Chapter 16

"That's Arya."

Mentari pointed to a guy in the distance, when she, Senja, Awan, Vivi and Yunifer were hiding behind the school pillar. Arya is a student with a handsome face and charming smile. He was chatting and laughing with his friends in the school canteen.

"How come I've never seen him before, huh?" asked Senja, rubbing his chin. He then looked at Mentari. "Have I never taught in his class?"

"Maybe?" Vivi commented. "Oh, yes. You only teach in a few classes, including ours. Mrs. Risma teaches the rest of the class, including Arya's class." Then, the girl frowned and looked back. Behind her, Awan bent down so he could see Arya's figure. Unfortunately, Awan is forced to see Arya from above Vivi's head. "By the way, Mr. Awan, why are you so close to me like this?"

Awan looked down and showed his innocent face. "I'm also stalking this person whose name is Arya, just like you and the others. If I stay far away, I won't be able to spy on Arya. After all, we are standing close to each other, right? Even Senja is standing close to Mentari, right?"

"Mr. Senja and Mentari are different," said Vivi in ​​an annoyed tone. "They are actually getting closer from day to day."

"Hey!" Senja and Mentari shouted at the same time, but Vivi didn't care.

"You and me? We're not close. We are enemies. So, could you please stay away from me a bit?"

"I thought we were friends after the incident a while ago." Awan raised an eyebrow. "You even invited me to have lunch at your house, Vivi."

"Lunch?" asked Mentari, Senja and Yunifer at the same time. The three looked at Awan and Vivi alternately.

"I told you, I just cooked a lot of pasta at that time."

"You received a big teddy bear from me."

"Because you said you wanted to apologize and I decided to forgive you. I never said we would be friends."

Awan straightened his body and frowned at Vivi. Vivi herself gave a flat look to Awan. Awan really doesn't understand Vivi's attitude. This girl is so annoying, but interesting at the same time. Awan had never met a girl as attractive as Vivi before.

"Can you guys fight later?" asked Senja in an annoyed tone. Then he looked at Awan. "Awan, don't make Vivi upset too often, okay? Don't make me angry with you because you always annoy my students, understand?"

"Okay. Sorry. I'm wrong. I'm always wrong. When was I ever right? Never." Awan shook his head and raising his hands in surrender. "Is he the one? Let me get closer to him."

Vivi snorted and held Awan. "You're new here. Let me approach him and look for information."

"Too dangerous!" Awan grumbled. "If it is true that he is the culprit and he feels threatened because you are interrogating him, you will be the next victim. And maybe, not a victim of theft, but a victim of another crime. The goal is clearly to silence you."

"I—"

"Shut up, Vivi," said Awan. "Let me seek information from Arya. You stay here, in a safe place, with Mentari, Senja and Yunifer."

After that, Awan immediately walked casually to the canteen and approached Arya. The guy smiled kindly and managed to invite Arya and the other students to chat.

In his place, Senja crossed his arms and watched Awan. Then, the guy glanced at Vivi who was also looking at Awan with a flat gaze. Senja smiled faintly and ruffled Vivi's hair, making Vivi blink and turn her head.

"Don't be too hard on him and yourself." Awan took a deep breath. "I know that Awan is an annoying person and always looks for trouble with you. I also know about your dark past from Mentari. However, I, who have been friends with Awan for a long time, can guarantee that he is a good person, even though his attitude is indeed annoying. And I'm sure, Awan just wants to be friends with you. He also feels very guilty for saying painful things to you that time. So can you, at least a little bit, be nice to Awan? He's an only child. He has no siblings. So, I'm sure, he just feels like he has a little sister when he's with you."

Vivi listened seriously and lowered her head. She knew, she was already very cold to Awan. In fact, the guy did nothing wrong. Vivi took a deep breath and smiled faintly.

"I'll try, Sir. Thanks for the advice."

Senja laughed softly and nodded. He then glanced at Mentari who was standing quite far from him, Yunifer and Vivi. Mentari looks... a little pale. The girl held her phone so tightly that her hands turned white. Seeing that, Senja immediately approached her with a frown.

"Mentari? What's wrong with you?" asked Senja.

The question made Mentari flinch and hastily hid her cell phone. She smiled awkwardly and cleared her throat. "I... I'm fine, Sir. How about Arya?"

Senja is silent. He sharpened his eyesight. "Give me your cell phone."

"Huh?"

Vivi and Yunifer could only stare at Senja and Mentari with questioning eyes.

"I said, give me your phone." When Senja saw that Mentari was ready to speak, Senja added. "This is an order, Mentari Jingga. And I will not accept a 'no' from you."

Mentari looked down and was forced to give her cell phone. She couldn't refuse because this was an order from her teacher. In fact, Mentari did not want Senja to know about this problem. She didn't want to trouble Senja any further. This is her problem and she should be the one who solve this problem on her own.

Senja carefully read the contents of the short message received by Mentari. His body froze and he immediately gave a stern look to Mentari who was still looking down with a trembling body.

"You intend to hide this from me, Mentari?"

Even Awan who had returned from the cafeteria was ignored by Senja. Awan frowned and asked what happened, but Vivi and Yunifer shook their heads in response.

"Sir, I just don't want to hurt you," said Mentari. She lifted her face and started to cry. "I don't want to hurt anyone. The person clearly said that he would harm you because you helped me! He will also harm Vivi and Yunifer, as well as Awan! I don't want that!"

"Who do you think you are to be able to tell me what's the right thing to do?" asked Senja in a cold tone.

"Sir, I—"

"You have no right to control me, Mentari!" shouted Senja, making Mentari jump. "I'm the one who should protect you, because you are my student. It's not you who has to protect me! Do you understand?!"

Mentari is silent. She suddenly felt very afraid of Senja, for some reason.