Chapter 21: Chapter 21

Inez could only surrender when all her makeup was taken by Mrs. Siti and could not be retrieved. She growled in annoyance and rolled her eyes lazily. If she had known it would end like this, Inez would have left all the makeup in her room.

If Inez had known that her belongings were being used by Mrs. Siti for her personal use, she would have prepared herself to go berserk.

Now Inez could sit quietly without any disturbance from Mr. Sultan or Mrs. Siti. Now it was Cakra's turn to be tried. Speaking of Cakra, Inez felt curious about him. As far as Inez knew, Cakra was a good boy and didn't like to do anything, but why did he get into this room?

Judging from his face alone, Inez didn't see the look of a bad or brutal boy. So, Inez was confused why Cakra was in the counseling room with her.

"You're a student who recently moved here, right?" Mr. Sultan asked Cakra a question, to which the boy immediately replied with a nod of his head and an incoherent mumble.

"Do you smoke?"

Cakra shook his head slowly while giving the counseling teacher in front of him a lazy look. "I don't smoke, sir."

"There's no point in denying it, there are cigarettes in your bag."

Cakra snorted tiredly. No matter how much he denied it, whatever came out of his mouth wouldn't be believed. The cigarette was indeed in his bag, but he didn't know who put it there. Cakra was also initially surprised and didn't believe it was there when his teacher checked. But he couldn't deny it anymore because the evidence was already in front of his eyes.

"Whether you want to believe me or not, I really don't smoke." Cakra said in a tone of voice that was tired of explaining. He had resigned himself to accepting the consequences he would receive.

Mr. Sultan exhaled a long breath, then took a cigarette from Cakra's bag. "What else do you want to deny? I already have this proof."

Cakra said no more. He looked down in silence. What else could he do? It was useless for him to keep saying and defending himself to deny all the accusations. There was no strong evidence of his innocence.

Meanwhile, Inez, who sat beside him, stared in disbelief at the cigarette in Mr. Sultan's hand. Inez watched Cakra with her mouth half open. This must be a misunderstanding, Inez could bet on that. Although she had not known Cakra for long, Inez believed that Cakra was completely innocent.

"Okay, now I will make a letter for both of you. Don't forget to tell your respective guardians to come here tomorrow morning at nine o'clock."

Compactly, they both rounded their eyes. Cakra swallowed his saliva, and suddenly his feelings became chaotic. What would his grandmother do when Cakra conveyed this information? Cakra really felt guilty, he had disappointed his grandmother.

He failed to make his grandmother proud of him.

Hearing that exclamation, Inez immediately answered. She really objected to the decision made by her teacher. "Sir, I want to protest!" she said firmly. "Why don't you punish me instead of calling my parents here? My parents are busy people, so the chances of them coming to see you are slim."

Mr. Sultan sighed, looking at Inez and Cakra in turn. "Your parents should know what their children have done. You are wrong, you must be able to take responsibility for the consequences. Do you understand?"

"But—"

"There is no but," Mr. Sultan finalized. Making Inez turn her face away and growl angrily. Meanwhile, Cakra only resignedly accepted the situation.

That was not the only problem given by Mr. Sultan to the two students in front of him. Apparently there was more, he cleared his throat, then said again. "Earlier, you wanted to be punished, right? Yes, I will grant your request. After school, you clean the school garden."

"What are you doing?" Inez protested again, her patience was really being tested here. The girl looked at Mr. Sultan disgustedly. Her teacher was playing with her. Inez would not remain silent. "If my parents are called, it means I am free from punishment. It has to be like this, it's not fair, sir. It should be just one of them, sir. Be punished or your parents will be called."

"Now I want to ask. Is this my teacher or yours?" asked Mr. Sultan.

"Yes, sir."

"Well, you know yourself, right? Now there is no protestant anymore."

Inez let out a long breath. She was tired of arguing with Mr. Sultan, whose words were irrefutable. She leaned her back against the sofa.

"I'm sorry, sir, but I also object to your decision." Cakra suddenly raised his voice, giving Inez a glance.

Hearing that, Inez immediately brightened and straightened her back. She looked at Cakra in disbelief. Good, someone is defending her here. She thought he could only resign himself to the punishment. But her assumption was wrong.

Inez immediately got excited. "That's right, sir, Cakra objected!"

"Didn't you hear what I said before?" Mr. Sultan's sharp gaze was directed at Cakra. "My decision is unanimous and inviolable. Need I repeat it again so that you both really understand?"

"But I really can't, sir," Cakra denied. "I have an urgent matter later. If it's okay, how about changing the punishment now?"

Inez immediately turned to look at Cakra, she glared in disbelief. "Hey, what are you talking about?" She said it angrily. "Why is it even being advanced?" Inez couldn't understand the way the boy sitting next to her thought. She thought he was protesting because he didn't want to be punished for cleaning the large school garden. But the next thing she knew, he was just bargaining. Damn it!

Cakra glanced at Inez, before finally looking back at Mr. Sultan. "How about it, sir? Is it okay?"

"Fine if that's what you want." The counseling teacher nodded his head. "You can stop when the park is completely clear of trash and dry leaves. Understood?"

"Understood, sir," said Cakra politely.

"Sir, I protest again!" Inez exclaimed again. Cakra looked at Inez with a furrowed brow, which Inez returned with a sharp glance. "There's Mr. Mamat! Why do we have to clean? Then it's good for Mr. Mamat! He gets paid, while I just get tired."

