New Kid

Chapter 1

I walked into the headmaster’s office in my new school. It was my first day here and I was a nervous wreck, though I kept on a cool exterior. I sucked in a deeeeep breath and took a step forward. Cool air rushed towards me in full blast the second I pushed the office door open. All of the teachers inside turned their stares to me almost immediately. I searched frantically for the headmaster’s room so I could get out of their creepy gazes.

I scanned the whole office until my eyes finally stopped at a door with the sign ‘Headmaster’ on it. I rushed towards that door and pushed it open. I stepped inside and there sat the ‘headmaster’ in front of me, with his legs crossed on his desk. He was smoking a cigarette and his whole room reeked of tobacco. He saw me as soon as I saw him, and he quickly removed his legs from the top of his desk and threw his cigarette away.

He nervously stood up and straightened his coat. “Ah, what brings you here at a time like this? Recess is almost over.” He said. ‘He doesn’t even know his students.’ I thought. “Uh…I’m THE new student.” I replied, assuming that he’d heard about me. “One second, please.” He whispered to me before yelling out of his office, “ARE WE HAVING A NEW STUDENT?”

I palmed my face and heard a woman yell back, “YES!” “Oh, then, please take a seat, son.” The headmaster smiled at me, looking as if ‘son’ was the last thing in the world he wanted to call me. “T-Thank you.” I stuttered and sat down in the cushiony in front of the man. He began rummaging through the messy stack of papers and files on his desks while humming a tune. I wanted to sweatdrop. How unorganized was this guy anyway?

A few minutes passed. The fat man finally found the specific file he had been rummaging for. “Ah, here it is!” He cheered as he flipped open the file, examining it, “You must be Ivan Higa.” “Yes, Sir.” I answered rather formally to my liking. “Hmm…Secondary 2…2M…male…basketball…” The headmaster began mumbling incoherently to himself. I just sat there in silence, obediently listening to him.

“Here you go.” He said cheerily after quite some time, handing me the file, “This will be your personal file. Your paperwork, textbooks and student card are inside.” I took the large heavy file from his hands and struggled to hold it. ‘Damn, was it overweight.’

“Thank you, Sir.” I bowed slightly before turning to leave. “Oh, and your class is the second last classroom from the B Block boys’ toilet.” He reminded me before I left, “And once you reach your class, you’ll have to pick a student to be your guide for this whole month since you’re new here. Enjoy your first day.” “Alright.” I simply replied as I unintentionally slammed the door shut behind me.

I gulped and walked towards my classroom.

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“Good morning, class.” The teacher greeted as the whole of 2M greeted back in unison, “Good morning, Miss.” They then sat down in their places and pulled out their Math books. The entire class was a sea of light blue, dark green and white. The girls wore light blue pinafores and the guys, white shirts and dark green pants. Typical secondary school uniforms.

“Alright, now everyone, turn to page 145 of your textbooks.” The teacher ordered as everyone did so. Just then, there was a knock on the door. Everyone turned to stare. A brown-haired boy stood there, panting lightly, holding a huge student file and with a school bag slung behind him. A few girls in the back started squealing.

“Oh, you must be the new student. The headmaster had told me about you.” The teacher smiled sweetly before ushering the boy in. He timidly took small steps forward and stood before the class. He was tall and tanned, not to mention strikingly handsome. ‘He’s hot’, ‘What do you think his name is’ and ‘He should join us for lunch.’es could be heard buzzing around the classroom.

“Would you mind introducing yourself?” The teacher asked gently, placing her hand on his shoulder. “Uhmm…not at all.” The boy gulped and cleared his throat, “Hi. I’m Ivan Higa, and I’ll be your new classmate starting today.” That was all. ‘Simple.’ He thought to himself. “Alright, that was a great introduction!” The teacher cheered embarrassingly. ‘She’s treating me like a kid.’

“Now, Ivan, you must choose one of the students here to be your one-month guide.” The woman explained, “It can be anyone. Girl or guy.” A few girls gasped and crossed their fingers. One of them patted her hair down and dramatically flipped out a hand mirror. “Uh…I’ll find my seat first.” Ivan said and the teacher friendlily nodded. Ivan’s eyes scanned the classroom. Everyone there looked fine and friendly. The guys looked cool and the girls, pretty. Then, he noticed an empty seat next to a proper-looking Indian girl in light blue and white, the second row from the front.

‘That’s probably my permanent seat.’ He sighed to himself. He walked towards the empty spot and caught the Indian girl glaring at him for some reason. ‘Do I have something on my face?’ He placed his bag on the chair and sat down slowly. Before his butt could touch the chair, someone came ramming into the class, panting heavily and causing a huge commotion. He looked up, only to find a petite girl in a dark blue blazer and grey skirt. Her bangs were splayed messily across her forehead, partly covering her eyes and her bag was half-hanging from her shoulders.

