Chapter 36: Chapter 36

"What else do you want?" It was so disgusting that Rian always showed up when Inez wasn't expecting him at all. For now, she didn't want to be bothered by anyone. And obviously, Rian's arrival would only make her mood worse.

Inez exhaled heavily, she then looked lazily at Rian. "You better go, I want to be alone."

Inez's position this time was on the rooftop of the school, she was the only one in this place before Rian suddenly appeared, standing next to her.

"I have something to talk to you about."

"What you're saying is not important," Inez said quickly. "I don't want to hear what you have to say." Inez said it curtly, glaring at Rian.

Rian just smiled a little. He didn't feel offended or upset, much less angry. No, Rian was immune. Inez did act sarcastically toward him, but Rian never took it to heart. Let's just say Rian was immune.

"Just a minute, Nez."

Inez gave a short sigh. "Five minutes."

Rian's smile immediately spread across his face. The boy then voiced his purpose. But before he could say anything, his mouth closed again when Inez spoke first.

"Wait a minute." Inez raised her hand. "How did you know I was here?"

"Ghea."

Inez rolled her eyes, her gaze shifting back to the front. "That kid."

"Can I talk?"

"Hurry up."

"If I may know, are you really dating Cakra?"

Inez immediately turned her face towards Rian again, her eyes glaring. "That's what you're always talking about. I'm bored, it's like you have no other questions!" Inez growled in annoyance. Her eyes rolled lazily again, for the second time.

"That's my only question."

"I want to date." Inez replied.

"Then you're really not dating?" Rian's face lit up, apparently Cakra wasn't lying. The boy told him the truth. But Rian didn't put too much hope in it, it could be just Cakra's game.

"Why are you smiling like that? Don't be happy yet, I don't necessarily want to be with you."

"But I still have a chance."

"What opportunity? I don't want to be with you either, don't keep dreaming, wake up and find another girl."

"But I only want you, what do you want?"

"I admit that you're strong for surviving, but don't expect me to melt with that. I will never fall in love with you. Remember that!" Inez spoke quickly in one breath, her finger pointing at Rian's face.

Rian just smiled. "That's how much, Nez you don't want to be with me?"

"Don't talk about it anymore, I don't want to feel guilty about you," Inez said. "Your time is up, I want you to leave me alone here."

"There's more Nez, just a moment."

"What else?"

"Remember one thing, Nez." Rian looked at Inez closely, his expression serious. "Cakra never wanted to be with you, Nez, so think carefully."

Inez smiled wryly. "I'll fight like you, I'm sure he'll be interested in me. I don't know if it's when, but isn't pursuing something difficult so challenging? That's what I'm going to do."

Rian chuckled. "It's funny, we're chasing something we can't reach. Why don't we complement each other, Nez?"

"It's good for you, but a loss for me." Inez replied without thinking, then she walked past Rian first. Her mood was ruined, she wanted to go back to class.

On the way to her class, Inez suddenly remembered what Cakra said. The boy's idea was strange and would harm Inez. How not to be annoyed? Cakra would place a note on it saying that he and the boy broke up. According to Cakra, it will be a problem solver. But not according to Inez, Cakra's actions were like a big disaster for her.

Inez's heart was already beating twice as fast, so she increased the speed of her steps towards the school board. Just to see if Cakra had put the paper there.

When she passed other students, they also stared at her. Inez was getting scared. But isn't Inez always the center of attention? Thinking about all this made Inez attack herself with excessive panic.

There was no paper that Cakra wrote on the main board. Inez had checked. Cakra hadn't posted it yet. However, Inez didn't want to miss it. She checked once again, more carefully. Given that the board was very large, Inez had to be more careful.

"Nothing," muttered Inez. Inez secretly felt grateful. For now, she could rest easy, at least Cakra had not carried out her wish. And one more thing, Inez could negotiate with that boy. Yes, Inez could persuade Cakra once again.

Inez smiled a little, then she turned around. When she was about to leave, Inez was surprised to find Cakra standing in front of her with his thick eyebrows raised. Inez tried to neutralize her breathing, which suddenly made it very difficult to walk normally.

"What are you doing here?" he asked.

"What are you doing here too?" Inez turned the question around. However, she immediately remembered something. Inez widened her eyes. "Don't you want to paste that paper? Confess!"

"Why?"

"Seriously?" Inez blinked her eyes again.  She turned her face to the right and left, making sure it was quiet around her. "Do you really want to paste that paper now?" Inez lowered her voice.

Cakra nodded slowly. "Why not?"

"You're crazy!"

