It is almost July, and time has passed quickly; before we know it, the Cambodian Pchum Ben season will arrive. Depending on the year, it may fall from mid-August to September for fifteen days, or sometimes from early to late September, or even from late September to mid-October. Thinking of the Pchum Ben season, it is a major break from all school studies, with a three-day vacation during the final days of the festival. However, if Pchum Ben falls early, like in August or September, there is no long vacation, just a short break; but if it reaches October, that is the month students go on vacation, marking the start of the rainy season break, with the new school year opening on November 1st. As for Grade 12 students, they used to have the National Exam (Bac II) at the end of August, but after reforms, it was moved to October; therefore, this year, the exam will take place on October 8th, three days after Pchum Ben ends. Just thinking ahead makes the students excited. July begins with some rain, but it is not yet heavy. Indeed, Grade 12 students have only three months left until the National Exam. The results for the June exam will be released in early July, and the July monthly exam will be held in the middle of the month, with results released according to the usual schedule. The second semester exam arrives at the end of August; after finishing the second semester, Grade 12 students will stop following the regular curriculum and only come to school for refresher classes. Attendance is still taken, but they can wear casual clothes. Students are bored with exams, but thinking of the Pchum Ben season makes them feel relieved. Some plan to visit local pagodas in their villages to meet family, while others plan trips with family or friends, riding motorcycles and taking "juanghan" (Khmer food prepared for monks in tiered tiffins) to the pagoda. They make merit together; some visit many pagodas. Some wear simple white shirts with a Khmer wrap-skirt (Sampot) or a plain black or blue skirt, while men wear trousers. Most teenage girls wear embroidered blouses (Aov Pak) with a Khmer wrap-skirt as a Pchum Ben outfit, complete with a small scarf (Sbai) across the shoulder call sbai pienie, looking graceful like a proper Khmer lady, with the skirt reaching the ankles made of Hol silk. Clothing depends on age; the elderly grandmothers and grandfathers who take the eight precepts wear white the grandmothers in white Khmer-style blouses and white skirts, and the grandfathers in white Aja( old man who position prepare funaral or other ceremony)-style shirts and black Khmer traditional trousers (Khao jev). Those trousers have a string tie and are shiny; they are the practitioners of the precepts at the pagoda. Some older women wear white embroidered blouses with dark-colored skirts, showing maturity. High school kids sometimes wear simple white shirts and skirts, but since it is an important day to show beauty, most wear Pchum Ben outfits wrap-skirts, embroidered blouses, and small scarves. They look graceful with their small statures; for those with a fuller figure, wearing an embroidered blouse with wavy patterns and ruffles makes them look very beautiful. Mala sat grumbling that even though Pchum Ben hadn't arrived yet, her mother dragged her to have clothes tailored specifically Pchum Ben outfits. Some go directly to a tailor, while others buy from shops or markets. Sing Sing laughed, saying it was good to have a mother take her to get well-tailored clothes, whereas she had to wear her older sister's hand-me-downs, speaking with boredom. As for Tata, she isn't the type to wear Pchum Ben outfits; just a white T-shirt and her school skirt is enough for her it's easy that way. Mutu, the class president, brought more exam papers to distribute for everyone to practice at home; it was an assignment for the teachers to collect next week. There were so many subjects that the students grumbled.
"That's enough! Just do it; if you have questions, you can ask me," Mutu said jokingly, while the vice-presidents, Neaya and lida, took the papers to distribute to everyone. Hana looked left and right and asked Siv Siv where kan was class was about to start, so why hadn't she entered? Mutu spoke with a laugh, saying he forgot to tell them; the last hour was History, but the teacher couldn't come due to an emergency, so that hour was free. Everyone could… the students listened and prepared their bags, thinking everyone could go home, but actually… everyone could stay for self-study in the class.
"Huh? Oh! Let's go home early just one day!" "Haha… I don't know!" Mutu laughed and collected the old assignments from the students to take to the teachers' office. When he arrived, he saw kan sitting at a long table where there were some documents; he saw her stamping student tracking books the books that record monthly and yearly scores and rankings. Nearby, Dan was stapling documents together.
