Chapter 20: Academic Exam Result

As expected, the people in H's Cafeteria were Fisa's usual study group.

They were all busy talking about many things, including Fisa.

Everyone was talking to each other, except for me.

I couldn't keep up with what they were talking about, so I just kept quiet.

"TING!"

Shortly after, the sound of cell phone notifications rang out and I guess it came from all of us.

"Has the value been told by now?" (Lina)

"Yeah, probably." (Cika)

"Isn't it a bit stressful? Let's hope for a good result while opening it!" (Fisa)

Before they did, I already opened my phone first.

"Stt... Fisa."

I called out to her quietly.

"Why?"

She also answered in a whisper.

"Look!"

"Woahh!! You really got it!"

Ah, her voice was so loud.

"What's wrong, you two?" (Cika)

"Why are you so excited, Fisa?" (Lina)

"You surprised me." (Wijaya)

I think I made a mistake in telling Fisa the score.

But since it had already happened, what could be done, after all it was entirely my own fault.

"Hehe, sorry for surprising you!"

Then Fisa apologized for her excitement with a smile.

"Yeah, no problem. Now can you tell me your grades? Starting from me... Biology 81, Physics 78, and finally Chemistry 77." (Lina)

"Then, me! Biology 66, Physics 61, Chemistry 58." (Fisa)

"For me, Biology 77, Physics 70, and Chemistry 67." (Cika)

When Lina told them to mention their grades, they immediately complied.

"Wijaya? How about you?" (Lina)

"Yes, my results are quite satisfactory. Biology 80, Physics 78, finally Chemistry 75." (Wijaya)

"Then Danna?" (Lina)

"Sorry, I'll try again." (Danna)

Danna said like that while wearing a sad expression.

There was no mistaking it, he must have experienced a point deduction.

"Name it!" (Lina)

"Okay." (Danna)

"Biology 71, Physics 43, and Chemistry 67." (Danna)

I knew it.

Danna's Biology and Chemistry scores were better than mine, but unfortunately he got a 43 in the Physics exam.

"Are your points reduced by 50 now?" (Lina)

"Yes, definitely." (Danna)

"Don't think about it too much, you can do it next time! Now Satomi, what's your score?" (Lina)

Now it was my turn to be questioned by Lina.

What can I do, I can only follow her.

"Well, Biology 70, Physics 65, and Chemistry 65."

"Oh, then can you tell me the grades you got yesterday?"

"For what?"

"Just mention it!"

"Alright if you want, Math 51, Sports 60, and English 55."

Since Lina kept insisting on knowing my grades, I told her not to talk to me anymore.

"I thought you were going to make the grades more patterned, I guess my expectations were just too high."

"What do you mean?"

"Nothing, forget it."

Hearing Lina's words, I was a little relieved.

"Uh, Lina. What's this?" (Cika)

"Why?" (Lina)

"Check the notifications section!" (Cika)

At Cika's prompting, we all checked our respective notification sections on our phones.

"The athletic exams for tomorrow through Friday are canceled, the reason is because there is an internal problem from the school. So in short, the athletics exam will be postponed and will be held again on Monday to Wednesday next week." (Danna)

"Eh?!" (Lina)

"In exchange for the postponement, you will be given gym class for the remaining three days. With that you can practice until you get a good score on the athletic exam later." (Wijaya)

The contents of the notification were read by Danna and Wijaya in turn.

"Wait, there's more!" (Wijaya)

Well, I've already seen it.

The three students who get the highest average score in the class will get additional points.

First place was obtained by Charles who got an average score of 85 and second place was obtained by Lina who got a score of 82, then followed by Cika in third place who got a score of 76.

The top three received additional points.

First place gets 100 additional points, second place 75 points, and third place 50 points.

The rest did not get anything except for those who scored below 50, of course they got a 50 point deduction like Danna.

"Charles! He's so smart that he can exceed Lina's score!" (Danna)

"Yes, I agree, he must be just lucky!" (Cika)

"Don't think badly of him, we can only accept that!" (Wijaya)

"Wijaya is right, you have to put in more effort to get extra points! Maybe in the athletics exam next Sunday, you can get it!" (Fisa)

I was a little surprised that Fisa could think like that.

I think she has developed further than when she started school.

"Congratulations... Lina, Cika!"

I, who had been silent, now began to congratulate those who had made it to the top three.

