He Is Mine

class

1.

I had just finished at the cafeteria with Nandan, Hadi, and Rani.

Dita wasn't there. She rarely came to the cafeteria. I wondered, if she was really after me, why didn't she ever come to the cafeteria to see me? Why did she prefer hanging out with her friends at Aunt Eem's cafe?

Why didn't she try to sit in the cafeteria with me? Talk to me. At least that way, I could find out directly from her: was she really into m*******a, as Nandan and Dito said?

Did she really like drinking alcohol, as Nandan, Jenar, and Rani said? Was she really a playboy, having lots of girlfriends everywhere, as Nandan claimed?

If I wanted to know the real Dita, I didn't mean to interfere in her affairs.

Who am I? And she's not my girlfriend, so what business do I have of her and her life? But I don't know why I always want to know more about her, and I feel so confused.

Moreover, almost every day I receive negative information about her. And I don't want to believe everything so easily.

I want to ask her directly, and if it's true, then I'll know who she is and how I should treat her—that's my right.

At that time, Dita was so mysterious to me that I always wanted to know more about her!

Oh, God! Why am I like this?

2.

From the cafeteria, before I was about to enter class, I passed Dita. She was walking with her friends. She must have just come from Aunt Eem's stall.

"Aura!" she called out and approached. I stopped in my tracks. Nandan, Hadi, and Rani continued walking because I asked them to go first.

"Yes?"

"Can I join your class again?"

She smiled. So did I.

"Do you want to make me happy?"

I looked into her eyes, almost unable to believe I could ask her so boldly.

"Yes?"

"Then," I said. "Follow me."

I smiled.

"What do you want?"

"No!"

"Oh. He he he," Dita laughed. "Okay, then."

At the same time, Mrs. Sri walked past, about to enter my class. Dilan greeted her and asked,

"Ma'am, can I join you in my class?"

"You have your own schedule," Mrs. Sri replied. "Come on, everyone in! The bell has rung."

"Ready to march!"

I smiled at the way Dilan saluted Mrs. Sri. He straightened his body and placed his hand on his forehead, truly like saluting a commander, or perhaps a flag.

With that, he left.

I entered the classroom for the next lesson. It was Pancasila Moral Education (now Civics), with Ibu Sri as the teacher. I still remember it.

But it's not Ibu Sri I remember, but the incident. While Ibu Sri was explaining the lesson, suddenly the classroom divider on the right side of the classroom collapsed, falling towards us, knocking over the blackboard and toppling the President of Indonesia, Suharto, who was still a framed photograph.

Ibu Sri ran away, screaming in the name of God: "Allahu Akbar!!" and calling out the name of one of her family members: "Mamaaaa!"

Everyone else ran too, trying to get away, knowing it was dangerous. We ran to the back of the classroom.

From our refuge, we could see the classroom divider collapse with two people still hanging from it. And, those two people were Piyan and Dita!

I didn't want to believe it, but it was real.

So, how could this have happened?

I got an explanation from Dita several months later.

He said that at the time, there was no class, and the teacher was absent due to illness. Dilan and Piyan tried to climb onto the classroom divider, hoping to reach the ventilation hole in the upper wall.

"Huh! What are you doing?" I asked.

"Peeping at you, ha ha ha ha."

"Ha ha ha ha. You actually entered Mrs. Sri's class."

"Yes! Ha ha ha. Got in another way."

"Ha ha ha."

"It's a high risk to love you."

"Ha ha ha."

But that's what happened. What else could I do?

Wati, my classmate, was probably annoyed. She approached Dita and threw her textbook at her, saying:

"Maneh wae, Siah!" That's Sundanese, roughly meaning: "You again! You again!"

She also pinched Piyan: "Maneh deui! Mimilu!" That's also Sundanese, roughly meaning: "You too, joining in."

