The Badboy, the Catfish & Me

Four

I shouted "Bye!" over my shoulder at Baba and slammed the car door shut. I watched several other students enter the school, sweating and fanning themselves as they walked in. I was grateful there was air conditioning in the car and constant cold air that would blast through the halls and classrooms of Maxwell High.

I caught sight of Annok at her locker and rushed to her side.

"Annok! Hey!"

"Oh, hi, Inaya," Annok looked over at me. "You sound more excited than usual—although you don't quite look awake."

I smiled. Last night was the first time I'd ever been up for something that wasn't for studying. I had two tabs open—CrusadEon and the website Valentino showed before with gameplay tutorials.

I lowered my voice to tell her, "I played CrusadEon Online all night, and it's so good!"

"Really? I knew you'd like it."

"Thanks so much for letting me play on your account!"

She laughed. "No problem. Now you can talk to Valentino about it."

"Uh...that's the thing." I shifted my foot and glanced over at Valentino. For the first time, I was glad he was busy talking with the fan club at his desk, so he couldn't overhear our conversation. "I'm not going to tell him, actually."

"Why not?" Annok closed her locker and raised an eyebrow. "I thought that was a reason you wanted to play."

I fought a blush. "I want it to be a surprise for now," I said.

"Ah." Annok tilted her head knowingly and continued, "I get it." She placed a finger over her curled lips. "Your secret is safe with me. Don't you worry!"

I smiled at Annok and then unlocked my locker to prepare for the day's classes.

"Inaya-a-a!"

Turning around at Salah's voice, I saw the girl skipping toward me with Ameena close behind. I waved, and they joined my side to get to their locker.

"Ugh," Ameena complained, "Yesterday's math homework was so hard."

Salah hummed in agreement. "You'd think Ms. Vaia would give us a break!" She fished out a mirror from her bag so she could readjust her orange hijab. "We only have another month and a half of school left."

"Imagine the math we have to take in college," I said while Ameena frowned at my comment.

"Good thing I'm going into art," she said.

"You are?" I gasped.

Putting down her mirror, Salah gave Ameena a curious look. "Won't your parents be upset?"

"It's what I'm good at," Ameena shrugged.

"I wish I could be as brave as you," I said and sighed. "I know my parents want me to go into one of their career paths. My mom's an architect, and my dad's an environmental engineer."

"Every brown parent's dream couple!" Salah quipped.

"Yeah," I lightly scoffed. The comment made me happy, though. "They expect me to be valedictorian and would probably freak out if I said I wanted to do something that wasn't science-y."

Ameena frowned. "So, you don't want to do it? Be valedictorian?"

"I mean, I don't mind. I like studying." I smiled a little. "I've got a whole desk for it and everything. Reading a textbook under the balcony sunlight gives really good vibes."

"You're such a nerd," Salah said with a laugh.

"And we love you for it," Ameena added.

"Hey, do your parents make a lot of money?" Salah asked.