Chapter 2 :

Michael's POV:

It seems today is the day. The reunion party is upon me. Just barely an hour away. Now however, I have a weird dilema on my hands. wheather I should go with the black shirt or the white shirt.

'i really don't have time for this' I think as I quickly place the black t-shirt on.

It took me a little while to get fully prepared, but I was done now. With 15 minutes left on the clock, I left my house.

It had been a while ever since I felt this nervous. I was obviously excited to meet my friends again, but a part of me looked forward to seeing how the school changed, if it had changed at all, that is.

Despite everything, I still kept my hopes up.

After all, It can't be that bad.

Finally, I arrive at the gate of the school. I went past the gate and I instantly get hit by a wave of nostalgia.

'something still feels different about this place, despite being so familiar.' I think to myself and I quickly dismiss the thought as if it was nothing.

I walk through the pathway, leading to the Staff and Secretariat building. While I make my way there, I notice a certain buzz in the atmosphere, most likely caused by the the array of students in a rush because of the reunion party going on.

Students meeting their old pals on this occasion and what not, did give the place a type of busyness.

I reach the staff and Secretariat building. My main reason for being here was to collect my School ID card. I was already readmitted into the school but picking the ID card was my job.

Soon afterwards collecting my ID, I made my to the Main Hall Cafeteria, where me and my friends decided to meet up.

'The place is bigger than I remember.' I admit to myself.

As I arrive at the cafeteria, I spot a peculiar looking guy, that looked really similar. Than I took a closer look, and I realized that it was infact, Hamza.

"Hey guys. Long time no see." I greeted as I

approached him.

"sup ma nigga! where have you been man!? we be lookin all over for ya!" Hamza exclaimed. 'as loud as ever' I slightly smiled at hamza's demeanor not changing a bit.

"I had to grab my ID from the secretariat, that's why it took me a little while to get here." I explained while showing him my ID.

"That explains I guess. But damn you be lookin different man. I almost didn't recognize ya. And btw, what's with the emo hair?" Hamza asked while examining the 'differences'.

"It's not emo hair first of all, its just over grown. And second of all, I didn't change that much appearance wise" I told him. I was aware that I was a different person inside, but I didn't think I had any significant changes in terms of appearance.

"Nah you tall ass mf. Ya don even look like a 15 yearold nigga, you be lookin like you 25 atleast."

"Sure sure, whatever you say." I would have wanted to protest, but knowing Hamza, it would have been a waste of time.

"Aight, the others are waitin for ya. Les go!" Hamza said as he lead me to where our friends were.

I caught up with my friends. We talked a out the most recent events that took place in our lives. They were as lively as ever. It felt like I

never left this place to begin with.

"So did you make any new friends?" Dua asked once we sat down at the table to eat.

"Yes actually. I made some friends I guess. But I only made one true friend. His name is Omar Asad." I replied. The other friends were more of just talking buddies than friends. Omar, however, I felt like I have a good bond with him. Just like the one I have with the friends I have Infront of me.

"So how's he?" She asked further. "I mean, he's gotta be someone who's willing to deal with your shit, right?" she joked.

"Haha very funny." I responded sarcastically. "He's a really nice guy though. Maybe I'll introduce him to you guys someday."

"That would be great!" Ryyan cheered. "We definitely won't mind a new guy in our group."

I told them a little more about Omar. The more I told them, the more intriguing the concept of introducing him to them became.

I wonder if they'll like him. Most likely they will.

"Sounds like a chill dude. Bring him over with ya next time." Mary expressed.

Mary has always been a chill person to be around. Almost like a female version of Omar.

She likes to keep things simple yet exciting. And she does her best to avoid conflict.

Just as we were talking, I heard someone yell and get pushed. I turned around and sure enough, there was some sort of fight going on. Not really a fight, more like a one sided

beat down.

I gave a concerned look to my friends, who instantly realized what was going on.

We all got up and approached the crowd of students surrounding them.

I pushed past the crowd to get a better look.

The boy looked scared. He obviously didn't have any combat experience, nor did he look brave enough.

The guy that was holding the boy by his collar shouted " Why'd ya tell Emma kid!? How much did she pay ya for takin those photos!?"

From what I could gather, the boy probably was bribed by a suspicious lover to spy on her significant other, and it just turned out she had a good reason to be suspicious. At least, that was the conclusion I came too, given the situation.

I acted on instinct. I usually never do that, but for some reason, I just couldn't let the kid pushed around like that. Despite whatever the boy did to piss the bully off, things shouldn't be settled like that.

I placed my hand on his shoulder. He turned to me in suprise. "what do you want punk? Can't ya see I'm busy?" He growled.

