Cold As Ice Cubes

The air in the city was very cold because of the raindrops that had fallen earlier. So far, Morin has spent her days as usual. School, studying, reading novels, and playing cell phones became her daily diet. She always went through all these activities happily and didn't feel bored with her monotonous life. Now, the girl was running towards her class after getting out of the angkot. Her footsteps were very agile and kept going fast, she didn't care how many puddles she stepped on and caused dirty stains on her uniform.

To protect her head, Morin used a bag as a tool to prevent rainwater spills from soaking her hair. She didn't want it to get wet and tangled.

Without Morin realizing it, a motorcycle was speeding by, as if it were trying to keep the rainwater from falling on him even more. The boy who is famous for not wanting to talk to other people, is introverted, but, on the other hand, has a smart brain, his handsome face is also very attractive to anyone who sees it. Still, none of the students in the school had managed to chat with the boy, he only spoke when necessary. Dio, as his best friend from childhood, is also always ignored.

Alizter Rey Jordan is his name. Sometimes everyone thinks that boy is an arrogant person, because other people's words are taken for granted.

Because he has a handsome face, many students also put their hearts on that boy. Who doesn't like to see a handsome boy? Surely everyone is amazed when they see it.

***

"Why does that boy never talk?" Yuli asked Morin while walking to her class.

"Which boy is it?" asked Morin in a lazy tone of voice.

"Alizter. You know him, right?" asked Yuli again.

"Oh... him." Morin didn't seem too concerned with that. After all, it was none of her business.

"How can you just answer like that, it's not cool," Yuli snapped while pursing her lips.

She's Yuli, Morin's best friend from childhood, sometimes angry, likes to joke, but sometimes it's not clear. Wherever Morin goes and wherever Morin is, there is often Yuli behind her. You could say they were inseparable friends.

"Rin, let's go to the cafeteria." Invited Yuli after the break bell rang loudly and echoed through the school corridors.

Morin turned her head to the side, the tail of her eyes looking at Yuli. "Okay, I didn't have breakfast at home," Morin said, showing a row of white teeth.

"Come on, wake up! You said you were hungry," yelled Yuli, feeling impatient because Morin was still in her seat.

"Hold on. I'm about to run out," muttered Morin, staring straight at the novel in front of her. She had not looked away from it at all.

Snorting while rolling her eyeballs lazily, Yuli grumbled again, "I'm waiting for you to read the novel when it's finished." Yuli snorted irritably while crossing her arms in front of her chest.

"After all, people say, if you read too many books, you'll get dumber," said Yuli, trying to provoke Morin to be afraid and immediately lift her ass from the chair.

"That's a hoax."

"Well, if you haven't gotten up yet, I'll go first," said Yuli as she walked out of the classroom.

When she heard her best friend's footsteps, Morin looked up and found Yuli already standing in the doorway of the classroom, "Yes. Very impatient," sneered Morin as she put the novel into her desk drawer.

Morin and Yuli went to the cafeteria by going down the corridor of another class. Their class was a bit far from that place. Sometimes there is a special pleasure when they still take a long time to reach their destination, one of which is being able to joke while walking through other classes. Yuli seemed to like it the most, she could see the handsome boys who passed by. It was one of her hobbies at school that she could not be absent from every day. A true stalker.

***

Alizter finds it very difficult to get along with his friends in class. He prefers to be alone, it makes him feel calm. The boy is only friends with Dio, who is his lapmate. They have known each other since childhood. Alizter only talks to Dio often, but Dio also sometimes feels fed up with his friend's attitude. When he wanted to talk to him, he always had to put in extra effort, and sometimes his voice was barely audible. What person would enjoy having a friend like Alizter? However, Dio is the only boy friend who has been loyal until now.

"Have you done your math homework?" asked Dio while patting Alizter's shoulder from the side.

"Yes," Alizter replied briefly.

"Let me see yours!" Dio showed his white teeth, which were neatly lined up.

"In the drawer," Alizter chirped, pointing at the object.

Dio's eye swiveled, "What's wrong with you? You've always been so frugal." Dio sneered in annoyance.

Alizter was silent. The boy was still focused on the row of writing in front of him.

