SHD

CHAPTER 1: Prologue

Michael's pov:

Well, here I am. Back where I belong. Or so I think. For a long time, I had a strange longing for this place. The city of Lahore. Since the day I had to move out of there, I always held fast to the desire to return. All my friends, family members, social life, etc were here after all. Now, 4 years later, I am finally back.

It almost feels surreal coming back after all this time. Coming back to the life I left behind feels strange in a way I can't describe properly. It makes me a little nervous just thinking about it.

Finally entering high school in the town and school I originally am from. Along with the friends I had worked so hard to get then, I couldn't ask for a more exciting start.

2/01/2021, Michael's Residence:

Our new house is not too big but not too small either. It's perfect. 4 bedrooms, 3 of which are occupied by me and my family, and one for guests. Two living rooms and a dining room. I would say the kitchen is a little small but it is what it is.

It's the second day of the year, so it's getting really cold. I'll most likely start school in a week. It took us the entire month of December to shift here in DHA/Bahria. We changed cities because of my father's job but that's not important. What's important is the fact that I'm finally back.

I told my friends about my shifting here and as expected, they were as hyped up and excited as me. I am honestly grateful for having such loyal friends. It's been a while since I last met them so I'm rightfully a little giddy.

During the 4 years I was away, I did develop some trust issues. Luckily I was able to make a good friend, Umer Asad, during my time away so it wasn't completely bad. Due to the lack of trust thing though, I did get a little lonely.

Part of the reason I am so happy coming back is that I will have my friends, the people that I trust, back. They're all a little busy with school right now though, so I'll have my first real meeting with them once I start school.

For now, I'll settle for our usual conversations in our group chat.

Michael: I'll be joining the school next week. Any big changes I should know of?

I didn't expect any big changes in all honesty. I mean, not much can change in a period of just 4 years, right?

Hamza: Bro u should prolly not keep ur expectations high. It's a shit fest here.

That did catch me off guard. Perhaps I was too naïve.

Ryan: Nothing changed but Highschool is very different compared to middle school. Not in a good way either.

Dua: Just douches running around, annoying the shit out of us. Steer clear of them and you won't have huge problems.

Ahmad: Bruh it's not that bad lol. Every highschool got problems, we just gotta learn how to deal with them.

Ryan: True. Regardless, its not as laid back as you think, michaeel. Be a little careful around here.

Michael: You guys are making it sound like hell lol. Don't worry though, I can take care of myself.

Hamza: Ya jus be careful. Hyped for the reunion lmaoo.

Dua: Wish we could throw a party. Schoolwork has picked up though, so we'll have to wait.

Michael: That's fine, no need for that. Im just glad to be back in town with you guys. That alone is enough.

Ahmad: Awwww bro u gonna make me tear up lol.

Hamza: Bro dropping emotion lol.

Ryan: Well, I hope to see you on Monday.

Hamza: Yeah bro, cya then.

Michael: Yeah, cya soon.

With that, I placed my phone on top of the side table and dived into my bed. Today was a tiring day and I needed some good rest. I tried to fall asleep but my mind wandered off to what the others told me about high school. A part of me thinks that they might be exaggerating a little bit but I know better than to be a naïve fool. I guess time will tell.

07/01/2021, School:

"Here we are." Michael's dad announces as he pulls his car near the gates of the school. "Excited?"

"Yes. Although, I am a bit nervous." Michael admits reluctantly. "I am not sure how I'll fit into this new social sphere, you know? I heard high school is kinda rough."

Michael rarely ever had trouble fitting in. Part of the reason is the social conditioning his father did on him. But the things he heard about high school still made him a little anxious and not sure what to expect.

"Haha Don't worry, you'll be fine." His dad laughs at his nervous demeanor. "I know you'll do just fine." There was a strange sense of certainty in his dad's voice. Even Michael sensed it.

"How can you be so sure?" Michael asks, not sure why his father was so confident.

"Because you're my son. You don't have a choice when it comes to fitting in socially" His dad replies, still smiling.

That answer annoyed Michael. He never liked it when he didn't have any control over his life. He was and still is a little bit of a control freak and something like this just didn't sit with him.

"And why don't I have a choice?" Michael asks, his voice brimming with annoyance.

