MOON IN PESANTREN

Prologues

...“He was very good to me. Everyone thought that I would be very lucky to be with him. But that's what I'm worried about. I don't want myself to wish for him. Because I know the pain of hoping to besides Him.”...

...“Allah has written a soul mate for each of His servants. There will never be a wrong place and time for a rib to meet its owner. So, why do I hope he will be my match if God has betrothed me to someone who is definitely best for me because it is my God's chosen mate.”...

..._Selina Mufida_'s...

The hustle and bustle of the students who had just occupied their new class each became a familiar sight to me. I've been working on this for the past two years, when I was in tenth grade and now I'm entering a new school year in twelfth grade. Yes, I am a new child because I entered this boarding school during the Aliyah Madrasah.

The next year Insyaallah will be my last year feeling like a santri. After that there is no more falling asleep in class during class hours or rest hours, no more waiting in line to bathe, take a meal, no more hunting food from the public canteen, no more, and other things I couldn't possibly get other than here.

I sat in my chair enjoying an atmosphere that might soon disappear from my life and would not be repeated. The classic song that is always sung on my school speakers every morning makes me miss this atmosphere.

“Sel, you are wanted. In the middle corridor.” Aidha approached me from the classroom door while sitting next to me. She was my classmate and my roommate from the eleventh grade.

“Who are you looking for?” my many.

“Morning gini usually who is looking for you? Must know dong.” Aidha smiled teasingly at me.

“Andra?”

“Hmmm.”

I walked out of the classroom towards the middle corridor, the corridor near the stairs that connects the block for santri nisa and santri rijal. I circulated the view to find Andra's whereabouts among other friends as this corridor was quite spacious and crowded. This central corridor is often used by santri rijal and nisa to meet at school, such as for organizational meetings or other purposes.

This school is a pesantren. More precisely, modern and international pesantren, so many santri here also come from abroad.

After seeing the figure I was expecting was Andra, I walked up to her. However, my steps stopped when I saw Andra was chatting with a girl friend who was my age.

“Okay Aidha, I think you are wrong. Turns out Andra wasn't my mistress,” I grumbled as I walked around to the classroom.

“Eh, Seli. Went where? How back?” andra said while chasing me and I reflexively turned to her.

“Why, Ndra?” ask after we face off.

Andra handed me one chocolate bar as usual. Andra has given me chocolate almost every two weeks since we were in the eleventh grade because she knew that I loved chocolate since childhood. I always wanted to reject it because I thought it was excessive, but if I refused, he would still put the chocolate in my desk drawer when santri nisa had not come to school. It's a little mengingan, before he always gave me chocolate once a week.

I grabbed the chocolate from Andra's hand with a smile. “This makes the last yes, Ndra. If you want to give me chocolate, if I'm happy it's enough, kok.”

Andra rolled her eyeballs, it seemed like she was tired of what I said. “Why the hell, Cell? This you can eat if you are sad or sprained or sleepy during lesson time. As long as you do not forget to brush your teeth diligently.”

I let out a breath. I was confused to tell him more. “OK. Thanks, Ndra. I went back to class.”

...***

...

“Ayok, guys. Cepetan, tar keburu ngantri youho,” said I reminded three friends who are now tying their shoelaces on the ground floor of the school.

In my school which has five floors and a basement, footwear must be removed for students, so we take off and wear shoes on the ground floor. Luckily the classrooms for the twelfth graders were on the second and third floors so I and my three best friends did not take long to get to the ground floor of this building.

“Iya nih I already,” said Iffah while standing and approaching me who was standing near the sidewalk in front of my school building.

After the three of us had rushed, we finally arrived at the public canteen. Yes, this is our goal in a hurry, which is to immediately arrive at the public canteen before waiting in a long queue and jostling. Getting married is natural in any pesantren, but in this pesantrenku the number of students in each class exceeds five hundred students and all Madrasah Aliyah students have a schedule to go home from school at the same time so it is not impossible if there are thousands of students in the canteen at this time.

“Today's your schedule, right, Cell?” asked Zahra when we arrived.

“Iya, i. Where's your money?”

“Ordinary kayak Her food cells. Oh yeah, ati-ati yeah, Cell. I think today more guys are coming here deh.” Iffah looked around after handing over the money to me and I went to look around, it turned out that the queue today was dominated by the Adamites.

“Ngga papa really, Cell. Aja Santuy, you are beautiful kok,” said Najwa with a smile and blinked one of his eyes then left me followed by the others.

“Ih you guys are so mean swear ...” Just now I wanted to shout at those who had been away, but I paused because I had just realized that I was now among the santri rijal.

