The school bell rang at 1:30 in the evening. Danial packed his books and stationary case into his school bag. Sharmila, who was sitting beside him did the same.

"What's your plan after school, Dan?" asked Sharmila.

"Forum practice. You?" asked Danial.

"Home and study, duh," answered Sharmila. "Need to catch up with everything before Joash starts to call for English drama practice. I bet it would be super busy when the practice started."

"Yup, it will," agreed Danial, but he didn't look like he was there in the conversation.

"Hey, you should not think too much about what happened to Clarissa, and anything that Joash uncovered just now. No one knows what happened between you and Clarissa two years ago, because a sworn secrecy had been made at that time," said Sharmila. Her hand reached to Danial's shoulder.

"She's gone, no one will know anything about it. Your secret is safe with me," assured Sharmila.

Danial just nodded.

"Now, cheer up," said Sharmila, while fixing Danial's shirt's collar. "You need to be your leader-like self during your forum practice with your angels. Charlie needs to be at his full throttle, with the mission to beat Sultan Suleiman in the forum competition."

Danial took a deep breath and said, "I thought you never cared about my achievements in my extracurricular activities?"

Sharmila smacked Danial's upper hand gently. "That forum practice has taken away your study time. You better win, Charlie."

"And," added Sharmila. "WhatsApp me later on your first encounter with Mr. Mifzal." Sharmila reached near to Danial's ears and whispered, "I want to know everything about our hot new Malay language teacher."

Sharmila then moved away from Danial and continued, "For my own research purposes... you know what I mean."

Sharmila left Danial and walked to the classroom door of 4 Science 2. Danial just looked at Sharmila walking, looking puzzled. No, Danial didn't know what Sharmila meant.

At 1:50 in the evening, Danial walked slowly to the computer lab to meet Felisa, Nora, and Anastasia for their forum practice. His mind was not in the present, when he was walking.

When he arrived at the front door of the computer lab, he didn't even realise that he already arrived at the computer lab. His mind was not even registering, when his hand was extended to pull the computer lab door to open it. He held the door that automatically would be slammed shut with a loud bang if someone didn't hold it. He took off his shoes unknowingly and walked inside while still looking down. He was not aware of his surroundings until someone screamed, "WATCH OUT!"

Mifzal Azlan was walking quickly to the computer lab door, carrying a few bundles of stacked A4 papers. Danial forgot that the floor of the computer lab could be slippery to walk with socks on. Something to do with the floor tiles of the lab. Danial's foot did slip and he lost his balance. He fell and used Mifzal's body as a support, to ensure he was not falling. But, Mifzal was not ready for that. The heavy A4 papers slid from his hands and flew to his back. Danial's head hit Mifzal's hard rock chest. The computer lab's door slammed and closed with a huge thud sound. Mifzal fell on his back, but raised his head to ensure his head was not hit to the floor to avoid concussion.

With that, Danial, who was in the state of a clairvoyant mind, realised that he fell on top of a stranger. No, his own teacher! He could feel that his cheek was grazing at the dent of Mifzal's hard chest. Danial froze. His arms were at his side and he couldn't do anything. He raised his head and he saw Mifzal's face, looking down on him. Their eyes met, through their own spectacles. Danial could see Mifzal's chiselled cheeks.

Sharmila would have a fun field day, listening to Danial's report later that he was on top of the teacher, who she bit her lip to, when she saw him earlier this morning.

The computer lab's door was opened again, and outside of the lab, stood Felisa, Nora, and Anastasia... "OH MY GOD! DANIAL! What are you doing?" screamed Felisa.

The three girls closed their eyes with their hands. "Danial, we can see your backside exposed," said Felisa again.

Danial widened his eyes and stood up fast while touching his butt, "Oh no, oh no! My trousers are still on me right?"

"Ewwww, Danial! Don't paint unnecessary pictures in our minds," said Nora, still covering her eyes. "We can still see the shape of your butt, because your legs were spreading.... on top of our teacher!"

Anastasia added, "Are you planning to get expelled? What are you doing with our teacher?"

"Anastasia!" shrieked Danial. "How could you accuse me like that? You know me."

