September 8th. Friday, 12:38 PM.
A few days have passed, and it is now Friday. The students were getting eased into their studies and adjusting to their timetables and schedules.
Other than the first day, no other major incidents have happened.... yet. People kept to themselves and kept to their classmates. Trying to make friends with whoever they could. No one wanted confrontation or drama with anyone. It was tense and awkward whenever the students were gathered in a closed space with other classes. Nobody wanted to make that leap to make friends with another class. It felt like treachery if they did.
How could they trust each other?
Everybody was waiting for a challenge and to earn some points. Whenever they loaded the app to see their points and check the leaderboard, the only name that popped up was Malakai Junior with 100 points, while everyone below him was on 0.
This annoyed a bunch of students, but there was nothing they could do. They just had to wait for a challenge.
As for Malakai, he was chilling. He didn't get into any arguments. He'd gotten a fair few dirty looks, but nobody approached him. He was living like a high school student, having fun, laughing and making jokes. He hadn't made any new friends yet. He only had his original group and Dellilah. He hadn't spoken much with his neighbours, Tanisha and Maria, because they hadn't crossed paths. And Malakai wasn't the type to knock on their door and be outgoing with them.
Anyway, he ignored the looks he received. He shrugged them off and pretended like they were not there. Everything was smooth sailing for him and his friends, but waves were approaching.
"Lu, what you gonna do later?" Malakai asked, unscrewing his drink bottle cap.
"I don't know", Lucas replied, taking a seat with a sandwich in his hand. "Revise, probably".
Ray's head was scanning the cafeteria, glancing at faces, "We said we were going to meet in the cafeteria, right?".
"Yeah. The three of them are gonna come in a bit", Malakai replied, taking the first sip of his drink.
"Mally, you need to slow down when you talk. Your UK slang and accent are hard to understand sometimes", Lucas told him, barely understanding what he said and taking his sandwich out of the packaging.
"Bro, I'm speaking English. If you don't, then it's not my problem", Malakai replied, lifting his shoulders.
"But it is your problem. We're your friends. We need to understand you", Lucas said before taking a bite from his sandwich.
"Learn English then", Malakai said, with his arms out.
"Bruh, what you speak isn't English", Lucas replied, covering his mouth while chewing.
Malakai smirked, putting his bottle down, "We've been friends for like 3 or 4 years. You should understand most of the shit I say by now".
"I understand", Ray said, turning his seat towards them. "But when you talk quickly, it gets kinda confusing. I agree with Lu, sometimes I don't even think you're speaking English".
Malakai's smirk grew a little. He didn't mind Lucas complaining, but hearing Ray agree with Lucas made him realise it might be a problem. He picked up his drink to take a sip. "Hehe, My bad. I'll try to talk slower", he smirked.
Ray checked his phone to see if he got any texts from his friends. After seeing no new notifications, he lifted his head to see four people approaching them.
"That guy is coming towards us", Ray quietly informed his two friends.
Lucas and Malakai both looked to where Ray was looking. They saw Dillon walking with his hands in his pockets, with three other boys following behind.
Lucas swallowed the food in his mouth. "Damn, he's already got some minions", he said disappointingly, looking at the guys following him.
"Sad life to live, being one of his dogs", Malakai added quietly before Dillon was in front of him.
When Dillon reached Malakai, he stood over him just like their first enocunter in the assembly. Malakai stayed in his seat, twisting his body and looking up at him with his cheeky smirk.
"Yo", Malakai opened the conversation, not intimidated.
"Wassup. I see you're not with all your friends", Dillon replied. "Where are they?" he asked, briefly glancing at Ray and Lucas.
"We're not kids bro. We don't need to babysit each other", Malakai said, moving his chair a little so he wasn't too close to Dillon.
"Why are you sitting down? Do you want me to drag you up again?" Dillon said, looming closer after seeing him move.
"If you touch him, you'll see what happens", Lucas intervened, ready to jump out of his seat whenever.
Malakai slightly turned his head to Lucas, "It's fine, he won't do anything". he calmly said, smiling.
