THOSE DAYS

The last place

The next day

The first thing I did after entering the school was to find my class teacher . As I entered the staff room , I saw him sitting on the chair while arranging some books . My feet trembled as I headed towards him . finally I found the courage to talk to him

" Good morning sir"
"Good morning , have you made up your mind ?"
"Sir , although I can't catch up with the progress here , I ....want to stay here because someone has faith in me and I can't let him down so I'll try my best and study hard . I'll let you and others see my progress to prove that I can stay here . teacher....just see my grades in the monthly exam . Thank you teacher , that's all I wanted to say "

As soon as I finished my words , I headed towards the exit but when I lifted my face , I saw Lucas standing by the door while passing me his best smile .maybe he was standing there from a long time and listening to my and teacher's conversation . I blushed a bit and left as soon because I didn't wanted him to see me like that , blushing just at the sight of him. On my way to classroom , I saw a bunch of students crowded in the school ground . They were all gathered near the basketball court and due to excitement , I also headed there to see what was happening . As I cleared my way through the crowd to the front , I saw Arlo and some other students playing a basketball match . It was the first time I thought that Arlo was also quite handsome and talented but this didn't last for long . I don't know what came to my mind when I shouted

" Hey , Arlo !"
" What ? Came to take the ball from me ? "
"It was my fault that your back was injured"
" Didn't I warned you last time not to mention it anymore!? "
"I have apologized to you already and if you still think that's not enough then come , you can burn my back too "
" You ungrateful creature"
" I just don't want you to be grateful to me anymore! "

As soon as I finished my words , I walked towards my class .I could already see how mad Arlo was at that time but I somehow gained confidence to talk to him in that way . But I somehow listened the voice of Noah when he talked to Arlo he said ' she's not easy bro , come on , let's go '....his words somehow gave me the confidence which I guess I never had before . I felt like I was a warrior in a big armor, going to the battlefield for another victory .

' A MONTH LATER '

From that day , I was always the one who came to the school first and I studied till 10 at night before going to sleep . I worked really very hard to show everyone what I was capable of . But to my surprise , Lucas didn't even talked to me after the day I spilled all his secrets in front of nearly half the school . It was lunch break time now and all the students stood at the class corridor while other went to look for their friends .the whole calss was empty beside me and Noah sitting alone in the whole classroom . His head was down while he didn't even move . I always remembered that he was never in the class and always roaming with Arlo but something was up with him today .I wanted to talk to him and ask why he was behaving this way but I couldn't cause I didn't wanted him and Arlo to trouble me again . But soon , Arlo came to the class room while tucking a basketball in his arm . Soon they both started to talk

" Noah ! Let's play basketball..."
He nodded
" What's wrong Noah "
" My dad said that if I get the last place again in the monthly exam then he'll beat me again and this time he'll surely break my legs "
"Dumbo , your dad just wants to scare you off. What ! Can he really break your legs like that ! "
" He will "
" Beside that , you'll surely not be the last this time "
" But according to the history I Know well that I'll be in .... The last place "
"That's because Catherine wasn't here before"
" She!?.. but her grades in English is still higher than me "
" She's just good at English .as far as I know , her grades in science and maths are much worse than you "

It was just then that I couldn't stand it more . I spoke with enough sound that they were able to hear when I said ' I'll just show you my marks this time ' . Just then Kiara came to me and said

" Catherine , let's go to grab some food "
" No , I just promised our class teacher that I'll work hard and make progress , furthermore I don't want to be in the last place . You just go"
" Don't worry . You won't be in the last place cause the worst person in our class is he "

When I looked at her pointing someone sitting behind , I turned my neck to see him pointing her finger at Noah

"He , Noah is always the last place in our class so your first target is to surpass him "

She spoke so loudly that both Noah and Arlo were looking so furiously at us . Noah just stared at Kiara while Arlo was looking at me so furiously that I knew that it would not be easy for me to survive here anymore . Just then Noah pointed his finger at me with a feirce look while shouting

"I'll surely surpass you "
" What makes you so sure cause I already know that I can surpass you "

This fight didn't last longer because Arlo came in between and said

" Don't worry Noah , you'll definitely surpass her cause I'll tutor you starting from right now . Let her see that she came to a wrong place "
" How can you be like this !? "
" I'm helping my classmate to study . Why ? What's wrong in that ? Why don't you find a tutor for yourself "
"Tutor? You ? ...what a good joke "

I didn't knew how well was he at studying but I knew that he was good enough to tutor Noah . I was just a bit demotivated after what happened because I was new to this school and didn't had any friend who could tutor me . There was Kiara but she couldn't teach me for some reason . He already made it tough enough for me and because I was standing against Arlo , no one would help me . Just then Arlo started to throw his words at me

"You better give up Catherine "
" You just mind you own business "
"You better find someone to tutor you or admit your defeat already "

Just then a voice came from my behind
"I'll teach her "

As soon as I turned back , I saw Lucas standing behind me . He was looking like a god from heaven , who was just sent there to help me . He was standing confidently in front of Arlo and wasn't even afraid of him . Maybe because we three were neighbors or maybe he was too proud because he was the topper of the school. For whatever reason but it felt like god himself came to me , to help me survive this crisis . I was just too busy staring at his beauty when I suddenly heard a load thud of basketball smashing in the floor . It was Arlo

" You're going to teach her ?"
"Can't I ?"
" Fine . I consider you as my close friend but it's fine when you want to go against me to teach this dumbhead "
"Good luck"
" Just keep your luck to yourself cause you may need it more than me"
" We'll see it when the results come out "
" That's for sure... Lucas "