Chapter 32: Chapter 32

Although every day Cakra did not expect Inez to come to him, today he felt that the girl looked quite strange. When crossing paths in the parking lot this morning with Inez, Cakra already wanted to wave his hand with a smile, but he had to abandon his intention when Inez first looked at him with an unfriendly face.

No smile, no greeting. Cakra just watched Inez back away while thinking about whether he had done something wrong to her.

Even during the lesson, Cakra couldn't focus at all. He was also confused with himself—why has he been thinking about that girl lately? Isn't it actually a good thing that Inez is staying away? But somehow it felt different, as if Cakra himself didn't want Inez to leave him.

"Don't daydream, Kra," Zidan whispered while bringing his face closer to Cakra's face, but his gaze was still directed at the blackboard. "Look ahead if you don't want yesterday to happen again."

Cakra exhaled heavily, lazily looking forward. Despite the fact that his mind did not accept the material the teacher gave.

The three-hour torture of the lesson was finally over, the students had been allowed to rest for about fifteen minutes.

Zidan was just about to invite Cakra to chat, but Cakra had already shifted his chair back until he heard an amused squeak. The boy rose to his feet, without saying goodbye to Zidan, Cakra had already run a little out of the classroom.

"Cakra! Where are you going!" Zidan shouted loudly while lifting his bokoong from the chair. Several students in the class looked at him in confusion.

Cakra completely ignored the call that came from his friend's lips. He strode towards Inez's class, wanting to talk to the girl and confirm whether he was wrong. The point was that Cakra had to meet Inez.

After arriving, Cakra was exhausted. His chest was moving up and down, and his breathing was irregular. He needed to rest for a while to get his breathing back to normal.

When he had enough, he stopped a girl who was about to leave the classroom.

"Can I ask you something?" he asked.

"Want to find Inez?" The girl in front of Cakra answered, making Cakra a little surprised because what the girl said was the truth. There's no way she's psychic, right?

Cakra smiled awkwardly, he was about to reply, but his mouth did not make a sound when, from behind the girl, Inez appeared with a flat face.

"What do you need from me?" Inez spoke with a tone of voice that sounded harsh and unfriendly.

The girl continued her walk, not wanting to disturb Inez and Cakra. Now, Inez stood in front of Cakra while folding her arms in front of her chest, her body leaning against the door frame.

And what makes Cakra most confused, Inez's face looks flat, and she seems too lazy to meet him. Cakra was getting more and more anxious.

Cakra tried to smile. "Yes, I'm looking for you, Nez," he said.

Inez nodded slowly. "Incidentally, I have something to talk to you about too."

"About what?" Cakra asked curiously.

Inez sighed for a long time, but she grabbed Cakra's hand. "Not here," she said flatly. Without waiting for Cakra's approval, Inez was already walking while pulling Cakra's hand to join her.

"Where are you going?" Cakra asked the question again. Which again was ignored by Inez.

It was right, Inez must be angry with him, even though Cakra himself was still confused about whether he had something wrong with that beautiful girl.

"Inez?" Cakra muttered.

Inez's gaze was still focused ahead, watching his every footstep. She seemed to have turned off her hearing. Cakra was now resigned as he let out a rough breath. The boy was silent, his eyes occasionally stealing glances at Inez.

Apparently, Inez took herself to the back garden. Cakra remembered that time, when he was punished with Inez for cleaning the place because of the impromptu raid held by the school.

"Why did you bring me here, Nez?" asked Cakra, confused.

"What do you want to say?" asked Inez, her flat face looking up at Cakra.

He exhaled tiredly. "You go first, Nez."

Inez shook her head firmly. "No, you found me in class first, which means you need me. What do you want to say?"

Silence suddenly invaded the space between them, Inez looked at Cakra with an intimidating look in her eyes, while Cakra himself was confused with himself. The guy tried to strengthen himself mentally.

After exhaling a frustrated breath, Cakra refocused his gaze on Inez. "Nez..."

