The Ugly Side of Beauty

Chapter Two: Malay

"She is Cindy Tan Mei Mei. I've known her since kindergarten because we live near each other." Tom sighed. I just nodded. I didn't know what else to do, what with the class trying to come up with jokes about my name.

"Seriously, you're, like, the total opposite of Lorelei." Cindy cackled. She sounded like a witch with a capital B. I seriously did not like her.

 "Shut up, Cindy!" Jolene called from her seat which was right at the front. Cindy scowled but didn't saying anything in reply. I guessed that openly opposing Jolene was social suicide. I didn't think Jolene had the popular qualities, so why was she so popular?

The guy in front of me had been watching the whole time and he sighed. "Hi, Lorelei. I'm Nicholas Chen. You can call me Nick." He didn't hold out his hand to shake, so I just nodded in acknowledgement. "Jolene has an elder sister, you know, the plastic queen." He explained, rolling his eyes. Nick looked quite tall and had lean muscles. He had spiky, light brown hair and dark brown eyes. I wondered why his hair was light brown. Most of the Malaysians had dark hair and dark eyes.

So Jolene had social immunity, no wonder she was so popular. I wanted to see what her sister looked like.

"You're not from Penang, are you?" Nick asked. His eyes had a sparkle in them that made it seem like he saw a lot. I hope he couldn't see through the glasses.

"No." I replied flatly. He looked at me more intensely, as if trying to figure out why I spoke the way I spoke. I looked at my table. "I'm from the US."

"I see. Which part?" Nick was asking dangerous questions. Revealing that I was from the US was already deep enough. I bit my tongue, trying to suppress a frown.

Then suddenly the class chatter died down and I saw that the teacher walked in. Relief filled my heart and I realized that I had stopped breathing; my chest felt indescribably constricted. Nick's eyes flashed with something—I wasn't sure what—before he looked away.

The teacher wrote his name on the whiteboard in blue ink. He wrote 'Cikgu Amir' and then turned around. What a weird name.

"Selamat pagi, murid-murid. Nama saya Cikgu Amir." He said fluently. My jaw dropped. Shit! Was this Malay? I haven't studied the language yet! I didn't know that the teachers spoke in Malay. What the hell was that weird hat he wore on his head anyway? "Mulai hari ini, saya ialah guru kelas kamu." He continued ruthlessly. "Saya akan panggil nama, tolong angkat tangan jika hadir."

For some reason, the students laughed.

"Kalau tak hadir mana boleh angkat tangan, Cikgu?" Cindy called out and Cikgu Amir smiled.

Then he flipped through some papers that he was holding on a clipboard. Feeling totally lost, I whipped my head to face Tom urgently.

"What did he say?" my voice remained flat despite my desperate despair. It was baffling how my voice could stay so detached from my feelings.

"You don't understand Malay?" Tom asked, astonishment displayed clearly across his face. "Cikgu means teacher. He said that he's our form teacher and he'll be doing a roll call, so raise your hand when he calls your name."

"What did Cindy say?" I asked in curiosity. Tom chuckled. Cikgu Amir started calling kids' names one by one and I watched as they raised their hands.

"Well, Cikgu Amir said that if you're present, raise your hands, so she asked him how could we raise our hands if not present." He smiled at me. I realised that he was smiling at me so easily, as if I didn't look ridiculously lame. I looked away from him. I didn't understand how what Cindy said could be funny. I guessed it was only funny in that language.

"Thomson Lee Yong Hen." Cikgu Amir called. Tom raised his hand.

"Lorelei... eh, camne nak sebut ni?" the teacher looked at me, clearly asking me a question.

"Um, what?" I asked back. There were snickers all around the class.

"Dia tak paham Melayu la, Cikgu." Tom called out. The teacher blinked in surprise and looked down at his papers.

"Oh, dari Amerika ke?" he mumbled. "How to say your name?" he asked me.

Oh, my God. His English was beyond broken. "Lorelei D'Vina." I replied. I looked at Tom. "What did you tell him?"

"I told him you didn't understand Malay." He grinned. I tried to find it in me to smile back, but I just couldn't, so I let my gaze slide away. This was going to be a long day.

Author's Note: 

Um, okay, so i read other stories on wattpad and most of them had an author's note, so i figured i may as well write it.

Not so sure what to write, but i really have to pee. unfortunately, when i tried to go to the toilet earlier a rat ran out from there, so there's no frickin' way i'm going now. hahaha.

Well, that's about it.

P.S. if you're reading this, vote and comment please! :)