His father turns to face him. His face was completely expressionless. Michael always had a hard time reading his father and this time was no exception. But Michael didn't back down, looking straight at him.

"Because I am not giving you one. Now get to class, you're getting late.

Michael knew his father was a little strict when it came to any sort of social awkwardness but he didn't know he was that serious about it. His tone was harsh and it was enough for Michael to back out. He silently opened the door of his car, grabbed his bag, and started walking towards the school.

Michael placed the conversation with his dad at the back of his mind. He was not going to let something as minor as that ruin his day.

As Michael stepped through the gates, he stared with awe at the giant staff block and the long path that led to it.

"This is it. This is what I was waiting for." Michael thinks as he walks through the doors of the staff block.

He needed his ID and timetable before he started classes. After a little asking around, he found himself in the Clerk's office.

"Michael Farooq?" He asked in a tired voice. He seemed overworked.

"Yes, that would be me." Michael replied quickly, hoping to get this over with for both of their sakes. "I'm here for my ID and timetable."

The clerk raised his hand as if motioning him to shut up. "I know what you're here for boy. Take a seat and be quiet while I call your homeroom teacher."

Michael wordlessly pulled a chair and sat down. In what felt like an eternity (which was just 10 minutes), the homeroom teacher arrived at the clerk's office.

"Sorry for the wait." She said as she entered the room. "You must be the new transfer student." She pointed at him.

He stood from his seat and placed his hands behind his back. "Yes, that's me. My name is Michael Farooq. It's a pleasure to meet you."

He wanted to leave a good first impression on the teacher so he tried to be as formal as he could. Leaving a good first impression is vital, as his dad taught him.

"Looks like we finally have someone with manners." She jokingly said to the clerk. The clerk gave no reply, just rolled his eyes at her. The teacher didn't seem to mind though, as if she was used to it.

She turned her face back to Michael. "Pleasure to meet you as well. Let me introduce myself. I'm Anum, your new homeroom teacher. I hope you're familiar with the rules of the school?"

Michael nodded in response.

"Great! Here's your ID and timetable. Classes start in a few minutes so be sure to be on time." With that, she left the office.

"She seems rather nice. Can't say the same for the clerk though" Michael thought as he looked down at the timetable. "Looks like I'll be in 1-B, on the second floor. I wonder if I share the class with any of my friends."

Michael arrived at the class a few minutes earlier. As he expected, most students were just staring at him. It went on like that for a few minutes until they finally started to mind their own business. Michael took a sigh of relief. Everyone's stares were making him shift in his seat.

He looked around the class but didn't spot any of his friends. He wondered whether he would even recognize them or not after all this time. Will they recognize him?

Alas, as far as he knew, no friend of his shared the same class with him. He disappointedly sighed. "I'll just contact them after this class ends. We'll have a few minutes to chat before the next class. Or I could wait till lunch break."

Michael was pulled out of his thoughts by a light tapping on his head. He looked up to see who disturbed his train of thought. At first, he was a little annoyed but as soon as he saw the person, his mood took a complete 180.

It was a girl with relatively normal height, short black hair, and a signature smug face he would recognize anywhere.

"Long time no see. Welcome back Mike" She said with a genuine smile, offering a handshake.

"Woah Mary you look so different!" Michael exclaimed as he stood up, shaking her hand. "It's great seeing you again."

"Jesus, how tall are you gonna get? Do you even fit through the door?" Mary looked at him wide-eyed, clearly not expecting the height difference.

Michael chuckled "Well sometimes I have to duck my head a little. But are we not gonna talk about the new haircut? It looks really good on you!"

He was really happy to finally meet up with one of his friends. And also the fact that he wasn't alone in the class was comforting.

"OH hell Nah, this looks good to you!? I got this done on a dare. Took some hard convincing and an ice cream treat to get me to do this though hahaha" She laughed.

"Damn, that's not how dares work but you do you. It really did end up looking good though." He replied sincerely. Her new look fit her perfectly in his opinion. Besides, you don't see a girl with a short bob cut often nowadays so it looked unique.

"Really? Thanks, dude."

They talked for a few more minutes until the homeroom teacher, Miss Anum, entered the class. Everyone took their seats. Michael took the chair in the window side lane, behind Mary.

