20 Years Adrift
Chapter 9. New Students

Aira and Faya continued walking and ignored her gossiping friends. They greet as necessary when passing directly with other students. In the eyes of his friends Aira is famous for being very friendly and polite and it also brings influence to Faya. Ever since being friendly with her, Faya has become a little friendly despite being still shy.

The closer to their class, the more the crowd of disciples that filled the corridor grew. It was like they were waiting to say hello to someone.

"Something's wrong, Ma. The entrance of our class is filled with students from other classes" whispered Faya.

Aira nodded confirming Faya's words. The two continued walking towards their class as the entrance bell would ring soon.

"Excuse me, we're going through." Aira held Faya's hand and asked the students who were in a group in the middle of the road.

They gave way to Faya and Aira. Their gazes remained unshifted from the entrance of their classroom. Their voices are so loud. Cheerful chats and jokes typical of High School children echoed along the corridor.

Aira suddenly stopped suddenly to make Faya hit her back. In front of his classroom door stood a man who was no stranger to him. Still fresh in his memory about the second meeting yesterday afternoon.

"Hi" said the man when he saw Aira and Faya coming before him.

Faya walked forward and stood parallel to Aira. They both looked at each other.

"Steve!" call them together.

The two surprised their friends. They looked at Aira and Faya with strange gazes.

"What are you doing here, Steve?" tanya Faya looked at Steve from top to bottom. The guy looks handsome in his High School uniform.

"schools. I purposely moved here to be close friends with you guys."

Steve's reply left the other students shocked. Aira and Faya are famous as students who limit their association with a man. They close themselves up and gather together.

"Ilogical reasons." Aira brings Faya into her class.

Steve did not try to stop them both. He chooses to walk after Aira and Faya gets into class and goes to their table.

Steve was in the same class as them. Aira and Faya who had just sat down felt strange about this. Oddly enough Steve was sitting on the bench right behind them.

"So you also moved to this class?" faya asked with remnants of astonishment on her face.

"Yes, I told you I wanted to be close to you guys." Steve smiled at Faya and Aira.

Brakk!

The prettiest woman in the class put her bag roughly on her desk which was right next to Faya's desk.

All eyes stared at him after hearing his bag hit the table with a loud voice.

With his distinctive style Anggie walked up to Steve.

"Hi, you're the new kid, huh? My name is Anggie" he said, extending his hand to Steve. He did not want to miss an introduction with such a handsome man.

"Steve!" he said while clenching his hands.

Steve did that after seeing Aira and Faya who did not want to come into contact with him when getting acquainted. This makes Anggie feel weird. A bule-faced man complete with his distinctive accent behaves like a devout Muslim man.

"Don't be a holy snob! Not that you like sexy girls like me." Anggie praised himself while shaking his hand with a gurgle.

Aira and Faya shook their heads at Anggie's behavior. Luckily the entrance bell had rung so that their debate had continued.

'What the hell attracted that hick girl? His face and appearance are kayak. A year living in the city still looks kampungan and tacky.' Anggie stared cynically at Aira. His heart felt extremely envious as he watched Steve continue to look at him.

When the break arrived, Steve was again crowded by students in the class who invited him to meet. From the chat that sounded, Aira and Faya only found out if he was a YouTubers who were quite famous.

The male students invited him to go to the cafeteria. Steve is forced to obey him and leave Aira and Faya.

"Aira, Faya, aren't you going to the cafeteria?" steve asked after standing next to their table.

"You go first" replied Faya.

"Udah, come! They won't." One of their classmates encourages Steve's body to walk immediately.

Aira and Faya looked at each other. They felt that this scene was shocking. What happened today never crossed their minds. Starting from a small accident they met Steve then suddenly the man appeared at his school and became his classmate.

"I feel like something's wrong, Ma. I'm gonna ask Mr. Toni all this." Faya gets suspicious if Steve finds out about their school information from her.

"Now, don't be extended. Soon we will test, we better focus on studying. Whatever the man wants." Aira doesn't like to discuss unimportant issues.

Faya nodded, but he would still ask this matter to Mr. Toni.

Time passes so fast. The school hours came. Somehow at first, Anggie already looks very familiar with Steve. He approached Steve's desk with his bag.

"Steve, I'm coming, yeah!" anggie Excited.

Steve nodded with his face flat. His hands were still busy tidying up the books and packing them.

"Come, Steve!" take Anggie impatiently.

"You wait in the car first, I still have business." Steve's serious face made Anggie feel disinclined. As a new student, this reason makes sense. With a visibly irritated face, Anggie leaves Steve for the car park.

Steve's not going anywhere, he's just waiting for Aira and Faya. In that class, there were only three of them.

"Are you guys still a long time?" he asked when he saw the class was empty.

Aira and Faya soon left the bench. Without much talk they left Steve. They didn't want to make trouble with Anggie after seeing the two so close.

Steve didn't give up even though he was ignored. He continues to pursue Aira and Faya. Several times he asked the two but did not get a response.

'Women are hard to understand. Unfortunately I will not give up on getting it, ' Steve murmured inwardly.

"Assalamualaikum, Aira, Faya," said Gusti.

"Wa'alaikum salam" answered Aira and Faya in unison.

Steve felt annoyed when he saw the familiarity between the three of them. Faya and Aira's attitude was so cold to him but so friendly to Gusti.

In the distance Affan was stunned to see his wife and daughter were with two men. His face looked gloomy, unlike when he left for there who was so excited. Mr. Toni is in the workshop to fix his car, Aira and Faya do not know if he picked her up.

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