September
The first day of school finally arrived, and Abdullah was genuinely excited. Everything was new. The building, the people, the routines. He wanted to see what secondary school had to offer.
Abdullah and Ali got into the car together. Abdullah didn't know where most of his friends were yet, so he stuck with Ali. As they were walking in, something caught Abdullah's eye.
DK was written on a boy's schoolbag.
Abdullah smirked."Ali, look. DK. Bro's named Donkey Kong."
He laughed.
"Shut the actual fuck up," Ali snapped. "Don't say anything to him either, you idiot."
Abdullah stayed quiet after that.
They were led into the school chapel, where the entire year sat down. The principal began giving a long speech, welcoming everyone and explaining rules. He introduced their year head next.
"This is Mr T," the principal said.
Abdullah noticed him immediately tall, broad, with an extremely deep voice.
The principal kept talking."If you ever see anyone being harassed or bullied if John looks upset, or if Paul is being picked on"
Paul? Abdullah thought. I wonder if there are any Pauls in our year.
Before he could stop himself, Abdullah stood up.
"ANY PAULS?"
He spun around, scanning the room.
The entire year burst out laughing. The principal paused, stared at him, and pointed back to his seat.
"Sit down."
Abdullah sat, trying not to smile.
After the assembly, they were sent to their base classes. Abdullah immediately spotted Tomek and Alois and stuck with them without hesitation.
Then came maths.
"Hello class," the teacher said. "My name is Mr T, and I hope to get to know all of you better."
"Aren't you our year head though?" Abdullah asked.
"Yes," Mr T replied calmly. "And I'm also your maths teacher."
Abdullah was sitting beside a boy whose eyes looked dark, almost like he hadn't slept in weeks. Abdullah stared a little too long.
"Yo, why do your eyes look like that? Do you not sleep?"
"Nah, I don't," the boy replied.
"Wouldn't you literally die though?"
The boy sighed. "I'm joking. It's a skin condition."
"Oh. Fair," Abdullah said quickly. "What's your name?"
"Matthew," the boy replied. "And you're the 'any Pauls' guy."
"Yeah," Abdullah said. "I'm Abdullah."
Next was Irish. Abdullah was exempt, so he stayed at the back with another boy who wasn't doing the work either.
"Yo, what are you doing?" Abdullah asked.
"Just playing games on the school laptop," the boy replied, his accent noticeable.
"What's your name? I'm Abdullah. Also… are you Russian?"
"I'm Ukrainian," the boy corrected. "My name's Erop."
"Oh, my bad," Abdullah said. "I heard about the war."
"Yeah," Erop replied. "That's why I came here."
The first day flew by. Abdullah actually enjoyed it.
Over the next few days, he mostly stayed with Tomek and Alois. During one PE class, Abdullah noticed Nadeem talking to Tomek. Later, Tomek walked over.
"What were you two talking about?" Abdullah asked.
"Nothing," Tomek said. "He was just talking about his girlfriend. You remember Lina from primary?"
Abdullah froze for a second.
"What he's dating her?"
"Yeah."
"Oh," Abdullah said. "Yeah, I know her."
At break one day, Abdullah spotted Kai walking with Alois and another boy.
"KAI," Abdullah said. "Long time no see."
"Yeah, bro," Kai laughed. "It's been a while."
Abdullah looked at the blond boy beside him."Who's this guy?"
"You know he's right there, right?" Kai said. "That's Kyle."
"Uh… hi," Kyle said.
Why does he sound so gay? Abdullah thought.
"What's up, bro," Abdullah said out loud.
Later, Abdullah had Irish again and was sent to a separate room. Erop was already there, playing a game on his phone.
"No way," Abdullah said. "You play that too? I play with my friends."
"Bro," Erop replied. "You don't understand. I have every V4 and ten million bounty."
The two spent the rest of the class talking about the game. That night, they played together on call.
One day during big break, Abdullah noticed a horrible smell. He opened his bag and realised the milk he'd brought had gone bad.
"Ah, that's disgusting," he muttered.
"Did you forget to take it out?" someone laughed.
Abdullah looked up. It was Jan from primary.
"Yeah," Abdullah said. "I forgot."
"My brother would never forget," Jan said proudly. "He drinks like ten litres of milk a day and eats five kilos of cheese. He's lactose intolerant."
"Bro," Abdullah said. "That's actually concerning."
"I know," Jan laughed.
As school ended that day, Abdullah spotted someone familiar.
"JOHN!"
Abdullah sprinted over and shoved John into a bush.
"It's so good to see you," Abdullah laughed.
"Good to see you too," John said. "How's school been?"
"It's been good. Made the whole year laugh on day one."
"Sounds like you."
Tomek soon joined them, and from then on, the three of them walked home together every day.
School life continued. News came out about an upcoming trip.
One day at break, Abdullah and Erop noticed Nadeem begging people for food.
"No one's giving him anything," Erop said.
"I kinda feel bad," Abdullah replied. "I'll give him some."
"No, don't," Erop said. "It's funnier watching him beg."
Abdullah ignored him and handed Nadeem food.
"Bro, thank you," Nadeem said. "You're a real one. No one else gave me anything."
"It's ok" Abdullah said.
Over the next few days, Abdullah noticed something. It wasn't just Nadeem people treated Erop badly too. Jokes, comments, harassment.
"You good?" Abdullah asked Erop one day.
"I'm fine," Erop said. "They just hate me because i'm Ukranian."
Abdullah didn't believe him "just because he's Ukrainian?".
"hey here have some more food"
"really aren't you hungry its chill i can beg someone else" Nadeem said.
"be honest no one else gonna give you and its alright ill give you food everyday"
"actually bro your the best" Nadeem practically gave Abdullah a hug.
"how come everyones so mean to you" Abdullah asked
"idk their just haters it doesnt bother me" Nadeem said.
"to be honest your not even that bad like"
"thanks like you get it" Nadeem replied.
the next few days Abdullah would continue giving Nadeem food everyday. until the trip came.
When the trip finally came, Abdullah sat with Erop while Nadeem sat in front of them. When the teachers weren't looking, Nadeem started doing a trial in the game on his phone.
"No way you're doing that now," Erop whispered.
"Hurry," Abdullah said. "Before a teacher sees."
They shielded Nadeem until he finished.
"Thanks," Nadeem said.
That night, Nadeem played the game with Abdullah.
Time moved fast. The first two months disappeared, and November was already approaching.
Abdullah realised something.
He was really enjoying first year...