"Alright class, everyone sit down. Before we begin homeroom, I'd like you all to meet someone." Miss Anum announced and looked at Michael. "Please stand up and introduce yourself."

Michael stood up "My name is Michael Farooq. I am the new transfer student. I hope we can all be friends."

What followed that was a complete awkward silence. Michael was already wondering if he messed up the introduction. Was he even supposed to expect someone to say anything?

"Oookey.." Even the teacher sensed the awkwardness. "Thank you for the introduction, Michael. I hope you all make him fit right in, okay class?

To that, the students just rolled their eyes and gave a barely audible yes.

"Well, this could have gone better." He thought to himself as he sat back down. "I definitely didn't say anything wrong. Maybe I was expecting too much of a response."

"Hey, this shit is common in high school. Don't take it personally. Just a lot of assholes running around, trying to make you feel like an outcast." Mary comforted him. "Don't let it get to you. They do this to all new transfers."

"I see. Well atleast I have one person I know in this rather hostile class."

It was comforting to know he wasn't alone. Imagine being completely estranged in class where people look at you as if you're from a different planet. "Yeah, that sounds like a nightmare."

"One person?" Mary questioned, confused by his implication. "OHHHH right right, he hasn't arrived yet"

Now it was Michael's turn to be confused. Was there someone else in this class that he knew? And from Mary's statement, that person hadn't arrived yet.

"Who?" He asked, hoping to put an end to the suspense surrounding this person. But of course, he was talking to Mary of all people. She would never give him a straight answer.

"You'll see." She said with a smirk. "Don't want me to ruin the surprise, do you?"

"I hate surprises." Michael frowned. He wasn't a 'surprise' kind of guy. He hated being put in suspense. He understood the thrill it must have for some people but it just wasn't his thing.

"You're gonna love this one though"

"Yeah, I doubt that." He opted to stay silent.

The homeroom lecture had already begun. Michael focused on it since he didn't want to end up missing any important notes on the first day. Around 35 minutes passed and the thing Mary mentioned completely slipped his mind.

Until

"SORRY IM LATE!"

Without even raising his head, he realized who it was. His eyes darted towards the boy who intruded into the class. It was none other than

"Mr. Khalid, do you realize what time it is?" Miss Anum scolded Hamza. "You have made this a habit now. Please get yourself together"

The scolding had the class snickering. Hamza ducked his head "Yes ma'am, I'll be better next time. I promise.."

"Don't make promises you can't keep Hamza." Miss Anum was still mad. It was definitely not the first time this was happening. Hamza slowly made his way to an unoccupied seat until they made eye contact. Hamza then smiled widely and took a seat behind Michael.

"Same as ever." Michael smiled to himself. He opened his register to write down notes again until Hamza slipped a note saying "WELCOME BACK CUNT."

Michael chuckled and placed it into his bag. He then waited patiently for homeroom to be done which didn't take as long as he thought. The period was mostly done by the time Hamza arrived.

As soon as the bell run, a few students rushed out of the class. Michael could hear Miss Anum yelling "The bell doesn't dismiss you, I do!" but it fell on deaf ears.

Hamza quickly pulled Michael into a hug "Yoo it's been forever, man! How you been?"

"F-Fine. Y-You're gonna break my ribs with that grip though" Michael was gasping for air. Just another testament to his frail body.

"Huuuuh you'll be fine." Hamza tightened his grip even more, much to Michael's displeasure.

"You'll put him to sleep at this rate. Also, this looks very gay." Mary interjected nonchalantly, putting her hand on Hamza's shoulder.

"Yikes! No homo bro." Hamza backed off. "Seriously though, how have you been?" He asked, genuinely wanting to know.

Before Michael could respond, Mary came up with an idea. "I know! We three can catch up in the courtyard. There aren't many people there at this time."

"Yeah, that sounds nice. We also have around 30 minutes before our next class." Michael said. "It was a good idea to just take a moment to catch up with Hamza and Mary before meeting with the others. They are probably busy right now anyway"

"Aight, let's head on over now." Hamza said as he and Mary started leading Michael to the courtyard.

30 minutes later:

"Wait, wait, wait! You saying that you legit finished bloodborne!? With less than 5 deaths with each boss!?"

"Yep." Michael shrugs. "Pretty hard to believe, I know. I could show you my trophy list though."

