Chapter 9

During break time I went to the cafeteria alone because the other friends had brought lunch while I didn't bring lunch today because Mother kept talking about how handsome Nareswara was. It annoyed me when I heard Mother say that as if Nareswara was her son that she gave to someone else. Mother also regretted that Betari did not come back to Jakarta. Mother even planned to invite Nareswara to dinner at home and luckily Nareswara already had a household assistant so Mother refused to invite her. But I'm sure, Mother will not give up and will meet Nareswara's house assistant to find out information about whatever Mother wants to know.

I turned my left lip upwards when I saw the crowd of girls at school. I don't know what made them gather like that with their cell phones. Uh, they're just like journalists when they're like that.

Wait, I widened my eyes when I saw who the underemployed girls were surrounded by. He is Nareswara, Mother's favorite neighbor who has just returned from Seoul.

Nareswara is like sugar surrounded by a bunch of hungry ants. Gosh, the girls at this school are ridiculous except for me. And his, wearing lip rouge to school. At the same time, he competes with the senior students here. Compete against each other, to which one is the most beautiful and the winner is Nareswara. I shook my head at the crowd that was getting busier, a crowd that the boys were annoyed to see. Not annoyed because of jealousy but because it's noisy.

Someone tapped my shoulder. "Why didn't you tell me that you had a good neighbor and friend as a child as handsome as Nareswara?" Does Derin also idolize Nareswara?

Uh, wait!

"How do you know that I know Nareswara," I asked Derin. What, Garvi said it to Derin but not because Garvi has officially changed schools.

"He said it himself during the introduction in class and Mrs. Ambar was looking for you. You were asked to accompany Nareswara for a few days to adapt to the school environment."

My eardrums are about to fall out because of what Derin just said. Why do I have to go to school with Nareswara and now have the same class as Nareswara? Can I just change classes or practice archery every day from the first hour to the last hour? So that I don't have to meet Nareswara in class?

I also couldn't understand why Nareswara mentioned my name during the getting-to-know session and luckily I wasn't in class. If I were there, ah ... my headache just imagines it.

"He immediately became a popular beauty, beating Garvi," said Derin with an amazed face at Nareswara.

I couldn't help but gape at that.

If you look around, Nareswara is indeed handsome with eyebrows that are neither thick nor thin. His eyebrows are perfectly formed with the right thickness. Especially his sharp nose looks so smooth like a slide in kindergarten. The narrow eyes are decorated with eyelashes that are not curly but add a bright impression to the gaze. Thin red lips look smooth and not dry. His brownish-black hair looks shiny when exposed to sunlight. A glow that is no less than the good brightness of his skin.

If you look around, Nareswara is indeed handsome and the next disaster was Nareswara waving at me and I just looked at him with a super flat face. When he moved to take a step, I had to go to avoid him. "I'll buy lunch first before going back to practice," I said goodbye to Derin.

"Wait, is he friends with Garvi too," Derin asked me and it was a very unimportant question.

I just nodded getting ready to go to the cafeteria. But Derin continued his question again. "Does he know you broke up with Garvi?" I was annoyed to hear this question and don't let Nareswara know that I once had a romantic relationship with Garvi. Moreover, we found out that Garvi was cheating on me and our relationship ended. No, he can't know. If he knew, he would attack Garvi and they would fight.

"Don't ever tell him," I threatened Derin, and Derin looked surprised by my threat.

Derin shook his head. "How dare I talk about things like this to people I don't know."

I gave him a thumbs-up and went straight to the cafeteria to buy lunch.

After buying lunch, I walked to the park to have lunch and study there. I rarely attend class because I'm busy practicing archery. This school does have different rules from other schools. Students who have talent in the world of sports will be prepared to become school athletes and practice regularly and rarely attend class lessons. Meanwhile, students who have talent in the world of art also have their privileges, namely being able to use the art and music room at any time and following guidance from the art teacher. Not only that, students who are good at mathematics, science, and several subjects are prepared to become school representatives in taking part in the Olympics.

Yes, this school does support the talents and abilities of students.

"You eat while studying."

I almost choked on the wheat bread I was about to swallow because Nareswara's voice suddenly appeared. He sat in front of me and was very rude because he took over my book and flipped through it. "You're a school athlete, huh," he muttered and I could still hear it.

"I looked for Garvi but couldn't find him."

I prepared myself to act normal so that he wouldn't suspect anything about me. Moreover, he's good at guessing what I'm going through and I hate that. "He changed schools," I answered as normally as possible.

"Why did he move without telling me?" Nareswara's voice was very loud and made the students in the park pay attention to us. I'm sure, soon someone will ask about how close my relationship with Nareswara is.

To avoid Nareswara's very unimportant questions. I stood up from my seat while tidying up the books and putting them in my bag then took out the bread wrapper and drinking water bottle. "I practice and don't follow me."

He sits on a bench with a duck face that looks adorable but I don't like looking at it.

When I was about to put the trash in the trash can, suddenly three female students came over to me. "Are you and Nareswara close? Um, can you give us his cell phone number?"

I just thought about it and it happened. "Ask him yourself," I replied by throwing away the trash and leaving them.

While walking down the hall towards the archery gym, the five upperclassmen I saw in the toilet this morning were busy dressing up, blocking my path. Damn, this must be because of Nareswara. "Introduce me to Nareswara." News about me being Nareswara's neighbor has spread.

"He would appreciate it if you got to know him yourself, excuse me," I replied, forcing a smile. When else will I play a prank on that senior who is pretentious and annoying?