"Yes?"

He swallowed his saliva nervously. "What's wrong with you?"

"What?" Inez frowned, not understanding. She brought her body closer, taking a step toward him. "What are you talking about?"

"I... I feel that you're avoiding me, Nez." Finally, Cakra managed to say the sentence that had been stuck in his heart since this morning. He looked down for a moment, suddenly feeling ashamed of himself.

Inez smiled wryly. "Were we close before?"

Cakra didn't move. He didn't have a good answer to Inez's question. True, they weren't really close. But Cakra felt that today Inez was acting strangely and indifferently toward him. Or is it actually Cakra who is overreacting?

He shook his head weakly. "What do you want to talk to me about?" And in his opinion, changing the subject was the right idea. This is better, right?

"Answer me honestly, what is the relationship between you and Rian? I know there's something wrong with you two."

"Nothing, Nez," Cakra denied in a heavy voice.

"Don't try to lie to me, Kra! I want you to be honest with me."

"You don't need to know Nez. This is my problem with her," replied Cakra, trying to keep his voice from rising. According to him, he and Inez are not okay right now, emotions only make things worse.

"Rian talked to me yesterday," said Inez. She looked deeper at Cakra.

"Did you meet Rian?"

"Yes, I met him. Why, can't I be close to him? What right do you have over me? We have nothing, Cakra!"

"Yes, I know, we're not friends, lovers, or family. But is it wrong for me to worry about you?"

Inez turned her face away while exhaling harshly. "Stop talking about that, don't get off track. We're discussing your problem with Rian."

"Now be honest, Nez, what did Rian say to you."

Cakra already thought that Rian had told Inez something. Something that made Inez ignore him all morning. And apparently Cakra's guess was right, Inez told Cakra what was left out yesterday with Rian.

Cakra remained calm. Although the emotions inside him were already raging.

"Answer me, Cakra! Is it true what Rian told me about you?"

Cakra returned Inez's gaze, whose eyes were already narrowed. "I don't know what to say, Nez. But the point is, I just want to remind you that there are people who so easily twist the facts. I'm not accusing Rian, but it's up to you. Whether you believe me or him."

Cakra was about to turn around, but Inez blocked his hand. Cakra turned back to face Inez.

"How can I trust you if you never told me, Kra?"

Cakra let go of Inez's hand, which was holding his arm. "Nez, I won't tell you everything. I also need space to maintain my privacy. Now I'll leave it up to you, Nez, whether you want to trust me or Rian."

"I trust Rian!" said Inez. "He dared to explain the problem to me. Whereas you're weird, you're trying to cover up for me. It's as if you're the one in the wrong here."

Cakra smiled slightly. "If I'm actually the one in the wrong? So what do you want, Nez? I never told you to trust me. Everything is up to you."

"I hate you, Cakra!"

Cakra was silent. Slowly, his body turned around, and he gripped his hands while pressing his lips together. There was a pain in his chest that he had never felt before. He chose not to reply anymore, he wanted to get out of here.

"I'm not done talking to you yet!" Inez shouted while running after Cakra. The girl then stood in front of Cakra with her eyes red with tears.

"Listen to me first, I haven't finished talking." Inez said, her breath rushing. Her chest was rising and falling.

Chakra turned his face away. "There's nothing more to say."

"Look into my eyes, Kra!" Inez exclaimed firmly while holding Cakra's arm tightly. Cakra, however, completely ignored her words. The boy's gaze was directed to the side.

"Look at me, Cakra!" said Inez once again. In the same second, Cakra obeyed. The boy immediately directed his gaze right into Inez's eyes. Similarly, both of Cakra's eyes turned red.

"What else?" said Cakra quietly, his voice sounding hoarse. "There's nothing to talk about anymore, Nez."

"I want to talk to you."

"Nothing." Cakra snapped, and he swatted Inez's hand away. "Don't be selfish, Nez, not everything you want will come true. This is a family matter, I shouldn't expose it to others."

