CHAPTER 9

A nostalgic feeling shot up his spine as he realized that he had with him the people who had once meant the whole world and more to him.

He looked directly into Zahar's eyes, his expression not giving away any of the emotions that were tearing at him.

He watched the smile that had been forming on Zaharadeen's face suddenly thin out until a confused one replaced it.

He steadily fixed his gaze on Zaharadeen no matter how hard it was for him, he would rather look at him than the hateful girl beside him.

Being near her alone had sent him reminiscing about the last time he had seen her.

When the Commandant had called out all acting prefects that morning, Rayyan had no idea that he would end up in a less than favourable position before the day was over.

The badging ceremony had started a little earlier than it usually did that year. A few minutes into the badging ceremony, while badging the Assembly Prefect, majority of the ss1 body had burst out laughing abruptly.

The deputy Commandant had instructed a personnel to kneel them down till the badging ceremony was over.

After every name was called, either a series of hoots of boos followed,  judging by how wicked or nice the person was to their juniors.

A deafening silence fell heavily on the parade ground however, and it took the second time before Rayyan finally acknowledged the Commandant.

Climbing up the podium was something he had done countless times, either to pass an information across or whenever he was obligated to take the role of the parade commander.

That day however was different, whether it was the almost ominous silence or the way the Commandant fixated her beady eyes on him, his skin prickled with a strange feeling.

He swallowed the feeling down however, and proceeded to stand in front of the Commandant who succeeded in pinning the badge without impaling him like she had done to a few people beforehand.

Subconsciously, his eyes scanned across the crowd of students who looked at him, mostly petrified.

It wasn't until he found what he was looking for that he actually knew what he was looking for.

He could--even from the distance between them-- see the expression on Maliya's face.

While the other students still managed to kneel properly, Maliya was hunched over with her hands in front of her to steady her.

With conflicting emotions, he looked on as her eyes met his for the briefest of seconds.

In that second, he felt bitterness, sadness, anger and contentment watching her kneel down in pain.

The Commandant had removed the badge, realising that she had given him the wrong one.

She collected the appropriate badge from the teacher who stood next to her.

It was in that moment everything changed. A piercing scream tore through the air silencing everything else.

It was an all too familiar scream.

A few metres ahead, the library prefect--Caleb was running towards the direction of the sickbay, holding a girl in his arms.

It was safe to say that the assembly had become chaotic in every sense of the word.

Some people were filled with excitement, glad to have been blessed with their early morning dosage of gossip which would go on for a few weeks at most.

The remaining people were either worried, feigning to be, or utterly unbothered.

Rumaysa would have loved to be classified as one of the unbothered students, but then again there was that voice in her head that was urging her to go check-up on Maliya.

Just as she began giving in to the nagging voice, Rayyan beat her to it.

She watched as he ran past her with a speed which could rival a hare's.

Rayyan got to the sickbay a few moments after Caleb went through the door.

Rumaysa's urge to go to the sickbay heightened, but it was cruelly stopped by the harsh warning of the Commandant for all students to return to their respective classes.

Casting one final glance towards the door, she began walking in the direction of the class, although groaning internally at the inevitability of her classmates to talk about what had just happened.

******

He walked towards the bed where Maliya was lain, each step heavier than the last.

In that moment, with his mind muddled with thoughts he desperately tried to escape, he locked his eyes on the almost lifeless figure on the bed.

Without realising he had stretched his hand towards her hair.

No...

Don't do this Rayyan....

You hate her remember...

Remember how she left you....

How she didn't respond to all your calls...

How she didn't come for Fadila...

Oh no...  Fadila ...

Blood...

Sirens..

"No please, please bring her back" Caleb looked back to find Rayyan walking towards the door slowly, his eyes unfocused as her stared somewhere between Maliya and the ground.

"Rayyan?" He asked cautiously.

"Please don't do this to me....just give her the damn inhaler" Rayyan yelled.

Caleb jumped, a little bit shocked at the reaction that Rayyan was displaying.

"Nurse Sandra" he yelled calling the nurse who had left to get some medications.

He rushed towards Rayyan, trying to hold him up as he slumped against the wall. Mumbling incoherently.

"Please mum, don't let them take Fadila away from me" Rayyan muttered, his voice no more than a broken whisper.

"Don't let them take her from me like they took Liya, mum. Please mum" Caleb could only watch as tears leaked from Rayyan's eyes.

Already, he could feel his eyes start to water at the sight of Rayyan.

Then Rayyan's chest heaved as his eyes travelled to where Maliya lay on the bed.

"Please come back Liya, don't let them take her Liya...please Liya"

Slowly, his words began to slur, and his eyes began to droop.

And soon enough, he was knocked out cold.

*******

With the help of the nurse, Caleb dragged Rayyan onto the bed opposite Maliya.

The nurse instucted Caleb to remove Maliya's shoes and socks while she went to get some gauze for Maliya's bloody knee.

Caleb looked down a little shyly as he performed the task at hand. He was glad the girl was not awake as he wouldn't ever be able to look her in the eye after that.

She was messing with his head. He had first seen her on the second week of resumption. She had walked into the library that morning with a confused look on her face.

She went ahead to talk to the librarian.

Internally, he groaned. He was sure the woman would say something rude to her....everyone was well aware of her tempermental behaviour since she lost her husband a few years back.

She never ceased to complain about the way her in-laws treated her asif she were a 'HIV patient waiting to die'

And while her description of how she was treated had been a little ludicrous, he had seen how much her husband's death had taken a toll on her. And frankly, it was the only reason why he was still tolerating her insults.

He was proved right when he saw Maliya glaring at the woman evilly from the corner of her eye.

He had been astounded by the regal beauty she possesed since she walked in, but the moment she started making her way to where he was, his heart leaped.

"Excuse me please, the librarian said you could direct me to the storybook section" her voice was soft and assertive, and her stance firm.

He walked ahead of her, stifling a laughter as he replayed the way she glared at the librarian.

After that day, she would always visit to the library more than half the days that they attended school.

Since he was almost always present in the library, he saw a lot of her.

One thing he noticed about her was that she was very diverse in her reading habits.

She would read a horror novel one day, a cringy romance novel the next, and historical or religious ones in the days that followed.

They exchanged greetings every time they met, but it hadn't morphed into a friendship yet.

But he could only hope with the right amount of steadfastness, they would become friends.

Or dare he hope, something more.