Abdullah's life went on as usual. Every day he came into school talking to Erop about the game, giving Nadeem some of his lunch, talking to Tomek about something random, or walking around with Alois and Kai. Kyle would usually be there too, though Abdullah didn't really know him.
One day in maths, Mr T decided to give everyone assigned seats.
"Ok Abdullah, you are in the second to last row in the back left corner next to Marcus."
Marcus was a blond boy with a noticeable spot on his face. Abdullah hadn't asked about it before, but now that they were sitting together, curiosity got the better of him.
"What's that on your face?" Abdullah asked.
"It's a birth mark," Marcus replied with an accent.
"Oh, cool. Can you not get it removed surgically or anything?"
Marcus chuckled. "Nah, if we could, we probably would've removed it by now."
"Where are you from by the way?"
"I'm Irish like, but I lived in London for a while. Let me guess, you're Indian."
"No, I'm not."
"Yeah, I know you're not, I'm joking. I know where you're from 'cause I know your brother."
"You know Ali?"
"Yeah, a lot of people do."
Their conversation was cut short.
"Marcus, Abdullah, you better be talking about maths back there," Mr T said.
"Yeah, he was just helping me with this question," Marcus replied.
Later that day, Abdullah went to Ali.
"Do you know this guy with a birth mark on his face, Marcus? He said he knew you."
"Why are you talking to him? He's an idiot."
"He's actually nice. What did he do to you?"
"He did something stupid anyways to my friend."
"Like what?"
"You don't need to know. Just fuck off. Why are you even talking to me about fucking Marcus?"
"Don't you hang out with your little group of freaks? What happened to John and Tomek?"
"I still talk to them."
"And they're not freaks. You're the freak."
"Yeah shut up, you literally have two friends. Don't talk to me."
Over the next few days, Abdullah had to start walking to Zara's school on Wednesdays to pick her up.
How come John isn't coming anymore? Abdullah thought.
As he waited outside the school, a group of girls shouted at him.
"Tell Ali she likes him," they said, laughing.
What kind of an idiot would like him? He's an asshole, Abdullah thought.
"ABDULLAH, that's my brother. Let me go," Zara shouted to her teacher.
"Hey Zara."
"I'm here to pick her up," Abdullah said to the teacher.
"Today we played with like toys and like we painted with fingers and it was like so fun and we did the like swing and uh… I forgot," Zara laughed.
Listening to Zara speak put a smile on Abdullah's face.
Feels just like yesterday she was a baby. Now she's already starting school.
When Abdullah got home, he messaged John.
"Bro why aren't you coming anymore?"
"I just can't be arsed, you guys take too long to come."
"Fair enough."
The next day in class, a boy named Adrian started meowing at Abdullah. Abdullah had seen him before and knew his name from the roll, but they had never spoken.
"Uh, why're you meowing?"
"Oh, I was just feeling a little silly," Adrian said.
Later that day during break, a random boy walked up to Abdullah.
"Hey, you're Abdullah right?"
"Yeah I am, who are you?"
"I'm Agim. Who would win, Pakistan or India?"
Abdullah went into a long history lesson about the two countries.
"Ok, but who would win though?" Agim asked.
"To be honest, considering the population advantage plus size, if the two countries went to war, India is most likely to get the upper hand."
Agim chuckled. "Alright, thanks. Very interesting."
They went their separate ways, but little did they know they'd cross paths again.
The next day in the locker room, Abdullah saw Ali talking to his friend.
"Are we walking home today or not?" Abdullah thought.
"Hey Ali, are we walking today?"
"I don't know, go away," Ali replied.
"Hey, stop being mean to Abdullah."
"Abdullah, is he bullying you? Do you want me to give him a box to the head?" Ali's friend said.
"Yeah, he's bullying me. You should."
"Ali, apologise to Abdullah right now."
"Make me."
"Alright, that's it."
The guy grabbed Ali by the collar, but Ali pushed him off.
"Do you know me?"
"I don't."
"I'm Joe. Just come to me if he's ever being mean, I'll take care of Ali."
"Thanks," Abdullah replied.
"Abdullah could bait you, you're lucky he's being nice," Joe said to Ali.
Ali ignored him.
One thing led to another, and Joe asked Abdullah to arm wrestle. As they went at it, a small crowd started to form. Abdullah beat Joe with ease.
"Fucking hell, you're strong man. Hold on, go against my friend."
One after another, Abdullah beat everyone lined up. The crowd grew bigger, voices overlapping.
"Come on."
"That's easy work for you."
"Lock in."
Then Abdullah saw Agim step forward.
"Hey, wanna go against me?" Agim said with a wide grin.
"Yeah sure, let's see what you got."
They locked hands. Neither of them moved.
"Come on, you're stronger than that."
"Come on, Abdullah."
The crowd was on his side.
Time slowed down.
This guy is exactly as strong as I am.
Abdullah could see the strain on Agim's face, but he knew he was struggling just as hard.
"You can't keep going forever," Abdullah said.
"Neither can you," Agim replied.
Abdullah finally broke the stalemate by a quarter of an inch. Victory felt close
and suddenly someone pushed Agim's hand down.
The crowd exploded with cheers, but Abdullah felt nothing but dissatisfaction.
I wanna win fair.
Teachers stormed in, breaking up the crowd and shouting for everyone to leave.
"Hey Agim, one day we rematch and I'll beat you fair and square."
"Yeah, next time we do, I'll win though," Agim laughed.
"Alright, can't wait to see it."
After that day, people would jokingly ask Abdullah to arm wrestle. Half the time they backed out once he agreed. The other half, they lost.
Every now and then, Abdullah would see Agim asking about the rematch. Abdullah always said another day. More time.
At home, though, in late November to early December, Abdullah's father told him they were going back to Pakistan.
But all Abdullah could think about was the rematch.
That guy… I wonder if I'd actually beat him. Can't wait for the day to come.
agim...