"Girls, girls." Mifzal started to speak. "It was an accident. I was being clumsy, carrying too many stacked bundles of A4 papers to bring it to the printer in the staffroom. I didn't see Danial, and almost hit him. He slipped and fell. I was just trying to save him."

Mifzal stood and fixed the waist of his trousers. Felisa, Nora, and Anastasia uncovered their eyes and saw a beautiful view in front of their eyes. While Mifzal was stretching his arms to fix his trousers' waist, his chest was flexed and its moulded shape could be seen beneath his grey shirt. His sleeves were already rolled, hence, the Charlie's Angels could see popped veins on Mifzal's arms. The muscles on his arms were twitching.

Felisa, Nora, and Anastasia looked at Mifzal with rolled eyes. Their mouths agape. Danial looked at all three of them, flustered. "Girls, lower your gaze," said Danial.

"What?" asked Felisa, Nora, and Anastasia in unison. "We are just looking, you were the one who was on top of Mr. Mifzal. You're the guilty party," claimed Nora.

Danial shook his head and took a deep breath. He then said, "I'm sorry, teacher. I was not focused while walking inside the computer lab. It's my fault." Danial walked and bent down to pick the bundles of A4 papers that fell down to the floor.

"Let me help carry these to the staffroom?" offered Danial.

"That would be helpful," replied Mifzal.

"Angels," said Danial, looking at Felisa, Nora, and Anastasia. "Would you be a dear and help to arrange four chairs by the whiteboard at the front of the lab? And add another chair opposite it for Mr. Mifzal?"

"Yes, Charlie!" said Felisa, Nora, and Anastasia. They walked in, put their bags at one of the computer tables, and started arranging the chairs as Danial had instructed.

Danial walked out from the computer lab with Mifzal, carrying the bundles of A4 paper, towards the staffroom.

Mifzal and Danial were silent throughout their journey to the staffroom. Only then after they walked back to the computer lab, Mifzal broke the ice, "So, Danial, you play the violin?"

"Only at home," replied Danial shortly. He was still embarrassed with what had happened just now. Falling on his well-built teacher's body. His cheeks on top of his chest. Danial could hear his heartbeat. His chest was hard, but it was cosy...

Danial shook his head rapidly. His mind monologued, "What are you thinking, Danial Izzani? He's your teacher!"

"Are you okay?" asked Mifzal concernedly. "I did see that you're quite out of the radar just now."

Danial was just being silent.

Mifzal spoke again, "From now on, I'm going to be your teacher advisor for your forum team and choir. I want to establish a comfortable relationship between both of us. If anything, you can let me know."

Danial was squeezing his fingers. And then he uttered, "I was just feeling uneasy because I fell on you just now. We've just met this morning and I don't think it's appropriate." Danial looked to his front and raised his head. "I don't think it's appropriate even if you have been my teacher longer than six hours."

Mifzal chuckled, "Please, Danial. Don't worry about it. You did nothing wrong. As we are now familiar with ourselves physically, it's easier now. To connect mentally."

Danial frowned his forehead. Familiar with ourselves physically ? Is this teacher really for real?

After they delivered the stacks of A4 to the staff room, they they returned back to the computer lab. They saw Felisa, Nora, and Anastasia already sitting on their respective chairs. The forum script written by Danial was already in their hands. Danial took out his script from his school bag and sat between Felisa and Nora. Mifzal sat on the chair opposite Danial.

Mifzal started the conversation, "How about an ice breaker first?" asked Mifzal. "I want to know all four of you a little bit better. Say which class are you from and say... anything special about yourself?"

"I'll start," volunteered Felisa, raising her hand. "Hello, Mr. Mifzal. My name is Felisa Natasha. I'm from 3 Amal."

"Hello, Felisa," said Mifzal with a smile, showcasing his pearl white teeth. His chiselled jawline was much more visible now.

"Oh, teacher!" said Felisa, giggling. She nodded her head down, looking shy. Nora and Anastasia were giggling too.

"What, what, what happened?" asked Mifzal confusedly. He took turns looking at all three girls.

"No, no, sorry, teacher," answered Felisa. "Your smile melts our hearts, uhuk, uhuk." Out of the sudden Felisa hiccupped. Danial turned his head slowly to face Felisa at his right. His eyes flashed a bewildered look.

