The first day of school arrived. Badr and Yousef dressed in their uniforms and headed to the school bus that arrived at 6:30 AM. They both hurried through the first year corridor, to find which class they belong to. There were four sections, and unfortunately, they turned out to be in different classes. Badr was in 7-D and Yousef in 7-C, so they had different schedules; each class had its own schedule. They parted after the bell rang.

Badr went inside the noisy class and found Malak already sitting in the second seat next to the wide pin-board on the wall.

"Hi!" Badr waved at her.

"Good morning Badr! Do you know where your seat is?" Malak asked.

"No, our seats are assigned? Where do I check?"

"On the teacher's table," Malak replied, pointing at the front table.

"I'll see."

Badr checked his seat that turned out to be in the second row one table away from Malak. He sat down and observed the four rows and five columns around him filled with students. Then he smiled at Malak who waved at him excitedly. The classroom had twenty individual wooden square desks. There also wasn't a single scratch on the whiteboard.

A teacher with shoulder-length maroon hair and square brown tortoise shell glasses greeted the class and began introducing herself.

"Good morning everyone! I'm your English teacher for this year. You can call me Mrs. Rania," she welcomed energetically. She continued chattering about herself and her past careers. Then she announced, "Please, starting from the row beside the window, stand up and introduce yourself. I want to get to know everyone today, so tell me your full name and hobbies."

A short boy with bright apple red hair and a playful smile stood up.

"I'm Jack Assaf," he stated. "And I love playing basketball and cards."

"Cool, keep it up, Jack. Next?"

One by one, the students introduced themselves and when it was Badr's turn, he grinned. "My name is Badr Quloub, and I love volleyball and swimming. I also like doing adventures and exploring!"

"Wow, interesting!" Mrs. Rania chirped. "You'll have a great year, Badr!"

When Malak's turn arrived, she stood up straightening her back, "I'm Malak Ghazal, and I love art, and I especially love drawing. I also like ice skating."

"How talented! You should consider joining these clubs, because I think they're both available from what I remember!" the teacher praised. "Next?"

The same girl who sat next to Yousef on the metro train stood up, "I-I'm Noor Jassim. I like to swim and collect things like shells and insects."

"Fascinating! Next?"

A boy who had black hair and a sharp face stood up and mouthed uncomfortably, "T-Tarek Emadi. I like baseball and drawing."

"Wonderful! Who's next?"

Tarek's voice was very low and Badr only heard his name.

The first lesson continued and so did the second and third, until it was finally break-time. Mr. Salem came in and handed the club forms, and instructed them to tick at least two, and at most four. He also informed them to get their locker keys because the lockers contain a surprise inside.

When Badr finished ticking his clubs, he left his classroom and headed to Yousef's class. He shook hands with Yousef as soon as he spotted him. A while later, they went outside together and discussed the clubs they decided to join.

"So, who's in your class?" Badr inquired.

"Yahya," Yousef notified, taking a bite of his sandwich. "And other random people I don't know."

"Cool! There's Malak in my class, and that guy...I don't know where I saw him before. His name is Tarek."

"Yeah, okay. Did she talk to you?"

"Who, Malak? Yeah!"

"What?! I told you she's crazy! Did she force you to join the charity club?"

"No, of course not. Look, it's okay, I think she's really nice. She's not as stupid and nosy as you say," Badr assured him. "By the way...there's no charity club."

"Well, whatever! She's the last thing I care about."

The bell rang shortly afterward, and Badr proceeded to the next lesson. After two more subject lessons, break arrived again. Badr wanted to make friends with the people in his class, so he stayed inside the classroom. After chatting with a few classmates, he decided to talk to Malak.

"Hey Malak!" Badr beamed.

"Hi!"

"What clubs did you join?"

"Oh, I joined art, of course, and ice skating and horseback riding club. How about you?" she replied.

"Volleyball, swimming and football!" he told her.

"Nice," chortled Malak.

Badr suddenly remembered. "I have to go get the locker keys and I'm hungry so I will talk to you later. Bye!"

"Oh, okay. Bye Badr!"

Badr left the class to search for Yousef. Malak stood in front of the door, staring at the ground for a while.

A group of five girls approached the door and the leader, a girl with caramel-colored hair commanded, "Move. You're in our way."

Malak glanced up and saw who it was. The girl was glaring madly at her and seemed to be very annoyed by Malak's presence.

"What are you waiting for? Aren't you from Rimor, anyways? Move," a girl next to her with sandy hair and tan skin demanded.