"Nah man, I trust ya." Hamza said as he relaxed on the bench.

"Didn't think you'd turn into a hardcore gamer. Where are you hiding that doritto dust eh?" Mary joked, slightly chuckling to herself.

"Bruhhh that's just a misconception about us gamers. You see, we are a very clean species-

"Yeah, I'm gonna stop you right there." Mary cut Hamza's rant off. "Nothing of what you were gonna say is true about couch potato gamers hahaha"

"How'd you know what I was gonna say!? You cut my ass off!" Hamza flails his arms in the air, a little to be pissed off.

"Come now, I've known you for 7 years." Mary calmly sits back in her seat, crossing her legs. "I know how your mind works by now."

Hamza scratched his head "Yeah, I guess… BUT you definitely didn't know what I was bout to say!"

"I hate to interrupt this lovely conversation of yours but we have class in about 5 minutes." Michael stated as he arose from his seat. "We should probably start heading back."

Michael wasn't schedule oriented, but he was very punctual. He always tried to reach class a few minutes earlier.

"Relax man we got a few minutes. What's the hurry?" Hamza asked, clearly not wanting to move.

"Sitting around for a few minutes wouldn't kill you, no need to rush." Mary added, agreeing with Hamza.

"I am feeling a little thirsty, so I'm going to class early." It wasn't exactly a lie but it wasn't the main reason Michael wanted to go to class. "So when are we meeting with the others?"

"We can see Ryyan and Dua after Maths, they should be free by then." Mary answered. "It's a shame Go Jin and my sister are out of the country. They would've loved to see you."

Mary's sister, Zaina Ozair had left for the UK earlier in the same month. Go Jin had been in the US for a few weeks now as well as an exchange student.

"Yeah. Guess I'll see you in class in a few minutes." Michael said as he started walking towards his class.

"Don't get lost!" He heard Mary say when he turned around the corner.

Once he was completely out of sight, Mary turned toward Hamza "You notice anything different about him?"

"Nah, not really. Why?" Hamza asked, not paying a lot of attention.

"I don't know. He seems quieter I guess." Mary said as she looked up to a slightly cloudy sky.

"Been 4 years now, it ain't no big deal." Hamza said. "For now, imma take a nap."

"Seriously? Class is in about 5 minutes." Even after knowing Hamza for so many years, she was still surprised at his carelessness.

"We always get late, what's another day gon do? Besides, I stayed up all night workin on that shitty essay." He said as he lay down on the bench, ready to sleep.

Mary smirked mischievously. "Alriiight, have a nice nap then."

Elsewhere:

Michael walked down the hallway. He would never admit it to anyone honestly but he did get somewhat lost. Asking for a few directions and being dealt the cold shoulder, He finally found the block where his class was.

Before going to his class, he took a trip to the washroom. Just to see how it was and also to wash his face. He was getting tired already.

The bathroom wasn't difficult to find, luckily for him. It was rather clean as well. He splashed his face a few times and looked at himself in the mirror. "So far so good. Surviving Highschool might not be that hard after all-"

"GHAAAUMPPPPKPP!"

His inner monologue was cut short by a muffled scream. He was surprised he didn't notice someone was with him in the washroom. "That's coming from the 2nd stall."

He instinctually quickly rushed towards the stall and see what was happening but then stopped. "Do I even want to know what's happening on the other side? Maybe I shouldn't get involved.."

He heard another muffled scream. He sighed "oh screw it."

He slammed open the door and was met with a disgusting sight. A guy, who looked about a year older than him, was forcibly dunking another boy's head into the toilet bowl.

At first, Michael was at a loss for words. He quickly regained his composure. "I think he's had enough." Michael stated as firmly as he could have. He came this far, might as well help the poor boy.

The bully took the boy's head out and looked at Michael. "This little brat right here owes me money." He growled in anger. "Why Dontcha piss off and let me handle my business."

Michael considered that for a second and felt absolutely disgusted at himself when the boy getting bullied looked at him helplessly. No way would he let this slide.

"Yeah no, there are better ways of solving this issue than assaulting him." Michael thought he could maybe reason with him. Even though he was beyond angry at the bully, he tried his best to keep calm. "Let him go."

The bully turned and looked at him again. This time not in anger but in disbelief. The surprised look did worry Michael. "Did I really say something that weird?"