"Well I can see that. This is no way of resolving conflict." I replied, trying to approach the situation as calmly as possible.

"Oh so you are a smart ass eh. Do you even know whose your dumbass talkin too?" He fired back with a question.

"I don't need to know you inorder to tell what you are doing is a bitch move." I was starting to get frustrated. Who does he think he is?

"Huh!? Did ya mama not tell ya to not talk back to your superiors?" He asked. "oh wait, you are the new guy. How could I forget haha"

He dropped the boys collar and came closer to me. "Rafay told me bout ya. You are the guy who left school cuz you were to much of a pussy to deal with little beating."

That struck a nerve inside me. I wanted to forget that incident, to push it at the back of my mind. Hearing that just opened an old wound. It was true, I did get beaten up by some bullies. But it definitely wasn't the reason I left Lahore.

Now that I looked at him, he seemed very familiar.

At last, I recognized him. He used to be a wannabe gang member, no one took him seriously though. Looks like things didn't change that much.

"I'll have you know, I didn't leave because you guys like preying on people who can't defend themselves." My voice came out a bit hoarse. It sounded like I was trying to convince myself instead of the guy Infront of me.

"I'll give you a bad beatin right now and than see what ya do. Prolly gonna run back to your mummy and daddy and beg them to change cities hahaha" He laughed at me.

The whole crowd had been listening quite attentively. Maybe they recognized me as well.

Just as I was about to retort, Ryyan chimed in "That's enough. You are obviously in the wrong. Just apologize and move on" he told the bully.

"nigga you seriously don't know me? I'm friends with Qasim sheikh ul Hassan. I can get your ass sent to Allah if I wanted to bitch."

"That just goes to show that you are just a nobody bragging about being friends with someone." I taunted. I never liked guys like him. People who thrive on someone else's power disgust me.

"Fine I'll get out of ya hair. Dont think this over though. Your bitch asses need to learn some respect. Especially you, you tall ass motherfucker." He hissed and glared at me while he walked away.

As he went away, I quickly turned my attention to the the boy he was picking on. "Are you alright?" I asked him.

"Are you stupid or something? You messed with the wrong people man." He said as he stood up, dusted himself off and walked away.

"Well that was rude." I said, looking towards Ryyan. "I even tried to help him."

"Don't worry about it. Some people will just remain assholes." he responded as he looked to find the remaining group in the fading crowd.

"Btw, did you know him?" I asked. I assumed he knew atleast something. Afterall, he's been here for longer than me.

"All I know that he's on the student council, and all people there are assholes. Never try to interact with the council, k? That place can really twist your mind, as you just saw." Ryyan advised as he found our friends. "There they are, let's go man."

I quietly followed him. I just couldn't stop thinking about what he said. The student council is that bad huh.

"What was that back there?" Mary questioned. "We tried to get to you, but the while rush kinda made it impossible."

"Nah it was nothing. Just another council member that had connections picking on a student." Ryyan explained as if it was a normal occurrence.

Maybe it was normal here. That sounds miserable.

"What a bunch of assholes. Ive always hated those sons of bitches." Hamza commented.

"The whole council is like that. And anyone who goes there becomes or was always like that." Dua added with a scowl on her face.

I guess they really are that bad. I also wondered, does it feel that good to be on the top of the food chain?

We hung out some more. I was starting to get a weird headache. It wasn't out of the blue completely, as I've randomly had headaches before.

I excused myself to go to the washroom to wash my face and maybe freshen up a little.

I, for some reason, still couldn't stop thinking about what Ryyan said. The hierarchy system was still a bit confusing to me.

From what I had seen so far, The student council was at the top, along with a few gangs, I would assume.

While thinking about all of this, I completely forgot to ask my friends about where the washroom was.

I hadn't been in this school for atleast 3 years, and I had completely forgotten where the washroom was.

I looked around a little, but still no luck. I found myself in the courtyard and I figured it would be better if I just asked someone.

Suprisingly, there was only one person in the school's courtyard.

It was a girl, sitting on a nearby bench, reading a book. She had long red hair, big violet eyes and she wore pair of glasses.

There was no question about it. The girl was beautiful. Her concentration was completely on the novel she was reading. Her eyes and expression looked very determined.

But what concerned me was the kind of aura the girl was giving off. I wasn't able to pinpoint it just yet, but I knew there was something special about her.

At that moment, I found myself staring at her. As soon as I realized, I got a little embarrassed with myself. 'Keep it together man. Stop being a creep.' I told my self.

I approached the girl. And by now, I expected her to notice my presence. But she didn't. She was completely absorbed into the book she was reading.