“S-SORRY I’M LATE!” She cried out and bowed multiple times in front of the rather annoyed teacher. Ivan raised an eyebrow. ‘Why is she wearing a different uniform from the rest?’ He heard a few boys whisper from the back. “Shana’s here!” “Yay! I thought she wouldn’t come!” “I wonder if she’d have lunch with me today.” “Did you ask her out?” ‘Was this girl some superstar or millionaire or something?’

“Shana. You’re late again.” The teacher crossed her arms over her chest and tapped her high-heeled foot on the ground, “What kind of head prefect are you?” ‘Oh, so she was a prefect – HEAD prefect. Cool.’ “I’m really sorry, Miss Jun! I-It’s just…I found a kitten stuck in a tree, so I climbed up to ‘rescue’ it!” She protested. The entire class started laughing. She laughed along nervously and ruffled her hazel brown hair, tied into a messy ponytail that reached the middle of her back. 

“You…WHAT?” Miss Jun – he figured out her name since Shana mentioned it – sighed incredulously, “You climbed a tree…in a skirt?” “U-Uh…there was no one there.” The girl hoarsely whispered and then her eyes made their way to Ivan. “OMG!” She cried out, cupping her hands around her cheeks. Ivan looked up and noticed her staring at him. He turned bright red and widened his eyes, slightly flailing his arms around.

‘Did I do something wrong?!’ “Why is a random guy sitting in my place?!” The prefect squealed, her hands still cupping her face. Ivan stared at her, not knowing what to do. ‘Damn. She is cute.’ “O-Oh, I-I’m sorry! I didn’t know this place was taken.” He blurted out sheepishly. “Don’t be so rude to the new student, Shana!” The Miss Jun scolded her again and the girl sighed loudly. “So, HE’S the new kid.” She muttered.

“He can sit wherever he wants.” Miss Jun added, “How about you go sit there from now on.” The woman pointed to another empty seat next to Ivan, but in another row. “Alright, alright. Fine. Whatever.” She rolled her eyes and strutted unwillingly towards the seat and plopped down on it. “Kawaii.” A boy behind the new student whispered. Ivan spun around slightly and caught a glimpse of the spiky-haired boy from the corner of his eye.

“Have you decided on your guide, Ivan?” Miss Jun asked him again. Ivan looked around him as a drop of sweat ran down the side of his face. He glanced at the imperfect Shana again, who was now trying to unbutton her glamorous-looking blazer. “U-Uh…if you don’t mind…” He stuttered and pointed at the prefect. The girls in the class gasped in disappointment and few boys glared at him.

Ivan gulped and stayed quiet, embarrassed. Shana, who was oblivious to her surroundings, didn’t look up from what she was doing. “Oh, goody!” Miss Jun smiled as she clapped, “Shana. You’re going to be a guide again.” ‘Again?’ Ivan’s thoughts were cut off as Shana stood up violently from her chair, making it slide back a few inches. “What?” She cluelessly asked.

“For this whole month, you’ll have to show Ivan around the school, make sure he knows all of the school rules and keep him out of trouble. I hope you two get along.” The teacher exclaimed excitedly, “And, Ivan, don’t let this girl boss you around.” Ivan nodded stupidly and Shana palmed her face. “Alright, hi, Ivan.” She mumbled unenthusiastically. I just waved back in reply.

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The class went on until 4 o’ clock. The bell rang and the teacher walked out of the class after everyone wished her ‘thank you’. “W-Where are we going?” I whispered to Shana, who took a few bucks out of her bag and stuffed them into her grey skirt pocket. “It’s tea break now.” She replied, “Lunch break’s at 1 o’ clock and tea break’s at 4 every day. School ends at 7.” “Oh, okay. Thanks.” I sheepishly thanked her and for once, she looked me in the eye and smiled.

“Sorry, but I won’t be able to show you around during recess today. I’ve got my prefect duties.” She apologized as we walked out of the classroom together, “But you can come find me after you’ve had your tea, though. I’ll be at the A Block boys’ stairs.” “And where’s that?” I scratched my head and asked. “There.” She pointed at a flight of stairs near the canteen from the corridor we were standing at, “See you then.” She waved at me and walked off, putting on her blazer as she did.

I watched until she was out of sight. I then turned around to follow the other boys who were walking towards the canteen.