The bully suddenly broke out laughing. Michael shifted a little but stayed firm. "Bro. You being for real right now!?" He asked as he let go of the boy and stood up. He wasn't as tall as Michael but he did look big. Michael didn't let him intimidate him though.

"Yeah, I am being for real. Just settle it a little more peacefully instead of-"

He was interrupted by something hard hitting him in the face. Michael was knocked off balance. He sat there, holding his cheek, still not realizing what had happened.

"Who the fuck do you think you're talking to!?" The bully shouted. "You new here or something?" He took a good look at Michael, who was still dazed at what had happened. "OHH THAT'S RIGHT! You're that new transfer student! You must be unfamiliar with the rules so let me clue you in."

Michael tried getting up but was stopped by the bully's foot on his chest. "My name is Ayyan Anjum. And you'll be my punching bag for the rest of your time here. That is if you disobey me hahaha." Michael felt powerless. Ayyan was clearly stronger than him in terms of physical strength.

"However if you do as we say, we might give you a break every once in a while." Ayyan smirked, very much enjoying this.

There were a million things Michael wanted to say but the first thing that left his mouth was "Who's we?"

"Me and my crew of course. And don't question me. You ain't in a position to even look at me." He said, a little annoyed.

Meanwhile, the boy who was getting bullied simply watched the two. A dreadful expression on his face.

"And you! Get the money by tomorrow or your brother will pay for it with his mouth." Ayyan turned his attention to the boy just before leaving. With that, he took his foot off Michael's chest and started walking towards the door.

Just as he left, he gave one final look at Michael. "Enjoy your time at this school."

Now it was just him and the boy in the washroom. The boy stood up slowly and looked remorsefully at Michael. "Thanks for saving me… I guess."

Michael laid there on the ground, processing what had happened. He heard the boy but didn't bother acknowledging him.

"I am sorry about what happened. But you have to understand, it was inevitable at some point." He left the washroom too.

After 2 minutes, Michael stood up. "What the fuck just happened? I knew I shouldn't have got myself involved. Why did I just sit there and let him disrespect me like that? Why didn't I get up and punched his face in?"

Michael knew the answer to all of those questions all too well. It was because he was weak. He lacked resolve. He was content with letting these be instead of doing something about it. He wondered if this was the last straw. If it was finally the time to make a change. "I'll think about this later. Right now, I'm getting late for my class."

He took a look in the mirror. "Yeah, this might leave a bruise." He sighed to himself. He dusted his uniform off and looked at his watch. "Ah fuck, I am 10 minutes late already. What a great first impression I'm making." He sarcastically remarked at himself.

He quickly ran towards the class. He gently opened the door, already blurting "Sorry I'm… late?"

He found that nobody aside from Mary and a few students were in the class. The students turned and looked at him. He started to feel awkward standing at the door frame, bewildered. So he quickly took a seat behind Mary.

"Where's Hamza?" he asked as he sat down. He tried his best to cover his face but Mary still noticed.

"Don't worry about him. What happened to you? There's a little bruise on your cheek." Mary's face scrunched up in concern. "Did someone do this?"

"No, no. Just fell down the stairs. Luckily no one was there hahaha"

Michael didn't panic. He was always able to keep a straight face through a lie. A white lie never hurt anybody, it did the opposite, right?

Mary seemed to doubt it a little at first but just believed him after he persisted a little more.

"So the teacher is absent today huh." Michael was glad that the teacher who was absent was indeed the maths teacher. He was good at maths but that didn't make him dislike the subject any less.

"Yeah, pretty odd. He usually never skips school." Mary said. "BTW, did you get lost or something?"

Mary was very observant. You could never hide much from her. But Michael was a great actor so he usually got away with his lies. Some of which cost him to swallow his pride every once in a while.

He scratched the back of his head. "Yeah… How did you know?"

"I mean, It's kinda obvious. I hope nobody gave you any trouble."

Michael still sensed some lingering doubts in her so he switched up the subject. "So, is Hamza still sleeping?"

"Speak of the devil." Mary smirked, looking behind Michael. He turned around to see a very pissed-off Hamza with some tiny black, makeup-type marks on his face.

"Woah, what happened to your face?" Michael asked, clearly very confused.