"But it's me, Kra, Inez!"

He chuckled softly while rubbing the corners of his watery eyes. He didn't know why his eyes suddenly felt hot. "You said yourself, Nez, that there's nothing between us."

Inez immediately fell silent. That remark was like a boomerang for her. Inez shook her head while adjusting her labored breathing. A drop of tears suddenly fell. And Inez did not understand why she was crying. It was too ambiguous to be voiced with tears.

"I'm confused, Kra," Inez muttered while looking down. "I'm confused with myself," she said while sobbing.

Inez was still looking down, her chest tight. The girl then squatted on the ground as she tried to stop herself from crying. But she failed, she couldn't help it. Her tears kept falling.

"I'm confused about whether to believe you or Rian, Rian did explain to me, but my heart prefers to believe you, Kra. But you don't want to explain it to me." Inez covered her face with both palms. "I'm selfish, but I need to know something from you."

Cakra looked up while blinking his eyes. Without even realizing it, Inez had tears in her eyes. Cakra's hands were clenched tightly.

With much consideration, Cakra finally squatted in front of Inez. The boy raised his hand, then landed on the top of Inez's head. "Don't cry, Nez," he said while rubbing Inez's head. "Don't cry about something like this. I'll be sad if you cry."

Cakra didn't know if what he was doing was right. He had never comforted a crying girl. He was just doing the best he could.

"It's okay, Nez," Cakra said softly. "I was wrong, I apologize. Don't keep crying."

Inez still covered her face. "You're mean to me, Cakra!" Inez shouted, but her voice was muffled by the hand covering her face.

Cakra let out a rough breath. "Yes, Nez, sorry." Cakra said honestly that he felt sick when Inez cried like this. Maybe because he felt guilty? He doesn't know, but certainly his heart feels sore.

Cakra continued. "For now, I can't tell you, Nez. I still need time to keep it to myself. What Rian told you might not be entirely true or false. I'm not sure myself. But I think Rian is overreacting. My mom would never do that." Cakra let out a rough breath. "Let's not talk about this anymore, Nez. I'm begging you."

Slowly, Inez's sobs began to fade. She lowered her hands from her face, flinching slightly when he crouched so close to her.

They shared a look for a while.

"I'm sorry, Nez," he said softly. "I'm sorry, right?"

Inez looked at Cakra's face flatly. Her eyes looked puffy. "You know what? I'm saying this because I like you. I'm talking about that because I want to make sure what Rian said is true or not. I like you, do you really understand? What should I do to make you interested in me?"

"Nez..."

"I also don't know why my heart prefers you to Rian, who has been fighting for a long time to get me."

"Nez..."

"I'm also confused about why you don't like me."

"Nez..."

"Why are you so hard for me to reach? What am I lacking—"

Cup.

Inez's words were cut short when Cakra gently kissed her forehead. Inez's body suddenly stiffened, and her breath caught in her throat for a moment. He kissed her? Inez blinked her eyes, and her chest suddenly rumbled.

Inez looked at Cakra and didn't understand. Meanwhile, Cakra himself also did not know why he was doing that. He was a little wide-eyed with disbelief. Not only Inez, but Cakra's heartbeat was also beating twice as fast.

The boy grimaced slightly, suddenly, his stomach was upset. Obviously, his actions just now were out of his control. Cakra did not realize that he had gone too far. The boy turned his face away while cursing himself silently.

Rubbing his neck, Cakra looked back at Inez. "Sorry, Nez, I didn't mean to—"

Cup!

Cakra glared in disbelief. His words were suddenly cut short when Inez pressed her lips right in front of his. For a split second, he forgot how to breathe. He was too surprised.

Inez smiled amusedly. "You stole my kiss first."

"But—

"That means you want to be my boyfriend." Inez rose to her feet, then ran away from Cakra. She teased him by sticking out her tongue. Cakra was wide-eyed in disbelief at what he was seeing now.