SHD
CHAPTER 3: Visions of the Past
Ryyan woke up early, just as he does every day. He checked the clock. "5 am.." he muttered groggily. "Well, time to get up." He got up from his warm bed and prepared to follow his routine. He brushed his teeth, washed his face, and changed out of his night clothes.
He stepped out of the house for a jog. "Damn, it's getting foggy out here." He said to himself as he observed his surrounding. His house was directly in front of a park, which was now filled with mist. An ambient atmosphere is present. Although, with bad air quality.
Done with his morning jog, he strolled into his local gym for a quick workout before going to school. He still had about 2 hours, which was more than enough time for him.
"Ay good morning man." Ryyan's 'gym bro', Qasim greeted him as he entered the gym. "Coming in early today eh."
Qasim has a muscular build, showing the amount of time he had invested in the gym. He also happened to be Ryyan's classmate and friend.
"Good morning to you too." Ryyan smiled at him. "If anyone's early, it's you."
"Just staying on the grind, my friend," Qasim smiled as well and went back to his workout.
At the time, it was just them in the gym. Some pop song was playing in the background which Ryyan found quite catchy which he amusingly made a mental note to check out later. His morning workout wasn't long but it was effective. Ryyan found it to be the best way to start his day. It prepared him mentally and physically.
During the workout, not many words were exchanged between Qasim and Ryyan. Just an occasional 'How are classes?' or 'How's this or that'. Nothing special but there wasn't a need for a conversation. They were content with working out in comfortable silence. Ryyan checked his phone after a little while and found that it was time for him to depart for school.
"Alright man, catch you later." Ryyan waved at Qasim, picking up his back and getting ready to leave. "you might wanna leave soon too if you don't want to get late."
"Nah it's fine man, a few more minutes won't hurt anyone." Qasim laughed, going back to his workout. "You have a good day though."
"You too."
Walking his way to school, he heard his phone go off. Already knowing who it could be, he didn't bother looking at the name and picked it up.
"Goodmorninggg!" He heard a loud greeting on the other end of the phone. Of course, he recognized the feminine voice, instantly confirming his suspicion.
"Good morning Farah. What's up?"
"Nothing much, I just wanted to say good morning." Farah replied gleefully.
It had been a while since they started dating but things like this would never get old for Ryyan. Just hearing her voice calmed his heart. Farah was a very charming girl. Ryyan would go as far as to say that he may have fallen for her when they first met. She was shy but very polite and caring. But it was her selflessness that he found the most attractive.
"That's sweet. Thank you very much."
"Hey Ryyan, do you wanna walk to school together?" Farah asked.
"I would love to but we'll get late. Your house is pretty far from where I am." Ryyan did want to see her but classes would be starting in a few minutes and her house was quite far from where he was standing.
"Hmmm, that won't be a problem. Look behind you."
Ryyan was confused but looked nonetheless. Across the street, he saw a girl with long black hair. He recognized her instantly though. How could he not? Farah was wearing her usual attire which was a pink sweater and plain pants. Before he had the time to respond, Farah ran towards Ryyan, hugging him.
"Woah there. Were you here the whole time?" Ryyan asked as he accepted her embrace. This was a very pleasant surprise. He couldn't ask for a better start for the day.
"I left home early to reach you. I knew you would be here by now." Farah explained, letting go of Ryyan and facing him.
"You didn't have to do that. But I'm glad you did." Ryyan said making her grin. "But next time, let me know so I can pick you up, okay?"
"Mhm, sure."
"Now, shall we?" Ryyan said as he offered Farah his hand. Staying and talking like this would be nice but they needed to reach school ad make it to class in time. She happily took his hand.
"Yes, let's."
School, 3rd Period:
Ryyan and Farah shared the first two periods as well as the time between. They got separated for the rest of the school day after that as she had the rest of her classes in another block. His history teacher was absent today so he considered spending some time with his friends. But he disregarded that idea, realizing they were busy with class. "And there's the matter with Michael. I should start asking around."
He was worried about him. He wanted to make sure Michael had a good start at the school but failed. He had to figure out how and what happened. More so find out who did it. Ryyan always did his best to void conflict or fights but he was not going to sit around and let someone walk over his friend. Not just a friend but one of the most important people to him.