Hamza's pissed-off expression quickly matched Michael's confused expression. "What bout you, what happened to your face man?"

"Nothing really, just fell. Now your turn." Michael quickly shrugged his bruise off. Besides, he was more interested to hear what happened to Hamza.

"Why don't you ask her?" Hamza growled, pointing towards Mary who suddenly broke out laughing.

"HAHAHAHA IM SORRY, the opportunity was too good hahaha." Mary continued laughing hysterically. That made Michael even more confused. He turned back to Hamza who was fuming.

"Come on, don't keep me in suspense. Tell me what happened."

"I'll tell ya what happened! She drew a dick on my face!" Hamza exclaimed, pointing his finger towards Mary.

That outburst caused her to start laughing again. Michael started chuckling too.

"EEHH it ain't funny! I'm revoking your right to my ps plus cuz of that!" he yelled again. Hamza was quite the prankster himself. Just the one that didn't like being on the other end of the pranks.

That made Mary stop laughing instantly. "Wait, wait! You can't do that! I still have a few games to finish!" Despite making fun of gamers, she turned out to be quite the gamer.

"Damn, and you were calling me a couch potato gamer?" Michael asked amusingly. "You became what you swore to destroy."

"Shut up… There's a difference between me and a fat guy who does nothing game. Nice reference though." Mary did her best to justify her addiction to games but to no avail.

"If that's the case, then it shouldn't matter if I take ma ps plus, riiigghht?" Now it was Hamza who was smirking. He knew he had cornered the normally sharp-witted girl.

"Whatever.." She settled in her seat, focusing on the biology textbook in her lap.

"Well, I could lend you mine if I get it." Michael told her. "Don't expect it anytime soon though."

"OHH thank you so muchhh. Get it soon though, gotta finish god of war." Aside from just playing games, Mary enjoyed mythology as well. Especially Norse mythology.

"Yeah yeah, I'll try."

They chatted for a few minutes until Hamza got a message on his phone.

"Man, Ryyan, Ahmad and Dua are waiting for us in the cafeteria. Les head there now."

Michael felt especially giddy at the thought of meeting his childhood friend, Dua. Not because of any romantic feelings though, just a nice friendship. He was also excited to meet with Ryyan as well. He was very identical to Michael but everything he did was better than Michael. Or at least that's the way he thought. Michael was never jealous of Ryyan though, he instead looked at him as an inspiration or a rival.

Cafeteria:

As soon as he got to the cafeteria, Michael got smothered by his friends.

"It's so good to finally see you, man!" Ahmad enthusiastically said, pulling him for a hug.

"How are you doing? Good hopefully." Ryyan said, smiling widely.

"Nice seeing you again, Michael." Dua calmly stated as she walked towards him.

They had changed a little since Michael last saw them. Ryyan had slicked back hair and had grown taller. Not taller than him but still taller. Ahmad had a little facial hair now, a goatee growing. He also seemed more talkative than before. And last of all, Dua. She had her hair dyed blonde and she radiated an authoritative aura.

"Thank you all. You guys don't know how much this means to me." Michael gave a genuine smile. It had been a while since he last smiled like that.

"What do yall say we catch up here eh? I'll go find us a table." Ahmad said as he went looking for a free table.

They caught up with each other. Michael got to learn a lot of things about his friends that he didn't over the group chat. Like how Dua is the president of the debate club and Ahmad recently got an award for the best physics project.

"So, you really have a girlfriend now eh." Michael asked, hoping to tease Ryyan a little. "I wonder what you guys do together"

Ryyan had virtually showed virtually no effect to Michael's teasing. Perhaps he had grown accustomed to it by now.

"She's a fine girl. Very independent and reliable. I am very glad to have her, you know?" Ryyan spoke highly of his girlfriend. He went on to explain how they met etc. The way he spoke of her made it obvious that he really had a thing for her.

"So you guys got it on during a group project?" Michael asked, fully invested in Ryyan's story. "Romantic, I guess."

"Apparently the group wanted her out because of some racial thing. Ryyan fought pretty hard to keep her in. Went as far as to say he would make sure to get them failed if they kick her out." Dua explained. "personally, I wouldn't take that risk but it's quite admirable."

"Bro really turned into jack from titanic hahaha" Ahmad laughed. "But seriously though, you weren't gonna risk getting flunked on a project worth half your grade, right?"

