The Badboy, the Catfish & Me

Six

I shouted "Bye!" over my shoulder at Baba and slammed the car door shut. Beside me, other students entered the school, sweating and fanning themselves as they walked in. I was grateful for the car's air conditioning, and Maxwell High's halls and classrooms would be blasting it, too.

I caught sight of Annok at her locker and rushed to her side. But I was careful not to move my bag too much since my dad packed rice and chicken curry.

"Annok! Hey!"

"Oh, hi, Inaya," Annok looked over at me. "You sound more excited than usual—although you don't quite look awake."

I smiled. Last night was the first time I'd ever been up for something that wasn't for studying. I had two tabs open—CrusadEon and the website Valentino showed before with gameplay tutorials.

I lowered my voice to tell her, "I played CrusadEon Online all night, and it's so good!"

"Really? I knew you'd like it."

"Thanks so much for letting me play on your account!" I gushed.

She laughed. "No problem. Now you can talk to Valentino about it."

"So that's the thing." I shifted my foot and glanced over at Valentino. For the first time, I was glad he was busy talking with The Fanclub at his desk. "I'm not going to tell him, actually."

"Why not?" Annok closed her locker and raised an eyebrow. "I thought that was a reason you wanted to play."

I fought a blush. "I want it to be a surprise for now."

"Ah." Annok tilted her head knowingly and continued, "I get it." She placed a finger over her curled lips. "Your secret is safe with me. Don't you worry!"

I smiled at Annok and then unlocked my locker to prepare for the day's classes.

"Inaya-a-a!"

Turning around at Salah's voice, I saw the girl skipping toward me with Ameena close behind. I waved, and they joined my side to get to their locker.

"Ugh," Ameena complained, "Yesterday's math homework was so hard."

Salah hummed in agreement. "You'd think Ms. Vaia would give us a break!" She fished out a mirror from her bag so she could readjust her orange hijab. "We only have like another month of school left."

"Month and a half," I corrected. "Imagine the math we have to take in college."

Ameena frowned at my comment.

"Good thing I'm going into art," she said.

"You are?" I gasped.

Putting down her mirror, Salah gave Ameena a curious look. "Won't your parents be upset?"

"It's what I'm good at," Ameena shrugged.

"I know my parents want me to go into one of their career paths," I said and sighed. "My mom's an architect, and my dad's an engineer."

"Every brown parent's dream couple!" Salah teased.

"Yeah," I lightly scoffed. The comment made me happy, though.

Ameena swapped notebooks with her locker and bag. "What about being valedictorian? Is that their idea, too?"

"I mean, I don't mind." I smiled a little. "I like studying. I've got a whole desk for it and everything. Reading a textbook under the balcony sunlight gives really good vibes."

"Your parents must make a lot of money," Salah said.

I closed my locker. "I guess? Do you count going on a lot of vacations when I was a kid as a lot of money?"