In the public canteen is not separated between santri rijal and nisa, so it is only natural to queue with santri rijal like this.

I dyed. It turns out that I am really a woman myself here, although there are women she is in the front and back rows that are very far from my current standing position. Maybe some santri nisa who was near me came out of the queue and did not buy food in the cafeteria because she saw the queue that was dominated by the people of Adam.

Yes Rabb, how is this? Please God.

If I get out of the queue and don't buy food in the cafeteria, then what are my three friends going to eat this lunch? All santri indeed get three meals a day at the restaurant santri. But know for yourself how the food tastes there, such as not being seasoned. That is the reason the students are willing to queue in the public canteen. If now me and my best friend to the restaurant it seems there is already queuing up as well and this is clearly the stage.

Astagfirullah, why aren't there guys here that I know anyway? If I have, I want that nitip. Original, where I peed keblet again. It's more urgent. I don't want to have to sneak into whoever it is.

I am twelve class, I should have known the santri-santri rijal of my class. But how else, I do not really care about santri rijal so that my acquaintance is not much. Actually, there are many who invite me to acquaintances and chat when we are an organization but really I do not really remember their names and faces that I think are somewhat similar.

Someone was looking. “Why? Want nitip?” ask him while showing a lazy face looking at me.

I hesitated. “Bby, right?”

“Ngak.” He also went back to face the front.

Astagfirullah, these guys really do have a lot of heart.

“Please really, again this urgent. I'm back because.” I had to say such a disrespectful thing.

He looked at me flatly without saying anything.

She was so annoying, there was no sense of wanting to help at all.

“OK, what should I buy?”

Oh Allah, I have su’zan. I don't think he's gonna help.

Maybe he had refused because it had been a lot of people who wanted to wait in line just because they were lazy to wait while standing in broad daylight like this.

Without a second thought I immediately handed him a piece of money that I thought was fifty thousand to him. “Buy rice, potatoes, vegetables, crackers and fried each four packs yes. Thanks so much for this.” I also rushed out of the queue to the toilet while running small.

“Eh, Cell. Where to?” call Iffah when I see me away from the queue.

“Iya, Cell. That's the queue you tipped to what person?”

No matter what my friends call me. I kept flushing towards the toilet.

...***...

“Alhamdulillah, relieved. Not good to pee it.” I walked out of the toilet. “Eh, but where should I go now? It is impossible to go back to the queue. But the guy took my face not yes. Afraid she'll have a hard time finding out how?”

“Cell, so eat in the canteen or not?” Zahra approached me who was walking towards them.

“Insyaallah.”

“So you kebelet huh, Cell? Why don't you ask one of us to replace it?” ask Najwa without guilt.

I turned the puffed-up eyeballs. “Where to call you? You didn't look out of my direction.”

“Hehe. Sorry, Cells,” said they were compact.

“Eh, just now you nitip what how, Cell?”

“Iya. But the problem is I don't know that guy.”

“Cowok class?”

I'm nodding. “Iya. Bentar yes. I want to wait for him in front there afraid he's having a hard time finding me.” I walked to a chair not far from the cafeteria and sat on it.

Bruk!

I was aghast when suddenly a bag of crackles full of food landed rough on my lap.

Without saying anything, he immediately turned around and walked to split the crowd of students. Leaving me who was still sitting. I didn't say thank you to him yet, but his back had disappeared from my sight.

Before getting up from the chair, I reached into my uniform pocket for intending to put my money in the bag. I see my fifty thousand dollars are still here. Then, how much money did I give to santri rijal earlier?

“Astagfirullah, may I give you two thousand more? Uh, Seli. You how reckless is outrageous gini anyway? Where do I not know the name of the guy earlier, how do I pay to him try if gini?”

I ran to my friends and complained about this. Trying to ask for solutions from them while eating lunch with the results of my struggle which is even still my debt to santr rijal earlier.

“Emang what are the characteristics of the guy? Time never gets its name?” najwa asked me after eating some rice bribes.

I'm shaking.

Iffah took a breath. “Mean it you do not cuek-cue so much to santri rijal dong, Sel.”

It is true said Iffah, I was too indifferent to santri rijal which caused me difficulties in various things, one of which is something like this. All this time I only know Andra and his friends and some santri rijal who one organization with me, the rest I do not know.

I am not at all interested in getting to know many men in this boarding school even though since childhood I have played more with men. Even in my pesantren it is recommended to socialize with everyone, not least with the opposite sex. Because we also have to look forward, we with the opposite sex do need each other in various ways. If it's Andra, there's a reason why I'm so close to him.

...***...