Flashback, 5 years ago:
"Hey, ryyan hold up!" A young boy called out to his friend, desperately trying to catch up to him. "Slow down!"
Ryyan glanced back slightly to have a look at his friend but continued on his run. "Come on, we're almost there." Ryyan tried to give Michael some words of reassurance as he seemed like he was going to collapse at any moment. Needless to say, Michael wasn't the best at physical activities.
Their destination was an abandoned construction site. As kids, Ryyan, Dua, and Michael loved exploring places like that. Of course, some enjoyed it more than others but it was a mutual interest, as silly and childish as it may be. However, this site was special as it was somewhere outside of their locality. Ryyan's parents took the three friends out to the north for a trip. It was summer vacation after all so there wasn't much convincing needed by Michael's and Dua's parents.
"Dua is prolly already there, that's why we should hurry," Ryyan told him, still keeping a high pace. They were close, it was just around the corner.
"*Gasp* Yeah, I wonder… *Gasp* whose fault was it sending her first.." Michael stopped and leaned on a nearby street pole, breathing heavily. Of course, it's no exaggeration that his stamina was as bad as a koala's.
Ryyan halted his movement too and faced Michael. He didn't want to mock him for his lack of physical prowess but he was starting to get concerned. "Hey, I don't want to be rude but we have to do something about this.." Ryyan said, pointing at his gasping body. "Even girls will start picking on you if you keep this up."
That earned a reaction from him as he looked up at Ryyan, shooting him a glare. "Haha, very funny."
Ryyan stepped closer to Michael, placing a hand on his shoulder. His face still gave a look of worry, which wasn't helping Michael's mood "I'm being serious, I'll help you with it if you want."
It was hard for Michael to stay mad after that but that wouldn't stop him from keeping up an attitude. Not that Ryyan wasn't used to it already. "Whatever… how far is it?"
Ryyan smiled, "Just around the corner, we can just walk there now."
"Finally… let's go then."
True to Ryyan's words, they were there within a minute. The building had an eerie feeling to it. It was secluded and no other building was in sight. It was tall too, as it seemingly had 4 floors with the 5th and 6th looking extremely unfinished. The same could be said about the other 4 floors but they seemed to be in a comparatively better condition.
"What took you guys so long?" Dua was sitting on top of the main gate leading to the building. She was visibly annoyed by the two's tardiness. She was used to it by now but that didn't make it any less annoying. "Do you know how long I've been up here?"
"Sorry, we got a little held up. Some security guys almost caught us out late!" Ryyan was never a good liar and it showed. He was particularly bad at it when he was 11. Despite that, he still made an excuse on Michael's behalf.
It confused Michael but he wasn't going to complain about not getting a lecture by Dua. But they were both too Naïve to think she wouldn't see through their stupid excuse.
"There aren't any security guards here." Dua looked at Michael and frowned. "It's cuz Michael couldn't keep up, right?"
Ryyan wanted to pose a counter but before he even could, Dua fired it down. "It's obvious cuz he's still sweating. Don't even try to hide it."
The two boys looked down in silence. One thing Dua hated, that was being lied to. All for what, to save Michael's fragile ego?
"Come on, seriously? I can't believe you're such a wuss-"
"It isn't his fault, okay? I said I'll help him, so let's just leave it." Ryyan interrupted her before she could say anything further. "I know you want what's best for him but bullying and shaming him into it won't do anything." Ryyan knew that his lack of physical prowess was an insecure spot for him and he always tried to approach it steadily. Now like how Dua was doing it, which was borderline bullying.
Michael just looked at him with awe. He was always surprised at how much Ryyan cared for him. He was like an older brother to him. But not that old since there was only a 7-month age gap.
Dua turned her face away. "Sorry Michael, I shouldn't have said that." It wasn't every day you would hear Dua apologize. "But don't feed me dumb excuses again. There's nothing more I hate than being lied to. Just tell me as it is next time."
Ryyan was relieved that the situation didn't escalate but she was right, he shouldn't have lied. Even though this whole situation was blown out of proportion over something silly, 11-year-olds won't see it as such. "Yeah, you got it."
Michael just nodded at her apology. He wasn't really mad at her, to begin with. It was her right to be a little angry but hearing her say sorry for once made him smile.
