Hidden

Box I - Part IV

*CHARACTER RECAP:
~
Shujaaca: M.Y, sees monster, dark brown, skinny, short black hair.
Yahmii: U.Y, oldest, brother of Haloo, blond/brown hair, tanned, muscular, intimidating.
Sahal: U.Y, Yahmii's best friend, slim, long black hair, liked by the girls.
Mazah (boy) and Mudaibah (girl): U.Ys, twins, healthy brown hair, sloping eyes, jokers.
Jamilatun: U.Y, Mudaibah's best friend, Latiifatun's big sister, ginger, freckled, hates exercise.
Mutakabir: M.Y, attention seeking, copper skin, nice smile, annoying personality.
Bint: M.Y, small, smart, short hair, dark skin.
Abala: M.Y, stupid, second tallest, dark brown hair, birthmark on neck.
Latiifatun: M.Y, tallest, small sister of Jamilatun, ginger, freckled, nice.
Adi, Muadalun, Mitawasidun: M.Ys, average heights, play football, all brunettes except ginger Mitawasidun, okay personalities.
Hazaa: M.Y, new, hated by Shujaaca, liked by most, short brown hair, long face, handsome.
Haloo: L.Y, Yahmii's little sister, blond, blue eyes, innocent.
Ibtisam: L.Y, smiles a lot, had crush on Haloo.
Qasa: L.Y, rough with others, better behaved now.
Hadi: L.Y, quiet, plays with doll given by her father alone.
Daaja: L.Y, loves to make tantrums, better behaved now.
Miss Amik: teacher, transferred a year ago, strict but fair, good teacher.
~
I'm awake. I can consciously move my muscles, although I don't really want to. I just want to go back to sleep. I turn to my left. The bed is warm. So warm. I sigh loudly.
"Shujaaca!" I hear. It's quiet, but urgent sounding. "Shujaaca!" I hear again. Unwillingly, I open an eyelid. I can't see anything for a second. My eye is blurred. I blink, and look at the face of a very sweaty, very scared Yahmii.
"Shujaaca.." He begins.
Did I mention how warm my bed is? I move the blanket towards my face, it's heat radiating peace and comfort. I can hear something being repeated, but I don't listen. It's so cosy in here. So warm. So..war..m...