"Huh? Kan, why are you here?" "Shhh!" She raised a finger to her lips, making a sound for him to be quiet. She then showed that she had broken the rules by wearing flip-flops from home. "Haha," kan laughed awkwardly. Class President Mutu helped her stamp the books because there were many of them. Meanwhile, the teachers, especially the discipline teacher, turned to kan and told her to work quietly. Dan's task was almost finished, but kan smiled at him, signaling him to stay with her for a moment. After a while, Dan was finished. Kan hurried to help carry those documents; even Mutu was puzzled. She whispered to Dan, "Did you forget what we talked about outside?" They walked together; there were only a few documents, but they shared the load. She told Mutu to help stamp in her place for a moment, saying she would be back soon. They arrived at the physics teacher's desk, but as they knew, he had already left, having told Dan earlier that if he finished, he should put the work on his desk. After that, they could return to class. Dan smiled, nodded, and replied, "Yes." Upon reaching the desk, the teachers to the left and right were starting to leave for class, but the PE teacher, the discipline teacher, and other teachers were still there.
"Hey! Dan, why are you here helping today?" Those teachers seemed to recognize Dan well because he was a volunteer who always helped with tasks. Because this time he had broken the rules unusually, he volunteered to help with some tasks, which was normal, so the teachers allowed it. As for kan, the discipline teacher told her to leave and run, but Dan asked for her to stay and help him with the tasks. The discipline teacher, respecting Dan, agreed. Kan pretended to carry the documents and dropped them inside, making the sound of dropping papers by accident! The nearby teachers looked over but didn't pay much attention, thinking kan was just careless with the documents. She smiled at the teachers, looked around, then sat down and went under the desk! Dan pretended to lean down to pick some up and dropped more to make the performance realistic because there were cameras there. Kan knelt to look under the desk for something! She looked a lot but saw nothing. What she wanted to find was the photograph showing Kana's activity of looking at the exam key! But she didn't tell Dan what she was looking for. She found nothing because the physics teacher was not careless; all his evidence used for pressure was likely kept somewhere else or at his house. But to be sure, the first step was his office desk.
"Dan, you dropped a lot of papers, you've been picking them up for a long time?" a nearby teacher turned to ask. "Oh, I'm finished, teacher. Hurry up, kan, organize them properly." she stood up, unsatisfied. The cameras hadn't seen what she was doing earlier because she stood blocking the view and tried to lean down deeply. They reached the desk and saw the books were already stamped; Mutu had probably gone back to class. Kan took those books to the desk of the teacher who assigned her. Coming outside and walking a bit far, Dan asked what she was trying to find. She said she was looking for a paper she accidentally included with her work for the physics teacher last time, but to Dan, that didn't match her actions at all. Regardless, she thanked Dan for agreeing to help her, but he also had to break the rules; seeing the flip-flops Dan was wearing, she smiled a bit and thanked him again. Dan said it was nothing; she was San's friend and had helped me before, so it was okay. Mentioning San, she hadn't met or talked to him for a long time. Dan said that recently San had been strange, as if he secretly loved someone. Kan smiled with interest because she also secretly loved someone Tan but she didn't dare when she saw tan's face. She pulled Dan along, avoiding the classrooms because she was afraid a teacher would see them skipping class, so they went to the canteen. Right, she didn't know the History teacher wouldn't come; if she had, she would have been skipping, but luckily she didn't, so her name wouldn't be marked as skipping, especially since Class President Mutu saw her working in the teachers' office. However, Dan was marked for breaking the rules and hadn't entered the second hour yet. Even the seller at the canteen asked if Dan's class wasn't in session.
