Chapter 19: bbok two_seedling: High school first year, first semester– A peaceful and wholesome school life (Chapter .14)

It had been a month since the first year students started attending M High of P. district. When they graduated from their previous schools, the kids heard two things repeated until they knew them by heart. One said that now they were playing big, deciding their future for the next ten, twenty years to come. While the other went: from the moment they stepped a foot over their future high school’s front gates, there would be no more playing.

These two things were quite contradictory. Every student vowed to take the one to heart they felt was truly theirs. Of course, most of them only took the bits and pieces they liked and left out everything else.

A big chunk of these freshmen came from the same neighbourhood. Thus, they either knew each other or, at the least, they knew of the ones they weren’t acquainted with.

Sae met close to a third of his previous classmates in his new class. The usual gang more or less got allocated to the humanities class; Minke, Teo, and Sae remained, with the addition of Kaikai. The boy fought hard and long with his parents to get where he was now. He shed sweat and even blood when the entrance exam results came out.

The top three schools his parents deemed desirable had set their enrolment scores ridiculously high and mighty. A student not only needed money to get in, the schools even made selections, cutting out a large part under the unattainable admission line. These were simply not places for mere mortals.

Not only that, but Kaikai’s parents wanted him to pursue the science stream. Getting a doctor in the family was of no question. On the contrary, Kaikai had always been poor with subjects such as maths, physics and biology. He scraped by with extra lessons and private tutors while putting in thrice the effort he had to use when it came to the arts. After weeks of gruelling mental warfare, Kaikai demonstrated how he could breeze through humanities classes, getting much better outcomes if he were to switch lanes.

M High was famous for its great liberal arts program that students could enter from the second year of their studies if they started in any of the art classes. That meant humanities, linguistics or fine arts.

Kaikai’s presentation that finally won his parents over was on par with a professional educational trainer’s trying to push innocent kids into underpopulated but pretentious enough seminars of higher education. Teo said he would pay money for a masterpiece like that… if he had any.

---

 

On the first day of the new term, Teo and Minke had already settled their arrangements as deskmates while Kaikai and Sae tried to decide who would sit on the inner side of their table by using the fairest and most above board duel of all time: rock-paper-scissors.

Sae won with paper while Kaikai threw out a rock.

“What are you doing?” The little loser whined, “Real men always put out rock.”

Minke turned back to look at the boy. “Has your brain rotted? Was the break not enough time for you to recover after the entrance exams? What you said makes no sense whatsoever. Who would ever win if both of you put out rock in every round?”

“I’m exuberant, thank you very much,” Kaikai said, “M High was but a piece of cake; I have nothing to recover from. And now that you mention it, I bet I’ve got in with at least fifty more points than you.”

After some mocking, Kaikai changed the topic back to his beliefs. “To answer your accusations, first we’d assess each other’s intentions, then wait until the opponent’s mental efficiency wanes to undermine them. Everyone knows that the second best option in this game would still be scissors. But by then, I’d already win with a rock.”

“I knew you’d try to pull that stupid analogy,” remarked Sae while moving inwards to sit next to the heaters. In truth, he was forty per cent sure Kaikai would try something dumb like that while sixty per cent lazy for anything more than to reach his palm out.

Minke shook her head and straightened to look ahead at the blackboard. Up there, a new timetable hung, printed in bold font on an ample sized laminated sheet.

The humanities class’ head teacher, Pan Rita, arrived at the classroom. She was a young lady in her early thirties who majored with a double specialisation in English language and social sciences. She had been teaching for five years at M High. It was her first time being a head teacher.

Every living organism could feel the excitement in the room. Even the head teacher succumbed to nerves and was equal parts anxious and optimistic about her new role as the one responsible for a whole class, thirty people to be exact.

Following their teacher, everyone made introductions one after another. Most of the class knew each other, so the discussion was neither lengthy nor awkward. After a name and a few sentences, it was time for the next person in line. They went by the class roster, and an hour later, all students heard each other’s voices.

The first day went by with logistics, getting to know the rules of M High, their subject teachers, and such. The class needed to elect a class president and a few additional reps. The girl who previously had been their class leader in junior high went to another school, and as it turned out, none of the new classmates ever did anything like this except for one boy, Bán Yidan.