Malakai stood up and turned to Dillon. Malakai is five feet and six inches tall, while Dillon is about six feet tall, so even when standing, Malakai is still looking up at Dillon.
"What'd you want?" Malakai asked, nodding his head up with a smirk still on his face.
Dillon raised his hands, "Nothing, I'm just here to say hello with my new friends", he said, pointing at the people behind him with his thumb.
Malakai paused for a second. He didn't know if Dillon was serious or planning something. Malakai slightly leaned to the side and looked at Dillon's friends. He also looked beyond them just in case there were more people.
"Okay?... Is that it?".
"Yeah, I just wanted to see how you'd react when you saw me again", Dillon said with a smile on his face, feeling powerful in front of Malakai.
Malakai scoffed and glanced back at his friends to see if they were seeing the same thing he was.
"What? You thought I would be scared of you?" Malakai mockingly said, subtly pointing at him.
Dillon smirked. "I wanted to see if you regret what you did at the assembly".
Malakai's smile only widened. "Are you trying to be a Netflix American Bully or something?" he asked, finding it funny. "I regret nothing. What did I do? Take the piss out of you a bit? C'mon bro, your ego can't be that fragile".
Dillon pursed his lips together and slowly nodded, "I see. So no apology".
Malakai chuckled a little, "Who is this guy bro?".
While Malakai was finding it funny, Lucas was getting annoyed seeing Dillon act like that. He pushed himself up from his seat.
"If you came to us because you outnumber us and you're trying to intimidate us, you're not", Lucas bursted out. "I don't know what you're trying to do, but we don't care. Fuck off".
"Lu, Calm down", Ray said, getting out of his seat to de-escalate the situation.
"Whoa whoa. I didn't want to pick a fight. We just came here to say hello", Dillon grinning at Lucas, trying to act like Malakai and say something he would say.
Malakai looked at Dillon for a moment, clearly thinking about something.
"Dillon, I think we got off on the wrong foot", Malakai said. "How about we move past what happened and start brand new?" He said it in a way that was serious but at the same time sounded like a joke by his tone of voice. Even when trying his unserious side still shone through.
Malakai offered his hand for a handshake. The other people around were watching this face-to-face, and most of them were not surprised that Malakai was one of the faces they recognised.
Dillon stared at his hand and smacked it away. "Naah. I'm happy with how we started and want to keep it that way".
Malakai smirked and shook his hand, pretending like the slap hurt. In truth, it did sting, but he wasn't going to admit that. "Whatever you say. Just remember, I wanted to start fresh", he said, shrugging his shoulders.
Dillon copied his smirk. Not bothering to respond to his face. He started walking away, "Just watch out, don't get too comfortable".
Dillon walked away with his friends following behind. His friends didn't say a word the whole time. All they did was try to look intimidating, which didn't work in the slightest.
Malakai watched until Dillon was out of sight, then turned towards Lucas and Ray. "Weirdos, man. You're telling me he came here to show us he has an army", grinning while shaking his head, finding the whole situation hilarious.
"What army?" Lucas joked, joining his grin and sitting back down.
"Ray, if he ever does anything to you, just tell me", Malakai said, taking his seat again.
"And me", Lucas added, pulling out his phone.
Ray smiled slightly, "I don't think he will do anything to me. You should worry about yourself, Mally", he replied, more concerned for him than himself.
Malakai picked up his drink, "He'll play dirty, he won't go for me directly", he said, before taking a sip.
Ray's eyes suddenly shifted behind Malakai.
"What?" Malakai noticed, taking his drink away from his lips
"There's someone else behind you", Ray said, pointing behind Malakai.
"Huh?" Malakai twisted his body around. "Who are you?" he frowned.
Lucas looked up from his phone, "Ryan?"
Malakai looked at Lucas, "You know him?".
"Yeah, I met him on Monday in a convenience store with Ben", Lucas replied.
Ryan stood a few feet behind Malakai's seat with two girls standing behind him.
"Hi, it's nice to see you again, Lucas", Ryan said, giving him a little nod. "And it's nice to meet you, Malakai", he offered his hand to Malakai.