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I sat down at a table in the canteen, staring into space. My stomach didn’t yearn for food, so I didn’t buy anything. Just as I was about to drift off with my thoughts, someone placed a hand on my shoulder. “Hi. Are you Ivan Higa, the new kid?” The person asked. I turned around to face a tall boy, who seemed to be about my height, with shaggy black hair and thick rimmed glasses. “Yes. I’m the new kid.” I said.

“May I sit with you for now?” He asked politely. “Sure.” I replied politely. He sat down next to me and began munching on his nugget. “Don’t mind me.” He said between munches, “I’m friendly toward new people.” “Well, that’s good.” I stated. “Thanks.” He answered. Two other boys walked up to us and slapped the boy next to me a high-five. “Yo, Jason.” One of the greeted.

“Sup.” Jason, the boy sitting next to me, I found, slapped his friend on the back, “Sit down with us, you two.” They both sat. “Who’s this dude? Never seen him around.” The other boy grinned, eyeing me closely. I got all nervous again. “Oh, he’s my new friend, Ivan Higa. He’s new here.” Jason introduced me to them, “And Ivan, this is Keith.” He pointed to the boy who greeted him first. Keith smiled at me. “And this is Ryan.” He gestured to the other boy.

“Nice to meet you all.” I simply said. After that simple sentence of mine, no one said anything further. Just as the silence was about to swallow me up and kill me, Keith burst out, “I heard you got Shana Joon as a guide.” “Uh – yes.” I replied him nervously. ‘Was he going to kill me now?’ “Oh, I see.” He said in a rather obvious jealous tone. “Don’t mind him.” Jason snorted and patted my back, “He has a crush on her, so he’s obviously jealous.”

“I-I DO NOT!” Keith yelled a little too loudly, dragging others’ attention to our group. “Quiet down, Keith!” Jason whispered harshly to the poor red-faced boy, “You do and there’s no use denying it.” “W-Well…don’t YOU like her too?!” Keith shot back. Now it was Jason whose face turned red. “I-I just admire her. That’s all.” “You two…” Ryan shook his head in disgust. “Shut up, Ryan.” The two embarrassed boys glared at their friend, who raised his hands up in surrender.

I watched in amusement at their dramatic fight. Suddenly, a feeling of pride took over. ‘I must be the luckiest man in this school to have Shana Joon as my guide.’ I thought, and then smirked to myself. “Do you find us stupid?” Jason huffed, crossed his arms and turned away from Keith. “Y-Yes.” I replied honestly, “In a good way, that is. You’re all…really…entertaining.” Keith smiled a wide toothy smile, only to earn another slap from Jason.

“I guess…I’ll see you all. I really have to go.” I struggled to get the words 

out of my mouth. ‘I really have to go find my guide.’ “Oh, okay. See you then!” Ryan waved me off. “Wait…what class are you all in?” I turned back to ask before leaving the canteen. “2A.” Jason. “2G.” Keith. “2P.” Ryan. “Alright I’ll keep that in mind.” I winked and rushed off, leaving the boys to whisper among themselves.

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“Shana!” I greeted between heavy pants as I approached her. She looked extremely bored standing alone at the A Block stairs. “Oh, hello, Ivan.” She greeted back cheerily before walking towards me. I jumped a bit when she placed a hand on my arm. “Haha, no need to be so tensed up and all.” She giggled and I turned red in embarrassment. ‘I suck.’ I wanted to mentally punch myself. Why did I have to act so stupid around people?!

“I-I’m sorry. Are you sure it’ll be okay for you to leave your duty just like that?” I asked her with a bit of concern. “I…never thought about that.” She huffed and hunched her back slightly to show her disappointment. Just then, a handsome boy in a similar dark blue blazer as Shana and grey pants walked pass. “GERALD!” The brown-ette squealed as the boy spun around to look at her. “O-Oh, Shana! HI!” He cried out, red-faced. I could sense nervousness in his voice.

“Could you pleeeeeeeeeease do me a favour, Gerald?” She waddled up to him and grabbed the sides of his blazer with puppy dog eyes no one could resist. “Uhmm…uh…” The boy, Gerald, stammered, “S-Sure! I-I’d do anything for you!” I raised an eyebrow. How cheesy could someone get anyway? “Thank you so much!” Shana squealed weirdly as she gave him a simple hug that sent his face exploding with redness. 

“Uh – can we like…go now?” I asked in an impatient tone. Then, I mentally kicked myself this time for blurting that out. Why did I?! Don’t tell me I was…JEALOUS? No way. I barely knew her. “Oh, I’m really sorry, Ivan.” She apologized and bowed down in front of me like a Japanese, “Bye, and thanks again, Gerald! I owe you one!” She then dragged me away from the stairs. I turned back to catch a glimpse of that Gerald, and I could’ve sworn I saw him glaring at me.