The Twenty-Year Reunion

Henrietta almost stays home. She has been standing outside the school gym for ten minutes. In her hand is a name tag she does not want to wear. A banner above the door says "Twenty Years Later". She smooths her jacket and tells herself that it is only one evening.

Henrietta hampir saja memilih tinggal di rumah. Sudah sepuluh menit ia berdiri di luar gimnasium sekolah. Di tangannya ada label nama yang tak ingin ia kenakan. Sebuah spanduk di atas pintu bertuliskan "Dua Puluh Tahun Kemudian". Ia merapikan jaketnya dan berkata pada dirinya bahwa ini hanya satu malam.

Inside, the music is from the year they all left school, and the lights are too bright. People are hugging and holding up phones to show photos of their children. Henrietta finds a table of old friends and listens to news about jobs, houses and divorces. Everyone seems to have changed, and she isn't sure what to say about herself.

Di dalam, musiknya berasal dari tahun mereka semua lulus, dan lampunya terlalu terang. Orang-orang berpelukan dan mengangkat ponsel untuk memperlihatkan foto anak-anak mereka. Henrietta menemukan meja teman-teman lama dan mendengarkan kabar tentang pekerjaan, rumah, dan perceraian. Semua orang tampak sudah berubah, dan ia tak yakin harus berkata apa tentang dirinya sendiri.

Then she sees him by the snack table. He still wears glasses, and he still has the same crooked smile. It is Santiago, the boy she competed with in every class for six years. If she got ninety-four in a math test, he got ninety-five. In their last year, she beat him by one point in the chemistry exam. He did not speak to her for a month.

Lalu ia melihatnya di dekat meja makanan ringan. Ia masih berkacamata, dan senyum miringnya masih sama. Itu Santiago, anak laki-laki yang bersaing dengannya di setiap pelajaran selama enam tahun. Kalau ia mendapat sembilan puluh empat di ujian matematika, Santiago mendapat sembilan puluh lima. Di tahun terakhir, ia mengalahkannya dengan selisih satu poin di ujian kimia. Santiago tidak bicara padanya selama sebulan.

"Henrietta," he says, as if he has just found a lost key. "I was hoping you would come."

"Henrietta," katanya, seperti orang yang baru menemukan kunci yang hilang. "Aku berharap kamu datang."

"You were? I thought you would be the person who avoided me."

"Benarkah? Kupikir kamu orang yang akan menghindariku."

"I have been avoiding you for twenty years," he says. "But I am running out of reasons."

"Aku sudah menghindarimu selama dua puluh tahun," katanya. "Tapi alasanku sudah hampir habis."

They both laugh. Then they take two paper cups of lemonade and sit at the end of the bleachers. They talk about the teachers who are gone and the teachers who are somehow still here. Henrietta tells him she designs bridges. He is a doctor for animals, and he shows her a photo of a very fat dog.

Mereka berdua tertawa. Lalu mereka mengambil dua gelas kertas berisi limun dan duduk di ujung tribun. Mereka membicarakan guru-guru yang sudah pergi dan guru-guru yang entah bagaimana masih ada. Henrietta bercerita bahwa ia merancang jembatan. Santiago dokter hewan, dan ia menunjukkan foto seekor anjing yang sangat gemuk.

"Can I tell you something embarrassing?" she says after a while. "I studied until two in the morning every night in our last year. Not because I loved chemistry. Because I could not stand the thought of you getting a better grade."

"Boleh aku cerita sesuatu yang memalukan?" kata Henrietta setelah beberapa saat. "Aku belajar sampai pukul dua pagi setiap malam di tahun terakhir kita. Bukan karena aku suka kimia. Tapi karena aku tak tahan membayangkan kamu mendapat nilai lebih baik."

Santiago stares at her. Then he puts his hand over his face. "Henrietta, I used to walk past the library every evening," he says. "If your light was still on, I went home and studied too. I thought I was the only one."

Santiago menatapnya. Lalu ia menutup wajah dengan tangan. "Henrietta, dulu aku selalu lewat di depan perpustakaan setiap malam," katanya. "Kalau lampumu masih menyala, aku pulang dan belajar juga. Kukira cuma aku yang begitu."

"So I was your night light."

"Jadi aku ini lampu malammu."

"You were the reason I got into university."

"Kamu alasan aku bisa masuk universitas."

"And you were mine," she says quietly.

"Dan kamu alasanku," katanya pelan.

They sit in silence for a moment, watching people dance badly. "We wasted a lot of energy being enemies," he says. "Imagine what we could have done if we had studied together."

Mereka duduk diam sejenak, memandangi orang-orang yang menari dengan kaku. "Kita membuang banyak tenaga untuk menjadi musuh," katanya. "Bayangkan apa yang bisa kita capai kalau dulu kita belajar bersama."

"We could both have got a hundred." She takes his phone from his hand and types her number into it. "There is a restaurant near my office. Next Thursday, seven o'clock. I am choosing the place."

"Kita berdua bisa dapat seratus." Ia mengambil ponsel dari tangan Santiago dan mengetikkan nomornya. "Ada restoran dekat kantorku. Kamis depan, pukul tujuh. Aku yang memilih tempatnya."

"Of course you are," he says. "You always have to win."

"Tentu saja kamu," katanya. "Kamu selalu harus menang."