The green angkot on Route 01, running between Baranangsiang and Ciawi, rocked gently every time it rolled over another pothole. Bogor looked gloomy that afternoon—the sky hung heavy with gray clouds, the air was damp, and a thin layer of mist clung to the windows, hinting that rain was on its way.
Dina sat across from Icha and Nia, her sling bag resting on her lap, while the humid breeze drifting through the open window brushed softly against her face.
"Ugh, my legs are killing me," Icha complained, patting her calves. "It's all Nia's fault. She insisted we stop by that pirated CD stall first. Do you even still use CDs, Ni?"
Nia smiled.
"No. I'm copying the songs onto my MP3 player and my phone. Besides, the CDs were super cheap. Only seven thousand rupiah."
"Well, obviously they're cheap. They're pirated," Icha replied, rolling her eyes. "If an original CD cost that much, that would be impressive."
Dina said nothing.
She simply stared out the window.
Outside, rows of trees swayed gently in the afternoon breeze. The angkot passed a small park where children chased each other around, laughing. She watched them for a moment before letting out a quiet sigh.
"Din, why've you been so quiet?" Icha suddenly asked. "Who're you thinking about? Don't tell me it's Ando."
Dina snorted.
"Don't be ridiculous. I'm just sleepy, Cha. I was literally about to take a nap when you called."
"Liar," Nia teased. "Come on, admit it. You got jealous when you saw Ando with his girlfriend at the restaurant, didn't you?"
Dina whipped her head around.
"No, I didn't! Quit making things up!"
Icha laughed before leaning forward conspiratorially, lowering her voice as though sharing juicy gossip.
"But seriously... I don't think Ando's girlfriend looked very happy."
Nia nodded with a straight face.
"Yeah. She looked like she was taking a math exam."
All three of them burst into laughter.
"You guys seriously have nothing better to do than analyze other people's lives?" Dina said between giggles.
"But seriously, Din," Icha continued, still laughing. "Clara looked so annoyed. Didn't you notice? Every time Ando talked to her, she'd just pout."
"Maybe she was just tired," Dina replied indifferently.
But her heart?
Yeah... not indifferent at all.
She remembered Clara's expression perfectly.
The cold eyes. The half-hearted smile. And somehow... The most selfish part of her couldn't help feeling pleased.
"I honestly don't get what Ando sees in Clara," Nia said. Sure, she's pretty. But that's about it."
"Exactly," Icha chimed in. "She acts like such a princess. What does she think she is—Syahrini?"
Nia and Dina laughed again.
"Oh, did I ever tell you? Last Wednesday I saw her making her friend stand in line to buy shumai from the cafeteria while she sat there gossiping with her other friends."
Now Dina was interested.
"Seriously?"
"I swear. I heard her myself," Icha replied. "She used this sweet little baby voice. 'Please, Sit?'"
She mimicked Clara dramatically.
"But both her arms and legs work perfectly fine. Why make someone else buy your food? Go get it yourself."
"Ugh, she's so spoiled," Nia said with obvious disgust. "Our bestie here is way better than that, right, Cha?"
She wiggled her eyebrows toward Dina.
Dina lightly smacked Nia on the head.
"Why are you dragging me into this?"
Nia rubbed her head dramatically before continuing.
"Okay, maybe you're not as pretty as Clara... but you're still pretty. You're smart. You're kind. And most importantly... you're willing to pay for our angkot fares."
Icha immediately pointed at Dina.
"Exactly!"
She copied Nia's exaggerated eyebrow wiggle.
Dina could only shake her head at her ridiculous friends.
"Yeah, yeah. Fine. Full service for the two of you."
The two girls cheered before celebrating with a high-five.
The angkot came to a stop at a red light.
A young busker climbed aboard and began singing Kuburan Band's Lupa-Lupa Ingat.
Unfortunately...
He seemed to have forgotten the lyrics for real.
After collecting a few coins from the passengers, he hopped off again.
The three girls burst into laughter once more.
"That kid was really feeling the song," Icha joked.
"He actually forgot the lyrics."
Dina sighed.
"But I feel bad for him. He's still so little, and he's already out earning money."
"Yeah," Nia agreed quietly.
The three of them fell silent.
Each lost in her own thoughts.
Dina turned toward the window once again, watching the gray clouds gathering overhead.
Behind all the laughter and teasing, she knew one thing.
Her heart still wasn't completely at peace whenever Ando's name came up.
But like always...
She chose to pretend she didn't care.
Only an idiot smiles every time someone mentions another girl's boyfriend, she thought.
And apparently... I'm that idiot.
---
"ANDOOOOO!!"
Dina's shout echoed across the classroom, which had already been noisy for the past five minutes.
The rustling of papers.
Conversations.
Laughter.
Even the same cellphone ringtone going off over and over.
Everything blended into one chaotic mess.
There was no teacher that day.
Mrs. Rini had taken leave because of a family matter, but she'd left behind twenty chemistry questions that had to be submitted the next day.
Dina had been working on them for almost an hour.
Only one question remained.
Then the universe decided to mess with her...
...in the form of spilled orange juice.
Three seconds later, her chemistry assignment had transformed into an abstract yellow-and-orange painting.
And naturally...
The culprit was the one person on earth who could make Dina's patience thinner than tissue paper.
"Sorry."
Ando sounded ridiculously casual for someone who had just massacred another person's homework.
Instead of helping clean up the mess, he simply walked away while sipping the last of his orange juice.
Dina stared at her soaked notebook, forcing herself not to throw it at his head.
"He's obviously jealous because I'm almost done," she muttered. "Meanwhile, he hasn't even started."
Icha—who happened to share a desk with Dina and had witnessed every single Dina-and-Ando drama this entire school year—gently patted her shoulder.
"Come on, Din. It was probably an accident."
"An accident? No way! He totally did that on purpose!"
Dina grumbled.
"If it'd been plain water, I could've just dried it. But orange juice? Even after it dries, the stains will still be yellow."
Icha bit back a laugh.
"Just copy it over. It's due tomorrow. You've still got plenty of time."
"I guess I have no choice. I hate leaving work until later."
Still complaining, Dina kept blotting the pages with tissues.
Plop.
Something landed squarely on her forehead.
An eraser.
Covered in random doodles.
Dina slowly closed her eyes.
She counted to three.
Then—
"ANDOOOOOOO!!"
Ando winced, looking far more amused than guilty.
"Oops. Sorry again. Bram threw it way too hard."
Behind him, Bram was laughing so hard he could barely breathe.
"I swear I threw it gently, Din. It would've never hit you if Ando had actually caught it."
Several classmates laughed along.
Icha was pounding the desk, completely losing it.
The only person who wasn't amused...
...was the victim.
Dina grabbed her long ruler and stood up.
The moment Ando saw revenge written all over her face, he immediately got into a runner's stance.
A second later...
The entire class was treated to yet another episode of the never-ending chase between Dina and Ando.