Three students had gone to the same class as him. They unanimously told the others, Don’t make him the class president. We will all suffer!

As if a freshly assembled class would listen to advice born from experience. No one had the nerve or wished to take on the role. Hence, Bán Yidan became the humanities class president.

---

 

High school was not all that different from how middle school operated. The class got a set of teachers, each with their own quirks and methods of lecturing. There were lessons, homework, and afternoon lectures. The first few days turned into a week, and weeks turned into a month.

At the end of September, the basketball team organised a tryout for the new season. Kaikai was pumped like a coiled back spring, ready to sweep through the whole gymnasium. Last year, he could not participate in the spring tournament. Now he felt his time had finally come – he could save face for the school if they let the ball touch his hands.

“Statistically speaking, alright,” Kaikai scratched his ear, “Even if they aren’t amazed by my innate talent alone, when they see our combined coordination, the team’s gotta take us in. We’d be doing them a favour by joining.”

The classroom was relatively quiet for once as everyone went to eat lunch. The three brain trusts of strategic basketball lazed around one desk while munching on cream-filled pastries and sausage bread.

“I heard the third years talking about training schedules. If they don’t want to get the worst lot again, they have to step it up. The school’s star is the handball team. Then there’s the up-and-coming girls’ volleyball team, and we have football as well. I heard the football team is pretty aggressive.”

Teo, who up to this point listened without interruption, opened his mouth to say, “Shit, why are there so many clubs in this school? It’s not even a sports school!” Crumbles of bread flew everywhere. “Minke said Susu got talked into trying out for the volleyball club. Deti, one of her classmates, is the cousin of the team captain.”

The MVP of their gaming hub was just as a talented shooter in real life as she was in online games. Susu had been playing volleyball since she was eight. As a natural thinker, she stuck to mathematics and went to the science class but still maintained a close friendship with the kids in humanities.

Sae cut in, “Why are you concerned with the girls’ team? They train separately.” He sat with his head leaned back to the wall, holding a cherry jam-filled pastry in his hand.

Kaikai shook his finger at him. “No no, they go for the main court nine out of ten times.”

All three of them thought about the possibilities.

Teo finally asked, “So when is the tryout?”

“Next Monday, two in the afternoon. We can go after classes but we have to report to our head teacher beforehand.”

“I wouldn’t be so optimistic,” said Sae. “You’re not the only person on the face of the earth who can play basketball.”

Truth be told, Kaikai was far from a sports prodigy, and Sae and Teo were not that much better either. They could enjoy a game between friends, but they weren’t serious enough to accomplish anything substantial. They did not have the affinity or time for it. Sae wanted to study, Kaikai had to study, and Teo, left all alone, would rather game in his free time. In their junior high, the boys got lucky. Their casual, ‘hobby style’ of playing was the best out of everyone wanting to play, so they made it into the team for a year before graduation. But that was basically it.

---

 

A week later, Tuesday morning, the sight that welcomed Minke first thing after stepping into the classroom was that of Teo and Kaikai slumped on their desks, their mood inevitably terrible. Sae played on his phone like nothing was amiss, like the two life forms beside him were not about to contemplate opening a mushroomery. They could volunteer themselves as the best pot of soil.

“Whatever happened to you?” asked Minke, aghast.

Without looking up, Sae answered in a steady tone, “They didn’t make it to the school’s basketball team.”

Kaikai turned his head to tch at him. “Like you got in?”

Sae paused the game on his phone and levelled his gaze. “Yes. You see, Minke, I went with them as well. And I didn’t get in either. But I’m not acting like I put my life on the line.” He picked up his phone and continued playing.

“None of you made it? Not even as backup players?” whispered Minke close to Teo’s ear. The boy only grunted. He seemed to be in psychological pain.

“I’ll tell you what happened!” Fuelled by indignation, Kaikai came to life. He pulled himself half up, and the sight of his face could have given little children nightmares. “First, there were the usual drills, but too many people turned up, so the coach said to form teams and play quick games. He could determine who’s good enough from that. The ones he picked from those games stayed back to do the remaining drills for him to decide further.”

