Chapter 03

I always admired Rivach Academy when I drove by to see Lanton. It is huge, as far as the eye can see, the best school in the entire state, with students coming from all over the country and the world. I always imagined what it would be like to study there, but I am not so excited now that I am here.

"Do you want me to help you get to class?" Lanton asks as he stands next to me.

"I don't need anything coming from you," I reply snidely. He lowers his sunglasses a little and says to me:

"I'm not giving up on you, Luk. Never," the bastard winks at me. What an audacious bastard!

"My name is Lukman!" I yell as he walks away, some people are already looking at me funny and that's the last thing I want for myself.

Imagine that: I arrive on the first day of class already screaming, people judge me like never before, and the last thing I need is for people to classify me as weird on the first day of class. Devi is in a different pole of the academy, since she is still in seventh grade, while Lanton and I are already seniors in high school. Just a few more months and I will be able to leave and never run into him again.

I start to walk, but Lanton is already standing in a group near the entrance. They are smiling, one girl is hugging him, looking at him like a dog looks at a piece of beef. I bet he also eats her in the bathroom during physical education classes, after all, he is Lanton Lestari, he gets everything he wants when he wants it.

Oh, right. It's Lanton Susanto. The liar. The asshole.

I roll my eyes as our gazes meet and I feel my hand grip the strap of my purse tighter and continue walking. I want to find my locker first before I walk towards the classroom, to find out where everything is, because obviously I'm going to get lost here quite often. Stun if you will, but as soon as I enter the main hall, there is a gigantic glowing chandelier just in front of the stairs. Really, this is a school?

"If you look any further, you'll start drooling in front of everyone," a female voice says from behind me and I turn around at once to find that there is a short girl with a very angry face there.

"Is it very obvious that I'm a newbie here?"

"Of course it is, all the newbies come in and drool over that silly chandelier. But if it's no bother, can you not drool right in the middle of the path? There are some benches over there," she says, walking past me and turning her attention back to her cell phone.

"Can you help me? I need to find my locker... and the classroom," I venture to ask.

The redhead turns slowly and looks me up and down, one eyebrow arched.

"I'm not in the mood," she says, shaking her head and continuing on her way.

"Don't mind her. It's just Indra, she doesn't like anybody," now it's a boy's turn to approach. And what a handsome man, ladies and gentlemen. "I'm Haris."

He is smiling at me and extending his hand. I smile back and shake his hand, trying to show some confidence with that gesture.

"Lukman. But you can call me Luk," Without realizing it, I end up shaking his hand longer than usual, but it's for the simple fact that I got lost in those blue eyes of his. "Newbie. I'm a newbie, I mean. Senior year."

"Welcome to Rivach Academy, Luk," he says, and I finally let go of his hand. "So, what exactly are you looking for?"

"My locker. This place is too big and I don't know which way to start.

"Lucky guess. I'm the leader of the school committee. It's basically my job to help the newcomers, and you've even saved me from having to help some freshman," he smiles at me again and with a nod of his head, I walk side by side with him.

Haris asks about my schedule and I show him the paper, he looks at it with some attention and gives me some tips about some teachers, like not to sit in the front of Akbar's class because he speaks with spit. How disgusting. My locker, luckily for me, is right next to his and he makes it clear that I have already made a friend there and that he can pick me up at lunch time. He is very kind, and we have some classes together, not all, unfortunately, since he is in the exact area and I am in the humanities.

I get along well in the first few classes, but by the third class of the day, I find out that Lanton is in my advanced history class. What the hell is he doing in the advanced history class?

He is surrounded by some friends and he is smiling. He used to smile this way also when I passed by the school after class, always waving goodbye to everyone and running towards me, and I can't get this memory out of my head, which I admit is going to be a big problem for me. The last thing I need right now are painful memories.

"Luk?" Great, he saw me. Very good. "Are you in this class too?"

"Unfortunately," I answer, and only now do I realize that no matter how hard I try not to talk to him, I'm always answering his questions. "But stay away from me, I don't want to talk to you."

I walk to the back of the room-it's that Akbar guy who will be teaching the advanced history class-and throw myself into a chair, burying my face in my backpack.

"Do you know him, Lanny?" Someone asks. A girl, to be exact. "Is he a newbie?"

"Yes, he is. And he's a very important friend, so leave him alone," Okay, that last line of his made me a little apprehensive. Of course, being the son of a gangster, he probably hangs around with the school's tough crowd. "Luk, did you have a good day? How was your first class?"

"Will you stop calling me Luk? How many times do I have to say it's Lukman?"

"Until you get tired of it and come back to me," this last one he speaks very softly, in my ear and again I feel his scent invade me. "How many times do I have to tell you that I won't give up on you?

I lift my head a little and manage to look directly into his eyes, the incredible green eyes he has. I almost get caught up again there.

"Do you want me to shout here to everyone that you are a Lestari?" I dare to threaten him.

"If that makes you take revenge on me and finally decide to come back to me, then you can do whatever you want. Do you want me to do it for you now?" Lanton smiles and stands up straight, starting to shout. "Hey, guys. Actually, I have something important to say. Actually, I'm a Lest-

I can only be crazy, because in the next instant I'm already on my feet, covering his mouth with my hand and stopping him from doing the biggest stupid thing he could do at that moment.

"Are you crazy? Do you want to end your life?" I say, widening my eyes. "You bastard! Stop being so fucking stupid! Why would you do such a thing?"

"As long as it makes you forgive me."

I swallow dryly, letting him go immediately. The teacher enters the class and the class begins, Lanton goes back to his chair and doesn't look at me again for the next hour.