(Public School 12, Earth)

  The school bell rang early. The sound that echoed through the hallway freed the students from the rest of the sessions.

  Within minutes, waves of happy chatter were heard throughout the entire classroom.

  Some were happy, while some were upset.

  "Finally! We get to go home early again. It’s been ages since this school let us out early," Alta, a boy with messy hair, woke up from his nap and stretched in satisfaction.

  "Ugh, I finished the assignment, and in the end, we didn’t even have to turn it in." Keyla groaned as she shoved her books into her bag with unnecessary force.

  "Alhamdulillah, I didn’t finish Mr. Bachtiar’s homework anyway!" Alta taunted her, laughing out loud.

  "Whatever…" Keyla rolled her eyes before glancing behind her. "Hey, Zoe, wanna go to Pak Ahmad’s stall out front later? No point going home this early, right?"

  Zoe checked her watch—10:30 AM. The day felt way too short to head straight home indeed. "Sure, but you gotta take me home after."

  "I’ll take you home," Alta cut in without hesitation.

  "As if! Who even invited you?" Keyla shot him a sharp look. "Just come with me, Zoe. Walking home with him is sketchy—he’s probably got an agenda."

  Zoe stifled a laugh. "Yeah, Keyla, I’ll just go with you. Alta’s kinda sus."

  "Playing it cool, huh?" Alta scoffed, shaking his head dramatically. "Whatever. I’m still coming to the stall, though. Might as well call the guys over for a card game—gonna be fun."

  Moments later, most of the students were already leaving the class, followed up by the last group including Alta, Zoe, and Keyla.

  At Pak Ahmad's food stall, the gang was surprised to find it more crowded than expected. Students spilled out of the limited space, chattering and snacking under the unremarkable iron sheeting roof.

  In the corner table, Zoe and Alta were engaged in an intense UNO battle. Keyla sat beside Zoe, half-cheering, half-laughing at her misery.

  Zoe winced, her fingers sore. Three of her fingers were tightly wrapped in rubber bands because she lost one too many rounds. She stared down at her hand, determined.

  There was no way she’d lose this time. She had all the cards she needed.

  Or so she thought.

  "UNO! UNO GAME!" Alta slammed his final card down and jumped to his feet, dancing in victory. “Haha! Time for another rubber band!”

  "Forget it, I’m done," Zoe muttered, rubbing her throbbing fingers and glaring at her unfortunate pile of cards. Why did I agree to play this stupid game in the first place?

  "Aww, don’t be mad..." Alta chuckled as he gathered the deck. Despite his constant teasing, he knew when to back off. He shuffled the cards lazily, letting her off the hook.

  Zoe sighed and peeled the rubber bands off her fingers, joined by a sympathetic Keyla. A cold sugary drink sounded like the perfect cure for her bruised ego and fingers.

  As Zoe waited for her order—a guava-flavored Buavita—she overheard a group of students chatting animatedly at the next table.

  “Dude, look at this! The Brandon Swanson case,” said a boy in a red, One Piece hoodie and thick glasses, phone screen lit up in his hand. “He was driving home after a party, called his dad when his car went into a ditch—and then just vanished. Like, they never found him.”

  Zoe leaned in, unintentionally drawn to the story. Even though did not usually watch mystery contents, that boy’s enthusiasm piqued her interest.

  Before she could listen more, Keyla nudged her arm. “Sorry, gotta take a call,” she said quickly, stepping away from the table.Zoe nodded and picked up the newly purchased chocolate bars and juice boxes, bringing them back to where their group had settled.

  Not long after, Alta and the other boys stood up to leave—they had plans to hit the court for a quick basketball game. Before heading off, Alta checked in one last time. "You good going home with Keyla?"

  Zoe gave him a small smile and nodded. "Yeah. We’re good. See ya."

  "Later!" he called, flashing a peace sign as he walked off with the others.

  Keyla’s call dragged on.