Minke’s voice turned small, “And you got thrown out?”

Kaikai laughed bitterly. “I couldn’t even touch the ball!”

It had been one dreadful scene. Kaikai found himself with boys who were actually great and not in the small ‘play a game at break time’ scale. Every time he thought back on it, he got embarrassed again.

“Maybe they were stricter because there’s a stake at hand?” It wasn’t easy to cheer the boys up. Minke tried to approach from a rational point but her straightforwardness, as usual, struck like a knife.

You are reading story How to write dumb boys, a struggle at novel35.com

Teo moaned and buried his head into his arms.

“That only means we were average at best.” Kaikai sighed. “I really believed we could do it.”

Noticing her error, the girl tried again. “Hey, what about joining the football team?”

“It’s a little late for that,” Kaikai said, “They already decided last week. Deil made it as a backup player. They don’t let first years on the field for actual games.”

Teo raised his head to ask, “How do you know this?”

“I spoke to him last week. He’s the one who told me about the football team’s strong offence. It’s better if we don’t go there.”

Sae listened to this exchange with an unreadable look.

It was almost time for classes to begin, and students filled the room.

In just a month, everyone found their place to belong in this new little community. Everyone chatted about the latest hit series to watch or where they wanted to go after classes. Usually, while the teacher attempted to quiet the class down, the latecomers could slink in by the rear door.

“Why are you all so desperate to join a team?” Sae spoke up. “The year only just started.”

“That’s precisely it!” Kaikai slapped his palm on the desk, and Minke jumped in her seat. “No more studying for entrance exams, no more extra classes. It’s much better to play sports than to study. Who wants that? I’m sick of it! I want to enjoy a peaceful and wholesome school life. We’re finally free to enjoy our youth!”

Sae chuckled. “Dude, I think you got addicted to motivational speeches.”

The teacher walked in, and Minke pushed Teo a few times to make him get up. The first lesson was maths, a lovely way to start a day.

The maths teacher was a man with a short stature and an even shorter fuse. He only stepped inside the room but immediately started reproaching them. “Why can’t you ever behave like well-mannered students? Hey! You at the back, can you even see me? Why is your foot on the table? Class president, where’s the greeting!? Is this a zoo or the circus?”

Bán Yidan stood up and said in a clear, loud voice, “Everyone, rise! Students, pay respect.”

“Good morning!” greeted the class at the same time.

“Alright, sit down,” instructed the teacher. “Who’s absent today? Who came in late?”

Their little class president listed the names while the students tried – and failed – to stay quiet. Sae faced the other side of the room and through the windows, saw Shum Deil with two other kids running like the wind through the hallway, obviously late for class. In the silence, even the windows shook with the force of their strides.

“Hey, who is that? Which class do they belong to?!” The maths teacher jerked his head up and went to the entrance to look out. “Running at lesson time is forbidden!”

A few girls giggled while some boys threw wads of paper at each other.

---

 

That’s right, Shum Deil went to M High as well. The days of the reckless genius, the phoenix of the devil, continued to thrive in his magnificence, still exclusive to P. district. By how wilful Shum Deil was, no one tried to question his decision to sit for only one entrance exam. That had been M High’s admission test. He breezed his way in – getting the best score from H Junior High. Looking over his answer sheet, the science teachers waited for this child with open arms.

“Doesn’t make sense,” one of the teachers said when the results came out. “Why did he have to transfer? A student of this calibre...”

Good thing that the academic transcript had to include only demerits from the last school a student went to. And so, the cause for Shum Deil’s one and only transfer only stated ‘violation of school rules’. That was vague as hell from M High’s point of view, while the child’s entrance exam sheets were clear as day. That was where the misjudging began.

“Has anyone talked to his previous head teacher?” a petite Language Arts teacher asked, full of curiosity. “He’s surely going for the science stream. Great foundation and boundless possibilities ahead. Who is going to be the head teacher for the science class?”

M High wasn’t a top-tier school, so getting a student with abilities like this made a smile bloom on a lot of people’s faces in advance.

