What happens when it is one of us?

“Ei! Don’t run in the corridor!” a prefect yelled at a boy.

The bell had just rung, marking the end of recess. It was chaos everywhere you looked.

Daniel hurried into class. Conversations buzzed from every corner of the room. Classmates talking about the upcoming sports day, weekend plans, and everything else under the sun.

Aditi and Alvin, two academic rivals, were in their usual state, bantering to no end.

“Hey, guess how much I got in the Chemistry quiz?” Aditi asked him. She glanced at her best friend, Xin Hui, who was beside her. Alvin rolled his eyes.

“99! I got one mark higher than you. So much for all that talk before.” She raised her fingers to make air quotes while adding, “‘I studied the textbook from cover to cover.” She giggled with Xin Hui.

Alvin sighed exasperatedly while she kept rubbing salt into his wound.

Daniel’s deskmate, Devon, was busy with his head and hands deep in his bag, rummaging for something. Daniel leaned into him, “Can I borrow your Maths exercise book? I haven’t done the homework.” Devon stopped to look at him, “There was homework?”

“Wha–? How could you not know? I posted it in the group last night.”

“Says the person asking to borrow my book,” he continued rifling through his bag. “What a bad class monitor you are,” he condemned while shaking his head.

“Tsk,” Daniel looked around the room for other potential lenders. His mind played a memory of Mrs Huang scolding him about an unfinished assignment. A shudder rippled through his body at the thought.

His eyes landed back on Devon. “What are you doing? Cave diving into your bag?”

Devon took out a book and started shaking it, like something was stuck between the pages. “I’m looking for my money. I brought it for the …” he took out another book, “… STEM competition.”

Daniel watched him for another moment. “Maybe you didn’t bring it,” he offered plainly.

Devon narrowed his eyes at him, “I did. I-I remember specifically putting it in my bag this morning.”

“Give me back my money!”

The boys whipped their heads towards the sudden commotion. Aditi was standing over Alvin’s desk.

“What are you talking about?” Alvin retorted. “Something fried your brain, is it?”

Aditi slammed her palm on his table. “You took my money. Xin Hui’s, too.”

“What money?” he raised his voice to match hers.

Daniel walked over. “What’s going on?”

“This loser stole our money.”

“I didn’t,” he said through gritted teeth.

“Let’s call a teacher to check your bag then.” Aditi raised her eyebrow.

Alvin’s eyes suddenly went wide, and he shook his head frantically.

“W-We don’t need to do that.” She tilted her head towards Daniel, “Two victims of theft.”

“Three, actually,” Devon chimed in. “My money’s missing, too.”

Daniel’s eyes darted between them. He didn’t know what to think.

Alvin held his breath, heart pounding in his ears. Devon waited for a reaction.

“Well?” Aditi said, one hand on her hip. “Class monitor?”

Xin Hui stood silently beside her. Daniel left the classroom, searching for a teacher.

This is an excerpt from One of Us by Aiza Zahra, part of Broken, a collection of short stories by young writers. Broken is priced at RM33.90 and is available at BookXcess outlets and online.

To give the younger generation a platform to express themselves, Twentytwo13 runs a dedicated space called Young Voices. Young writers aged 18 and below who wish to have their work published may submit their contributions to [email protected].