  Zoe sat there, flipping her phone open and shut, idly refreshing the same screens. The excitement from earlier had worn off. Honestly, she was getting kind of bored.

  From the corner of her eye, she noticed Keyla talking with animated hand gestures—the kind she always used when arguing with her dad.

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  They fight all the time. She’ll be fine. I’ll just cheer her up later—grab food, watch K-drama, and everything will be fine.

  Keyla returned, her face tight, glasses slightly crooked from running her hand over her forehead too many times.

  "Zoe… I have to move."

  (Gelombang Cinta Café)

  Three days had passed, but Zoe couldn’t stop thinking about it. She sat at the edge of the counter, scrolling through their chat history.

  Message after message—jokes, rants, little inside references—once so casual, now felt like echoes from another life. She’s really leaving, huh.

  Keyla’s recent texts were sprinkled with forced optimism. Zoe’s replies, meanwhile, danced around the topic completely.

  No matter how close they were, what could two high schoolers actually do about a situation like this? They’d always had each other’s backs.

  But now… it felt like that era was quietly closing.

  Zoe sighed and set her phone aside.

  “Heh, must be nice playing on your phone during work,” a voice jolted her back to reality. It was Intan, one of her coworkers, balancing two heavy trays on her arms as she breezed past. “Hurry up and help out, a lot of people are waiting for their orders.”

  “Hehe, sorry, Kak Intan.”

  (Note: “Kak” is an honorific used in Indonesia to address someone slightly older or as a sign of respect, kind of like “Sis” or “Bro” in casual English.)

  Zoe stood up quickly and got back to her part time work.Weekends were always the busiest at Gelombang Cinta Café—but today felt even crazier than usual.

  Maybe it was the start of the month and everyone had just gotten paid.She stepped outside, unaware of the storm she was about to walk into.

  Every food and beverage business owner in the area could spot that bald head from a mile away—Rizal, the infamous TikToker known for his brutally honest food reviews and cutting critiques on service.

  And now, here he was, walking in with two guys filming on their iPhones like it was a full-on production. With no senior staff around, Zoe had no choice but to greet him herself. She took a breath, straightened up, and did her best to sound professional.

  Rizal was quickly seated, ordered several dishes, and began his “evaluation.” Knowing who she was dealing with, Zoe discreetly asked the kitchen to double-check everything—perfect seasoning, bigger portions. Code Bald was in!

  At first, everything went smoothly. Rizal seemed to enjoy the food, even nodding in approval a few times. Maybe today wouldn’t be so bad.

  Until—

  He noticed it.

  Zoe wasn’t in uniform. Unlike the other servers, she wore a plain black shirt and blue jeans. Rizal raised an eyebrow and made a show of it on camera, complaining like it was some unforgivable sin.

  Zoe silenced, caught off guard. Fuck you, baldie… my uniform’s in the laundry. I’m a student, okay? I have assignments, and I was nearly late this morning!

  Before she could come up with a proper response, her phone rang—loudly. Nooooo... why now?!

  Panicked, she fumbled to silence it without even checking who was calling.

  Rizal, already in performance mode, took this as fuel. He escalated the situation, pointing to the phone incident like it confirmed his narrative. His voice rose just enough to start turning heads, and soon, other customers were glancing over, distracted by the drama.

  Just as Zoe felt like melting into the floor, Intan stepped in like a boss. She apologized calmly and offered compensation. Rizal, smug as ever, agreed—but only if all his food was comped.

  Intan hesitated for a moment, clearly weighing the cost… then nodded. He left with free food and more content for his followers.

  And Zoe? She just wanted to disappear into the dish rack.

  She wasn’t happy on the ride home. Intan had offered to drive her, and now they sat in silence as the sleek BMW M4 cruised through the city streets.

  Zoe’s face was still stained with faint tear tracks.

  Her manager hadn’t even bothered to hear her side—just saw the viral clip and snapped. The uniform thing had never been a real issue… until today.

  Now, suddenly, it was everything.

  He threatened to fire her if it ever happened again.