Malak moved away from them and they entered the classroom, laughing. Malak immediately ran out the corridor. She thought about the girl with the caramel hair who was, in fact, in her class and recalled that her name was Basma.

Meanwhile, after Badr and Yousef got the locker keys, they headed off toward the male lockers room. When they opened their lockers they immediately saw the surprise that the teacher told them about. It was a hundred points, which was the money currency that Evenlane academy uses.

"I guess that's our first allowance!" Badr rejoiced.

"Yep! We have to work really hard this month so that we get more. I really wanna go see the Evenlane shopping place!" Yousef chuckled.

"Let's go in the weekend! And we'll buy everything we want!" Badr suggested.

Malak explored the school grounds as something to do other than drawing. She ate a cheese sandwich from her paper bag. Towards the end of the break, she spotted Jack playing basketball and waved. He saw her and approached her while smiling.

"Playing basketball from the first day?" Malak remarked and he laughed.

"Yeah, and what are you doing?"

"Nothing, just exploring!"

The same group of girls from before stood next to the basketball area.

"Never knew you were the sporty type," Basma ridiculed, eyeing Malak from head to toe. "Ew is that your lunchbox?"

The tan girl, Hala, snickered sarcastically and another girl with curly black hair that was clipped to the back smirked, "Oh, you have a boyfriend?"

Malak nervously looked away and Jack confronted them, "I'm not her boyfriend, and...just leave her alone."

"Can't she talk for herself?" the shortest girl there sneered. A small crowd, consisting of Badr, Yousef, and some others were already watching the scene.

"Let's go," Yousef whispered after the bell rang.

"Okay," Badr fretted, not taking his eyes off the scene.

Jack patted Malak on her back and grabbed his basketball. Malak thanked Jack then they left for their first club. All the first years had their first club after the break at 1:00 PM. Badr and Yousef both joined the football club and the coach explained the rules before allowing them to participate in a quick friendly match. After the club, they returned to their classrooms and attended their sixth and seventh subject lessons.

The schedules started with the first lesson at 7:00 AM and ended with the third club from 4:00 – 4:50 PM. Badr joined the swimming club, so he had to stay till five. But of course, they did not start swimming on the first day, so Badr was able to finish early.

The buses usually picked up the students at 3:00 PM, 4:00 PM, and 5:00 PM. On the first day of school, everyone finished at 3 PM so the buses were crowded. Malak came early to the bus so she could sit wherever she wanted. Just before the doors closed, a group of three girls entered the bus and peeped around for a seat. Malak had two empty seats next to her so they approached her ordered: "Move, this is our seat."

"Um..." Malak's heart beat faster as she stood up. "I...where do I sit?"

"I don't know, just move," a girl with tan skin sat in Malak's seat.

"Sit there," Basma pointed at the seat right next to the door and pushed her in that direction. Malak teared up and opened the seat to sit down. The other girls sat comfortably in the seat that Malak gave up.

The bus ride was horrible for Malak. The girls kept pushing her chair while sniggering and pretending that they didn't do it. Malak hoped it would end soon. Luckily for her, the girls were from Nuport so the bus dropped them off first. She sighed in relief.

Badr and Yousef were sitting on another bus, so they didn't see what happened to Malak. They both reached the dorms early and by that time they were both very exhausted so they barely stayed awake before surrendering to bed.

The second day of school was a little more boring and the teachers were already beginning to take the lessons seriously. Some students' schedules were messed up because of the clubs, so all of them were required to resubmit their club forms by the end of the week.

On Friday morning, Badr and Yousef took their hundred points and walked all the way from their dorms to the Evenlane shopping district, which was located near the high-class dorms. It was gigantic, and could easily be mistaken for a stand-alone town. The shopping district was very big and had a wide variety of shops. Along the road stood evenly spaced trees placed in specially designed brick pots and other pots with plants and colorful flowers.

The shops and markets were on the two sides of the street and they sold many different things, such as food, games, clothes, accessories, home décor, and many more. Everything was magnificent: from the clean brick road to the modern shopping malls.

Badr and Yousef walked along the street staring at what shops sold. It seemed like the district was also open to the public and not specifically to Evenlane Academy related people, because there were many parents who were shopping with their little children.

Badr and Yousef bought what they needed, which was mostly food. In addition to that, they got school bags, notebooks, and other school supplies. Yousef also got a black lunch bag and a reusable water bottle while Badr did not bother to get that. Instead, he got some more food because he was very hungry.

