Cinderella And The Beast

When break came, Cinderella walked down the corridors of the school, looking for her best friend, Luna. After a long time, the girl finally found Luna in the back garden of the school. She was sitting on one of the long benches.

"Lunaaa...!" Cinderella patted Luna on the back, startling her best friend. "What are you doing here?" asked the seventeen-year-old girl as she sat down.

"Astaghfiruallah." Luna rubbed her chest when she found Cinderella already next to her. "What's wrong, La?"

"Alhamdulillah, Ella got the gold medal in the electronic creation competition," Cinderella said with a happy look that never faded from her face.

"Waaahh, congratulations, La. You have to treat me this time," Luna shouted excitedly and got up from her seat. "Come on, to the cafeteria now! Treat me to meatballs, okay?" pleaded Luna who was already dragging Cinderella towards the cafeteria.

Upon arriving at the cafeteria, Cinderella and Luna's eyes scanned the entire cafeteria, looking for an empty spot for them to stop at.

Finding two empty stools Luna and Cinderella quickly grabbed them. 

"You take care, okay, La? I'll order some meatballs, what would you like?" Luna asked Cinderella.

Cinderella handed her a red piece of paper. "Here, take my treat, but order me a ten thousand dumpling."

"Yes, kanjeng queen, I will carry out your order," said Luna who had taken one hundred thousand from Cinderella's hand.

From the other direction Luna brought a tray with a bowl of meatballs and a plate of siomai. Luna placed the siomai in front of Cinderella and the meatballs in front of her. They devoured their respective orders.

While they were enjoying their food, two cute boys came in, Chiko and Rikho. The 2 twins who had liked Cinderella and still had their hearts set on the girl. 

"Waaah, Cinderella, congratulations, yes, the gold medal," Chiko congratulated and shook Cinderella's hand tightly.

"What's this, Chiko?" asked Cinderella innocently when she saw the envelope in her hand.

"Cuan, cuan," said Rikho quickly.

Cinderella's lips gaped, not expecting to get an envelope of money. "Eeeh, no need, don't bother." the girl returned the envelope of money to Chiko.

"Ok, then you have to choose one of us," Rikho said, "no, I'm not kidding," Rikho added when he saw Cinderella's annoyed reaction. 

"How about dinner with us tonight? It's my treat," Chiko suggested.

Cinderella seemed to think for a moment, thinking that it was not bad to get a free meal instead of buying because she was forbidden to eat at her house, it was better for her to have dinner with Chiko and Rikho, right? 

"Ok," Cinderella decided after a long time of deliberation.

"I wasn't invited? It's rude, yes, I wasn't invited, but you guys are planning in front of my eyes." Luna rolled her eyeballs lazily.

"Do you want to come? Come on. Is it okay, Chik, Rikh?" asked Cinderella asking for Chiko and Rikho's opinion.

Chiko and Rikho looked at each other as if they were telepathic.

"No, just kidding. I don't want to disturb your double date," said Luna quickly and smiled.

"No way," Rikho, Chiko, and Cinderella replied in unison.

Just as they finished eating, the bell rang signaling that break was over and the next lesson was about to begin. Because they were busy chatting, they didn't feel the time passed quickly, especially since they had just finished eating. With hurried steps, Cinderella and Luna went to their class as well as Chiko and Rikho.

****

"Okay, I will end today's lesson. Please pack up and the class leader can lead the prayer." Mrs. Mila packed up her things and sat on the teacher's bench.

As class leader, Abdi prepared his men. "Ready, prayers begin."

All the students bowed their heads. Praying silently according to their own beliefs. 

"Prayers are finished. Greetings."

"Assalamualaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh, good afternoon, ma'am."

"Waalaikumsalam warahmatullahi wabarakatuh, good afternoon."

The students scattered out of the classroom. Cinderella and Luna went home hand in hand. However, when they arrived at the Semanggi junction they separated because Cinderella had to go straight to work while Luna went home.

In the bathroom of Intan Raya cafe, Cinderella changed out of her school uniform into a black T-shirt. 

Cinderella came out immediately after giving birth, ready to serve customers. However, just as she was about to leave, she was intercepted by Odelia.