  Intan tried to lighten the mood, cracking a few jokes and reassuring her that Rizal was always a drama magnet.

  It helped. A little.

  Zoe leaned her head against the window, watching the streetlights stretch into long streaks as they passed. Her thoughts drifted.

  How does someone with a car this nice end up working at a café anyway? Zoe had asked Intan that once, but she had just laughed it off.

  Sighing, Zoe finally pulled out her phone and checked her messages.—something she hadn’t been able to do since the incident.

  Her inbox was flooded with texts from Alta. Meme after meme. Stupid, ridiculous, completely unnecessary. She snorted.

  “What’s so funny?” Intan glanced over.

  “It’s Alta. He keeps sending me memes—such a weirdo.”

  “Oh, he’s totally into you.”

  “No way. Not a chance. That guy has too many crushes to count.”

  “Wait, Alta’s the one with the dark red Honda Beat, right?” Intan smirked. “Impressive how he pulls girls with that junky bike.”

  Zoe laughed with her. Still, she wasn’t about to roast Alta’s ride—after all, he was the one who gave her lifts when Keyla wasn’t around.

  “So,” Intan asked, “what’s the plan after high school? College or full-time work?”Zoe exhaled.

  “I don’t know yet, Kak. Even if I wanted to go to college, I’d have to retake the entrance tests. My grades suck. It’s hard to get a scholarship when you’re not poor enough or smart enough.”

  “Haha, true though. It’s tough when your life story isn’t tragic enough to be inspiring.” Intan shot her a grin. “But for now, just focus on school. We’ll figure it out later.”

  Zoe swallowed, warmth creeping into her chest. Why is she always like this? So put together, so... kind? Intan didn’t have to care, but she did. “Thanks, Kak. You’ve been really good to me.”

  “Oh, stop it. You sound like you’re giving a farewell speech.” They pulled up to Zoe’s apartment. “Wanna come in for a bit?” Zoe offered.

  “I’d better not. The others are waiting for me.” Intan smiled, shifting gears. “Oh, and no shifts for me tomorrow—I’ll drive you to school.”

  “No, it’s fine, Kak. I can grab a ride.”

  “Don’t be silly. See you in the morning.” With a quick wave, Intan sped off into the night, leaving Zoe standing in the quiet street. She watched the taillights disappear before heading inside.

  Zoe collapsed into her chair, opening her phone one last time before she had to deal with her math homework. Finally she noticed the call that she rejected earlier in the restaurant.

  It was from her aunty, 1 missed call and several messages.

  "Sorry to bother Zoe. How's my favorite girl doing? We just got to Lombok, and it’s gorgeous here. You should come next time—maybe after you graduate."

  She replied with a quick “Sorry Aunty, I was window shopping with my friends and rejected the call by mistake. luv u.”

  Yup, it’s fine now. I’ll just call her tomorrow.

  She had no heart to tell her aunt that the monthly allowance wasn’t enough to cover the rent and her school necessity that she had to start taking side jobs.

  Anyway, She closed her phone and opened her math book. The dim desk lamp cast a soft glow over the cluttered surface.

  Statistics.

  The numbers blurred together.She tapped her pen against the page, rereading the same problem three times before sighing. Why do I even bother? With a groan, she opened YouTube, searching for tutorials on frequency distribution.

  A notification popped up.

  A new let’s play video of the new anticipated game Elden Ring from her favorite YouTuber. Five minutes. Just five minutes.

  One click. That was a mistake. Seconds turned to minutes, minutes turned to…

  Her head jerked up. I fell asleep? Yeah, no shit Zoe!

  The screen was still playing, casting faint light in the darkened room. She wiped her face, realizing a few strands of her blonde hair had slipped into her mouth.

  Then—A glow. Above her.

  Bright.

  Growing.

  Expanding.

  Zoe’s breath hitched. She tried to move, but her body wouldn’t budge. What the hell is that?! Aaaaaaaa!

  The light swallowed her whole. And —She was gone.

  —