The Imperials

New Classmates

One of the girls harshly facepalmed themselves, their cheeks reddening with embarrassment on behalf of Jonah.  "You never met her in your life!" She grunted, elbowing him. "Sorry Miss, my cousin can never shut up!"

"Okay Jonah, take a seat next to Henry." My teacher pointed at an empty desk in the far back. She turned to the sharp girl with a crop top and leather leggings, her bomber jacket dangling carelessly down her bare shoulders. She was wearing her hair in a long high ponytail. "What's your name sweetie?" 

"Joycelyn," She smiled at the class, friendly waving her hand. "I like adventures, going out with my cousins and siblings, hanging out with my sisters, Kaytlyn and Shaelyn. We all live a huge pa... sorry house, so... it's fun."

"Thanks so much, Joycelyn, sit next to Mia!" My teacher pointed at her new desk, before jotting down notes. She moved her gaze to the last girl, who had dark silky hair that fell over her shoulders. She wore dark jeans, a tight black jacket, nervously fidgeting now and then wanting to disappear in thin air. "What's your name?" 

"Vivian," She whispered, glancing down at her gloved hands, playing with her fingers. 

"Want to introduce yourself?" Vivian shook her head, and the teacher anyway smiled at her and directed her seat next to me. 

She softly padded towards me and sat next to my desk covering half her face with her hair. With one of her hands, she reached into her bag and brought out her device.

 To my horror, I gasped. Her bare fingers exposed through her fingerless gloves were bony and bruised. I glanced at her face, seeing a faint bruise marring her cheekbones. Even with so much concealer, it was still visible. Without asking her anything, I turned towards the teacher trying to focus on her lectures. Nevertheless, I still couldn't even concentrate on the lesson, her scars and bruises continued to haunt me throughout the session. 

Harun POV:

"Did you complete your geo project?" Daniel asked, panic evident in his voice as he rummaged through his bag. 

"Yeah..." I started.

Gratefully, I got my seat and class back to myself again, but who knew how long it will last? Dad was furious yesterday when he learned about Musa's nefarious identity-swapping tactics during class time. Dad had threatened Musa with the deportation to China, as I had predicted, which I thought was an appropriate punishment for him. What was worse was Dad's inability to follow through on his threats; he always backed out at the last minute.

"Crap, I forgot my homework at home!" Daniel stared at me wide-eyed before placing his head in his hands, stressing his head off. For the fact, Daniel never forgot his homework, and not doing his homework was out of the question. 

"So what? You can always bring it tomorrow, Mr. Gabir will understand."

"But, Halima will get first place. I won't accept that!" Daniel hissed, clenching his fists into balls. Wow, he was acting like Halima was his sworn enemy!

"Bro, why do you have beef with her? Leave her alone. School isn't a competition--"

"It is Harun, you don't understand!" Daniel sighed, perching his elbows tiredly on the metal desk and making a crown of frustration with his hands over his head. 

I seriously never got his and Halima's relationship. What was all the competition, hatred, and glares? 

A sudden loud rap on the door startled the class, and Mr. Gabir peered out of the door before opening it and welcoming some new students, causing the entire class to go silent. We were all staring at the new black-clad students. Perhaps foreign gangsters who knew?