Dita didn't fight back. Piyan just grimaced. I immediately wanted to know who Wati really was? Why did she dare to approach Dita? Why did she dare to approach Piyan? At that point, I felt sure no one else would dare do it. And why didn't the two of them fight back when Wati treated them like that?

After further investigation, it turned out Wati was Dita's sister. No wonder! Wati's mother was Dita's father's sister.

Oh my God, why did I just find out?

Dita and Piyan were then taken by Mr. Suripto to the teachers' lounge in a manner that I found quite rude!

At that moment, I wasn't strangely anxious. Strangely, I believed that Dita would be able to handle it calmly.

3.

But since that incident, I haven't seen Dita for two days, at school or anywhere else.

Maybe she's sick. Maybe she's suspended. I don't know, and I want to know where she's gone. But I'm confused about who to ask.

I ask Nandan or Rani, worried they'll suspect something. They'll think I'm being considerate or something, even if I am, but I don't want them to know.

So? Yeah, I'm confused. I can only hope I

will figure it out on my own.

4.

My wish to go to the cafeteria with Wati finally came true.

In the cafeteria, Nandan, Rani, and Jenar wanted to join us for lunch, but I told them I had business with Wati. Luckily, they understood and sat at another table.

You probably know why I wanted to chat with Wati.

Although embarrassed, I have to admit that I wanted to get more information from Wati about Dita. After all, Wati is her sister, so she'll know more about Dita than anyone else.

I meant to clarify the many negative stories I'd heard about Dita. I didn't want to interfere. I understand that Dita's life is her own business. Whatever she is, what's my business with her? Again, I'm nothing to her. I'm not her boyfriend.

Am I normal if I want to know everything about Dita? If not, then let her be, she's not normal either.

I sat alone with Wati, a little near the window. I had to be careful not to let Wati know my real purpose in chatting with her.

After chatting about other things I deemed unimportant, I started trying to steer the conversation to the topic I wanted:

"Hey, by the way, yesterday, when Dita fell, you threw a book at her. How dare you?"

"Oh? Ha ha ha. You're brave!" Wati replied. "I was just annoyed. She's naughty, you know? She's like that at home too!"

"Are you related?"

"Yes. My mother is her father's sister."

"Oh, no wonder!" I said. "I was just shocked when I saw you had the guts to hit her, ha ha ha."

"Ha ha ha. I was annoyed," Wati replied. "She's naughty."

"Naughty in what way?"

"Ah, lots!" Wati said. "Once, on a Saturday night, sometime, yeah? Basically, he slaughtered my mother's chicken. He took it from the coop without saying anything."

Oh, really?" I smiled.

"Did you know about disate?! He ate it with his friends behind his house!"

"Ha ha ha. Was he drunk?"

"No, of course!"

"Didn't you know?"

"I just knew."

"Stole your mother's chicken?" I asked. "How dare you?"

"When my mother reprimanded him, he said he took it by mistake. It was dark, so he couldn't see."

"Ha ha ha."

"Did you know? His father is fierce," Wati said. "His father is a soldier."

"Oh? Yeah?!"

I was almost flabbergasted to hear that Dita's father was also a soldier.

"Yeah."

"What branch?"

"I don't know," Wati replied. "I don't understand."

"Ooh..."

"He's so naughty."

"Dita must have a lot of boyfriends!" I said.

"Ah, who? He doesn't have a girlfriend. He's too indifferent to girls!

"Maybe he still prefers hanging out with his friends."

"Yeah, probably."

"Doesn't have a girlfriend yet?"

"I don't know," Wati replied. "Hey, why are you talking about Dita?!"

"Yeah," I said, pretending to have just realized that. There was still a lot I wanted to know about Dita, including why I hadn't seen her in the past two days, even though it would make Wati very suspicious of me asking about that.

"Wat, I want to come over to your house, okay?"

"Okay," Wati replied. "When?"

"Later, I'll tell Mom first."

"Let's go."

Yes! I want to, Wati. We'll talk later, okay!!!