Hidden

Box I - Part III

I heard from a rumour that there's a birds' nest on the tree I'm sitting at. Having never seen or heard  birds coming from the tall branches, I dismissed it as nothing but lies. But now, I can hear it. The loud, jovial chirps above my head. The break area is one of the three spaces people can hang out in on the weekends, the others being the dorms, and the canteen. However most people decide to stay outside. They area is split into very specific groups. In one corner by the other tree, there's the older years doing absolutely nothing but chatting and teasing each other at the moment. In an hour, they'll start their weekly exercise they do out of completely incomprehensible fun. Yahmii leads because he's the oldest, and the strongest. He has ear-length blond hair with a tint of brown underneath. He has a tanned, muscular build that makes him look intimidating to say the least. There's also Sahal, his easily pleased, optimistic best friend. He is much skinnier and paler, but that doesn't stop him from being a hot topic between the M.Y girls. His hair is much longer, shoulder-length, and black. There's Mazah and his twin sister Mudaibah, the life of the group. Constantly joking and playing practical jokes on each other and everyone else. They have healthy brown hair and shining eyes that slope a little at the bottom. Mazah is slightly taller than his sister, but in terms of strength, they're an equal match. Jamilatun is Mudaibah's best friend, but she refuses to exercise with the group. Instead, she stands on the side, trying to throw Mudaibah off by telling her jokes, and occasionally acting as a human weight.
Then we have the M.Y girls (and Mutakabir). Bint is the brains of the group. An expert in social conduct, she gets along with everyone. Her hair was shaved recently, but new black hair has sprouted in its place. She has dark skin, and is small compared to the other girls. Abala is accurately known as the air-head. She welcomes the name. While she may be average in her academic skills, when it comes to just logic, she is below Haloo's level. She is the second tallest of the group, with dark brown hair and an exposed birthmark on her neck. The tallest is Latiifatun, who looks exactly like her big sister Jamilatun. They have bright red hair and freckles spread across their face and arms. Latiifatun is...nice. There's no other way to describe her.
Mutakabir doesn't like to hang out with the other boys his age, only because he likes to annoy the girls by always mentioning himself in their conversation. Once, they were actually talking about him without him trying to steer to chat's direction his way. I could have sworn I saw a tear escape his eye. He is as tall as Latiifatun. Copper skin and a nice smile. He could actually be okay, if it wasn't for that ever-repelling attitude of his.
There are only three other boys in the M.Y: Adi, Muadalun and Mitawasidun. They mostly play football. Three boys of average height, two brunettes, Mitawasidun being a ginger. They're okay too. Hazaa is now with them, which makes me feel like I should be angry, but I'm not. Yes, I hate him. But I cannot be bothered to waste my peaceful break glaring at him.
The lower years consists of five children. The most popular, and most protected is Haloo. She likes to go to Yahmii and show him her drawing, which he praises no matter what. She is the shortest, with floppy blond hair and big blue eyes. The classic combination. Two of the other boys in her class once had a crush on her. Both were set straight by her brother. Ibtisam was one of them, the always smiling, constantly laughing six year old. Qasa was the other one. He's a rough player. He always shoves other children and sometimes even gets into fights. He's been better behaved than before after the incident with the water-paint and Miss Amik. Hadi is the quiet girl who likes to play by herself with a doll her father brought to her last Visit. Daaja is the opposite, using every opportunity to throw a tantrum. She's also more behaved after a lecture from Miss Amik.
And then there's me.
My name is Shujaaca, and I am twelve years old. I have short black hair and really dark brown skin. I'm really skinny but I don't mind. Miss Daif said I have the body type of my mother. I'm always by myself, except when some children have pity on me and play with me. I'm on my own. Me and the monster.
I guess we have that much alike.

The bell rings. Five times. It's time to go to bed.
Before we go anywhere else, Miss Amik is waiting for us with a small cup for each of us to drink out of. We call it juice. Everyone must drink the juice. No one knows why.
We all go into the bathrooms to shower and brush our teeth. The U.Ys go first in the showers. They carry a putrid stench with them. I brush my teeth while I wait.
After taking a shower, I climb the ladder to my bed, only to find someone already in it.
"Hazaa? What are you doing here?" I shout, biting back the sudden need to slap him.
"Trying to sleep." He murmurs.
"But-"
"Come on, Shujaaca. Let the newbie choose where to sleep." Mazah says.
"Yeah man. He didn't know and he's knackered anyway. No point in moving him." Sahal joins in.
"But I-"
"Shut it, Shujaaca. I'm gonna need absolute quiet to sleep tonight and I don't need to hear your complaining." Yahmii growls. Mazah and Sahal laugh.
"Mate, we're not sure if it's sleeping agent in there or not," Mazah says, " You might sleep just like the rest of us tonight."
"What else is it gonna be?" He says. "I hate you guys." They laugh again.
"You shouldn't have accepted the dare mate. All your fault." Mazah says.
"What dare?" Hazaa asks, turning sides, showing he's absolutely awake. Sahal snickers.
"We dared him to do a hundred press ups with an M.Y sitting on his back right after our intense workout 'cos he said he could go on, didn't he?"
"Wouldn't stop boasting about it." Mazah says.
"So we told him that the forfeit was to not drink the juice and get away with it. We were all pretty curious what the effects were. This was our golden chance to find out." A pause followed.
"Who knows? You might see Shujaaca's monster." Hazaa says. They bellow with laughter. I go back down the ladder and go under my old bed, Hazaa's bed, while they wipe tears of laughter from their eyes.
The bell rings five times again, and all lights are turned off. They all go to their beds. After half an hour, the small pit-pat sound of feet are heard in the room. Haloo snuggles in next to her brother.
"Is monster here yet?" She asks.
"There's no monster. Go to sleep."
If only he knew how wrong he was.

On my bed (the bed Hazaa now sleeps on), there's a long window that stretches to the other side of the room. That's where the monster comes and looks at me. I wonder what it will do when it sees I'm not there.
I've looked outside it before. Below, there's just concrete, on the right is a fence dividing a narrow alleyway with a dead-end, and a car park. On the left is a wall, the other side containing the break area, the tree towering over it. The monster appears to be able to scale the wall. I'd love to see it do that.
I look above me. Hazaa's weight pushing the thin metal bars down towards me. What if it sees Hazaa and thinks it's me? What if it knows it isn't me? What will it do? No one else has ever seen it before. I stop myself from enjoying thoughts about Hazaa's misfortune. Would he ever tell anyone if he saw it?
Would it hurt him?
Thoughts and worries swim in my thoughts as I slip under the tempting covers of sleep.

Good luck, Hazaa. You'll need it.