The Next Day…Noor got up from bed. His body still felt sore."Ouch... I shouldn't have stayed up so late last night. I was overthinking again."
Knock knock."Umm... who is it?""Sir Noor, it's Rosy."He opened the door."Good morning, Miss! Haha...""Here's your breakfast. Also, you have school at 8:30.""Oh no! What time is it now?"He looked at the clock."Ah! It's 8:10?! I only have 20 minutes left! Mr. Kevin will think I'm lazy!""Okay, Miss Rosy, I'll get ready quickly. Where's my uniform…? Found it.""Why is it a little big…? Well, I don't have time. I have to go."
He rushed down the stairs."Well, Sir Noor, the driver is waiting for you outside.""Thanks, Miss Rosy!"
Outside, the driver was already by the car."Sir, you'll be late.""Sorry, Mr. Driver!""It's Rahim.""Oh! Sorry, Mr. Rahim. Let's go."
He opened the car door—inside, Jenne was already sitting.(Oh no… not again.)He shut the door immediately."What's wrong, sir?""Nothing. Haha…"He sat in the front seat.
"Well, Mr. Rahim, can I ask you something?""Yes, sir?""Do you know my father?""Yes. I've known him for a long time.""Oh, I see…"
Sometime later..."Sir Noor, wake up.""Huh? Did I fall asleep in the car?""Yes.""Let's go, sir.""Wahh—okay!"
He looked up."The school is really big.""Yes, it's the biggest and best in this province.""Wow..."(Why is everyone looking at me so awkwardly...?)
"Your class is Class B, sir.""Okay. Bye, Mr. Rahim."(I'm really nervous...)
Inside the classroom, the teacher spoke:"Students, today we have a transfer student. Please come in."
Some girls whispered, "I hope he's handsome, hehe..."Noor walked into the classroom.Everyone's expressions turned disappointed.Some girls whispered, "He looks like a sewer rat…" "Nah, more like a skinny pig."
"Please introduce yourself to everyone," the teacher said."Hello, everyone. My Noor name… Noor." He spoke with a shaky voice.(Shit... I said that wrong.)
The class burst out laughing."Come on now, everyone makes mistakes," the teacher giggled."Well, my name is Noor," he said again."What's your full name?" she asked."My full name...? Uh… I forgot."(Shit... I really can't remember!)
The class roared with laughter again."Enough, everyone! Noor, take a seat. There's an empty one over there.""Yes, ma'am."
He sat down.(Why do I feel so much pressure again? Why is everyone staring at me like that…?)
"Hey, you," said a girl from the next seat."Yes?" Noor replied."Make sure to keep your distance from me."Noor went silent.(Who even starts a conversation like that? And why does she look so disgusted by me...?)"Okay, miss," he said quietly.
Class ended. Noor walked into the hallway when a group of boys and girls stopped him."Hey, you.""Yes?""You're the new student, right?""Yes…""Why were you talking to Ria, our class captain?""Ria?""Don't play dumb!" a girl snapped."It's a misunderstanding. She just told me to keep my distance from her, and I replied yes. That's all.""So you were disturbing her!" a boy grabbed Noor by the collar."Please, no…"
They began punching and beating him."You disgusting piece of trash, how dare you talk to her!""No! Please! I didn't do anything!"
"Hey! What are you guys doing?!"A boy had appeared."Suvro, this guy was bothering Ria!""No, I didn't do anything!" Noor cried."But he says he didn't…""He's lying," a girl added."I'm not! She talked to me first. I just replied to what she said."
"You heard him. If it's really that serious, then ask Ria yourself," Suvro said."But he's—""Leave him alone. You're only picking on him because he's weak and alone. If you don't stop, I'll make it my problem. You'll have to face me."
"Ah, sorry Suvro!" the boy stuttered."Say it to him.""We're sorry, man.""Ah… okay," Noor said weakly.The group left.
"Hmph, those bastards. Are you okay?""I… I'm fine. Cough.""Take my hand. You're bleeding from your forehead. Let's go to the infirmary.""Thanks…"
"What's your name? I'm Suvro.""I'm Noor.""Hey, Suvro! Where are you going?" a voice called out."Oi, Ashraf! Let's take him to the infirmary.""Who's that?""His name is Noor. He's new here.""Oh! Hi, Noor! I'm Ashraf. Woah, what happened to your forehead?""Ah… I…"
"Those students from our class who idolize Ria beat him for no reason," Suvro explained."Woah, that's bad. We should tell the teacher," Ashraf said."No… I don't want to.""Why not?""Because I don't want to cause any trouble in my new school.""Hmph, that's rough. Ah, there's the infirmary. Sir, he's bleeding.""Oh dear! What happened?""I… I fell down the stairs," Noor replied.Suvro and Ashraf exchanged cringe-filled looks."Oh, poor boy. Let me treat your wounds."
Later, outside the infirmary…"Dude, you seriously lied," Suvro said."I told you… I didn't want to…""Okay, okay. You're such a softie," Ashraf teased."But if you don't speak up, you'll get bullied again.""I'm used to that…" Noor replied."Well, I won't let that happen.""Woah, Suvro, what are you planning to do?" Ashraf asked."Let's be friends, Noor."Noor was shocked.(The first time in my life someone asked to be my friend…)"I-I couldn't say no.""Me too! Me too!" Ashraf jumped excitedly."Sure," Noor said, wiping his tears."Are you crying?" Suvro asked."No… it's nothing.""Don't worry now. I'm the school's taekwondo champion. They won't mess with you again.""And I'm Ashraf from Class B. Suvro and I are in the same class. What about you?""I'm in Class B too. But wait, I didn't see you two in class today.""Oh, we were skipping class," they both said, scratching their heads.
Noor stared at them with a cringe expression."Seriously…"