Aster Veren
Episode 99's

- Esther

"Hoo... This is great," I muttered feeling so enthusiastic for no particular reason.

"You're so excited, aren't you?" Teo's voice made me look at her standing up, I saw her frowning in confusion as I smiled broadly at her.

"really?" My question made him nod quickly with his flat expression.

"Hihi .. is it possible because this is the first time I participate in sports activities without having to fear my disease relapse huh?" I continued while watching all the people who were huddling on the sidelines, waiting for the arrival of the sports teacher.

... It's a lie if I'm happy for no reason, it's precisely because the reason I'm able to participate in sports makes me very happy now. Maybe because there is no need to be afraid to feel shortness of breath again, my mind can not stop smiling with a heartbeat that began to race because it felt very happy.

"Thank God you decided to come to Singapore with your father?" Teo said as he grabbed the top of my head and ruffled my hair slightly along with a nod of my head.

Soon the sports teacher arrived. Quickly everyone made a line as neat as possible, including myself who had been dragged into the line by Teo.

I was standing in the back row next to Teo. "If you can't afford not to push yourself, yes" he said making me look at him.

"Don't underestimate me" I said feeling a little annoyed at him. Yes how not? His attitude proves that he doesn't fully trust my health, right?

"Not so, I didn't know you had fully recovered or–"

"It's recovered." Press me while screeched my lips and took my eyes off the blond man beside me.

"... warm up first before doing basketball, Hendric and Tia please come forward to lead your warm-up." The Tirta pact made Hendric and Tia move forward.

... somehow I became the thought of the incident in the cafeteria, my mind noticed the figure of Tia who looks charming with her model-like posture, her face is also very beautiful.

While in the cafeteria, Carel scolded her because Tia's arrival shocked me. Though he also often appeared suddenly and surprised me, but in such a situation he instead gave his scolding to Tia.

"It should be before she scolds Tia, she was the one who introspects herself right?" I muttered while sighing and doing warm-up movements as exemplified by Tia and Hendric.

"You tired?" Teo's question made me give a whimper, why could he conclude I was tired just from sighing? Though my body is warming up with fitness.

***

"The warm-up is over, then please make a group of two people to do the practice of passing basketball chest pass, dribbel and shooting. For today's learning to focus on your training only, next week we will take your sports scores by doing tests," said Mr. Tirta after we finished warming up.

I saw that everyone was beginning to get busy looking for their partner to do the exercises together as ordered by the Tirta pact.

No one seems to want to pair with me, right? My mind felt a deep pain in my heart while watching the group of women who had already gotten their partners.

I'm not scary, but why don't they try to be friends with me? Was it because of the first day I went to class? I had a little fight with Nadin.

"You haven't got a partner?" Teo's question made me turn to him, it seemed like he was still standing next to me and watching the crowd of girls in front of me.

"You know how else the girls in our class are weird, so ak–" My speech was cut off by the sound of the Tirta pact calling Teo's name and making him step both feet closer to the Tirta pact after looking at me with a worried look?

"I'm upset, aren't I?" I muttered that I didn't like the look Teo had shown before he left.

"... I don't want to pair with him, you're the only one with him." Whisper of a man standing not far from my place.

I saw him talking to his friends who already had a partner. Then I turned my gaze towards Sean standing up.

Ta–tangguh once he .. is he waiting for Hendric to return? I continued in my heart to pay attention to the Tirta pact who was still talking to Teo and Hendric. I don't know what they're talking about, but their expressions look so serious.

"I told you not to, right?" The sound disturbed me again.

"Just go first, you can't judge someone by gossip, can you?"

"True, after all we've seen his attitude in class right?"

"Stay, I don't think he's going to mate with me."

"Why is that?"

"We've been mean to her,"

"Then apologize there! Is it with you guys cowering like it can't be considered a crime either?" My movements in a soft voice while clenching both of my hands beside the line of my gym pants, I somehow felt annoyed for Sean.

Why does everyone stay away from him like that? What's wrong is not Sean, but his stepmother and step-grandmother. It's obvious that they don't have blood ties to Sean, right? But they treated Sean like that.

Then .., my mind while looking back at all the women who already have their partners, then turn to the group of men who leave a man who does not have a partner among them.

He should be able to pair with Sean, but because he is stubborn then he prefers to disturb his friends who already have a partner.

I exhaled as deeply as I could, then I stepped my legs closer to Sean after rounding my resolve to invite him to pair with me.

"Anu ..." I said when I got next to Sean. The man also glanced lazily at me, "you already have a practicing partner?" Next asked.

There was no answer, he just looked at me with a look I didn't understand. Even his mouth did not make a sound, let alone the sound of even his lips did not open in the slightest, even though I was very sure that Sean was not the type of quiet man. It can be recalled how he made a fuss with Nadin on the first day we entered school.

"... ka–if you don't mind, do you want to partner with me? That, I–" I said again feeling nervous myself, afraid that he would reject me while everyone's attention was on me.

"You don't have a partner?" His question made me nod lethargic while smiling stiffly at him.

"Yes because the girls in our class are weird," I replied while watching the hordes of girls and boys in the middle of the room in turn.

All I know is the number of boys in my class is 16, while the number of girls is 9. But today the number of his sons is 15, that means one person did not enter right?

And this is my chance to have fun. Feel the fun of exercising without having to be afraid to feel the pain of shortness of breath again. So somehow I feel grateful to the person who didn't go to class today. Thanks to that I can pair with someone, whoever it is even if not with Sean I will still be able to pair right? Because today the members of our class are not as odd as they used to be.

"... You pair with him?" Teo's voice that stood before me was followed by Hendric's arrival.

"Eh, it–"

"Yes, I'm paired with him." Cut Sean while grabbing my wrist, "let's go and practice." The next immediately took me away after grabbing the ball in Hendric's hands.

This it? Sean accepted my invitation? My mind could not take my eyes off his back and switch to my wrist held by him.

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Thanks for reading...