Ferdi Story (2-15)

Ferdi was sitting at his classroom desk, working on his unfinished biology homework. There was only one other student in the class, a girl wearing a hijab, who was reading the Quran. He had two difficult questions left to answer and felt compelled to ask the girl for the solutions. He walked over to her desk and said, "Ann, let me see your biology homework for numbers two and five, I don't get it!" Without being invited to sit, Ferdi plopped down on the empty seat to the girl's right. The girl immediately opened her bag and looked for her homework book. Once found, she handed the book directly to Ferdi. Ferdi immediately started looking for the answers and busily copied them at the desk. ###note### The student's name was Siti Nurhasanah, affectionately called Anna by her friends. She was kind, friendly, and good at using her time for more productive things, just as she was doing then. ###end note### A few moments later, Ferdi finished copying. "Thanks, Ann!" Ferdi said, handing the book back to Anna. He immediately returned to his desk without waiting for Anna to say anything to him. Ferdi immediately took out the Harry Potter book he had just bought from his bag and began reading it. "Fer... instead of reading that book, you should review the answers you just copied." Anna said as she walked past his desk and out of the classroom. Her words seemed to fall on deaf ears, as he was already engrossed in the book's story. Finally, a knock on the door was heard. "Who is it?" Ferdi asked, shifting his gaze from the book to the door. There stood a familiar figure. "Who are you looking for, In?" Ferdi asked Indri, who was already standing in front of his desk. "Fer... is Rania here?" Indri asked back. "I don't think she's arrived yet, why?" Ferdi asked curiously. "Well, she borrowed my physics book, and I have a test tomorrow. Please tell her to return the book by tomorrow at the latest." "Oh... I see, okay, I'll tell her." Ferdi said with a smile. "Thanks, Fer! I'll head to my class then. Don't forget to tell her, Fer!" Indri immediately left Ferdi without waiting for his reply. Five minutes after Indri left, Rania entered the classroom. Ferdi immediately went up to her and said, "Ran, Indri just told me that you need to return her physics book by tomorrow at the latest, she has a test, she said." "Oh... I have the book with me now." Rania replied coolly. Out of nowhere, Ferdi suddenly wanted to deliver the book Rania borrowed to Indri. So he said, "Where's the book, Ran? Let me deliver it!" "I'm the one who borrowed it, why do you have to deliver it?" she replied suspiciously. "It's fine, I'll just deliver it. I also have something I need to talk to her about." Ferdi replied calmly. "Oh... alright, here's the book! If it doesn't reach Indri, I'm blaming you." The book was then given to Ferdi. "Done! Okay, I'll go deliver this book now." Rania just nodded. Ferdi walked towards Indri's classroom. Upon arriving, Ferdi knocked on the tightly closed classroom door, as the class was air-conditioned. A student opened it. "Who are you looking for?" the student asked, pointing at Ferdi's face. "Is Indri here?" Ferdi asked, flashing a smile at the student. The student pointed towards Indri's desk and said, "Oh... just come in! Her desk is over there." After thanking the student, Ferdi entered the classroom and approached Indri. "Oh, hey In, Rania has arrived, and here's the book! Since she's busy right now, she entrusted this book to me and asked me to return it to you. It's okay if I'm the one returning it, right?" Ferdi said in a feigned tone, like someone acting while trying to get close to someone. "Hmm... it's fine, as long as my book gets back to me. Thanks for delivering it!" Indri said with a smile. "You're welcome. Okay, I'm heading back to my class now. The school bell will ring soon!" Ferdi said, starting to get anxious, afraid of being found out that he was actually the one who wanted to deliver the book. "Oh, alright then!" she replied with a slight smile. After he gave the book to Indri, he immediately left her. "Thank God, my excuse worked smoothly." Ferdi thought to himself. After that, nothing else important happened that day. Everything proceeded as usual. *** the next day *** The next morning at school, the air was still quite cool. The sky looked bright, with white clouds drifting across the blue sky. Just like Ferdi's bright heart, as he was smitten with Indri. He stood in front of the principal's office, waiting for Indri to arrive. A moment later, Indri was seen entering the school gate in a sedan. Ferdi kept watching the car as it pulled up to park. After the car stopped, Indri stepped out, looking quite beautiful. She saw Ferdi standing there. Half-running towards Ferdi, she said, "Why are you alone, Fer? Aren't you going to class?" In a shy tone, Ferdi replied, "Not yet, I want to relax here for a bit. Besides, class starts in about 10 minutes." "Oh, alright then, I'll go ahead!" Indri said, wanting to end the conversation quickly. "Oh, please do. I'll follow later." he replied, just making small talk, though he secretly didn't want Indri to leave him so soon. Indri walked away from Ferdi. After Indri was a little distance away, Ferdi walked after her. And finally, Ferdi ran, saying, "Indri, wait a moment! I need to talk to you