"Let's not waste more time. Let's head in." Dua said, hopping off the gate, onto the building's side of the ground.
"Yeah, let's go."
The front door of the building had dried-up paint stains on it. The construction of the building seemed to have stopped abruptly. The door opened to a large hallway with door-less and sometimes wall-less rooms. The entire place was enveloped in darkness with some moonlight shining through the incomplete windows.
Their eyes slowly adjusted to the lighting as the three started to walk around the place. The place was dusty, as expected. Ryyan's dust allergy usually flares up when doing this sort of thing but it's never serious.
"*cough* I should've brought a mask with me…" Ryyan says as he lets out a cough. "I can't believe I forgot something like that."
Dua shakes her and digs her hand in her bag. After a few seconds of fiddling around, she takes out a face mask and hands it to Ryyan. "Take better care of yourself, dummy. I knew you would've forgotten it so I packed a spare."
Dua usually held up a cold exterior and from an outside perspective, it may seem like she didn't give a crap about anything. But moments like this made it clear that she cares a lot about her friends. You could always count on her.
"Thanks a lot, Dua!" Ryyan thanked her, taking the mask from her hand and putting it on. "This should make it a lot better. I'll try to be more responsible next time."
"Yeah, yeah no problem."As the two talked, Dua realized that Michael was nowhere in sight. "Hey, where is mich-"
"Guys come check this out!"
The panic was washed away just as it came as she heard Michael's voice from upstairs. Ryyan and Dua quickly climbed the stairs. The second floor's layout was completely different. Unlike the first floor, this was not open at all. A narrow hallway led to a lot of room on either side.
It was dark. Really dark. Ryyan took out a flashlight from his bag and switched it on. The walls were rough, unfinished, and… scratched? That was odd. It could've easily been explained but for an 11-year-old, logic for such went out the window.
"Michael where are you!?" Dua yelled, growing increasingly uncomfortable. She was looking franticly inside rooms, searching for him. "Damnit, why does he have to wander off all the time?" She growled in frustration.
"Guys I'm in here!"
Ryyan turned his head towards the voice. It was coming from the room at the end of the narrow hallway. Of course, it had to be that. It was at the very end of the long hallway. Dua looked at Ryyan, to which he responded by nodding. The two quickly made their way into the room.
Ryyan and Dua found Michael staring at the wall. They couldn't see it very well as Ryyan's torch was pointing toward Michael. Dua rushed at him and lightly smacked him on the head.
"What were you thinking running off like that!?" Dua was pissed but more so, she felt scared. Scared that he got lost or worse, got hurt. There have been moments in the past where whenever Ryyan and Dua let Michael out of their sights, it usually did not end well. However, his wild curiosity was dying down over the years. That didn't mean that every once in a blue moon, he'd pull something like that.
"Oww… I was just looking around." Michael looked at her innocently as he rubbed the back of his head. "But look what I found." He pointed towards the wall.
Ryyan directed his flashlight over it and let out a gasp. As did Dua. The wall was littered with strange symbols in what ryyan hoped was red graffiti. There was a triangle in the middle with a pentagram inside of it. Ryyan found it to be strange but he wasn't exactly scared. Dua wasn't doing so well, however.
"Guys, I think we should leave…" She said, shaking. She hid her hands in her pockets and slightly stepped back. But her eyes were still locked on the wall.
Ryyan was even more confused now. "Why, what's up?"
"I don't get it either," Michael asked as well, just as confused. "It's just a bunch of scribbling on the wall."
Dua looked more distressed as time went on. She was scared. The look on her face made it obvious. Seeing her like that was extremely rare. If something of scaring her, something was clearly very wrong.
"Just take my word for it, let's go." She said as she turned on her heels and began to walk out. Michael quickly grabbed her arm and stopped her from going any further.
"But we still haven't-"
"NO BUTS, we're leaving right now!" She was serious. They couldn't stay here anymore. She didn't like yelling at her friends but she had to do it to get herself across.
Michael was stunned. He didn't expect her to raise her voice out of nowhere. He wanted to retort but was cut off by Ryyan. "I think she's right Michael. We have to go."
Ryyan didn't know what was happening but he knew there was some reason why Dua was acting like this. He caught on the moment he saw her scared expression. Something was wrong and it was best to leave.