"Yes, congratulations to you guys!"

Then Fisa followed suit.

"Congratulations, yes!" (Danna)

"Can you treat us now? Sorry, I was just kidding! Congratulations!" (Wijaya)

Then followed by Danna and Wijaya.

"Yes, thank you!" (Lina)

"Thank you! Congratulations on your hard work too!" (Cika)

Then Lina and Cika returned the congratulations from the four of us.

"Anyway, we should have fun because something good happened between us!" (Danna)

"Yeah, I think it's worth celebrating!" (Lina)

That's how they spent the rest of the day, everyone seemed to be having fun except for me.

It's not that I don't enjoy it, it's just that this atmosphere is new to me.

If I'm being honest, this is the first time I've been in a friendship group like this.

How did it feel?

Unfortunately, I don't know.

I could only enjoy the look on Fisa's face as she seemed to be having fun.

In fact, Fisa was so engrossed in them that she didn't care about me at all.

Uh, why?

Now what?

No, I'm not upset.

Then what?

Ah, I understand.

Seeing the person I love having fun with someone else, I feel jealous of that.

There's no mistaking it, this is the feeling of jealousy.

It's true, a person can change faster when they are in this school.

An easy example is Danna, at first she seemed like a jolly person, but now she rarely shows her jolly side.

After we had been at H's Cafeteria for a while, it was already late afternoon.

"Then, I'm going home first! See you tomorrow, all of you!" (Lina)

"Yeah, see you tomorrow!" (Fisa)

Then some of them started to leave in pairs, like Lina with Wijaya, then Cika with Wijaya, the four of them left me and Fisa in this cafe.

"Satomi, do you have any plans after this?"

"Hmm... probably nothing, so what?"

"Before you go home, would you like to take a short walk?"

"That's fine."

Fisa asked me to go for a walk.

I had no reason to refuse, so I just accepted.

The two of us left the cafe and walked casually next to each other.

I didn't know where Fisa would take me, and I couldn't ask her.

I just needed to be quiet and follow her.

"I think this is enough."

Then we stopped right in front of the drink machine.

"Do you want a drink?"

"No. It's getting dark, so the only lighted place is here."

"Is that so?"

"So Satomi, keep your promise now!"

"Uh, here?"

"Where else?"

I understood now.

The reason Fisa took me for a walk, it was because she wanted me to pet her head here right now.

"I see, I'll do it now."

"Yeah, please!"

There's one thing I don't understand.

Why is she looking forward to this so much?

Because for some time while she was having fun at the cafe, Fisa had looked at me a few times.

And of course I felt happy that she wasn't ignoring me completely.

I slowly brought my right hand to her head.

Then I tried to stroke it gently.

This sensation, her hair felt very soft.

Even as I stroked it a few times, a sweet smell wafted from this hair of hers.

"Hehe, I'm very happy. Thank you, Satomi!"

"Fisa, I'm..."

Uh, almost.

I almost confessed to her bluntly.

Luckily I managed to hold back my own words.

"What did you say, Satomi?"

"Nothing important."

"Even so, can you still tell me?"

"Well... I got a 70 as I said this morning, that's what I wanted to say."

I had to lie to her.

"I understand, Satomi. Do you want me to promise you too? But I'm sorry that I almost blurted it out earlier!"

"You don't have to think about that."

"As an apology, what do you want me to promise?"

While continuing to stroke her silver hair, I continued to talk to her.

Fisa also seems to enjoy it, so I won't stop.

As usual, when I'm with Fisa, I feel happy.

My heart beats faster than usual, then my body heats up on its own, and sometimes I can't think straight when I'm feeling that way.

"Then, promise to keep trusting me no matter what!"

I'll make use of that promise as I do things that might be a bit difficult for most people to accept.

Once I've done that, I hope Fisa will still believe in me and side with me.

So basically, trust is the most important thing.

"Yes, I'll do it!"

"Thank you, Fisa!"

"You can let her go now. Also, it's getting a bit dark, so I'm going back to my dorm room first. See you tomorrow, Satomi!"

"Yes, I understand."

Fisa left me.

Now I've finished keeping the promise Fisa wanted me to keep and I hope she can keep her promise someday too.

I don't know what events will be waiting for me in the future, but I can definitely feel a bad premonition that might happen.

To prevent that, maybe I'll do something that's hard for people to accept.