New Lifestyle

Chapter 1

"Quickly! Clean your dorms! Go to the surau when you're done!" Shouts of prefects filled the air. Luqman, who is standing outside the Aspura gate, ignored the shouts. He was waiting for his friend Azmir, who is also a prefect. "Where is he?" Sighed Luqman. Luqman poked his head inside to find Azmir but accidentally knocked his head into someone. "Sorry! I didn't mean to-" his words cut-off when he saw another person of his age a few inches taller than him. "It's fine, no worries." The person replied. Luqman glanced at the person's nametag, HAMID, it spells out.

Luqman felt frightened by Hamid's serious facial expression. "H-have you seen Azmir?" Asked Luqman in a trembled voice. "He is still inside, he'll come out soon." Hamid said as he picked up his black totebag to class. Luqman could only watch as Hamid walks away. Luqman was suddenly surprised by a pat on the back. "Hey! Sorry I took too long. " Azmir apologised. "It's fine. I didn't wait too long" Luqman muttered. "What's wrong? You seem like you've seen a ghost?" Questioned Azmir. "Nothing..." mumbled Luqman. "C'mon let's go, we'll be late for class!" Hurried Azmir as he patted Luqman's shoulder. Luqman stood for a bit before tailing behind him.

Azmir happily greeted his class. He never failed to notice Hamid sitting near the back entrance. Hamid only smiled a little before looking in his Biology textbook as he is rather weak in the subject. Luqman suddenly appeared at the back entrance where the lockers are. "Heyy! Oh! You're here for the notes, of course!" Azmir happily greeted. Azmir opened his locker as he handed Luqman some Add Math notes. "T-thank you!" Luqman gratefully thanked Azmir. Hamid glanced for a bit. "They're friends? How cute..." Hamid thought to himself. Personally, Hamid would feel jealous of other peoples' friendship as he'd always wanted a friend he could trust. Soon, class started as normal and everyone went to their respective classes.

After a few hours, it was recess. Luqman was waiting for Azmir outside his class. "Hey! Thanks for waiting" Azmir said as he patted Luqman's back. "I-it's okay. I didn't wait too long." Luqman replied. Azmir bought some nuggets and 'keropok' * at the canteen while Luqman bought some fried rice. As they were eating, Luqman kept staring at the board which had their Mid-Year test results pasted on it. Luqman is an excellent student, but he kept failing in Add Math, rarely getting passing marks. Luqman was still curious about Hamid and searched for his name. Surprisingly, he wasn't far behind. He scored A+ in Add Math compared to Luqman who got a D. Luqman became a bit jealous but kept quiet. Reccess felt short but at least Luqman and Hamid were satisfied with their meal. They headed to class shortly after eating.

* - keropok is a type of local Malaysian snack.