I'm awake again. There's light streaming in the room from the window, painting the room yellow. For some reason, I always wake up before others. It's actually useful: that way, I won't be panicked when the bell rings to wake us up. And soon enough, it does.
Once. Twice.
I can hear a startled Hazaa above me, and snicker. The others grunt complains no one can hear and try to go back to sleep. It never works. Soon enough, everyone is up, and when the bell rings twice again, we all lazily walk to the bathroom. Brushing my teeth, I can see my reflection in the mirror. My hair is bent to one side from sleeping on my right so much, and there's little crusty bits near my eyes. Needless to say, my face in the morning is the definition of gross. Hazaa comes in.
"Slept well?" He asks. When I don't answer, he smiles, rubbing his forehead. I hate his morning face. His hair is messy, but it looks as if it's meant to be that way. Wild. His face is clean, spotless too. I quickly finish in the bathroom before I'm too tempted to try and ruin that arrogant smile of his.
The canteen is mostly silent (as it always is in the morning). I go to the counter to collect breakfast. The smell of eggs and beans on toast makes my mouth water. I sit on a table of six, the empty seats next to me only highlight my loneliness. As I continue to eat, the room becomes more and more lively. People start to laugh. Proper conversations are being held. I can hear the one on the table next to me.
"Maybe it's medication." Jamilatun says. "How did he look in the morning?"
"He was whiter than Sahal, if that's even possible." Mazah says.
"The nurse had to take him in. He couldn't even move properly." Sahal adds.
"Well that's annoying." Mudaibah says, "I was gonna give skipping juice a go, but now I think I'll pass."
"You were going to attempt this without me?" Mazah says, holding a hand to his heart, fake hurt on his face.
"Well the group would have too much to bear if both of us were to die." She says.
"Hey. It's not that serious, yeah?" Sahal says. He's not laughing.
"We're only trying to brighten the mood." He says. "But let's finish eating. We've got five minutes left." And with that, all that can be heard from the table is loud chewing and the gulping down of water.
There's a scream. It's Hadi. She sits with the other L.Ys, and her seat faces the M.Ys's table, and there sits Hazaa. Blood is dripping from his forehead. It's his turn to scream. He clutches it with both hands and starts shaking.
For a while, no one does anything, then all at once, chaos.
Hazaa's screams become louder and more pained. The little ones start screaming too. Sahal stands and drags Hazaa away to the nurses, while the other U.Ys try and calm everyone down.
I just sit there and watch. I don't know what happened, but seeing Hazaa like this, I'm ashamed to admit I like it. I'm quiet, so no one  comes to me to try and cheer my up. I'm not a baby anyway.
The bell rings three times. We go out.
I make my way to my tree. The stooping branches welcome me like an old friend. It's not as warm as yesterday, and the cool wind causes me to have goosebumps. But it's nice. Refreshing, actually. I close my eyes to rest like always, but today I'm not tired. I only woke up once, and for a short amount of time.
I sit up as the sudden realisation dawns on me. I didn't see the monster yesterday night. Instead, I saw...
Looking to my right, the older years are there habitually. Except Yahmii. I frown. What happened yesterday night? I recall him calling my name. Did I sigh too loudly and wake him up? Maybe he was angry at me, and that's why he looked at me that way. Was Haloo still there? I didn't see her when I woke up. He usually delivers her to the girls' dorms as soon as the bell rings. Come to think of it, was he even there when I woke up?
I shake my head. So typical of me not to be aware of what's happening around me. I was just too focused on the bed thief grinning at me. But now he's been injured.
Did the monster do it?
The conversation to my right pulls me away from my thoughts when a certain name is mentioned.
"You saw what happened to him too." Mazah says.
"What? What happened?" Mudaibah says.
"It's not that big of a deal. He was just scratching his head, probably a bit too hard, and he started bleeding." Sahal explains.
"But why the screaming? The guy almost made me piss myself." They laugh.
"Maybe he's scared of blood."
"Nah. It's got to be something else." There is a long pause.
"Who's gonna lead today? Yahmii's still at the nurse's."
"I don't even feel like exercise today." Jamilatun says.
"You never feel like exercise." Mudaibah replies.
No one says anything after that, but the atmosphere is relaxed. Until I get dragged up.
It happened so fast my brain didn't have time to process what was happening until I was staring into the hard eyes of a very agitated Hazaa.
"You did this." He growls. His hands are on my collar, pulling me up so high I have to be on the tip of my toes so he doesn't accidentally strangle me. His head is bandaged.
"I did..what?" I whisper, struggling for breath.
"You know exactly what you did, and you're gonna pay for it." I look for help. Sahal, Mazah and Mudaibah are already standing, waiting for something to actually happen so they can intervene. The others look at me. It's difficult to see their facial expressions. I don't think I'm going to avoid being hit once at least. Where are teachers when you need them?
"Get back." I hear. "Get back, Hazaa." Yahmii puts a firm hand on him. Hazaa shakes it off. A mistake.
Yahmii squeezes the area between Hazaa's shoulder and neck. Immediately, he lets go and faces Yahmii.
"What are you doing? Let go!" He shouts. Yahmii keeps his hold for a moment, then let's go. Hazaa falls on his knees massaging his injured side, desperately trying to make the pain go away.
"What did you do that for?!" He yells, "You don't know what he did!"
"Yeah. I don't. Why don't you show us?" His questions sound more like a command. Hazaa obeys. He slowly removes his bandages, and reveals gross scars. I gasp. I can hear Yahmii breathing in a shaky breath. Looking at him though, he isn't surprised. Instead, he actually nods. A gesture so small I might have imagined it.
"Wait. No way did Shujaaca do that." Jamilatun stands. "I've known him since before his monster nightmares. That just isn't him."
"Yeah. It isn't." Sahal says. He walks towards me. "But who else would write that on his forehead?" He looks at me accusingly.
"I didn't do it! I swear!"
"Liar!"
"I didn't!" I shout. Hot tears escape my eyes. "I didn't." I say again so low I don't think anyone hears me.
"Shujaaca. Will you please follow me." Miss Amik appears. There's a tall, heavy man next to her. I get up, and walk head down to the door.
The words in my head are continuously repeated, ingrained in my head as clearly as it was on Hazaa's forehead.

Circus Monkey.