"Oh, haha," chuckled Mifzal. "I've got that a lot since my class started at 10:30 am just now. Apologies if it's too distracting."

"Oh, no, no, no teacher," said Felisa while waving her hands rapidly to Mifzal. "We need your charming smile, so we can study better." Felisa displayed an over the moon smile through her lips.

"Your introduction, Felisa," prompted Danial seriously, to bring Felisa back to reality.

"Oh, right!" said Felisa. "My name is Felisa Natasha, from 3 Amal. Joined the forum team to improve my public speaking skills. To defeat Mary of Teck and Margaret Snowdon in the competition, because they are super annoying. If we can defeat Sultan Suleiman, it's a valuable miracle. Something special about me... I'm single. Plan to not have a boyfriend until I'm 21. Father's orders, but I don't mind. Both of us love to watch Korean dramas together. My father likes plot conflicts, and he allows me to simp on Korean oppas. I think that's a consolation, considering my dad forbids me to date any boys."

"Looks like your father is a fun guy," commented Mifzal. "Your mother doesn't watch Korean dramas?"

"She's more into Japanese dramas. It's quite underrated, she said. But she loves the language."

Mifzal just smiled. "Who's next?"

Nora raised her hand. "My name is Nora Shila. Also from 3 Amal. Special thing about me, hmmm." Nora paused, thinking.

"Oh, I love science!"

"Pfftt," responded Anastasia. "That's not special."

"Shoosh, Anastasia," stopped Nora. "The girl is talking here."

Nora continued, "I wanted to be a forensic scientist. Or anything about crime, but science. If the science plan doesn't pan out well, I can still be a police officer. Sounds like a basic dream, but being a police officer is good. Love the uniform. I'm in the Police Cadet anyway."

"Being a police officer as a dream career is a good dream," replied Mifzal. "It's not necessary for you to hold the gun. Well, you do. But after that, you might be able to go the leadership route. Who knows, you can be our next female national chief police."

Nora smiled proudly. "Yeah, that's what I meant, leadership in Royal Malaysia Police."

"That's the spirit, keep fighting," encouraged Mifzal, while waving his fist to the air. "Next, we have... Anastasia?"

"Hi, my name is Anastasia Qairina," replied Anastasia. "Also from 3 Amal. Three of us are all from 3 Amal."

"Yeah, yeah," supported Felisa and Nora softly.

"I just want to survive secondary school," replied Anastasia bluntly. "Study well, get good grades. I'll think about my career plan later, when I'm 17, because I am clueless on what I am going to be. I even plan to enter Form Six, so I have more extra time to think. My father is planning to move us to Dirgantara..."

"What?" cut Danial loudly. "No, you can't! Our forum team..."

"Shoosh, Danial, let me finish," ceased Anastasia. " I won't be leaving so soon. Our mission to defeat Mary of Teck and Margaret Snowdon in forum still prevails. We'll only be moving after I finish my SPM. Done with Form 5, and I'm out of Megaputra. My father found a prettier house there in Dirgantara. I can pursue my pre-university education at Sri Mahkota Form Six College."

Mifzal nodded a few times. "I was a Form Six student myself," admitted Mifzal.

"Most teachers are from Form Six," contributed Danial.

"I wasn't initially a teacher, was I?" mentioned Mifzal.

"You were not?" asked Anastasia.

Mifzal scratched his temple. "Riiiight, I haven't told you guys. But yeah, I was a Form Six student. Not at Megaputra Form Six College though. We didn't have 'Form 6 college' back then in 2004," said Mifzal, while showing the quote gesture using his index and middle fingers.

"I had my Form Six education here," continued Mifzal. "At SMK Tengku Simpulan Intan. Back then we were still wearing school uniforms. Not normal clothes like those Dato' Malik and Sri Mahkota Form Six College kids. We're still wearing school uniforms. White shirt. White trousers. Black belt. Black shoes. Unlike those blokes from local matriculation and diploma students from UiTM, who liked to brag that they are already university students, wearing anything that they like. Us and them are the same. We were just still stuck with Form 1 to Form 5 students in the same school. But we are, after all, college students."