"You can talk a little longer, right?" continued Dio.

Stunned. Yes, Alizter's current state. He was silent and only spoke a few words. Dio shook his head and had to be patient with his friend. He was used to being ignored.

"Don't you want to come with me to the cafeteria?" Dio asked after finishing copying Alizter's math homework.

Alizter nodded and agreed to the offer. Then, he walked towards Dio, who was waiting in the doorway of his classroom.

"Did you go to school by motorcycle or by yourself?" Dio started the conversation with a bit of small talk. Even though he already knew that Alizter rode a motorcycle to school.

"Bring your own," Alizter snapped flatly.

"Didn't you have breakfast this morning? How come you look so weak," Dio said again. He didn't want the silence to catch up with him. Duo didn't like things too quiet.

"What do you want to buy?" Again, Dio started the conversation. Like a journalist interviewing a source.

"Whatever," he said flatly.

"Why is it up to you, I bought fried rice, huh?"

As usual, Alizter just kept quiet and nodded in agreement. Although Dio sometimes got carried away when talking to his best friend, he was used to controlling it. Dio had ordered two plates of warm fried rice, which was Alizter's favorite food. The boy gave it to his friend, and they both looked for an empty canteen table. Alizter's eyes fell on a table that was a little quiet at the end. Alizter and Dio moved closer.

And ...

She was so busy joking with Yuli that Morin didn't notice the direction of her footsteps. The girl crashed into Alizter, who was walking towards the table. All the fried rice he was holding fell everywhere. The plate broke into pieces. Alizter just stayed still and started cleaning up the food and broken plates that were mixed together on the floor of the cafeteria.

"Ouch, sorry," screeched Morin, who looked upset and scared. "I'll replace your food," said Morin with a panicked look on her face.

"I'm really sorry your uniform got dirty. It's my fault, I didn't look around." Morin exclaimed in panic, she felt bad. She looked at the face of the boy in front of her. "I'm sorry, okay?"

Alizter was silent. That made Morin feel even worse.

"Please forgive me," Morin whined with a mouth that had been blaming herself.

Morin continued to whine and apologize to Alizter. She would definitely be uneasy if an apology from someone had not been completed. A carved smile was drawn on Alizter's face. The boy just smiled slightly and continued to clean up the food that had not been finished. When it felt clean enough on the floor, he threw it in the trash can nearby. The boy then just left with a uniform that was still dirty.

"Alizter, wait for me!" Dio shouted while catching up with Alizter, who had walked far ahead.

Dio immediately went to the cafeteria to pay for the food and compensation for the broken plate earlier. The boy immediately ran after his best friend. When his footsteps felt parallel to Alizter's. Dio opened the conversation by asking something.

"Hey, what happened earlier?" Dio asked softly.

Alizter just turned his head to look at Dio and continued his footsteps.

"You make me nervous, you know, a girl that pretty doesn't work either?" Dio shook his head. Confused by his best friend.

"What's that heart made of? Stone? Brick?"

"Did you hear her apologize to you earlier, but you just kept quiet? I swear you're crazy," said Dio again, this time more passionately.

This time, Dio was like a girl who kept getting angry at Alizter until he had no breath left, but the boy still didn't say a word.

***

Morin was still confused by Alizter, his closed attitude made her want to investigate more deeply. What exactly is behind it all? It was strange, even though Morin had hit the boy and even spilled his fried rice, but Alizter smiled back. Morin rarely sees a boy, who has that kind of nature, maybe this is the first time she has seen it.

"Yuli, what's wrong with him, I've already apologized at length, but he's just silent," said Morin curiously. Did I say something wrong? Did I overreact so much that he left? Where did I go wrong?"

Morin asked Yuli question after question. Until her friend was confused about which question to answer first. Indeed, from the beginning, Morin's mouth continued to chatter and did not give Yuli the opportunity to answer it.

"You're noisy, one by one if you ask, I have a headache hearing all your babble," Yuli spluttered irritably.

"Listen, Alizter is like that, when invited to talk, he likes to be closed. Don't be surprised," Yuli explained.

Morin just nodded in understanding of everything Yuli said. Now they've decided to go back to class. The bell will also ring soon.