"There's no point in protesting, it's better to do it now instead of getting angry and running out of energy."

"But—

Mr. Sultan raised his hand. "Once I hear your protests again, I will give you a three-day suspension. Understand?"

Inez gritted her teeth in fury. Sighing, she stood up from her seat and stomped out of the room.

"I left my letter behind."

Inez stopped her steps, then turned around. She took another step and approached the table. She quickly grabbed the brown envelope. "Thank you for the punishment, sir," she said with an overly wide smile.

***

"What are you like? Instead of helping me protest not to be punished, you're bargaining!"

Inez grumbled as she swept the yard in a hasty motion and seemed to have no intention of doing so. For ten minutes, Inez had been ranting incoherently, shouting expletives because she was so unlucky.

"I'm not the only one who's tired, you'll get tired too. If you don't accept this punishment and keep protesting, I'm sure Mr. Sultan will give up!" Inez said it again, her face flushed with anger. She watched Cakra, who continued to rake the dry leaves without stopping. It annoyed Inez to no end that her nagging fell on deaf ears.

"Are you listening to me?" Inez grumbled to Cakra. Her tone of voice rose several octaves, her breath already ragged.

Realizing that Cakra was still struggling with his work without caring about her, Inez became even angrier. She clucked and stomped her feet in annoyance. "You're a jerk, I swear, I'm really just getting to know your taste."

Cakra again ignored Inez. He chose to complete his sentence. Cakra did not want to delay time for things that were not important. Serving Inez would only waste his time, and his work would take longer to finish.

"Cakra! How annoying are you!" Inez walked quickly to Cakra and grabbed the broomstick in his hand. Inez hid the broom behind her body.

Just as she opened her mouth to protest, Inez exclaimed first. "What? Want to nag me?" Inez raised her chin high, intending to challenge Cakra.

The boy sharpened his eyes. "Give it back."

"No!"

Cakra blinked his eyes. "Give it back!"

"NO!" Inez raised the volume of her voice even louder. "I want you and I to sit down first, a little rest won't hurt, right?"

"Hurry up and bring the broom," said Cakra. "I don't want to delay any longer."

"You're not a robot, you need your breath to continue." Inez warned. She then cast her eyes around the park. "Look at this park, it's really big. Both of us could die if we continue without a break."

"It'll get longer," Cakra replied.

Inez rolled her eyes. Her lips twitched. "Mr. Sultan will understand, he won't get scolded. You just relax."

"I don't want to delay," said Cakra, again denying Inez's request to stop.

"I swear you are!" Inez was furious with Cakra. She gritted her teeth to hold back her emotions and clenched her fists tightly. "You don't have to mumble all the time, will you?"

"If there's an answer, why do I have to stay silent?"

"You've been so annoying for so long," Inez scolded. She took a deep breath, filling her empty lungs with new air. Inez exhaled slowly. "Listen to what I'm saying, don't force yourself if you're tired. Rest first."

"I'm not tired, where's the broom?"

"No!"

Cakra tried to be as calm as possible in response to Inez's exclamation. "If you're tired, just rest. Let me continue."

"It's not fair then, I rest, and you should rest too. Understand now?"

"No need, just go rest by yourself."

"I want to be with you," said Inez. Cakra was about to protest again, but Inez hurriedly added. "Aren't you tired of sweeping all the time? Watch your back."

"Aren't you tired of talking?"

Checkmate. Inez growled in annoyance. Her lips pouted, embarrassment instantly pouring over her body. Inez cleared her throat, trying to act casual.

"Okay, I reiterate once again. Stop for a moment to take a break. Understand now?" Inez asked. "You understand what I'm saying, right?"

Cakra didn't seem to care. Instead, he swept his gaze as if searching for something. It made Inez frown as if she were confused.

"Hey, I'm talking to you!" Inez shouted, but Cakra ignored her, until finally the boy stepped away.

Inez understands now. Cakra was walking towards the broomstick that Inez had previously thrown away. The girl glared and immediately ran to get the broom first. Good thing she was faster.

Inez smiled triumphantly. "What do you want now? No more brooms, everything is on me."

Cakra wore a flat expression, before letting out a long sigh. Dealing with Inez was indeed this complicated. He chose to walk towards the bench because he was tired of arguing with Inez, who was completely irrefutable.

Cakra is now also a little lazy to clean this school garden. His mood was ruined because of Inez. Meanwhile, Inez herself was currently smiling broadly because Cakra finally gave in. The girl positioned her body to sit next to Cakra.

"It's been like this for a while, it's delicious."

Cakra only glanced at Inez briefly, before returning his gaze to the front. The silence between them lasted for quite a while, making Inez, who did not feel at home in this silent situation, look for topics of conversation.

"I want to ask you something." Inez said.

Cakra turned his head, one eyebrow raised. "What do you want to ask?"

"About an hour ago, did you really bring cigarettes?"

Cakra let out a long breath. "No."

Inez's eyes blinked, and she snapped her fingers. "I guessed right that you didn't bring any cigarettes. You're a good boy, I know that. You wouldn't have brought cigarettes."

"No need to praise, I don't like it."

"You're really nice," Inez emphasized once again. "You helped me when I was drunk, although I forgot about it until now. You also helped me from my ex. It's not wrong that I like you."

"I didn't help you," Cakra pleaded. He faced Inez while inhaling deeply. "I did it for myself, I acted because it was necessary. Not because of you. And one more thing you should know..." Cakra stopped his words. He brought his face closer to Inez's, making her instantly nervous. "... I don't like you."