That morning, the school field felt like two worlds colliding. On one side, the sun had just risen, the air was still fresh, and a gentle breeze blew as if trying to calm everyone down. But on the other side, the atmosphere was already chaotic: opening music played loudly, teachers called out to the committee members, and students ran around carrying booth props. A clear contrast—calm above, chaos below.
Dina stood in front of her group's booth, watching the crowd beginning to fill the field. The colorful lights at the top of their booth glowed softly despite the bright sunlight, making the place stand out in a pleasant way.
Bram was tidying up the diorama, while Arvin and Aldi were putting up the banner in front of the booth.
Ando and Dina reread their paper.
Dina took a nervous breath. "Hopefully everything goes well until the end."
Ando stood beside her, closing the paper that had already begun to look worn from being read over and over. "Ready to present?"
"Of course. Let's go." She raised her hand for a high five.
Ando met it with a chuckle.
The principal, accompanied by several teachers, went around to each booth to evaluate them. Students from various grades, from tenth to twelfth grade, also walked around to look at the booths.
When the principal reached their booth, Dina began her presentation. She presented the data they had successfully gathered.
"The Mount Gede Pangrango hiking trail was opened with the purpose of observing the diversity of flora and fauna that could be used as an educational medium for hikers. However, the purpose of hiking is often misunderstood by hikers who only treat hiking as a recreational activity rather than an opportunity to seek knowledge, so many of them do not pay attention to the environmental impact, which has resulted in the condition of the GPNP forest worsening year by year. This has been exacerbated by increased deforestation due to the growing number of visitors, as well as damage affecting the soil, water, flora, and fauna."
Ando added, "The government, private sector, and local communities, as stakeholders responsible for preserving the GPNP environment, have adopted a holistic ecological paradigm with environmental ethics. This is demonstrated by the roles of the government, private sector, and communities around GPNP in efforts to anticipate and reduce existing environmental damage. For example, the government, in this case the GPNP management, closes the hiking trails for three months each year and implements a booking system to allow the forest and surrounding environment to recover. Meanwhile, local communities, represented by volunteers or NGOs, monitor hikers throughout their hiking activities and conduct monthly clean-up campaigns. In addition, PT DENSO, as a private-sector party, carries out reforestation efforts through its CSR program."
Afterward, Dina explained the GPNP hiking trail diorama, pointing out the route with a small pointer.
"In this section, we illustrate the Cibodas hiking trail. Then, on the right side, there's an illustration of montane forest vegetation. We compiled all of our data from official sources."
The principal and the teachers nodded as they observed the details. They wrote something on their clipboards.
A teacher patted Dina on the shoulder. "Great presentation. Neat and informative."
"Thank you, Ma'am," Dina replied with a polite bow.
The group then moved on to the next booth.
Dina breathed a sigh of relief. Ando handed her a bottle of water with a chuckle.
"You were so tense."
Dina took a small sip and wiped her lips with the back of her hand. "Of course I was. We worked so hard on this project. We can't mess it up on the big day."
After the teachers left, many students visited their booth. Bram, Aldi, and Arvin were busy serving visitors, answering questions about conservation, hiking trails, and miniature details.
Amid the crowd, Dina accidentally looked across the field. There, Clara stood in front of her booth. She did not speak. She did not smile. She only stared—long and intensely.
Dina instinctively turned her face away. Her neck felt hot.
"What's wrong?" Ando asked, noticing Dina acting awkwardly.
"You and your girl are the same," Dina muttered softly, still uncomfortable. "You both love staring at me until you burn a hole through me."
Ando finally glanced over briefly. Then he sighed. "She's not my girl anymore."
Dina immediately turned toward him. "Huh?"
Ando returned his focus to the laptop. "Yeah, that's how it is."
Dina froze for a moment. She did not know how to react. But strangely, something slowly pricked at her chest. Not happiness—more like… pity.
She looked at Clara again.
The girl was still standing in the same place, but now her head was slightly lowered.
Dina took a breath and returned her full attention to the booth. This isn't the time to think about other things, Din.
---
Creeeak.
The sound of table legs being dragged across the school courtyard paving could be heard everywhere. The wind moved slowly, carrying the feeling of an approaching storm. The rain had not fallen yet, but it already felt close.
Around the field, students hurried along carrying cardboard, rolls of cable, and crumpled posters. Plastic bags rustled in the wind, small bursts of laughter could be heard here and there, but everything shared the same hurried rhythm.
Dina looked at the sky. The clouds had already grown very dark.
She packed the cables and electronic equipment first.
"Quick, clean up the booth. It's getting cloudy. It's going to rain soon."
Aldi was trying to peel double-sided tape off the booth pole. "Why is this stuck so badly? It's like a painful memory."
Arvin smacked him on the head. "Work, Di."
Ando helped him remove the decorative light cables. He bent down, carefully pulled out the plug, then coiled the long cable—the movements quick, precise, and neat.
Ando stood up again and dusted his hands before rolling up the large synthetic grass mat on the floor by himself. Dina moved faster. The wind grew stronger. The protective plastic covering the diorama flapped violently.
"Bram, the diorama! Carry it, quick!"
"Okay!" Bram lifted the diorama and carried it to Ando's car.
Almost everything had been loaded into the car's trunk. All that was left was to return the tables to the classroom. Tiny drops began falling onto the booth roof—slowly, but enough to make everyone panic.
Dina turned to Ando. "Do, the table!"
Ando immediately moved without a word. He and Dina carried the table together, half-running toward the classroom. Arvin and Aldi carried the other table.
"Hurry—before it gets wet!" Dina said anxiously.
Ando laughed softly. "You're cute when you panic."
"What are you talking about?! Hurry!" Dina glared at him.
Ando laughed again, but his steps remained quick. Within minutes, the tables were back where they belonged, inside the classroom.
The rain began to fall—still only a drizzle. All the students quickened their movements. What had initially been an ordinary booth dismantling turned into a rescue operation for the exhibition materials. Small shouts, nervous laughter, and hurried footsteps filled the school courtyard.
Dina and her group were already sitting calmly inside the classroom. They drank the packaged tea they had brought from home while watching the other students running around in the rain.
Aw, poor things, they thought.