't you two agree on a meeting spot?" I asked.
"I already checked there, but she wasn't there. I got so worried something happened to her that I started searching. I tried calling her, but her phone's off," she said, panicked.
"Ah, no wonder you're so worried. Hm… wait—ARGH!" I suddenly shouted.
"Eek! Why are you screaming?!" she asked, shocked.
"I just remembered—I never even tried calling Betania!" I yelled in a panic.
"Don't tell me… you went searching without even trying to call her first," she said, looking at me in disbelief.
"Um… that's the truth," I said, bowing my head in shame.
"Ugh! You pervy idiot! You're so dumb!" she scolded in disappointment.
I grabbed my phone and, without hesitation, pulled up Betania's contact and hit call.
"Yes! With this, I can finally talk to her—"
Wait… why did the waiting tone stop so suddenly?
I looked at my phone screen… and it went dark.
After a brief moment of thinking, I realized what happened.
"Battery's dead," I said, my face filled with despair.
Dinda looked at me like I had just hit rock bottom.
"Please… don't look at me like that," I muttered, feeling embarrassed.
It's fine. I'm sure we'll find her soon.
"Well, are you done now, you pervy idiot? I want to keep looking," she said, already walking off.
"Ah, yeah. Let's keep searching," I replied, catching up to her.
"I don't know why, but you have this weird aura… a really unlucky aura. Yeah, your face just screams bad luck," she said bluntly.
"Well, even with that, I still got chosen for a special invitation," I said proudly.
"Heeh? Really? I have a friend who got that too, but he definitely seems way luckier than you," she said, curious.
"Haha, maybe. But I still believe that somehow my luck will help me find my friend," I said confidently.
Yeah… I have to believe. That's all I've got left.
"Well, whatever. I don't care," she said dismissively.
We kept scanning the area when suddenly Dinda smiled.
"There she is! Sis Suci!" she shouted happily.
She ran off—and despite her size, she somehow looked like a little girl running into her mother's arms.
"Hey, wait—Dinda, careful!" I shouted, trying to grab her.
"Eh?!"
Suddenly, she lost her balance while running. She tripped—probably on something. Luckily, I was close. I reached out to catch her, but she was heavier than I expected. Instead of stopping her fall, I lost my balance too.
"Crap—guess I have no choice…" I muttered.
I shifted my stance, grabbed her, spun my body, and let her fall on top of me to break her fall.
A moment later, she stood up.
"Ukh…" I groaned in pain.
"Huaaah! You pervy idiot! What were you doing?!" she yelled.
"I was trying to help you," I explained.
"Hah?! You didn't help at all!" she said angrily.
"Well, whatever. Are you hurt?" I asked, concerned.
"Um… no," she said, checking herself over.
"Good. Sorry, I couldn't stop your fall, haha," I laughed awkwardly.
"You're weird. Why are you laughing? Did you hit your head?" she asked, confused.
"Well, I'm just glad you're okay," I said with a smile.
Her face turned red. Hmm… did I say too much?
"Are you okay, Dinda?" I asked, still worried.
"O-Of course! You should worry about yourself before worrying about others!" she said, turning away.
"Oh, okay," I replied, relieved.
Well… that happened.
"..."
Suddenly, my body tensed again.
Okay, someone's watching me.
Still lying down, I slowly turned my gaze toward the school building. On the upper-floor windows, I spotted a familiar silhouette.
"Ah… Bet—eh…"
She looked… scary.
The moment our eyes met, she smiled… and walked away.
Okay, that's definitely not a good sign.
I need to go see her—now.
"Dinda, can you get up quickly?" I called out, waving at her.
"Oh, right!" she replied.
She stood up and adjusted her dress. Just then, someone else approached us—a girl with short, dark green hair holding a notebook.
"What's going on here? Dinda!?" she asked, confused and concerned, looking between Dinda and me.
"Huaaah! Sis Suci! I've been looking all over for you! You weren't at the meeting spot and your phone was off! I was so worried!" Dinda cried, throwing her arms around Suci.
"Eh? Didn't you read the message I had Eko send you?" Suci asked, surprised.
"Ng—no. I didn't want to read anything from that fat pervy guy," Dinda said coldly.
"Geez… my phone died and I had an emergency, so I asked Eko to pass the message that I'd be late," she explained, looking apologetic.
"Heeh? Really? Huaaah! I'm sorry, Sis Suci!" Dinda cried harder, clinging tighter.
"It's okay. It's my fault too. Sorry for making you worry," Suci said gently, patting her head.
"Hehehe…"
They really looked like sisters.
Watching them made me think of my own little sister.
Right… my family should still be okay.
I should contact them later.
"Oh, and you…" said Suci while looking at me.
"Sahabi. Sahabi Pratama from Class 96. Nice to meet you, Suci Restu," I said as I stood up and straightened my clothes.
"Eh? Yeah, nice to meet you. Wait—how do you know my name?" she asked, suspicious.
"Oh right! He suddenly said my name earlier too, even though we've never met!" Dinda said, pointing at me.
"Well, is it wrong to know the names of upperclassmen? You're both famous—so it's only natural I'd know," I said warmly.
"Yeah… fair enough. Sorry—and thank you for helping Dinda," Suci said, smiling.
"It's okay. Well, I'd better go. I still need to find my friend."
"Oh? You know where she is now?" Dinda asked.
"Well… not exactly. But just before we fell, I saw her through one of the upper windows. So I'm pretty sure she's inside the building," I said, pointing toward where I'd seen Betania.
"Wow… I didn't think you'd actually get lucky," she said, impressed.
Well, even though it kind of feels like bad luck…
"Haha. Alright, I'll be off. See you!" I said as I turned to leave.
"Hurry up and go," Dinda said bluntly.
"Take care, Sahabi," Suci waved.
I ran straight toward the school building entrance.