Chapter 14

"A threat?"

Senja's question was answered with a nod by Mentari. The girl smiled sadly. Then, Mentari took a deep breath and looked at Senja with a serious look. She decided to just tell Senja about her problem. After all, Senja was her teacher. Isn't it natural for a student to share her problems with her teacher? Well, although it shouldn't be about love or anything like that.

"Me, Samudra and Pelangi have been friends since elementary school. Then, Samudra moved to another city because his father had to work in that city. After graduating from elementary school, Pelangi decided to move to the city where Samudra lives. Before moving, Pelangi told me that she likes Samudra and doesn't like me being too close to him. She said, Samudra only cares about me, but doesn't pay attention to her and that makes Pelangi angry. Pelangi said she would hate me if I got too close to Samudra. She thought, I like Samudra too. In a romantic way. In fact, I only think of Samudra as a friend."

"It's just like a Korean drama," said Senja in a flat tone. He snorted and shook his head. The problems of young people these days is really only about love. "Then, because of that, you decided to stay away from Samudra?"

"Maybe," replied Mentari, shrugging her shoulders. "I just don't want the friendship of the three of us be destroyed just because of love problems. If Samudra likes me, that's his business. And I also have the right to refuse his love. Likewise with Pelangi. Her right to like Samudra and Samudra's right to reject her love. One thing is for sure, I don't want my relationship with my two best friends are ruined. That's all."

Senja looked at Mentari who was looking down. He took a deep breath and massaged the bridge of his nose. In the past, Senja also had almost the same problem as Mentari. He likes a girl who actually likes Awan. Because of that, Senja decided not to confess his feelings and buried his feelings deep inside his heart. Fortunately, that feeling of love disappeared over time.

"So, Samudra is not my boyfriend," said Mentari again, awakening Senja from his daydream. He smiled faintly and took a deep breath. "By the way, Sir, how do you plan to catch the thief?"

Senja held his arms and seemed to be thinking. "I will start investigating the person whose name is Arya. Vivi said, he was angry with you because you rejected his declaration of love. And, Arya also threatened you. If he is proven innocent, then I will look for other clues. For now, the only clue I've got is Arya."

"Hm," muttered Mentari. She fell silent. If it was Arya who did this because she didn't accept his love, why did that guy have to steal other people's belongings besides her. "I don't think it's Arya, Sir."

"You defended him?" asked Senja with one eyebrow raised.

"That's not what I meant," said Mentari in a calm tone. "If he really has a grudge against me, he doesn't need to steal other people's things. He just needs to target me. So I don't think it's him. At least, for the theft of other students. If Arya wants to take revenge on me, then I'm his only target. That means, we might have two thieves, Sir."

Samudra frowned and felt that Mentari's words were true. "If I asked you to meet Arya in person, would you do it? We will interrogate him together."

Mentari smiled and nodded. Her sadness suddenly disappeared and she felt excited again just because of Senja's presence and also his help for her.

"By the way, Sir," said Mentari later. "I'm worried about Vivi. Do you think that Awan who is going to Vivi's house now to apologize was the right thing to do?"

Senja shrugged and ate his pastries. "He's the one who looking for trouble, so he has to take responsibility. If he ever makes Vivi cry again, I promise, I will immediately beat him up and send him to the hospital because he dared to hurt my student's heart."

Mentari could only laugh when she heard this.

###

Vivi was cooking pasta for her lunch at home, when her doorbell rang.

The girl then left the kitchen and rushed to the front door to open it. Right now, she was alone at home. Her maid was going to the supermarket five minutes ago to buy groceries that were out of stock. Vivi did not check who rang the doorbell first through the window, and immediately opened the door. Then, Vivi froze in her place when she saw Awan Nugraha standing right in front of her. He was carrying a big teddy bear, maybe as tall as Vivi. Vivi can guess, the price of the doll must be very expensive.

Awan smiled awkwardly when he saw Vivi frozen in her place. The guy could guess if Vivi was very surprised and never thought he would come. Then, because the situation was getting more and more awkward, Awan cleared his throat and started to say hello.

"Hi."

"How did you know my address?" Vivi asked in a cold tone.

"From Mentari," answered Awan. And, the guy hastily added, "Don't be mad at her. I'm the one who forced her to give you your address and your cell phone number. I've been trying to call you ever since, but you haven't answered at all. So, I decided to come straight here."

Vivi remembers, she was charging her cell phone in her room and her cell phone was on silent mode, so Vivi couldn't notice it.

"What are you doing here?" Vivi asked again.

"Mm... I want to... apologize," said Awan in a low voice. Damn it! This was the first time that Awan felt he didn't dare to face a girl. And, the girl was eight years younger than him. Pathetic! Maybe this is because of his guilty towards Vivi. "About what I said earlier at Mentari's house... I'm sorry. I crossed the line. Mentari... has explained everything to me, regarding your cold attitude towards me and the reasons behind it. And, I hope you won't be angry with Mentari about this either. Mentari only helps me to understand the reason behind your cold attitude."

Vivi took a deep breath. Her past is the only thing that Vivi doesn't want to remember the most. However, Vivi also knows that Mentari means well. Her best friend just didn't want her to be hated by others because of her cold attitude.

"So, would you forgive me, Vi?" asked Awan. He handed the big teddy bear to Vivi who just stared at him blankly. Then, Vivi took a deep breath and immediately took the teddy bear, causing Awan to blink and smile in relief.

"Want to have lunch inside?" she asked. "I happen to cook a lot of pasta. That's, if you want to. If you don't want to—"

"I want! I want!" exclaimed Awan excitedly. The next second, Awan's brow furrowed.

Why was he so excited just being alone with Vivi?