Chapter 3.4: Erika

“Well, pieces of shit like him are everywhere,” Amir said casually. “Just leave him be. He’s not dangerous.”

“In fact, it’s dangerous,” Daniel chimed in, being know-it-all. “We got the title bad kids because we are all too lazy to go to school ….”

“And we’re kind of stupid,” Welly added.

“That is just you,” said Daniel. “Well, we may have all kinds of reasons, but we have no intention of harassing other people. But that Anus is different. He has a sadistic nature.” Daniel turned to me. “You, just be careful, Ka. Looks like he still can’t accept you beating him in public until he cried.”

I waved my hand. “Geez, I’m not afraid of the devil, let alone a mushy guy like that. Don’t worry, he’s not going to be able to do anything to me. “

“Don’t be so cocky, Ka,” Welly continued. “You are indeed quite strong for a girl, but strength is not everything.”

“Gosh, you’re talking like that because you are just that scrawny like that.”

“Well, it’s kinda true,” Welly grumbled, then he continued, “but it’s not unreasonable, right?”

“Alright, I’ll be careful with Anus.” Even though, in my heart I still underestimated that arrogant brainless kid. “Shit, I forgot to bring money. Niel, pay my food, kay?”

“Alright, alright,” said Daniel.

“OKAY! Mang¹, two servings of bakmi. With dumplings, bakso, and tofu! Also two bottles of teh botol² “

The bakmi-uncle immediately gave a thumb up. “Yes, Miss!”

“Dammit, you’re being a prick just because I’m the one paying,” Daniel grumbled. “Then, what about that scary ojek driver that you ride on? What do you pay him with? “

“In credit obviously. Nowadays, everything is all credit. “

“Be careful, your ojek driver doesn’t look like a normal ojek driver,” Amir teasing. “If you don’t pay, you know, you could get taken to hell.”

“What the… I have to be careful with Anus. Now, I also have to be careful with ojek drivers? So when will I relax?”

“Well, it’s called high school, we can’t ever relax,” Welly said while laying down. “Our struggle is hard so that we can graduate from high school without having to fly.”

“Flying?”

Daniel immediately explained. “It means, if we can’t get promoted to the next grade, we bribe the school so we can go to the next grade, but we have to move to another school. Like I was in middle school. That’s why I ended up in this ugly high school. “

“Hey, don’t talk shit about our school!” Welly protested. “It’s bad, but that’s our school, man.”

“Wel, you… why did you spit out a lot of disgusting words?” I teased.

“Ah, he’s being disgusting everyday,” said Amir. “The first time I became friends with him, I thought he was a good kid, I thought he could help me walk in the right direction. What shit luck, now I’m even more damaged. “

“Well, it’s called being a friend, Mir. I made you more damaged, you made me uglier. “

“Heyy… you don’t have to drag me, you’re already ugly since birth. “

“Hey, Ka,” Daniel, who sat beside me, turned his body to face me, a sign that he wanted to talk seriously. “Honestly, we have been hopeless since we were born. Even if we wanted to be diligent, it doesn’t help our grades which are so bad. But you’re different. Even if you’re not diligent, you are the most genius kid I’ve ever met …. “

“Gosh, Niel, that’s because your other friends are idiots,” I joked, inviting protests from Amir and Welly.

“You insolent shit!” shouted Amir.

“You’ve never felt my fist, haven’t you?” threatened Welly, brandishing his slightly flattened and not at all scary fist.

“Shut up you two, you idiot shits!” Daniel shouted with a fierce face. But when he turned back to me, his face had turned into the usual flirtatious boy again. “So? Are my words correct?”

“Right, Niel.” I nodded like a celebrity being interviewed. “Actually, many have asked me about that. But I’ve never been interested in accepting a job to be a good kid. The responsibility is heavy. “

“It’s true.” Amir nodded his head. “Sometimes I am surprised to see your younger sister, Liza, I think she’s trying half to death just because she wants to keep her image. Isn’t she tired? “

“But she is one of the cutest girls in our school, you know,” Welly said excitedly. “I think she’s even the prettiest.”

“Yes,” Daniel glanced at me meaningfully. “Meanwhile, her older sister is just like this.”

“More like a guy, in fact,” Welly grinned, making me rub my hair, which was in fact really short. “Are you really twins? How come there isn’t anything similar at all?”

Gosh, why did our conversation topic become so annoying like this all of a sudden?

“Well, it’s called non-identical twins,” I lied with a look as unconcerned as possible. Luckily at that point the bakmi-uncle interrupted our conversation by placing two bowls of noodles in front of me. “Shut it already, I want to eat. Don’t bother me anymore. “

“Okay, let’s talk about other matters,” Daniel changed the topic. “So, you’re all going on a field trip?”

“What field trip?” I asked while slurping the noodles aloud.

“They said we would see some kind of magic show,” Daniel explained. “They say there is a well-known illusionist.”

“Illusionist?” Now, Welly asked in surprise. “What is that?”

I waved my chopsticks. “Geez, that’s just a new term for a magician. To make it cooler.”

“Hey, Ka, you splashed out your noodle soup on me!” Amir shouted, rubbing his nose.

“Oops, sorry,” I said without feeling guilty. “Well, the point is I’m not interested in magicians. I’m not deceived by their illusions. “

“Alright, alright, a genius is different.”

We then talked about other things. Make-up test, weekend plans, the latest cinema films. Even so, my thoughts always returned to Eliza. Okay, my life was not every teenager’s dream life, and my bad luck wasn’t something out of the ordinary for other teenagers either. But if only Eliza didn’t exist, my bad luck would have been halved. No one would compare me to her anymore — parents, teachers, friends. Also Ferly.

If only she were to disappear, my bad luck would end too.

[1] :  Mang (mamang) : is one of the nicknames for a man who sells food in stall or cart. Usually the foods sold are bakmi, or bakso, or siomay.

[2] :  Teh botol : is a brand that sells sweet black tea in a glass bottle. A drink basically. A tea.