Badr and Yousef sat on the white benches outside and started munching on some food because it was already noon. Badr finished everything, while Yousef kept some for later.

"Look! What are these? Keychains? So cool, I always wanted one!" Badr suddenly exclaimed as he pointed at the window of a shop. He immediately stood up and ran towards the shop.

"WAIT! Badr!" Yousef hurried after him. He turned to the right, only to be faced by more and more shops. He  could not spot Badr, because the place was very wide and confusing. Now, Yousef officially lost Badr; he was nowhere to be found. He walked to the left this time till he reached a relatively empty part of the shopping district. A single trash bag was to his right, and beyond it, Yousef saw three boys kicking another boy and after they left, he realized that it was Yahya!

"Hey, are you alright?" Yousef stretched out his right hand to help Yahya. Yahya breathed heavily and stared with confusion into Yousef's light turquoise eyes.

"A..I..I'm fine," Yahya said awkwardly as he took Yousef's hand to help him get off the ground.

"You're Yahya aren't you?" Yousef recalled.

"Y..yes, thanks."

"I'm Yousef, I think I saw you at the football and the reading club. What happened? What were they doing?"

"No..nothing."

"C'mon, I saw them attacking you."

Yahya sighed and then admitted: "They..just stole my money. The hundred points that were in the locker."

"WHAT? Why? How did they do that?"

"At first they were trying to follow me, and before I managed to buy anything, they stole my money. I ran after them and attacked them, but then they hit me back and we continued to fight until one of them knocked me on the ground," Yahya explained quietly.

"Where are they? I'll bring the money back!" Yousef became furious.

"Y..you don't have to. Why would you help me? I stole your bag earlier remember?"

"Well you did, but Badr got it back for me. Besides, here this is for you. You're hungry right?" Yousef gave Yahya a big sweet round bagel bread covered in sesame seeds and a turkey sandwich which he bought from the bakery. "And by the way, it's not like I'm helping you or anything."

"I...I can't take it. It's fine," Yahya declined with a hint of color to his pale cheeks.

"Oh don't try to hide it, you're really hungry aren't you?" Yousef forcefully gave Yahya the food.

"I'll go look for them; stay here I'll be right back," Yousef motioned then he ran toward the direction where he saw them leave. He kept searching but didn't find them, so he decided to just return to Yahya.

"Tha..Thank you, Yousef," Yahya said while eating the bread after Yousef came back.

"Huh? I didn't get you the money or anything," Yousef placed his arms at the back of his head. "Oh, the bread? Sure, no problem."

They both sat down a nearby bench. Yousef asked, "So...what are you planning to do about it?"

"Nothing."

After Yahya finished eating what Yousef offered, he thanked him again.

"It's okay...really," Yousef smiled.

Yahya eyed Yousef and wondered why he was so nice. He acted as though he had never met such a kind person in his life.

"Look, uh...I'm...really...sorry about...you know the incident. I didn't mean to steal the bag itself. I just thought it would be...like...a good container for stuff." Yahya scratched his hair and stared at the ground.

"It's fine," Yousef shrugged. "For what stuff?"

"Uh...stuff like...food."

"Oh, that's understandable," nodded Yousef, pouting his red lips together.

Yahya smiled softly. "U-um..."

"YOUSEF!" Badr shouted from afar. Yousef and Yahya turned around as Badr hurried to the bench.

"Where were you?!" Badr asked. Yousef replied dismissively: "You ran off. Calm down next time."

"Sorry," Badr giggled. "Look! I got this one! Look!"

Badr and Yousef examined the keychain together while Yahya stared at them. A while later, Badr realized that Yahya was there. "Oh! Hey, didn't see you there," Badr smiled. "Wanna see my keychain?"

Badr sat between Yousef and Yahya then showed Yahya his mickey mouse keychain.

"Cool," Yahya said.

"By the way, you're Yahya, right? Why did you steal Yousef's bag before?" questioned Badr curiously.

"Stop being nosy, Badr," it was Yousef who spoke. "He told me his reasons. Don't be nosy like Malak."

"Okay, okay..."

In the afternoon, Yahya was able to get some school supplies with the help of Yousef's money, that wasn't from the school points. Eventually, the three boys came back to their dorms and continued their weekend setting their school things up. The second and the third week passed normally for the students and school was just getting more and more tiresome.

Author's note: We hope you like it, since it was a little hard to write. Thanks for reading! If you liked it don't forget to press the little star that says vote ^^. And if you have any comment please post it!
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