MALIKA

Math Test

Malika’s POV

“You should rest.” Dylan told me as we walked out of the kitchen. I slowly released my hands off his as soon as I heard Vivian’s voice and took some space from Dylan. I found Vivian striding toward us. Her lips extended with sneer. Her words cut my heart like a knife.

“I didn't expect that you would flirt with my brother behind us.”

“It’s not like what you’re thinking about, Vivian. Brother Dylan just….”

“She is not a servant here, Vivian. Treat her like your own sister.” Instead of commenting on Vivian’s accusation, Dylan talked about her behaviour. 

“A servant? What do you mean? If you are talking about washing the dishes, that is also a part of her responsibility as a stranger in this house. She is NOT a part of Fernandes family and she will never be!” Vivian asserted with a raised tone of voice. That girl glared at me in anger. 

“Vivian….stop being childish. Show some respect. Besides, father has given her our family name. She is a part of our family now.”

“No! I will never accept her as my sister!” Vivian was adamant. 

“Vivian….” Dylan snapped but I managed to stop him..

“Brother…it's fine.” I held his hand to calm him down. “She is right. I am not a part of your family. Fernandes' blood doesn't run in my vein.”

“Malika….”

“I am tired and sleepy. I need to have a rest.” I rushed toward my bedroom as soon as I completed my sentences, ignoring Dylan’s attempts to talk to me. 

Getting into my room, I locked myself in my bedroom and rested on the mattress. I sighed  out of my frazzle. It was not that I complained about my life; I just felt fed up. However, I didn't blame Vivian despite her mockery and contempt. 

“Malika….”My brother Dylan seemed not to give up to comfort me. He might be afraid that I would be sad for what his sister had done to me. He never knew that I’d even experienced worse than Vivian’s insult. 

“I’m fine, brother.” I tried to convince him. 

*I’m sorry for my sister’s action of hurting you.” He said in half loud voice to make sure that I could hear him.

“That’s not a big deal.” I responded from inside as I didn't intend to unlock the door of my room for him. I just didn't want him to see my teary eyes, touched by his care. 

My heart protested against myself for why I should cry, receiving Vivian’s treatment. There was nothing wrong with what Vivian said; I was indeed merely a stranger in this house.

Dylan’s voice startled me out of my complaint about myself. I instantly  wiped away my tears, listening to his words. “Good night,” he finally surrendered after failing to get me out of my room. His shoes stomped the floor, leaving me. 

***

Standing before the mirror of the school restroom,I treated my swelling eyes of sobbing last night with a wet paper towel to make them better. Still, the swell remained no matter how much I did it.

It would embarrass me if my classmates let alone Vivian found out that I had cried a lot. She would mock me as we were in the same class. 

“No, that can't happen.” I pressed the tissue on my eyelid many times to make the swell invisible. It was futile. 

The door slid open when I was still busy treating my eyes. I peeked through over shoulder and saw Hanah entering the room. Her eyes widened as she looked at my swelling eyes in the mirror. 

“What happened? Did you cry? Why? Who hurt you?” She asked impatiently. 

“No, nothing; it is just that I slept late last night.” I made an excuse while throwing the paper towels in the trash bin. 

“Really? Are you sure?” She didn't believe in my explanation for it must be obvious that I just cried.

“Yeah ... .let's get back to the classroom .the first class starts soon.” 

I abandoned her before she could respond to my sentence. In a hurry, I walked to the classroom. I heard Hanah’s steps behind me, trying to reach me. 

We arrived in the classroom full of students throwing the papers from each others. Some students showed sad expressions while looking at the papers in their hands. Others danced or yelled in joy for getting high scored written on their papers. The students just received the result of math test. 

“Guess what, guys! One member of Fernandes family managed to break the record of getting the lowest score in Math test!” One of the students attracted our attention through her announcement, lifting the test  paper in the air. Everyone stared at her in disbelief while waiting for her to continue with her words. “Congratulations, Malika! You got zero for your math.”

The laughter boomed in the room as soon as she stopped speaking. I crouched my chin in embarrassment. My classmates started mocking me. 

“I heard you even have an extra class with one of the top students in this school, that doesn't even work out. No one can help you. What a stymupid girl!” a male student in spiky hair commented and insulted me while throwing the paper on my face. 

“I didn't expect that Fernandes' family member got zero in Math.” Another student in a long blonde hair added which ignited anger in Vivian’s heart and exploded out.

“Stop calling her Fernandes as she is not a part of our family! She is just a servant in our house!’” Vivian snarled, venting her emotion. Her rude words knifed my heart deeply even though it was true that I was not a part of them. 

I grabbed my test paper from the floor near my feet. I chose to keep silent despite disdain I received from Vivian or other students. I could sense that Hanah almost pour out her irritation but I quickly grasped her hand, giving her signal not to get provoked by what they were doing. 

“It’s alright,” I whispered near her ears. “Let’s go from here.”  Pulling Hanah’s hand with me, we hurried outside. It was not that I  couldn't stand their mockery but it was to stop Hanah from doing careless things which only put her in trouble. 

“What they did to you is too much!” Hanah grumbled as we had been in the corridor, leaning against the wall side by side. 

I just shut my eyes in a response to Hanah’s annoyance. I neither debated not agreed with  her as I knew who I was. And the fact that I might have embarrassed the Fernandes Family for my failure in the Math test saddened me more. 

“You better return to the classroom,” I spontaneously opened my eyes as I spoke and dragged my steps away from Hanah who questioned me. 

“Where are you going?” 

****

My mind went blank that the place I could think of to go was the rooftop where I was sitting now. I observed the view down there which looked tiny through my eyes. It made sense as this building had like dozens of floors and I was on the top of it.

As I was consumed by my thoughts, my ears caught someone yelling. His voice was so familiar. Curious about what was going on, I slowly got to my feet and searched for the person who now had been trapped by silence. 

From afar, I could see a towering boy with dark short hair standing with his back on me. His figure seemed familiar to me. I almost got a heart attack in shock when he suddenly screamed. His screams contained inexplicable desolation and depression. 

Arrgggggggh….

My heart pounded harder when he looked back. It was the one I recognized. What made him so hopeless, screaming  like crazy?