“Not only him, but there are a few high scorers in the linguistics, economics and finance classes as well. And don’t forget those with special admissions,” another faculty member reminded.

The director was full of hope, thinking about how in the near future, all these students could try for the best universities in the country. What a lucky thing indeed!

---

Did she still think that after one month into the school term? Not so much.

A few weeks later, the same petite Language Arts teacher lamented, “I don’t understand how someone can waste their potential this way.” Of course, she was talking about Shum Deil. “He’s so smart, so why can’t he try a bit? Not coming to class, being late for class, no homework, always playing… Sigh, Teacher Shem, how are your nerves since taking on the science class?”

A bespectacled man only mildly smiled, listening to his colleague, but did not say anything. He was well up in the years and had been teaching for over three decades. He had led many classes as a head teacher and wasn’t so easy to deter with little tricks like these. As he always said, “It’s not a problem. The year has only just begun.”

Truth be told, Shum Deil did curb himself this first month of school. He still arrived late sometimes or napped until the teacher called out to him as the lesson began. His homework wasn’t always there, and he did disappear from time to time without a word. But he tried to fit in better than ever. And that must count for something.

That Tuesday morning, before the first lesson started, Teacher Shem dropped by his class for a look on the way to the fourth floor. He had the class book under one arm and a long wooden ruler in his other hand. The kids in the science class quieted at once, greeting him from where they stood.

“Alright, alright. Good morning!” Teacher Shem said to a few latecomers who shrunk their necks and bowed their heads as they tried to slip by him at the door. “Where’s Shum Deil?”

The class president answered at once. “He’s not in yet.”

“That’s alright.” Teacher Shem nodded. “Tell him to come and see me once he arrives.”

“Yes.”

---

 

Deil, that dummy, still did stupid things but just learned to conceal them somewhat.

Sometimes, when he was already late and knew that the first lesson had started, he intentionally took the hallway where the first-year humanities classroom was. By that time, everyone sat in their seats. The room was easy to scan within a few glances through the windows that ran along the inner wall of the corridor.

Whenever Kaikai mentioned ‘Sae’ in passing, Deil’s eyes became focused, but he looked away after an instant.

If Minke came to their classroom to look for Susu, Deil couldn’t help but glance in the direction of the door. At times, he even leaned out of the windows for a cursory look, then shrunk his neck before colour reached his ears.

A two-lined message remained in Deil’s phone – he never opened it, but the contents were seared into his mind. Whenever he wanted, he closed his eyes and saw the words on the inside of his eyelids. Using the same app and phone, that unnamed profile with the string of numbers flashed between the chats, slipping further down with each passing week.

On the first day of school, all the freshmen had to line up in the auditorium and listen to the principal’s term opening speech. They already heard most of its contents at the enrolment day conclusion speech, but that was more or less addressed to their parents. This time, the principal spoke to the students themselves. The speech was concise and mainly touched on the topic of the rules of M High. The school hoped to build trust with its students.

The little first years stood in neat rows, each class led by their head teachers. In the fifth row, Deil craned his neck until he found the familiar outline of Saering. The boy listened with boredom written on his face. The last time Deil saw him had been in July. Rounded up, that was two months ago. Saering looked about the same, bored and a bit cold. He looked like someone who didn’t hate Deil.

That made Deil sneak several more peeks at him.

Listening to that boring talk, it didn’t take a minute for the boy to feel as if he was being watched by someone. Seeking out the source with a surreptitious glance, his gaze collided with Deil’s. The two teenagers looked at each other for a while, then looked away at the same time.

The principal’s speech drew to an end. “I wish everyone a fruitful high school experience. These coming years will help you shape the kind of person you want to be.” For the closing, she chose something a bit cliché but spoke from her heart when she said, “Good luck to you all, and let the year begin!”

You can find story with these keywords: How to write dumb boys, a struggle, Read How to write dumb boys, a struggle, How to write dumb boys, a struggle novel, How to write dumb boys, a struggle book, How to write dumb boys, a struggle story, How to write dumb boys, a struggle full, How to write dumb boys, a struggle Latest Chapter