"Not you too-"
The light went out. Ryyan's torch was no longer useful. Dua let out a yelp and Ryyan gasped. The room was now enveloped in total darkness. Ryyan tried to shake the torch, desperately trying to make it work but to no avail.
"Oh come on.." Ryyan let out a frustrated sigh, still shaking the torch to get it to work. This was not good. Ryyan raised his face to see where his friends were but all he saw was an empty abyss. Until he heard Dua muttering.
"This can't be happening…"
"Hey Dua, where are you?" Ryyan wanted to calm her down but frankly, his heart was racing too. How could he calm her down when he was having trouble keeping it together.
"Right here, Ryyan." She said, trying to move toward his voice. Ryyan was moving his arms around to search for her until his hand finally came in contact with her arm. Or so he thought.
"Gotcha." Ryyan was sure it was her hand. Although, it felt unusually cold. Ryyan tried to lead her with him but her hand was frozen stiff. She was not moving at all. Confused, Ryyan said, "Come on, Dua we don't have time for this."
"I am right here Ryyan…" Her voice came from the other end of the room. But how was that possible? He was holding her hand. Was it her hand? If she was so far from where he was, who the hell was standing right next to him? Could it be-
His train of thought was interrupted as the hand he was holding suddenly pulled away from him with inhuman force. Startled by it, Ryyan let out a surprised scream. Which caused Dua to scream as well.
"Ryyan are you okay!?" Dua asked franticly, completely losing what was left of her composure. The moment she saw those symbols, she knew they had messed up.
To not make matters worse, Ryyan decided to withhold what just happened. He didn't want any more panic. "Nothing, nothing just lost a step there haha." His eyes slowly started to adjust to the darkness. Now he could make out a faint feminine figure which had to be Dua. To make sure though, he asked her to come to his position. She did, which relieved him.
"Wait, where's Michael?" Ryyan asked. It didn't take long for him to realize that Michael was no longer in this room. If he was, he would've made himself known by now. Dread started to fill Ryyan and Dua. This was bad. Really bad.
It didn't take long for Dua's fear to turn into anger. "That bastard! I'm gonna find and-"
"Hold on, hold on. Do whatever you want but once we find him. We should start looking, he couldn't have gone that far." Ryyan was having trouble believing his own words. 'Damnit Michael. Why do you have to scare us like that.' He silently cursed at himself.
"Right… Let's start looking for him."
Their eyes had somewhat adjusted to the dark but they still couldn't see very well. They held each other's hands and trailed along the wall as they traversed the hallway. At the same time, they were loudly calling out his name but no luck. If Michael was anywhere close, he was not responding.
Their fear and discomfort were rising by the second. They were running out of options. They swept this floor the best they could and couldn't find him. "I think we should the 3rd floor. Maybe he's upstairs and didn't hear us." That was the only step forward in Ryyan's mind. He hoped Michael didn't hear them yet because if he did and couldn't respond… he didn't want to think about that.
They went upstairs which also had a different layout. The hallway was much more open but the number of rooms also increased. They checked the first room. No luck. They moved to the 2nd and 3rd rooms. No Michael in either of them. They entered the 4th room but still didn't find him. However, they noticed something different about it.
"What is that horrible smell?" Dua's face scrunched up in disgust as she covered her nose with her free hand. The smell was truly awful. As if something was rotting.
Ryyan looked around the room. He quickly covered his mouth to prevent himself from vomiting. He was not expecting to see that.
"What happened?" Dua voiced her concern. She looked at where he was looking and got her answer.
In the corner of the room was a mutilated corpse of a dog laying lifelessly. Its intestines were spread out on the floor. There were clear signs of torture. Both of them were trying their best to not scream but to no avail. Ryyan wasn't scared easily but right now, all he felt was fear.
"What is happening here..?" Dua whimpered, shivering. She tried to look away from it but she couldn't. Ryyan's grip around her hand tightened. He wanted to utter words of reassurance to her but he couldn't. His composure was breaking.
"L-let's find Michael and get the hell out of here." Even his voice was shaking now. He couldn't hide it. He was scared. Really scared. Dua nodded weakly. With all the courage he could gather, he led Dua out of the room to continue the search.
