The days after the fight felt long and unbearingly quiet.
Harapan Muda High School seemed to have lost its spirit.
There was no laughter in the cafeteria, no sound of balls bouncing on the field.
Everyone spoke in hushed voices, as if afraid to mention the names Rey or Harold.
Ratna was allowed to leave the hospital two days after the incident.
The wound on her head had been stitched, but her body was still weak.
Every time she closed her eyes, she could still hear the impact, the screams, and see Rey's furious face.
Her mother sat beside her hospital bed, holding her hand gently.
"Don't think about anything for now, sweetheart. What matters is that you recover."
Ratna only nodded softly.
But inside her heart, two names kept echoing: Rey and Harold.
---
🌤️ Rey
Rey came to the hospital twice, quietly and unnoticed.
He only stood outside the ward, looking at Ratna through the glass window.
Once he saw that she was asleep, he would leave—never daring to go inside.
Aryo once asked him,
"Why don't you just go in?"
Rey shook his head.
"I caused all of this. I don't deserve to."
Every night, Rey sat alone on his grandmother's porch, staring at the cold Bandung sky.
He didn't cry—not because he wasn't hurting, but because he had lost too much already.
He had lost his mother and stepfather in an accident years ago,
and now, somehow, losing Ratna felt the same—
silent, empty, and impossible to undo.
---
🌧️ Harold
Meanwhile, Harold was still recovering at home.
His cheek was bruised, his lip split open.
But the pain in his heart was far worse than his injuries—
especially every time he remembered Ratna's eyes before she collapsed.
His mother looked at him with worry.
"Harold, what happened to you? Why did you have to fight at school?"
Harold stayed silent.
He couldn't bring himself to say that the real reason was a girl—
a girl who wasn't even his girlfriend.
Every night, Harold sat on his bedroom balcony, staring at the dim city lights in the distance.
"If I could turn back time," he whispered,
"I wouldn't have hurt her."
---
🌿 Ratna
A few days later, Ratna was strong enough to return to school.
Her teachers and friends welcomed her warmly, yet everything felt different.
Rey didn't come.
Harold was nowhere to be seen either.
Ratna sat at her desk, gazing at the schoolyard still wet from the previous night's rain.
She felt like someone who had just woken up from a long dream—
everything had happened so fast, yet it left deep scars behind.
At the edge of the field, she caught a glimpse of Harold, talking to a teacher.
Their eyes met for a brief moment.
Harold looked pale, but his eyes were gentle.
He bowed his head deeply, as if apologizing without words.
Ratna gave a small nod—
just enough to make Harold smile faintly before he walked away.
---
The days that followed passed slowly.
Rey never returned to school.
Harold appeared less and less, until the rumor finally spread—
Harold would be transferring overseas.
Ratna heard it from Vera, a girl from another class.
"They say Harold's dad got an assignment abroad. Harold's going with him."
Ratna said nothing.
That afternoon, she walked home alone.
Drizzle fell softly on the rooftops, sounding like distant footsteps.
She looked up at the gray Bandung sky.
For some reason, her chest felt heavy—
as if she was about to lose something once again.
She didn't know that tomorrow afternoon,
Harold would come to see her for the last time.
And a few days later,
Rey would leave too—
without ever getting the chance to say goodbye properly.