"Ugh, white trousers," said Danial revoltingly. "How can it survive throughout the day, without being dirty?"

"A lot of bleach," replied Mifzal while nodding.

Nora asked, "What do the girls wear then?"

Mifzal explained, "Normal buttoned white shirt. But not with pinafore though. Only a light blue knee-length skirt."

"God bless!" shouted Nora, but not too loud. "Pinafore is ugly. It looks like you're wearing an apron in the kitchen."

Danial pictured Sharmila wearing her light blue pinafore. Oh, damn! She did look like she was wearing an apron. "You know what, Nora," said Danial. "It doesn't occur to me that pinafore looks like an apron, until you've mentioned it. It does look like one."

Felisa raised both of her palms to the air, "Thank God, we're born Muslims. We need to wear the hijab, we need to wear the baju kurung school uniform. We do not need to wear that hideous pinafore."

Felisa burst to laughter. Nora, Anastasia, Danial, and Mifzal followed suit.

Anastasia put her hands on her lap and tilted her head. "Is it hard, being in Form Six?" asked Anastasia.

"It depends," answered Mifzal. "If you're not into a science career, you should not be in the science class. Science class in Form Six is tough. I was in business. I studied, well, business... economics, and geography. I did get a 4.0 CGPA."

Danial, Felisa, Nora, and Anastasia gave Mifzal a small applause. Danial flashed a genuine smile to Mifzal.

Mifzal put his side index fingers beside his lips and whispered, "I'm proud of it. Not many Malays got CGPA 4.0 in Form Six."

"Speaking of that," cut Anastasia. "Not many Malays are in Form 6."

"Weeeelll." Mifzal paused. "We have UiTM, all Malays go there."

UiTM stands for Universiti Teknologi MARA. A public university in Malaysia, it caters for bumiputera locals in Malaysia. Bumiputera means the Malaysian Malays, and the Sabahan and Sarawakian local ethnicities such as the Ibans and the Kadazans.

"For most Chinese and Indians, who want to enter public universities in Malaysia, other than UiTM, they have only two options," explained Mifzal. "Local matriculation, and Form Six."

Mifzal continued, "As local matriculation is hard to enter. You need to be super good in your SPM. Straight As. Not to mention the quota system. Nine to one ratio. It's true! I was a part time waiter in a restaurant back then. 10 local matriculation students came to Megaputra from Banting, Selangor for a farewell celebration. They're from Matriculation College Banting. Literally nine Malay girls, one Chinese boy."

"So, the gender ratio is also nine to one?" asked Anastasia, giggling. "Nine for girls, one for boys?"

"Looks like it," replied Mifzal. "So, the only other option for Chinese and Indians to pursue their bachelor's degree in public universities in Malaysia is by sitting for their STPM examination in Form Six."

STPM stands for Malaysian Higher School Certificate, a final examination for Form 6 students in Malaysia.

"Oh, there are also foundation courses in public universities to prepare you for your bachelor's degree," added Mifzal. "But, it's also hard to enter."

"Unless," Danial paused. "Unless they have money to pursue foundation, American Degree Program, Australian Matriculation, South Australian Matriculation, Canadian Pre-University, or International Baccalaureate. At any private universities in Malaysia. Taylor's or Sunway. Dirgantara University next door. They can fly overseas. Or study bachelor's degree at top private universities in Malaysia."

Danial asked, "But even if they enter Form Six, they still need to excel their STPM to get a place in any of the public universities, right?"

"Absolutely," answered Mifzal.

"Where did you go?" asked Danial again.

"Dirgantara University."

"Lohhhh," responded Anastasia. "That's private."

"Well, the Sultan insisted that I study at Dirgantara University," answered Mifzal.

Felisa squinted her eyes. "Which one?" she asked. "Our country has 10!"

"This state's Sultan," answered Mifzal. "I was a Sultan Muzammil V Foundation scholar. And Dirgantara University is partially funded by His Majesty. It makes sense for me to go there."

Danial opened his mouth to ask a question, "Clearly, you didn't study at Dirgantara University to be a teacher, right?"