Ryyan is logical, like Dua. However, he is very passionate as well and will do anything for his friends and, in this case, girlfriend.

"I was. The way they treated her just because of her race was unacceptable." Ryyan said firmly. He isn't one to back down on his word.

"Damn Romeo, your girl is really lucky hahaha." Hadiya spoke up, gulping down a large piece of chocolate brownie.

At that, Ryyan slightly blushed.

"We really have to do something about your sweet addiction Hadiya. At the rate you're going, you'll get diabetes before you're even 30." Dua said with concern and a little bit of disgust, looking at how she absolutely destroyed the reasonable-sized brownie.

Even Hamza was amazed at her eating speed. "Ya, it got me worryin too. Don't ya worry about putting on weight cuz of all them sweets you keep eatin?"

She slowly turned her head towards Hamza, shooting him a death glare.

"*Gulp* Hamza man, I think you fucked up a little.." Ahmad looked more scared than the man in question.

"You really need a filter for that mouth of yours." Dua sighed, shaking her head in disapproval.

"Ah shit…" Hamza had all but accepted what was about to come.

"LISTEN HERE YOU LITTLE SHIT-"

As Hadiya gave a very aggravated lecture on the number of calories she loses in sports and how he doesn't have to worry about putting on weight, Ryyan whispered "Good luck." To him.

"Those two at it again, huh" Michael said he rested his head on the table. They are quite a duo. Hamza and Mary. They'll argue quite a lot but everyone knows their bond is deep and one of best friends even. They work it out when they have to and goof around when they don't.

"You seem tired, man. Everything okay?" Ahmad asked. Michael's mind had drifted back to the washroom incident again. He snapped out of it though.

"Yeah, I am fine. What about you though? Still going go-carting?"

"Hell yeah fam! I'm on a consecutive 5 1st place win streak right now. You should come along sometime." Ahmad was a huge fan of go-carting. Racing and cars were his hobbies generally but he was into history and politics too.

"Yeah, maybe sometime." Michael didn't have a lot of interest in cars but he was interested in history, not as much as Ahmad though. Whenever he needed any historical information or just a plain debate on historical figures, he always went to Ahmad.

"Are we not going to talk about that little bruise on your cheek?" Dua asked with a serious expression. Well, asking is a little bit of an understatement. When she asks you something, it's like you are always obligated to answer.

"Yeah, I noticed that too. Looks fresh to me." Ryyan added. Michael did feel their gazes on it but still hoped they wouldn't bring it up.

"It's nothing, just took a fall."

"It's not like you to be so clumsy. Everything alright?" Ryyan insisted a little more.

"Yeah, it's fine, first day of school and all hahaha." Michael was really hoping they would stop constantly mentioning it and move on from the subject. Luckily for him, they did.

"If you say so, man. Be a little more careful, you had me worried you got punked by someone hahaha."

Michael gave his most convincing fake chuckle. "haha I don't expect that to happen any time soon."

"Don't be too sure. This school is full of douchbags." Dua warned him seriously.

"Dua is right. Be careful around here. If you ever think someone is about to jump you, contact me immediately. Or anyone of us for that matter." Ryyan added. They really didn't want him to get hurt. Little did they know, he experienced what this school had to offer firsthand.

"I'll keep that in mind, thanks." Michael stood up. "I'd love to stick around and chat some more but I want to explore the school a little before class starts." What he really wanted to do was just get some fresh air.

"Alright. See you after class then." Dua smiled. "Be careful and don't get lost."

"Yeah, yeah I know. I'm not your baby, you know?" Michael smiled as he walked away.

As soon as he was out of sight, Dua turned to Ryyan. "We are not buying his story, right?"

"Definitely not."

Courtyard:

Michael took a deep breath. "Wow. This day is getting hard to keep track of." Michael spoke to himself quietly. "I should find a place to sit." He thought to himself as he absentmindedly took a seat at a nearby bench.

After a few minutes, he realized he wasn't the only one sitting on the bench. On the other end of the bench, there was a girl with violet eyes and blood-red hair.

The girl was reading the book with an intense expression on her face, ignoring the world around her, completely lost inside the pages of the book. The book just so happened to be one of Michael's favorites.