They explored two more rooms, and called out his name but still nothing. There were no signs of Michael. Not on this floor anyway. They climbed the stairs leading to the final floor. He had to be here. He just had to. The 4th floor was the same as the 3rd. At least that made navigating a little easier. They explored the first 2 rooms and found nothing.
They came across a backpack in the 3rd room. Dua recognized it as soon as she lay eyes on it. It was Michael's. "What the hell is this doing here?" She said as she picked it up and looked through its contents. It had mostly everything. Except for the flashlight. Michael and Ryyan were supposed to bring flashlights and now she was regretting not bringing her own. Seeing his bag gave Ryyan hope. He had to be here. They called out his name a few times but again, there was no reply.
Ryyan felt like something was watching him in this room but couldn't quite say. He looked up to the ceiling and almost gasped. He thought he could make up a figure laying upside down on the ceiling but it was way too dark to tell. He quickly dismissed it. It was too dark, he is just seeing things. But suddenly he was filled with the urgency to leave this room. They should take Michael's bag and get out of there.
"Does it contain anything useful?" Ryyan asked. Maybe they could use something in his bag.
"No. The idiot didn't bring anything."
"Let's go search the rest of the floor then."
They searched two more rooms but had no luck. As they entered the final room, they could feel something was different. It felt colder than the others. There were no windows to let the moonlight in. It was completely and utterly filled with darkness. The grip on their hold tightened as they entered the room.
As they entered, The door behind the slammed shut. They both yelped at the sudden loud noise. Panic started to settle in as they both stood still. "What was that…?" Dua whispered. She didn't dare make any more noise.
"I don't know." Ryyan matched her quiet yet panicked tone.
Ryyan felt a hand on his shoulder which he was positive wasn't Dua's. It felt like the same one from before. Ryyan almost jumped in surprise and turned to look behind him, but Dua spoke cautiously. "Don't move a muscle. Don't look behind you." Her voice was shaking and it was so quiet that Ryyan almost missed it. She was looking directly behind him. She was seeing what laid hands on Ryyan. All the color from her face drained. Her eyes were wide open and her lip was quivering. Just what exactly was behind him?
Ryyan never felt more afraid in his life. But he wanted to be strong. He needed to be strong. They had to find Michael and get out of there. But what exactly could he do?
The hand on his shoulder tightened its grip on him. He did his best not to flinch and he continued to face Dua, who was looking behind him, utterly horrified yet so still. They didn't move for what felt like an eternity. He didn't know how long he could do this-
Suddenly the door slammed open with a bright light coming from behind. The both of them screamed. They were holding it in for quite some time. They didn't bother to see what it was and covered their faces immediately.
"Woah, Woah guys, It's me!"
Ryyan knew that voice. He was relieved to hear it. They both were. They slowly uncovered their faces to make sure it was him. And sure enough, it was Michael. They rushed and quickly hugged him extremely hard. They couldn't be more relieved right now.
Michael was too stunned to speak. He almost dropped his flashlight because of how tightly they were holding him. They soon separated and Dua's look of relief was quickly replaced with anger. But before Dua could quick his ass, Ryyan quickly stepped between them, trying to hold off Dua.
"YOU BASTARD! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA OF HOW WORRIED WE WERE!?"
"I'm sorry but I have no idea how I ended up here.." Michael rubbed the back of his head nervously. He knew Dua was going to be pissed but he was being honest.
Dua's anger was washed away by confusion as she slowly lowered her fist which was intended for Michael's face. "What?"
"What do you mean?" Ryyan asked as well. He was curious to know how Michael even made his way up here alone or how he ended up here so quickly.
"I don't remember. When Ryyan's flashlight started flickering, I blacked out. That's as far as I can remember." Michael explained. "When I woke up, I was up here. I was lucky to have my flashlight in my pocket."
"Wait, when did you wake up?" Ryyan asked.
"3 minutes ago I think."
Ryyan and Dua both looked at each other. They looked confused and slightly dreadful. Things weren't adding up. Where exactly was he if he woke up recently? They searched the entire floor. There were no signs of him. Aside from his backpack.
Ryyan's eyes widened in realization. Maybe that thing he saw on the ceiling was…. No. There was no way. It couldn't have been. As much as he wanted to deny it, reasoning pointed in the opposite direction. This isn't the time to think about shit like this.