"Yes! No, I didn't go to class." Because Dan was a good student, everyone thought he wouldn't skip class intentionally; he must be sick and came to buy something to drink or eat to feel better. "Are you sick? Are you hungry?" It looked like Dan had helped the aunties at the canteen before, which is why she asked him as if she knew him well. Seeing Dan's face finding it hard to lie, kan began to understand and spoke in agreement with the auntie, making Dan look at her and follow her lead by holding his stomach. "Yes! He felt dizzy. When I asked, I found out he didn't eat dinner or breakfast, so his stomach hurts. He couldn't take it and went to the restroom, and when he came out, he sat on the garden bench alone. I saw him rubbing his stomach and asked, then I found out he was dizzy and hungry, so he came here."
"Oh…" The auntie there listened as if it were a story but asked how she knew he went to the restroom. Kan froze for a bit then hurriedly replied that she had asked about the story and he told her. The aunties nearby brought some snacks and breakfast rice with soup for Dan. Dan smiled awkwardly, saying he didn't bring money because his bag was in the class. Kan nodded in addition. But the auntie there said it was fine, "Hurry up and eat or you'll ruin your stomach." Dan thanked her. It wasn't a convincing lie at all. Regardless, kan whispered that since he used to be a good boy, he should lie a bit. She then asked, "Earlier you said San seems to secretly love someone? Who is it?" "I don't know! If we knew, we would definitely help him." kan grumbled quietly, "Or is it Aji?" "Huh? Aji? Who is that?" kan said it was someone from next door when they were young, but she didn't study at their school; she studied at a school in the city. Wanting to know if San's behavior was like hers, she asked, "How is San strange?" While sipping soup, Dan said, "San grumbles to himself occasionally, 'Why don't you think of me a bit?' Just once, but we knew and asked him, but he didn't answer and didn't talk about her again, just focused on playing football normally."
"Oh… I see." kan sighed a bit then leaned her head on the table. Suddenly she saw a man and another student walking toward the auntie's stall that gave Dan the rice; that student seemed to know the auntie. Right, he was the auntie's son. He didn't seem to feel well, so he came to tell his mother he was going home early and a friend would take him. The auntie was immediately worried about what happened to him. But the son said it wasn't serious, he just wanted to go rest at home, so his mom shouldn't worry. The people nearby noticed the two students sitting there Dan and Kan. But earlier, kan saw Niv from a distance, so she hid behind Dan, avoiding him slightly. Dan was puzzled again. He looked and saw she was avoiding a student among the two from a distance. The auntie turned to tell Dan that her son also suddenly felt unwell. Dan looked and added, "There are many sick people this month, so you must be careful," replying so it wouldn't be silent. Niv saw kan; he smiled a bit then walked out because he had to take his friend home. But suddenly he stopped, waiting for kan and Dan to walk out. She wondered where Niv went, but actually, Niv was standing nearby and said, "Senior, don't block me!" After speaking, he left. Dan turned to look at kan and saw her smiling awkwardly. Dan asked, "What's going on?" she didn't hide it; she said, "Niv just now he messaged me, and I blocked him." "You know his name too?" "Huh? Oh... he's one of Siv Siv's favorite player, and I went to watch, so I know his name." "So he messaged something rude, bad, or obscene, which is why you blocked him?" Dan's question sounded like he was questioning a prisoner. Kan replied without thinking, "He didn't message anything bad, just… nothing, I just didn't want to chat." She thanked him again and apologized again. Dan smiled and said it was okay. Regardless, he knew San must mean someone named Ji. Actually, today she had messaged Dan early in the morning asking him to help her by bringing flip-flops to school for a day. She wore regular sneakers from the morning until the second break, then left her sneakers for him to see and put on the flip-flops, walking in front of the discipline teacher on purpose so the teacher would see her. Her intention was to have a reason to be in the office, and when the physics teacher left, she would have time to take the documents Dan made to his desk and find what she wanted to find. But why did she want the photo of Kana? Actually, she had talked about the water bottle with Sina, and Sina didn't hide anything like before and told her about the suspicion of Kana, but there was no evidence, so they just monitored Kana's activities so she wouldn't realize.