1 1. Visit to the Laboratory

The bustle of screaming from the students in the touring car was deafening. They joked with each other, sang, and even threw objects at each other which finally made the homeroom teacher intervene.

Currently, the bus is speeding along the Cipularang Toll Road, carrying class 2 students from high schools Tunas Bangsa Jakarta to the Chemistry Laboratory located in the Bandung area.

In the very back corner seat, a male student was wearing a black hoodie and looked indifferent and not at all interested in the crowd. He prefers to plug his ears with a headset and listen to songs at a loud volume while closing his eyes. To him, the frenzy felt like hell and drained all energy. While he is a person who prefers to enjoy a calm atmosphere without anyone disturbing him.

"Ram, Rama!" The student called Rama opened his eyes and glanced at his friend, Indra, who was sitting next to him. Rama raised the tip of an eyebrow as if to ask what was wrong without bothering to remove the headset from his ear.

"You're not tired, have you been sleeping since earlier? This is food for you," said Indra, handing him a cardboard box containing snack foods. Rama accepts the box without saying anything and puts it on his lap. While he fell back asleep and did not heed the shaking of Indra's head who was surprised by his lazy attitude.

For Rama, solitude is the world he has chosen long ago. He can enjoy more time to himself than having to spend energy chatting with other people. Not infrequently his friends consider Rama a strange child and do not want to be close to him because of his aloof attitude that has crossed the line.

"Rama, Rama!"

Rama again chuckled and frowned when someone seemed to gently pull the top of his hoodie. He opened his eyes again in a huff and almost cursed at the person who had disturbed his sleep. But he was only silent when he saw Tania who was sitting on the front bench staring with a scared face.

"Sorry Ram, am I interrupting?" the girl asked. Tania is one of her classmates whom she considers so friendly and beautiful. She is often fascinated by the dimples that form beautifully when the girl laughs. Tania is also a person who often reprimands and tells about school information when other students are reluctant to talk to Rama.

"What is it?" said Rama trying not to be cold.

"Could you take a picture of the two of us? Just a moment, please." Tania made a pleading face, as did Arin who was sitting next to her.

"Why don't you ask someone else for help? I'm sitting behind you anyway."

Tania shook her head slightly. "How do I ask these people for help?" said Tania while looking at her friends who were busy asking and joking. Rama raised an eyebrow as he grabbed the cell phone that Tania had given him.

The two girls immediately made some cute poses when Rama started taking photos. Just three shots and then Rama returns his cell phone to Tania.

"Thank you, Ram," said Tania.

Arin, who was looking at his cell phone, chimed in. "Yes. The result isn't too bad." But immediately fell silent when Tania nudged his shoulder because Arin's words seemed disrespectful. Tania is afraid that Rama will be offended.

Rama just nodded indifferently and then closed his ears again with the headset. He chose to go back to sleep until the car arrived at the Laboratory building.

At half past eleven in the afternoon, the tourist car entered the parking lot in front of the Laboratory. Because today is Saturday, the atmosphere is quite quiet and only a few cars seem to be parked in the area.

The students scrambled down each other while shouting which made the homeroom teacher look annoyed. Especially on Panji and Novan, two students who are notoriously bad-tempered and often make trouble.

"What a lousy homeroom teacher. What's the use of having a mouth if not to talk?" cried Novan angrily.

"He likes students who don't talk much. Doesn't that look cool?" said Panji, glancing at Rama who had just passed. Novan and Galih immediately understood what Panji meant. The two children laughed and began to quip.

"Cool? I don't think so. I don't even remember him being in our class."

"But aren't girls always curious about guys who don't talk much?"

"I'm not sure. But let's just try." Novan arrogantly approached the two girls from his class. "Hey! What do you think of Rama, is he cool?"

"No. He's not my type," replied the girl with long hair, shaking her head.

"Cool and inferiority are not the same. While he falls into the category of low self-esteem." The other girl replied with a laugh. Makes Nova feel victorious. They continued to discuss other things while looking at Rama who was walking briskly towards the Laboratory.

Rama heard, but he tried not to care. Even he had started to get used to the insults and ridicule of those who were never absent every day. As long as it doesn't concern him physically and his family, Rama chooses not to care.

"You're not funny at all!" Tania scolded suddenly.

Novan turned around, giving the girl his best smile. "Hi Tania, we were just joking. You used to see us like that right?"

"But that's gone too far. I wonder why you keep bothering Rama when he hasn't done anything to you. Especially you Novan!"

"Me?" Nova pointed to herself.

"Yeah. You're not even better than him."

Novan almost interrupted. But Tania immediately left, chasing Rama who had entered the laboratory. Novan looks clenched in his fists, angry. Meanwhile, his friends laughed teasingly which made Novan even more annoyed.

Again Rama heard the little quarrel. Tania is indeed a good friend, she never hesitates to defend anyone who is often the target of Panji and Novan's humor. However, it was her attitude that made Novan even more hostile to Rama. Tania seems insensitive that Novan likes her.

Half an hour passed, and the study was filled with Professor Hektor Malawi's speech. One of the lecturers teaches at a well-known university in Bandung. He was accompanied by two chemists who also gave lectures on the field of chemists.

There is also a biologist who will give lectures on human immunity and antibodies. The students listened carefully while taking notes as this would affect their practicum exam which would be conducted next week.

Rama himself did not like this lesson. But like it or not, for the sake of his grades and graduation, he also recorded all the explanations on a piece of paper. The lecture lasted about an hour and a half. Since then, Rama looked suspiciously at the biologist Professor who was sitting in the corner of the room with a pale face like a sick person.

But Rama didn't pay much attention to him anymore when Mr. Rudi ordered all students to wear lab coats and other practical safety equipment.

Mr. Rudi then divided several groups to work together as a team. And unfortunately, Rama had to be in the same group as Novan and Panji. Luckily Tania is also in the same group as him. So he wasn't too awkward with the two noisiest kids.

Rama and Tania work well together, but Novan and Panji are just playing around. Not infrequently they play with chemicals there that are dangerous when exposed to the skin. Tania glared at Panji and Novan, fortunately, she could rely on Rama who looked serious in the practicum.

This made Novan look less happy with the presence of Rama who was standing next to Tania. He was jealous, especially since Tania had scolded herself just because she wanted to defend Rama.

"Slide a little please!" cried Novan while pushing Rama with a rough motion. He then inserts himself between Rama and Tania. Novan then took the measuring cup from Rama's hand roughly.

"What do you want to do, Novan? Please be careful with the glass," said Tania, pushing Novan away again. Whether intentionally or not, the measuring cup containing the Sulfuric Acid held by Novan fell right onto Rama's wrist, which at that time was slightly open because his lab coat was exposed.

"Arrgh..."

The whole laboratory immediately turned around and cried out in pain when they saw Rama screaming in pain while holding back the burns that hit his wrist. Mr. Rudi and the other supervisors immediately took action and took Rama to the infirmary. Tania who feels guilty looks panicked and scared, she then forces her to accompany Rama to the infirmary.

Meanwhile, Novan immediately apologized to Rama and Mr. Rudi for accidentally dropping the measuring cup containing the dangerous liquid. He looked sorry. But after Rama and Tania left, Novan immediately smirked at Panji. The two of them then did a small high five silently.

To be continued...