Chapter 36: Total Failure

The punishment that was supposed to be a valuable lesson turned out not only to fail, but to fail completely.

Not halfway, but utterly chaotic beyond repair.

And once again, something you need to know is that I was not the only one punished that day. There were nine of us. Nine students standing neatly lined up in front of the classroom, with the initial intention of serving our punishment obediently.

Unfortunately, that intention only lasted a few minutes.

Yes. A TOTAL FAILURE.

Do you want to know the reason? There is no need to guess too far. It all led back to one name and the chaos that came with it.

Udin and our classmates.

In my opinion, this punishment was the noisiest punishment in the entire history of this school. A punishment that should have been carried out in silence, order, and deep remorse instead turned into a massive uproar. The atmosphere was even noisier than women bargaining at a traditional market.

“This is your fault, Adam,” Andika grumbled while punching the wall with his fist. “I already told you to keep watch. You didn’t listen. This is what we got.”

“Don’t just blame me,” Adam snapped back just as angrily. He smacked the back of Andika’s head without warning. “Why didn’t you keep watch too?”

“If both of us were keeping watch, then who was supposed to look for cheat notes?” Andika shot back while flicking Adam’s forehead backward. “Idiot.”

“Damn you. You calling me an idiot?”

“You are an idiot.”

That remark became the trigger. Adam immediately stepped forward, firing back with even harsher taunts. Within seconds, they were grabbing each other by the necks, yanking at uniform collars, and nearly rolling on the floor.

And that was just one commotion. Not to mention the antics of the main source of chaos.

Udin.

“Hi, my dear Maya,” Udin greeted in an overly sweet tone while rubbing his hands together. “You asked to be punished because I’m here, right? Come on, admit it.”

He stepped closer and stood right beside Maya, as if that spot were the safest place in the world.

Maya turned toward him with a clearly unfriendly stare. Her face showed an expression of disgust, like someone who had just seen something that triggered an allergy. Without saying a word, Maya immediately shifted to the side, moving away from Udin and instead drawing even closer to Kenn.

From the very beginning, Maya’s intention had actually been very clear.

She was after Kenn.

The moment both of her hands clasped Kenn’s arm affectionately, the atmosphere suddenly changed. Kenn frowned, clearly uncomfortable. With a rough movement, he pulled his arm free from Maya’s grip.

Maya immediately pouted. Her lips puckered, then she glared at her two friends, who were laughing loudly at the sight.

“Relax, my dear Maya,” Udin said again, never running out of ideas. He moved closer with a confident smile. “If there’s no Kenn, I’ll do just fine too.”

But Maya did not respond. Instead, she turned around and tried to grab Tomi’s hand. Unfortunately, at that moment Tomi’s hand was being fought over by Maya’s other two friends. They pulled at each other, making a scene, while Tomi instead grinned at me and gestured as if asking for help.

I simply rolled my eyes. Completely chaotic.

Just as I took a deep breath, Tomi suddenly yanked my right hand quickly until I was standing right in front of him.

“Hey!” I yelped in surprise.

“Sorry,” Tomi said briefly while forcefully pulling his hand free from the tug-of-war. “For now, you guys step aside.”

I glared with my hands on my hips. “You all heard that yourselves, right? You’d better move away now.”

If Tomi didn’t owe me an explanation, I wouldn’t have helped at all. Ever since long ago, I had always been used as a shield.

“If no one wants to,” Udin’s voice chimed in again, “then let it be me. I don’t mind. Come here, my dear Maya.”

He had already puckered his lips and spread his arms wide, ready to accept anything. Seeing that, Maya’s eyes widened dramatically. Her face turned pale.

As Udin stepped closer, Maya instinctively shook her head hard, then screamed without warning.

“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!”

We all reflexively covered our ears. No one wanted their hearing damaged just because of that scream. Not even a minute later, the classroom door flew open with a loud bang.

Mrs. Sari stood there. Her expression was not just angry, but terrifying.

Before we could even come up with an excuse, Mrs. Sari immediately unleashed her fury in a thunderous voice.

“ALL OF YOU, GET OUT!!”

It was over.

Mrs. Sari’s shout sounded like a lion’s roar in a cartoon movie. The difference was, this was real. And it felt far more terrifying than anything on screen.

I didn’t even get a chance to see Tomi’s expression as he stood closest to me. The moment that voice echoed, a split second later all we could do was run, not daring to look back.

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