"You're even crazier," said Cakra lightly. His face looked flat. "We're not dating, but you're spreading false information."

"Don't paste that paper, where will I put my face? Do you have the heart to embarrass me?"

"You also had the nerve to drag me into this. Let's just settle everything now, okay?"

"Why are you protesting all the time?" Inez growled, her foot stomping repeatedly on the floor. "Where's the paper? Let me throw it away. Or I'll burn it."

"There's no point, I can also make my own. Even more."

Inez raised her hand, about to give Cakra a hard slap. However, she had no intention of continuing her movement when she remembered that it was Cakra she was about to slap. It was clearly a mistake if Inez actually continued her mistake.

Inez growled in annoyance, her hands only managed to grasp the air. Inez let out a long breath. She was already feeling increasingly tired.

"What do you want?"

"It's nothing."

Cakra didn't bring it up, even though he knew that Inez would slap him. Then he crumpled the paper in his hand into a circle, making Inez glare at him in disbelief.

In no more than a minute, he threw the paper that had formed the ball into a trash can not far from him.

"What are you doing?" screeched Inez.

Cakra wrinkled his forehead. "Oh, wrong, huh? I thought that's what you wanted." Cakra moved slowly toward the spot, intending to pick up the paper ball he had thrown there.

"Uh wait!" Inez shouted, preventing Cakra's movement.

Cakra turned his head. "Yes?"

"Don't take it!"

He obeyed, stepping slowly back towards Inez and standing in front of her, back to the way he was before.

"You're not sick, are you?" Inez muttered. She raised her hand, but when she was about to place the back of her hand on his forehead, he immediately dodged. He took a step back.

"What are you doing?"

"Why did you throw the paper away?"

"You told me to throw it away, is that wrong? Or do you just want to burn it?"

"No, that's not what I meant." Inez denied it while shaking her head firmly. Her eyes closed tightly. "Why did you change your mind?"

"That doesn't mean I want to date you!" Cakra spoke flatly, before he finally turned his body around, stepping slowly away from Inez with a big smile, coloring her beautiful face.

***

Ten math problems for next Sunday's assignment were successfully solved right now. The boy exhaled a long breath, then leaned his back on the chair while stretching his stiff muscles. The assignment took a long time to submit, but Cakra always did it early. While there was time, he would make good use of it. Given that his days were divided by work.

Closing the book and putting it under the table, Cakra then turned to the side, watching Zidan, who was busy with his cellphone.

Cakra suddenly remembered something. He turned his body, facing Zidan fully.

"Dan, I have something to ask you," Cakra said quietly.

Without looking at Cakra and still engrossed in the flat object in his hand, Zidan mumbled incoherently. "Yes."

"I want to join the basketball club," Cakra explained.

"Hm."

Cakra clicked his tongue. It was too obvious that Zidan didn't care about what he said. Or maybe his best friend didn't hear what Cakra said because he was too busy with his cellphone.

With a small sigh, Cakra continued his speech. "What do you think, Dan?"

"Yes."

"What?" he asked.

"What?" Zidan then turned to Cakra, one eyebrow rising. "What the hell, Kra? I'm sorry I was not focused, what did you say to me?" Zidan turned off his cellphone, then put it on the table, after which he looked focused at Cakra.

Cakra had expected that what he said would enter Zidan's left ear and then come out again through his right ear. Cakra snorted softly, and he finally repeated his words, with a lazy tone of voice.

"I want to join the basketball club." Cakra said, "What do you think?"

"Basketball?" Zidan's eyes blinked three times. "Basketball?" he repeated.

Cakra nodded. "Yes, basketball."

"I didn't hear that wrong, did I?"

"So what, I'm good at it," said Cakra. "When I was in middle school, I also joined the basketball club."

"Are you serious about joining basketball?" Zidan asked with a surprised tone of voice, as if Cakra's statement was something very strange and unexpected.

Cakra was silent, only his thick eyebrows raised upward with a furrowed brow.

Zidan gave a short sigh. "No, this is what I mean. You come home from school and work too, right? So what do you do? Do you want to get fired by your boss?"

"I only play basketball once a week, Dan," Cakra argued. "Even on Thursdays after school."

"You don't work on Thursdays?"

"Yes, I work."

"So what?"

"I think it's okay, the boss can understand because I'm still in school," said Cakra.

Zidan shook his head slowly. "That's not the way to play, your boss also doesn't want to lose money. You might get fired, and your boss will find another replacement. Do you want to?"

Cakra shook his head. "I don't want to."

"There you go."