"No, no," tittered Mifzal. "I studied public relations."

"What is that?" asked Felisa.

"In layman terms, we work with the media. Maintain good relationships with the media, with journalists, with broadcasters. I worked at a public relations firm in Mid Valley, KL as an account manager. 'Account' does not mean 'account' as 'accountancy'," Mifzal tried to explain. "It means I manage multiple accounts of clients. I manage their media relations. Write press releases for them, to be released to the media, if my client has something new, like a new product launch, for instance. On special occasions, I organise events for my client with a fee. I invite the media."

Mifzal continued, "I manage numerous clients to do this kind of work. From the food industry, to fashion... airlines and many more."

"Sounds glamorous," commented Danial.

"It is glamorous," said Mifzal, looking at Danial. "In a nutshell, we build relationships with the media. At the same time, we establish a good branding image for the clients we're working with. Branding is also part of public relations. It's a vast industry. A vast career prospect too. Clearly, we need a different session to talk more about this."

"And why have you decided to change your career?" asked Danial.

Mifzal wanted to answer Danial with the first answer that popped out from his mind. But aborted it straightaway, as his students should not know the real reason he returned to Tengku Simpulan Intan. "10 years in public relations. Hustling for work in the middle of the city, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. One day I woke up, and I realised, I had my success, my fun, my failures. I had a great life. But I missed my younger life. I missed being in school."

"So, I took that education diploma at University of Malaya. Madam Dayang called me, the school needs a Malay language teacher and I said yes. I miss Tengku Simpulan Intan. And I'm a Megaputran after all."

"Is the Malay language the subject you want to teach?" asked Nora.

"Haha, no. Initially, I wanted to teach English. A huge part of public relations work is writing. So, I narrowed down that I want to teach linguistics. I don't mind teaching the Malay language, as this is the position available here for me to take."

"Wow," praised Anastasia. "I think you can cast a wider net and be a school's counsellor too, teacher. You explain future tertiary education and career prospects better than our school's counsellor."

"Make sure that it doesn't arrive to Ms. Kaisara's ears," warned Mifzal.

"Oh!" sparked Felisa. "But Ms. Kaisara's baking skills are to die for!"

"Yup," agreed Danial instead. "Your classmate ate five of Ms. Kaisara's cheese tarts before recess this morning."

"Our classmate, who?" asked Felisa.

"Joash Law."

"Oh, your platonic boyfrieeeend," shrieked Felisa.

"Shoosh, behave Felisa," forewarned Danial. "We're in the presence of a teacher here. And Mr. Mifzal, Felisa was joking. I don't have a boyfriend. I don't swing that way."

"Why so guilty? Joash Law is your boyfriend. A friend, who is a boooyyyyyyyy," cleared Felisa.

"Very funny," notified Danial flat. Mifzal was just shaking his head, laughing softly.

"I thought Joash needs to take care of his diet for swimming?" asked Nora.

"Leave that to me," answered Mifzal. "I was appointed by Madam Dayang to be the swimming team's unofficial mentor. I can monitor his diet."

Mifzal continued, "Last but not least, Danial. Something special about you?" he asked.

Danial answered, "My name is Danial Izzani, one year older than these three ladies here. I am 16 years old. Currently in Form 4. Studying in 4 Science 2. Joash Law is not my platonic boyfriend."

"So, is Sharmila Priya Mohan your girlfriend?" asked Felisa with no warning whatsoever.

"No, she's my annoying elder sister, who I didn't even appoint her to be my elder sister."

"Dang it!" shrieked Felisa. "I thought I could catch you off guard by admitting something if I ask you out of the blue."

"You try again, and my answer will be the same," reiterated Danial. "Where was I? Right. Something special about me... I play the violin and I will be our school's choir team violinist."

Nora asked excitedly, "Does that mean, we can finally hear you playing the violin?"

"Yes," answered Danial.

With Danial's mention about the choir team, Mifzal's mind left the conversation he was in with his students. He was no longer focused on the chatter of his students. His mind transported back to four hours ago, when he saw with his own eyes, the corpse of Clarissa Ching, the murdered choir conductor of SMK Mary of Teck, being carried in a black body bag.