Malakai slowly got up from his seat and cautiously shook his hand. "Yeah... likewise", he replied, attempting to be polite but not meaning what he said. Malakai looked beyond Ryan and saw the two girls. A lot of assumptions came to mind straightaway. This situation felt too weird to him.
"Are those your friends or your fans?" Malakai jokingly asked with his cheeky smirk.
"Who do you think you're talking to?" One of them snapped, annoyed by his choice of words.
"Melody, it's fine, he's only joking", Ryan said, cheerfully smiling at Melody. He turned back to Malakai, "They're my friends".
Malakai's eyes looked Ryan up and down, "A tall, good-looking guy with two girls following him, not even walking beside him.... Yeeaaaah, I'm not buying it, I can't lie", Malakai said, uninterested, shaking his head and holding his chin.
"What's your problem? Ryan was trying to be nice, and you're being rude", Melody raised her voice. Melody was a short girl with dark skin, long, curly black hair and circular glasses.
Malakai looked at her with bored eyes. "My bad, I'm not used to this kinda interaction", he said, sounding fed up. His focus turned back to Ryan. "Aryt (Alright), what do you want?".
Malakai's tone surprised Ryan. He didn't expect Malakai to act like this. "I just wanted to meet you. I always found you interesting and haven't had the time to meet you until now", Ryan replied politely.
Malakai was tired of this whole interaction. It barely started, but he was tired of it. He expected more. He felt a weird vibe about Ryan just by his speech and mannerisms. He was being too nice, which instantly set alarm bells off in Malakai's head. Being from England, people being too nice was weird.
Malakai looked back at Lucas, "Am I a celebrity or something?" he asked. "Why does everyone want to meet me?"
Lucas was barely concentrating on the conversation. He was finishing his sandwich. "You know why you idiot. Think before you do shit next time".
Malakai sighed, "Fairs". He turned back to Ryan with a little attitude. "Well, I'm here innit. What else you wanna say?".
Ryan's smile didn't fall. He kept his calm composure. "I wanted to see how you were in person. I thought you would be different. Maybe I caught you at the wrong time", Ryan replied, trying to justify Malakai's attitude.
Malakai smirked, "You know exactly what you're doing", he said, leaning slightly forward and putting a hand over his mouth. "The timing, the people you chose to come with and the way you're talking to me. Stop being fake bro", he said in a voice that could only be heard by Ryan. Melody and the other girl were standing behind Ryan, and Ray and Lucas were sitting around the circular table, so they couldn't catch what Malakai said.
Ryan laughed a little. "Maybe next time, when the situation is different, we can have a more docile conversation", he said, not falling for Malakai's bait.
"Who said it wasn't docile?" Malakai asked, removing his hand and talking normally again.
Ryan smiled at him and didn't say another word. He started walking away and raised his arm to wave goodbye.
Malakai stared at him, walking away as he did with Dillon. The two girls walking behind Ryan were still glancing back at Malakai and giving dirty looks.
"Shit, I forgot to ask what class he's in", Malakai said.
"He's in 1-B", Lucas replied.
"Long day", Malakai said in a tired voice, slumping in his chair.
"Why? What's wrong?" Lucas asked.
"Mally, you should be nice to people", Ray said.
Malakai went to take a sip out of his drink. "I'm nice to people when they are nice people", he replied. "He is not nice".
"You don't know that", Ray said.
"I thought he was a nice guy", Lucas added.
Malakai finished his drink and smiled gently as he put his bottle down, "Just watch out for him innit". He checked his phone to see the time. "Where are these guys? Lunch is over in five minutes".
"They probably got stuck in a queue", Lucas said. "Should we start heading to class?" He asked, standing up.
"It's still early", Malakai complained, who just started to get comfortable.
"Come on Mally. Let's go", Ray said, picking his bag up and getting ready.
Malakai looked hopelessly at both of them standing up, "I've barely relaxed", he said with his hands out.
"If you wanna relax, you can stay here then", Lucas said, walking away. "I'm going".
Ray saw Lucas already leaving, "Sorry Mally", he said, laughing, joining Lucas.
"Aryt, aryt. Wait, I'm coming".