MissTaken || Englot || On going

𝓒𝓱𝓪𝓹𝓽𝓮𝓻 4 : 𝓓𝓸𝓷'𝓽 𝓽𝓸𝓾𝓬𝓱 𝓱𝓮𝓻

Engfa's POV

Throughout the class, I noticed Murek was very quiet. At first, I wanted to make friends with her and talk to her, but she didn't give me the same energy back. No matter what she does, I ain't going to let her ruin my day. So, minding my own business is the only way.

Shortly after the end of class, the lecturer didn't forget to give us our first assignment during the first class of the semester. "Listen up everyone, before you go I want to share with you that there will be a major group assignment for you to submit. And I want no complaint that you don't have enough time when I will be giving you time until the end of the semester to finish." He directed us.

He then continued presenting a slide show, showing a list of topics to be discussed and answered followed by the name of people you're going to be with in a group. Instinctively, my eyes were searching for my name partnered with an unfamiliar name. "Charlotte Austin..." I let it out in a low voice.

"Who is that?" I looked around to see if anybody was searching for me because I knew everyone knew who I was. As soon as the lecturer went out of the class, I was still looking for the girl since nobody claimed to be her at that moment.

Feeling anxious, I ended up asking around who Charlotte Austin was and everyone actually had no clues as to who she was. This means that she isn't from the same batch as everyone and the only one left was just me and Mur- "Wait! Is Murek...Charlotte?" I mentally realised that myself.

The person of interest was gone before I even wanted to discuss with her about our assignment. In the end, I exited the class to find Nudee empty-handedly.

When I met Nudee, we made our way to the car park since we didn't have any afternoon classes and no reason to stay for long at the campus. As I talked with Nudee, I saw a group of people cornering a girl, who happened to be her, Murek...

Aside from minding my own business, there was one thing that I could not ignore, which was bully. I hate when people bully innocent people. Without fear, I approached them with dignity even though my ankle was still recovering.

Once I got closer, I heard a little bit of the conversation between the two girls and Charlotte/Murek belittled about her being a foreigner.

"Why are you here? You don't belong here..." One of the girls pokes Murek's shoulder in their offence.

They continued verbally bullying her, "And what's with your accent!? Are you really a foreigner or pretend to be one with that unnatural, plastic surgery nose??"

At that moment, I interrupted the bullying and slapped the girl in disgust. "Hey, you!! Don't you have any other things to do rather than bullying people, huh!? You guys will definitely get called by the admin! I make sure of that!"

As expected, they ran away like scaredy cats and it honestly makes me want to puke how there are still people bullying people for fun. What was the reason?

However, once the bullies were gone, I checked on the person who was affected. But to say the least, she didn't look like she was affected by their comments. Amidst that, I still wanted to make sure she was okay, "Are you okay, Murek? Or Charlotte?" I was also confused about which name to address her now.

Murek gave me a side glance and continued to walk ahead without saying anything. She was definitely unaffected by the early incident as if she was used to it. "Hey! Wait for me!!" I yelled at her, but due to my ankle, I couldn't go far and follow her.

...

The next day, I was still pissed about yesterday's commotion but today, I was determined to ignore her since my action wasn't appreciated.

Soon enough, she arrived and went to sit next to me unbotheredly. The way she acted normally meant that she didn't want to talk about it and I respected that.

But, as much as I didn't want to talk to her, I couldn't help but stare at her...Yes, she's a nerd but she's beautiful. I even contemplated that the reason why she behaves this way may be because she didn't understand our language...

So, I find the courage to talk to her because after all we need to talk about our assignment someday.

"Did those girls disturb you again today?" I talked to her, but after some time, all I heard was nothing. Pure silence, which embarrassed me.

Having enough of feeling ashamed about myself, I excused myself to the toilet. Washing my face with water to wake me with new energy, hoping I wouldn't embarrass myself again for the third time.

Is this how students feel nowadays? Pressured to make friends to the point where you make a fool out of yourself.

Taking a deep breath, I recollected my mind and hoped that I could end my final year with ease. When I returned to the class, I sensed discomfort in my ankle and instantly I massaged my ankle as I was afraid that my recovery would take time. Adding to that, I also ate my medication to relieve the pain I was experiencing at the moment.

While I was too focused on treating myself, I heard a voice next to me asking about me. "Are you okay, Engfa? Does your ankle feel painful?" Murek voiced out her concern not knowing where she got the information that I sprained my ankle.

I mean, I do know that I am good at hiding my injury since my cast was covered with my long trousers, making it hidden in the public eye. Out of nowhere, I questioned her, "What are you, really?"

The next thing, I saw her blush hard as if she had done something bad. Clarifying herself, she replied to my question, "What are you confusing with?"

Feeling sceptical about her fast response, I took this opportunity to ask about the Murek and Charlotte thing. "What's your name?" I directed the question to her so she could not take back what she offered.

"It's Murek..." Her voice becomes muted in a split second and comes back for another response, "And Charlotte..."

"Huh?" I was confused.

Later, she explained that Murek is her nickname, whereas Charlotte is her birth name. Well, that shut down my suspicion towards her.

Author's notes:

Play Secrets by One Republic