"But I'll try to talk to the boss, in case he gives me permission." Cakra nodded.

Blinking his eyes slowly, Zidan exhaled tiredly. Cakra could not be argued with, making Zidan have to be good at brainstorming. For some reason, he strongly disagreed that Cakra intended to join extracurricular basketball.

"Kra," Zidan said, patting Cakra's shoulder lightly. Then he continued. "You just asked for my opinion, right?"

Cakra nodded. "Yes, what do you think?"

"I don't think so." Zidan answered honestly, "Listen to me, it's not that I don't like you playing basketball or anything. But I don't think basketball is the right thing for you."

"Why?"

"Listen to me first, don't cut me off." Zidan clicked his tongue. "There are two reasons that I think are really dominant. First, you'll get tired after playing basketball. Then your performance at the restaurant will also decline. What if your boss finds out, and you're lethargic and have no energy? That's dangerous, right?"

Zidan took a deep breath, looked at Cakra more intently, then sighed and continued his unfinished speech.

"Secondly, you're not safe because the head of the basketball club is Rian. Remember Kra? It's Rian. You've had several fights with him, and you've even been in counseling. Are you sure you want to join? Remember, Rian can cheat. I'm afraid you'll get hurt."

Cakra chuckled softly while shaking his head. "You're just like my grandmother, overreacting, Dan."

Zidan snorted softly. "I'm like this because I'm worried about you. I don't want to see you playing basketball anyway. Better just study, that's the right thing to do."

"How come you're the one forbidding it?"

"You asked for my opinion yourself." Zidan didn't want to lose.

"And, I was never afraid of Rian. Do you understand? I'll never be afraid of him. And another thing about being tired, I'm used to feeling tired. I'm trained. I also rarely exercise because I'm busy working."

"So?"

"I'm fixed on coming." Cakra said firmly, sounding excited, undeniable, and very sure.

Not knowing what to do, Zidan let out a rough breath. This was his life, after all, and he was the one doing it. Zidan only gave a little direction without interfering. Like it or not, Zidan now had to support Cakra.

"It's up to you, Kra. But you're already sure, right?"

He pressed his lips together in a straight line, nodding steadily. "Sure!"

"If I may know, why do you suddenly want to join basketball?"

"Nothing, just wanted to." Cakra shrugged his shoulders. "I wanted to find something else to do so I wouldn't get bored."

"But does it really have to be basketball?"

Cakra squinted her eyes, looking suspiciously at Zidan. "What's wrong with you, Dan? How come you seem so anti-basketball?"

"Not like that..." Zidan scratched his temple, which suddenly felt itchy. "Here ...."

Zidan's speech didn't continue to finish when suddenly Cakra tapped him lightly on the shoulder.

Cakra smiled slightly. "It's okay, don't worry about Rian. I can take care of myself, there must be a coach too. There's no way Rian will do anything."

"But it's strange that you suddenly want to join basketball."

Cakra didn't have the right answer, he just smiled slightly. His brain immediately processed the events of that time. When he overheard Inez and Ghea chatting. And maybe, that's why Cakra was interested in joining extracurricular basketball at his school.

Cakra doesn't know, and he shouldn't care. But he was compelled to join. Part of him wanted to show Inez his talent for basketball, even though he didn't need to.

FLASHBACK ON

Cakra's steps stopped when he saw Inez and Ghea sitting at one of the canteen tables. The two girls had their backs to him, so he couldn't see them.

Cakra wanted to continue his steps, but again he stopped when Inez and Ghea were chatting, something that sounded so exciting.

"I don't know why I like seeing boys play basketball, it's just cool. That's my type of guy. What about you, Ghe?" Shoving a piece of noodle into her mouth with a fork, Inez looked to the side, where Ghea was eating her spaghetti bolognese.

"Same thing, I'm also happy when I see guys playing basketball. Especially handsome, I just want to faint. That's really cool. Cool." Ghea replied no less enthusiastically.

"That's it." Inez nodded.

"Nez, Rian is good at basketball too. He's also the chairman. He's handsome, too. And he's chasing you, are you sure you don't want to?"

Inez chuckled. "I really like seeing boys play basketball, but Rian is not the one. Let's not talk about him, I don't like him."

"Even though there are a lot of people queuing up to be his girlfriend, you don't even want the opportunity. You're so weird, Nez." Ghea looked at Inez with a sneer.

"You're talking about Rian again, I'm tired of hearing it. Let's change the topic so I can't eat anymore."

Cakra, who heard those words, then stepped back into the cafeteria, to buy some bread.

FLASHBACK OFF