for a second." Indri paused and turned towards Ferdi. Once Ferdi was in front of Indri, he spoke again, "So, my math notes aren't complete, and my class has a test tomorrow, and I can't borrow any of my friends' notes because they're using them to study. Do you think you could lend me your notes? Just for a bit... I'll return them as soon as possible." With a soft tone and a sweet smile, Indri asked, "Why aren't your notes complete?" Searching for an excuse, Ferdi said, "Because... well... you know how guys are, right? I was just too lazy to take notes back then. So, this is what happened." In a lecturing tone, Indri said, "That's why, next time, don't be lazy about taking notes! You're the one who gets confused. Alright, you can borrow them for a bit!" Indri then lowered her bag, unzipped it, and searched for her notebook. After a few moments of searching, she found it and handed the book directly to Ferdi, saying, "Please take care of my book!" Smiling, Ferdi said, "Of course, I wouldn't be irresponsible with your book. Hehehe... thanks, In! Oh, it looks like class is about to start, let's go together." "Oh... alright, let's go together!" Indri replied, accepting Ferdi's offer. As they walked, they continued to chat. They seemed oblivious to several pairs of eyes watching them and launching unclear taunts. "Indri, by the way, where did you go to junior high?" Ferdi asked, opening a new topic. "Don't ask that, ask if she has a boyfriend or not! Ha... you're so outdated, Fer!" interjected one of the students who overheard Ferdi's question. "Hmm, it's a secret." Indri replied briefly. "Is there really a school named 'it's a secret'? I've never heard of it." Ferdi said, trying to make Indri laugh. However, only a faint smile appeared on Indri's face. "At... Purna Bangsa." Indri replied kindly. "What? Purna Bangsa? Then you must know Siti Nurhasanah, my classmate. She also went to school there. And her nickname is Anna." Ferdi said, which seemed to be of little interest to Indri. "Siti Nurhasanah? I'm not sure, maybe I knew her but I just forgot." she replied, just to be polite. "Hmmmm... I see." Ferdi said softly. "Bomb... bomb... bomb...! Our school got a bomb threat...!" shouted several students running towards them. Indri and Ferdi became somewhat panicked hearing those shouts. Indri's face began to turn pale, fearing that there really was a bomb. "Relax, boss! We won't let you and the girl next to you die in vain. We'll all escort you!" said one student who was already standing to Ferdi's left. Another student was to Indri's right, and others formed a line like presidential guards around Ferdi and Indri. "What is this nonsense! I don't need you guys to escort me. Move, move, everyone! If that news is true, you should all save yourselves!" Ferdi said, shooing away the students who were ready to escort them. The students then left Ferdi and Indri one by one. Dozens of inflated balloons were visible, hanging low on strings. When they were about two meters from the balloons, suddenly, from behind, about ten to fifteen students ran towards the balloons. "One... two... three...!!!" a series of explosions was heard, produced by the balloons popped by the mischievous students. The balloon bursts were quite deafening and made Indri scream, her face growing even paler from shock, almost fainting. Ferdi calmed her by hugging Indri, disregarding a cell phone camera that was ready to capture this precious moment. After successfully calming her down, Ferdi only then realized, as the students sang the song: "Just say it if you want to, just say it if you like it, tell him, honestly, to him." The song was sung as loudly as possible, so much so that the bell signaling the start of class was almost inaudible. Spontaneously, all the students immediately ran away when Ferdi started cursing at them, uttering useless threats and expletives. In this condition, Ferdi had to escort Indri to her classroom, as her body was still trembling and her legs were weak from the shock. After Ferdi arrived at Indri's classroom, several students were lined up in front of the classroom door, shaking Indri's hand, and some of them said, "Congratulations!" Ferdi just stood there, lost in thought, watching it all. Finally, someone tapped him on the shoulder and said, "Hey, aren't you going to congratulate her?" "Co-congratulate her for what?" Ferdi asked back. "Huh... seriously, Indri's birthday is today, you know! How could you forget?" replied the student, who turned out to be Indri's classmate. Ferdi just realized it and immediately shook Indri's hand and wished her a happy birthday. "Sorry, Fer, In, I was the mastermind behind this moment. I just wanted to make your birthday super fun... Huhuhuhu." said a female student standing next to Indri. Indeed, that student was quite a tomboy, even naughtier than any boy. She was also Indri's classmate. Once during Ramadan, she set off firecrackers in the classroom, which resulted in her being suspended for three days. And she also once broke a ceramic decoration on the wall by throwing clay, which made her have to repaint the wall and replace the ceramic decoration. But even though she often went in and out of the counseling room for the violations she committed, it didn't deter her. Perhaps the door of guidance to repentance had not yet opened for her.