Fifteen minutes later, they arrived at the campus gates. Silvia quickly got off and returned Dhean's helmet. They walked into the classroom together, side by side, like a couple. A real one.
But something unpleasant happened as both of them entered the classroom. A rude guy Silvia couldn't stand, the one she absolutely hated, was standing in front of them like he owned the place. It was Waksi.
"Well, well, well, look what we have here. How dare you to walk with another guy behind my back, Silvia."
"What? This is all your fault, Waksi. You dropped me off in the middle of the road by myself. Luckily, I met Dhean. If it weren't for him, I'd never have made it to class."
"Wait a second, so you're the bastard who left Silvia all alone in the street?" Dhean said, stepping up to Waksi. "As a guy, you should be ashamed of yourself, Waksi!"
"Ashamed? You should be ashamed of yourself! Just taking another guy's girlfriend out like this," Waksi retorted, challenging him.
"Your girlfriend? So, you and Silvia are a couple now?"
"Yes, exactly. And from now on, I want you to stay away from her!" Waksi said, pulling Silvia into his arms.
All the students in the class turned to look, gossiping and whispering. Dhean stood frozen, his teeth clenched as he tried to hold back his anger. Without warning, he threw a punch at Waksi's cheek, knocking him to the floor.
As if that wasn't enough, Dhean grabbed Waksi by the collar and said, "You piece of trash! What kind of guy drops his girl off alone on the street? Where's your dignity? You disgust me!"
Other students tried to break up the fight. Silvia struggled too, pulling at Dhean's hand, trying to release his grip on Waksi's collar.
"Dhean, stop! You don't need to take it this far. The professors will punish you!"
"No! I won't be satisfied until this trash apologizes to you, Silvia. He needs to take responsibility for what he did to you!" Dhean yelled.
Waksi, on the other hand, was smiling in a creepy way, almost as if he was daring Dhean to hit him again. That only made Dhean angrier. He landed another punch to Waksi's left cheek.
"What's going on here?" A professor suddenly appeared, pushing through the crowd. Finally, someone with authority was intervening.
"Waksi and Dhean! Go to my office. Now!" the professor snapped.
The fight was over, and both Waksi and Dhean were escorted to the professor's office in a building across the campus. Silvia couldn't help but feel worried about them. She knew, deep down, that she was the cause of their fight. After a moment of hesitation, she decided to follow them. Trying to remain unnoticed, she pressed herself against the door and began eavesdropping.
Just as she suspected, both boys started blaming each other as soon as the professor began interrogating them. Silvia had hoped that with the professor confronting them directly, Dhean and Waksi would calm down. But to her disappointment, they nearly fought again a couple of times.
It took almost an hour before they finally came out of the office. Both of them were clearly grumpy, and it was obvious that neither had forgiven the other.
"Dhean, are you okay?" Silvia asked, concern clear in her voice.
"It's fine. We got punished. We have to pull weeds in the front yard of the university," Dhean replied.
"I see. I'm sorry to drag you into this. This is all my fault," she said, feeling guilty.
"It's okay," Dhean replied, glancing at Waksi. "We both know whose fault exactly this is."
They both walked toward the entrance gate, escorted by security, to pull weeds around the campus. Silvia watched them nervously from the classroom window. Throughout the lesson, she couldn't stop thinking about them. She hoped they wouldn't fight again. After two hours of class, the lesson was finally over, but Silvia was still lost in her thoughts, staring out the window.
"Silvia, are you really dating Waksi now?" A voice suddenly broke out of her thoughts. It was a classmate, Jessey.
"Well, kind of," Silvia replied. "It's a complicated situation, but we are officially together now."
"Wow, you're making me jealous. You know, a lot of us have had a crush on a guy as handsome as Waksi. But because he's so quiet and hard to approach, none of us could really talk to him. I'm surprised you got him first. Tell me, how did this happend?"
"Actually, our parents arranged it for us last night," Silvia explained, a bit embarrassed.
"Arranged? Really? Is this still the age of arranged marriages?" Jessey asked, shocked. Her friends behind her giggled, teasing her.
"I know, it's hard to believe. But what can I do? It was my dad's plan, and I couldn't refuse," Silvia said, leaning against the window.
"Well, in that case, why don't you go give him a cold drink down there? He must be exhausted after his punishment," Jessey suggested.
"I don't know. I'm not sure."
"Come on, he's your boyfriend now. It's only right to be thoughtful. Here, I've already bought a drink for you to give him." Jessey handed Silvia a brown-colored drink.
Surprised, Silvia asked, "Did you buy this for him?"
"Originally, I wanted to give it to him directly, but since you're his girlfriend now, I think you're the one who should give it."
"Thank you, Jessey. I'll give it to him now."
Silvia quickly ran out of the classroom, clutching the bottle. Just before stepping outside, she heard Jessey and her friends laughing mockingly. She recognized that laugh—it was the kind of cynical laughter people use when making fun of someone. Could they be laughing at her? It didn't matter. She needed to hurry and go see Waksi. She hoped this drink might soften him a little.
As soon as Silvia exited the building, she saw Waksi and Dhean lying on the grass, exhausted. They were panting heavily under the scorching sun, their faces covered in bits of weeds.
"Are you okay, Waksi?" she asked, walking toward the boyfriend.
"Go away from me. I'm not in the mood to talk to you now," he said coldly, not even bothering to look at her. To him, she probably seemed like nothing more than a nuisance.
"I saw you working hard with your punishment, so I brought you a cold drink. Take it."
Waksi slowly got up and grabbed the bottle from her hand. He drank it all in one go, finishing it without pause. It was clear he was incredibly thirsty. He sighed in relief as the drink went down his throat. For a moment, Silvia felt relieved to see him looking better.
But then something strange happened. Waksi's eyes widened in shock. He pressed his throat as though something was blocking it. His face turned an eerie shade of pale blue, covered in sweat. Foam began to form at the corners of his mouth as if he were being poisoned. He rolled on the grass, still clutching his throat.
What was happening to him?