Odelia glared. "You moved to work here? Since when? Watch out if you say we're sisters!!!" 

Cinderella smiled slightly, seemingly not feeling oppressed by her sister's threat. "Yes, mission." Cinderella simply walked past Odelia.

Odelia hugged her lips and smiled as if thinking of a cunning plan. 

Seconds turned into minutes, minutes into hours and so on. Because the cafe was fairly crowded, it kept Cinderella busy serving customers until the clock struck 9pm. 

No, Cinderella did not go straight home, but went to Rikho and Chiko's house as planned this afternoon at school.

Cinderella knocked on the door. "Assalamualaikum, Chiko, Rikho."

Shortly after the door opened, Cinderella was welcomed inside. In addition to receiving warm treatment from Rikho and Chiko's father and mother, Cinderella also received a beautiful light blue dress.

Cinderella wore the dress to dinner with Chiko and Rikho. 

Cinderella replaced her T-shirt with the dress in the guest room. Cinderella's appearance in the light blue dress made all the residents of Chiko and Rikho's house raise their lips. Amazed by Cinderella's beauty.

Lily, Chiko and Rikho's sister waved her hand in front of Rikho and Chiko. "Shut your mouth and the mosquitoes will come in."

Cinderella chuckled at Chiko and Rikho's salting behavior. 

"Bye, hurry up and go! You said you were hungry for Cinderella's sake," said Mrs. Desi, Rikho and Chiko's mother.

"Aaahh, Mama, don't tell me, so embarrassed." Chiko's face was already red while Rikho scratched the back of his neck that wasn't itchy.

"Seriously, are you guys holding your hunger for me?" asked Cinderella.

All of Rikho and Choki's family members nodded in unison at Cinderella's question.

Cinderella took the twins by the hand. "Come on, let's go, you guys are starving."

They left the house. Chiko stroked Cinderella's cheek gently while Rikho ruffled Cinderella's hair.

"You can make people love you more," said Rikho and Chiko in unison.

"Huh?" 

Chiko laughed. "It's okay, it's okay," said Rikho.

Arriving at a famous restaurant in Bandung, they looked for an empty place and ordered food.

Cinderella was stunned when she saw the menu list with such fantastic prices.

"Are you guys seriously going to eat here? Let's change restaurants, shall we?" invited Cinderella who didn't want to waste Rikho and Chiko's money.

"There's no refusal or you can accept this." Chiko handed over the same envelope as earlier this afternoon during break at school.

"Eehmm, yes, just eat here."

The twins smiled slightly at Cinderella who quickly went back to get the menu book.

"I'll have the prawns with padang sauce and orange juice," said Cinderella who apparently chose the cheapest menu in the restaurant.

Rikho and Chiko realized that Cinderella was reluctant to choose a menu so they ordered a lot of food that was not cheap such as fleur burger 5000, posh pie, the glamburger, and faberge chocolate pudding. 

Cinderella was shocked when she saw the amount of expensive food on the dining table.

"Isn't this too much, Chik, Rikh?" asked Cinderella with an awkward smile.

"Not if it's for someone special," said Rikho.

"You can do it." Cinderella patted Rikho's shoulder a little hard while the master just grinned.

Rikho returned to being romantic by feeding her a spoonful of posh pie. Seeing Rikho being romantic, Chiko did not want to be outdone, she cleaned the leftovers at the corner of Cinderella's lips.

Receiving romantic treatment from the twins made Cinderella gasp in surprise. 

"Uhmm, love," Cinderella said while holding back her nerves.

Dinner closed with the perfect violin strains of Andra and the Backbone's song.

Satisfied with silencing their churning stomachs, Rikho and Chiko drove Cinderella home. However, unfortunately their journey did not go smoothly. 

After ± 1km from a famous restaurant in the city of Bandung, suddenly the tire of the car that Chiko was driving with Rikho and Cinderella went flat. The three of them were forced to push the car until they found the nearest repair shop. 

The mechanic immediately checked Rikho and Chiko's flat tire. After half an hour of fixing the tire, the mechanic stated that there was a nail stuck in their tire. 

Cinderella, who had been calm, was now nervous. Was this Odelia's doing, deliberately spreading nails on the road to cause the car to deflate. If not then, who else?