1. A Drop of Tears

I ran as fast as I could. Almost Mr. Abdul--the school guard, closed the gate.

After staying up late to do the Aster Gang's errands, I was finally able to sleep a few hours. I'm really lucky, usually, I can only sleep an hour before going to school.

The reason why I was always ranked number one in school, was not because I was born smart, but because I had to study harder to be able to do the homework for members of the Aster Gang, who of course had different majors.

This is where I am, at Gemilang High School. A beautiful place, but terrible.

I stopped running when my name tag fell, a beautiful name written on the name tag made me feel sad.

Kei Innaya Susilo, that's my name. It means a Beautiful flower growing on the rock. I should be as strong as the name my parents gave me. But in reality, it's the opposite of what was expected.

I am weak. That's why they bother me. The Aster Gang. A group of fierce spoiled girls, and stupid men who always do all the girls' orders.

The only thing I can do right now survives.

I put the name tag back on my uniform, then ran back to class 3 IPS 1.

"Wow, progress! You're not late!" Miranda said while clapping her hands when seeing my presence.

Suddenly one class immediately turned towards me and noticed me. I'm so used to it. I know they feel sorry for me, but there's nothing they can do because they don't want to be bullied for sticking up for me.

I took out their four books and put them on the table.

"You already know the order, right? Last time, you made a mistake and made me get a lower score than Feby!" Lenny snapped, kicking my leg.

Lenny--leader of the Aster Gang. She created the gang and included three other people in the gang. That's what I heard.

"I've arranged it, Feby, Miranda, and Marko's grades will be lower than yours," I said quietly.

Lenny smiled faintly, she then pinched my cheek very hard, to make me nurse in pain.

"You're really smart! So cute, adorable!" Lenny shouted regardless of my moaning.

My cheeks felt hot and sore.

After laughing with satisfaction, Lenny removed her hand from my cheek which I'm sure was very red.

"Go away, I'm disgusted by your messy hair!" joked Lenny while pushing my body with her index finger.

As fast as possible, I ran out of Lenny's class and headed to my class.

My class is not much different from Lenny's class. Everyone ostracized me. They think I'm jinxed for getting Lenny and the gang to come around, and play here.

***

"Please put it in the warehouse, and bring a new chair," said Mrs. Yuni, pointing to a broken chair in the corner of the classroom.

I nodded, then immediately lifted the chair for me to move to the warehouse.

Along the way, I kept praying to God to keep me away from the Aster Gang. I'm so tired today, if I meet them again, my day will be ruined.

I half ran, and went into the shed there I put the chair down, then got a new one. But alas, I'm too late.

With a strange grin, Lenny and her friends went into the barn and locked the door.

"It's too dark here! She can't see clearly!" Lenny exclaimed in a cute tone.

To be honest, that kind of tone sounded awful to me.

Within seconds, the lights were on, and I could see their faces very clearly.

"Siti, let's play! I'm bored!" Miranda exclaimed as she sat me down by force in the chair I was holding tightly.

And of course, the weak me can only surrender when she does that.

"I have something that can make Siti much prettier!" Lenny exclaimed excitedly.

How I hate to hear the name Siti that they address to me. My name is Kei, not Siti. They always do this, calling me whatever they want.

Lenny took out henna from her skirt pocket.

"We'll see how skilled I am at painting Siti's face," said Lenny with a meaningful look.

I immediately left my chair and ran towards the exit, but Marko was there. The man immediately slapped my face with his big hand.

"Siti, honey, don't fight back, Marko is in a bad mood, you'll get slapped again later!" Miranda called out, pulling me back into the chair.

Miranda, and Feby holding both sides of my arms. Meanwhile, Lenny was happily scribbling on my face with henna.

I wanted to scream, but the more I raised my voice, the more they enjoyed torturing me.

"You know why I enjoy watching you suffer so much? Because it makes me realize that my life is so much luckier than yours! Isn't that so much fun?" asked Lenny then smiled so broadly.

If only I could reply just once. If...

"Siti, life is sometimes unfair, so you have to get used to it!" Lenny exclaimed while continuing her action scribbling on my face.

"Her hair is too tangled, it hurts my eyes!" said Miranda.

Lenny stepped away from me. She then looked at me from head to toe.

"We have to make our dolls look beautiful!" muttered Lenny while looking around the room.

"There it is!" shrieked the girl as she picked up the weed shears that were lying on the broken table on the other side of the barn.

"No, please!" I whispered.

What is she going to do to me with those scissors?

"Calm down Siti, calm down! Just trust me! I guarantee you, you will look much prettier after this!"

After saying that, Lenny came over to me. I, who couldn't move anymore, could only cry silently when Lenny cut my hair off with Marko's help. The beautiful hair that my late mother had always praised was now slowly falling to the floor.

"Our doll is too pious!" Feby exclaimed, pointing at the skirt I was wearing.

Again, all I could do was shake my head weakly with tears that couldn't stop coming out of my eyes.

At random, Lenny cut my skirt to show my upper thigh.

I tried to close it, but Miranda and also Feby held my hand.

"Well, it's better, isn't it!? This is just beautiful!" Lenny exclaimed happily.

"One more time I see you pass Ferdy's class, I will finish you off!" Lenny snapped and grabbed my neck.

Before I really could not breathe, Lenny let go of her hand.

Tight, hot, and sore. My head felt so heavy that my vision became blurry.

"See you tomorrow, Siti!" Lenny pinched my cheeks, then left me.

I hurriedly locked the barn door for fear that someone would see me in this condition. In this cramped, dark, and stuffy room, I cried silently.

I'm tired God, can't you give me just a little bit of your mercy?

I picked up the broken mirror that was lying under the bookshelf. I cried, even more, to see how my face was destroyed because of the henna that Lenny had painted on my face.

Of course, those horrible streaks won't disappear easily because Lenny uses Henna.

I can only wait silently for everyone to leave the school.

After covering my skirt with the dirty tablecloth in the warehouse, I ran to get my bag and went home.

When I got home, then I could cry and scream as much as I wanted.

Lenny was right, life is not fair.