"You okay?" Dua asked, noticing the terrified look on his face.
"It's fine. Let's get out of here and discuss this later." Ryyan couldn't stay here any longer. And neither could Dua as she agreed with him immediately. Michael just looked at them, confused but he didn't want to argue. If they wanted to leave, then leave they will.
Luckily they didn't encounter any other traumatizing events as they left.
Flashback over:
Ryyan still has nightmares about that night. But it made him stronger mentally. Experiences as such made him the man he is today and he was. Thinking he had wasted enough time recalling past events, he moved on to work. He asked around his class if they witnessed any tall guy with glasses get beat up or punched. But his investigation was not working out.
A lot of people from his class didn't even who he was. So he moved to other places to ask around. Still no luck. He continued to ask around for another half n hour but unfortunately, nothing turned up. People either never saw him or did see him but had no idea where or who punched him.
Ryyan sighed as he leaned back on the bench in the courtyard. This wasn't getting him anywhere. He wasn't even sure what exactly he was looking for. Michael had a bruise on his face but that could be a lot of things. Getting smacked a few times seemed like what most likely happened though, so he couldn't just give up. He just had to find a lead.
Ryyan felt a tap on his shoulder. He looked up to see the smiling faces of Mary and Hamza. "Hey man, how you doing?" Hamza greeted. Ryyan also noticed the massive bag in Mary's hand.
"I'm doing pretty good, thanks. What's with the bag Mary?"
"Oh, this?" Mary raised her bag. She smiled smugly. "Just some cake I got as a reward."
Well, that seemed in order. If he had to point out one of her main personality traits, it had to be her infatuation with sweets. But as a reward? Reward for what?
"Oh, did you win it?"
"Yep! We had a competition for a group-based project. No way was I gonna lose when there was cake on the line!" Mary exclaimed, her mouth watering just at the thought of her prize.
"Yeah, she got the first position in this computer thing. I can't really get my head around it." Hamza added.
"Good job Mary! I think you would've won regardless of the prize. Computers are your thing after all." Ryyan smiled. At least life was going well for the rest of his friends.
"It was nothing. Not really a competition when you solo them that badly." She smirked. Of course, it wouldn't be Mary if there wasn't any arrogant behavior after a win.
"Alright alright, stop bein' so cocky. You gon share that with us or what?" Hamza asked, putting his hands in his pockets.
"If you ask nicely." Mary continued to smirk but to her surprise, Hamza gave in.
"Pleaseeee." Hamza put on his puppy eyes.
"Damn, you want it that badly, eh," Mary said, surprised. "I'll consider it."
"Oh come onnn! I ain't out here embarrassing myself for consideration!"
"My cake, my rules!"
Ryyan chuckled. Watching their friendly banter was never not entertaining. Of course, it was never serious. They were childhood friends and they had developed a deep bond. Just like the rest of them. This was why he had to do what he could to not endanger it. And that is exactly why he needs to find out what happened with Michael. Not only for his sake but for everyone.
Debate Club:
Dua was conducting her own investigation elsewhere. She was done with her club activities which happened to play out in the middle of the day instead of the end. She asked around the club but as she suspected, nothing came of it. She was hoping Ryyan had more luck than her but something told her that wasn't the case. After a while, she gave up on it for today. 'This won't get me anywhere. I should wait for a lead."
She sighed as she leaned back on her chair. All the members of the club had already left. She still had a few minutes to kill before her next class. There wasn't much she could do aside from sulk and brood over the situation.
The club room door creaked open and her attention was stolen by it. She turned her head to see Ahmad peeking from the door. Seeing she noticed him, he took one step inside the room.
"Hi. Is this a bad time?" He asked politely. If someone from her group had manners, it was him or Ryyan. Even though she liked formality, she didn't care all that much if it was between friends.
"Not at all, come in." she motioned her hand, gesturing him to come inside the room. His timing was great. She had time to kill and a history essay pending. And what better person to ask than Ahmad, the history expert. He took a seat next to her desk.
" Good timing, there's this essay on the French revolution I need your help with." She said. His eyes blossomed in response. Whenever you mention History or politics in front of Ahmad, he goes on a passionate rant about it. "What brings you here though?"
"I was just gonna ask about getting the club but this is way more interesting. Bring on the essay."
