Oh no. How could I be so careless? How could I forget? Diana thought as she suddenly realized something.
She immediately stood up, turned around while taking a sharp breath, and then—
"MY BIKE!" Diana shouted.
Without thinking, she ran after her moving bicycle. Of course, someone was riding it. Her bike had been taken without permission—or more precisely, stolen. It was her own fault for not parking and locking it properly. She hadn't even realized she had left it lying behind the bus stop.
Revan and Kevin were still in shock before finally running after Diana.
"No way..." Diana muttered in between her running breaths. Her bike was obviously faster than her.
Not willing to give up, she quickly took off one of her shoes and threw it with full force and precise aim.
"I won't let you take Red!" Diana shouted. "Red" was the name of her beloved bike.
Her shoe hit the thief's head perfectly. The impact made the guy's head jolt forward, causing him to lose balance and crash. The hit was so strong that he couldn't control the bike. Diana rushed toward him before he could get back on and ride away.
She was already preparing to punch him as she closed the distance, but the bike thief quickly got up and ran instead.
Not about to let him escape, Diana took off her remaining shoe and threw it at him again. Once again, it hit its target. The guy clutched his head while running, clearly in pain from being hit twice by her shoes. Diana was skilled at this.
After retrieving her fallen bike, she pushed it aside and picked up her shoes. Kevin and Revan had stopped running, panting slightly as they watched Diana reclaim her bike. They had intended to help, but it seemed unnecessary now.
As they turned back toward the bus stop, they saw a bus passing by. The stop was empty since no passengers were waiting. The bus approached their direction before they even noticed it.
"What the—?" Instinctively, they ran toward the bus, especially Revan and Kevin, shouting for it to stop. But the bus ignored them and kept moving. It passed them.
Diana, who was behind them, now found herself directly in front of the bus as it continued forward.
Without hesitation, she pedaled her bike onto the road, positioning herself in its path. She was trying to block it—but she wasn’t stupid. She kept a safe distance so the driver would have time to react.
The sound of the horn blared multiple times, followed by the screech of brakes. The bus finally stopped a few meters away. Still too far compared to what’s usually shown in movies.
Of course, in real life, there’s no way someone would survive at a close distance like in films. Even if they did, they’d at least have bruises from the impact.
"Get on now!" Diana shouted to Kevin and Revan.
The two immediately banged on the bus door. It opened, and they quickly got inside—only to become the center of attention among the passengers. Fortunately, the bus wasn’t full since it was late at night.
They found separate seats, trying to ignore the bus driver’s irritated glare. And, of course, the stares from the other passengers.
Diana had already moved out of the way once she saw them board. The bus continued its journey, while Revan and Kevin watched her from across the street.
What a strange girl. Her actions are completely unpredictable, Revan thought.
Diana helped us. I like her even more now. She’s amazing, Kevin thought.
That last thought—if Diana knew about it, she would definitely refuse to help them again. She didn’t care about looking cool or earning admiration, especially from Kevin, who she actively tried to avoid.
In reality, Diana didn’t even think about what she was doing. She simply knew she had to care for someone. That was the reason she did things she never would have before—getting involved despite being a naturally indifferent person.
---
A few weeks passed since that night. Diana hadn’t run into them again, and she didn’t think that was a bad thing.
Then, the midterm exam results were announced. The ranking lists were posted in each classroom. Since Diana arrived early, she was one of the first to see the results.
As expected, she was in first place with a perfect score—just like before.
She was lucky that school was going smoothly, especially since she constantly had to worry about work. About earning enough for daily expenses.
Ever since losing their parents two months ago, Diana and her older brother, David, had been struggling to survive.
She shook off her thoughts and opened her notebook, putting on her headset to listen to instrumental music without lyrics.
As her classmates arrived one by one, they all immediately checked the posted rankings. Many congratulated Diana, already expecting her to be the top scorer. She politely nodded in response, repeatedly removing her headset to acknowledge them.
After a while, it got annoying—having to take off her headset every time someone spoke to her.
She found herself silently grateful to the classmates who ignored her. Not everyone liked her, after all. There were always those who felt jealous.
---
Kevin stood in front of his classroom’s ranking list, scanning for his name. He looked at the middle of the list since that was where he usually placed. Sure enough, his name was somewhere in the middle. With that, he returned to his seat, uninterested in the rest of the rankings.
"What? Revan Gael got the highest score in class?" Someone exclaimed—one of the students who usually ranked first.
"Really? But he’s a new student," another commented.
Kevin double-checked the list, his eyes widening when he saw the name he disliked at the very top.
A perfect score? That delinquent is actually smart? Back then, he didn’t even have grades that were—
Kevin’s thoughts were cut off as the very person he was thinking about entered the classroom.
The moment Revan stepped in, all eyes were on him. He noticed the stares and found them odd, though the room wasn’t full yet.
His classmates whispered among themselves before approaching him with praises.
Kevin, however, had no intention of doing the same. He simply watched Revan with a look of disbelief.