"Oh, no need, ma'am. Thank you, I just finished eating," I declined, sitting with the landlady on the veranda of the house where Sugeng sells satay.
"No need to be shy, I'll pay for it later," Mrs. Eva said with a smile.
"No need to be shy, ma'am. Seriously, I just finished eating. Knowing you came to collect rent and were sitting here, I came over to pay my rent for this month," I said, handing Mrs. Eva 20,000 Rupiah.
"Thank you, Ryan. Oh yeah, how are your parents in the village? Are they okay?" Mrs. Eva asked.
"They're fine, ma'am," I replied, trying to hide the fact that my parents were having a hard time this month and could only send money to pay tuition, while I supplemented the rent by working as a laborer at the central market.
"How's school going?" Mrs. Eva asked again as she ate the satay Sugeng had ordered.
"It's going smoothly, Ma'am," I replied.
"Good. For those of you who have traveled all the way to the city to continue your studies, you must always be diligent and never skip class. If there are any problems, such as your parents' remittances arriving late, don't hesitate to talk to me. I'll cover tuition or other expenses later. Especially with the boarding house rent, you can postpone it as long as you still go to school every day. Do you know where I live?" Mrs. Eva said.
"Thank you, Ma'am. Yes, I know where I live," I said.
"Well, if anything comes up, don't hesitate to come to my house." Mrs. Eva said, stroking my shoulder. I nodded in response.
I truly felt comfortable living in the boarding house. Besides Sugeng and his family being very kind neighbors, Mrs. Eva, my landlord, was equally friendly and kind.
After I was able to pay for my boarding house, I felt very calm. My days passed with enthusiasm, both at school and in the boarding house. Since working at the Ko Aheng ice cream shop, I felt like I no longer had any problems weighing on my mind, and I could truly focus on my studies.
****
As a student from a village, I could be said to be very innocent and tended to be quiet. I didn't even understand the typical dating practices of people my age in the city. My goal in continuing my education in the city was truly to pursue an education, as my parents had mandated.
Although it was not uncommon for female students at school to try to approach me, perhaps because I had a handsome face and the ideal physique for a man. For me, the experience of puppy love in junior high school was enough It made me understand the meaning of dating or being close to the opposite sex.
Even though it was only communicated through letters, because at that time there were no cell phones, let alone Androids that could communicate with various features and applications like we do today.
Entering the second quarter, my attitude remained the same as when I first entered that school. Even though I sat in class next to women, I never thought about flirting with them. For me, whether the woman sitting next to me or sitting further away in class, I considered them all just friends.
Until one day, I met Desy, a student at that school, but we were in different majors. Desy was majoring in accounting, which was naturally quite far from mine, while I was majoring in business management.
Desy and I grew closer by the day; you could say we had sparks of romance. But surprisingly, even though we were dating, Desy and I never once saw each other outside of school or on holidays.
Our relationship was limited to seeing each other at school, and even then, only during breaks and after school. towards the main road, where there is a public transportation that will take us to our respective residences.
During break time, I used it to go to the school library. That's where Desy and I met, chatting, and joking around.
****
That afternoon, the weather was overcast, with thick clouds in the sky, and a fine drizzle misted the leaves of the trees in front of my school. My class was business and commercial civil law, and it was the last class before the students went home.
That afternoon, Lani, my deskmate, was absent from school because she had to visit a relative in the hospital who had been involved in an accident. While everyone in the class was focused on taking notes, the business and commercial civil law teacher had asked one of the students to copy them on the board, Mrs. Dola, the subject teacher, suddenly sat down next to me. This, of course, surprised and embarrassed me.
"You're one of the top students at this vocational school. If I may ask, do you read a lot at home?" Mrs. Dola asked, starting the conversation.
"No, ma'am. I only read books during breaks in the school library," I replied, then continued my notes.
"Do you live with your parents here?" Mrs. Dola asked again.
"I live alone, ma'am. My boarding house is quite far from the school building, but it's only a short ride on the public transportation," I replied.
"I see, so your parents aren't in town. What do you do after school? Do you work?" Mrs. Dola threw a barrage of questions at me.
"I'd love to work, ma'am. I think it's to help my parents pay for my school fees in this city, but after looking around, I haven't found any openings that hire part-time workers that I can do after school." I replied, hiding the fact that I was currently working at Ko Aheng's ice cream shop outside of school hours. Mrs. Dola looked at me with a smile that I didn't quite understand.
"Do you have a girlfriend, Ryan?" Mrs. Dola asked again, leaving me shocked and hesitant to answer.
"Why are you so quiet? It's okay if you already have a boyfriend. Besides, it's normal at your age to be familiar with the opposite sex," Mrs. Dola continued with a smile.