Dua chuckled. "Alright"
They worked on his essay for a little bit. It wasn't particularly difficult but it wasn't the easiest thing in the world. She had the future historian with her after all. With his help, they were done in a few minutes. Dua usually didn't take any help when it came to school work but for History? If she wanted to maintain the top position in her class, she had to take help for it. It was her least favorite subject.
"See? It wasn't that hard." Ahmad smiled. "French revolution is one of the easiest topics in all of history."
"Speak for yourself. It was interesting though." Dua said as he wrapped up her things from the club room. "Oh yeah, I completely forgot why you were here. You wanted a club invitation, right?"
Ahmad nodded. "Mhm, with the MUN coming this year, I wanted to do some preparation."
"I'll put in a form for you then. You'll make a great fit."
"Thanks a lot haha. I figured it's going to be mostly political so I can roll with it."
Dua always knew he would be great in a place like this. But she was also aware of his insecurities. He had trouble performing socially. She was glad to see that he made an effort on his own to help with that. They all at one point tried to get him step out of his shell but that didn't go as planned.
But now there was no need as he was taking a step forward. That made Dua somewhat proud. "I'll give you more information on the whole process after class."
Ready to leave and bag in hand, Ahmad nodded. "That works for me."
Rooftop:
Michael was not in a good mood. Classes flew by very quickly. He tried his best to pay attention to them but just couldn't focus. He knew that had to change if he wanted satisfying results. The source of his bad mood was that he witnessed yet another bullying scene.
He avoided it. He knew stepping in wouldn't solve anything as they had the numbers. Despite knowing that there wasn't anything he could do, it still left a bitter taste in his mouth. He did well in studying them though. He observed the way they talked, moved, and behaved. He absolutely despised it. It kept fueling him. However, he still didn't fully understand how he should go about it. But he did know he had to do something.
He spent much of the day contemplating. He brainstormed ways yet still didn't get to anything solid. A scowl painting his face, he let out a heavy sigh. 'There has to be something I can do.'
As he was still thinking about it, his mind went back to his friends. "Right, we have hangout planned after school." He almost forgot about it admittedly but he couldn't blame himself. A lot was weighing on his mind. He could use a hangout today though, it was a good way to blow off steam.
Thinking he had done enough sulking for the day, he left the roof. He climbed down the stairs. He noticed that the block was weirdly empty. "Huh. Maybe nobody is around this place in between periods." That sounded logical enough. Still, it felt empty. A little too empty.
As he walked down a secluded hallway that led to the library, he started hearing muffled voices. The further he walked, the louder the voices grew. "I guess not everyone left." He muttered to himself. The voices seemed to be coming from the art room. He was just about to go past it when he heard a loud yelp. That made him stop in his tracks. He slowly turned his head back.
At first, he thought it was just a couple having fun. But then he heard multiple voices. Then loud banter and then… begging? Yeah, something was wrong. He had his hand on the door handle, ready to open the door but then suddenly stopped. 'I've been here before… it didn't end well last time.'
'But will I always walk away like this? Nothing will change if I do." As he battled his inner dilemma, the noises from inside got worse and worse. His dilemma continued until he recognized the frail, feminine voice.
'Wait a second.. is that who I think it is..?'
For a stranger, he could walk away, albeit with guilt. But if that is who thought it was, and more so a girl, there was no way he was going to stand around and do nothing.
He knew he'll regret opening this door but he had seen enough. He had stood around and observed incidents like these enough. If he wanted to do something about it, now was the time.
This time, with no fear but determination, he slammed open the door.
Bonus:
Umer took a deep breath but immediately coughed it out. 'Yep, Lahori air really is as trash as everyone says.' He thought to himself as he exited the bus. It was worth it though, he'll meet up with his friend again. That made him smile.
He arrived in Lahore a little sooner than what he told Michael, albeit with a catch. The catch is he'll only be here for a week. He was here to have a look at the new house with his father. After that, they'll move to Lahore permanently next month, after shifting their things from Pindi. So there was still a month till he could stay here for good and start school.
But he'll use this week wisely and maybe even surprise his dear friend.
"Did you get all the bags, son?" His father who was descending the bus asked. He has his bag in his hand.
Umer replied. "Yes, father."
His dad smiled. "Good. Let us get to the hotel then."