Realizing that she wasn't going to notice me, I made my presence known.

"Ahem. Excuse me miss, may I ask you a question?"

She jumped a little at my question, slightly startled by my voice.

"huh? o-oh I'm sorry... I didn't see you there.."Why was she apologizing?

"uh no need for apologies. I just wanted to know where the restroom was. I'm kind of new here so..." I trailed of a little myself. For some reason, I couldn't help but look at her. She was obviously attractive, but there was definitely something else about her.

She gave me a weak smile. "well..welcome to our school. The restroom is just down the main hall."

"Thanks for giving me directions. Sorry for startling you." I made sure to atleast apologize for that.

She looked at me with suprise, her eyes wide open. What was so suprizing about a simple thank you and an apology?

"o-oh umm it's o-okey and um.. you're welcome.." She stuttered a little. Than she burried herself in her book once more. I couldn't see it properly, but I think she was smiling a little.

With that out if the way, I made my way to the main hall. It was just around the corner when I suddenly felt someone grab me by the collar, and drag me back.

Before I could look at the person, I felt something hard hit my chin. It was a punch of course.

I tried to look up, but suddenly, I felt someone grab me again, and push me into an empty class room.

"He's the guy, man." I heard one of them say.

I finally looked up from the ground, and saw the bully from earlier and with him, were 3 more men.

I hadn't been punched in quite a while, my jaw still hadn't properly recovered. Even after looking at them, I couldn't process the situation quick enough.

"Look man, we just wanna give you a warm welcome. Just so you know your place next time." Another one of them spoke. They were all smiling. 'how can anyone enjoy this?' I internally asked myself. But the answer to that was starting to become all to clear to me.

One of them grabbed me by my collar to stand me up.

"You know, ganging up on me is kind of a pussy move ngl." I should have kept my mouth shut as received a knee to the stomach.

I groaned just a little. It did hurt alot though. I hadn't fought in what felt like forever.

"What are you gaining from doing all this?" I finally asked. The guy holding me smashed my face on a table. He lowered himself to my level and said "Respect."

I groaned in pain again. I couldn't speak anymore. Did I even want to say anything? I was in no position too in the first place.

He threw me on the ground and all four of them did what they said out to do, beat me up.

While it was happening, I couldn't do anything but call myself weak, pathetic, frail, spineless.

Those words kept spiralling in my mind. I got a weird sense of nostalgia from it all. Something like this had happened once before, and the outcome was the same; me laying down on the ground, bloody and bruised.

I was mistaken. I had not changed at all. Nothing had changed. Everything that had happened today proved it. I was the same weak boy I always was. I was a fool to think something was different about this school, about me.

They were long gone. I just sat there, against the wall, contemplating everything. If I only had power. Strength to not loose. The ability to prevent this from happening to anyone else.

I am all too aware. A flightless bird has nowhere to go.

So I will become strong. I will gain power. Power not to loose. The ability to not let anyone else go through this again. And to have my retribution.

I slowly got up to my feet, with new found resolve. My legs were aching, but it didn't matter anymore.

I looked in the mirror. There was a small cut on my forehead and my lip. My cheek was slightly bruised. These injuries just served as a reminder of weakness.

I have to remain cold and calculative. That's how I have always been, no? But this time, I'll use that to my advantage.

I feel more alive than ever after finding this new resolve. It felt like I'm finally being my true self.

I felt someone vibrate in my pocket. It was my phone. I took it out of my pocket to see who was calling. Oh. It was Dua. I also had a ton of missed calls.

I picked her call up. "WHERE ARE YOU, YOU BIG TALL IDIOT!?" I heard her shouting. "Do you have any idea how worried you are making us!? You've been gone for 2 hours!"

Ah. it had been that long huh. I quickly created an excuse. "I'm so sorry! I tripped down the stairs really badly, and had to go to the nurses office." That excuse should explain both, my absence and my injuries.

"Oh shit. You ok? Where are you now?" Her tone switched from pure anger to concerned really quickly.

"I'm fine, don't worry about it. But I have to head home now, I hope you can understand."

She let out a sigh " it's okey Michael, I understand Just tell us the next time something like this happens okey? Proper school is starting tomorrow, will you be there?

"Ah, yes. I'll do my best to be there on the first day.I have to leave a good impression afterall."

She chuckled a little. "Okey than. See you tomorrow."

"Yeah, see you tomorrow" And with that, I closed my phone, and walked towards my home.

While walking home, I thought of my friends.

If something like this cam happen to me, it can happen to them. Maybe it already has. But I need to focus on the present.

I need to find ways to get what I want. To become strong. A few things came to my mind, but one stood out in perticular.

The student council.