Vintage Diaries.

11. School

Noah stood in front of the main building of Crystal Senior High with his hands on his hips.

He still found it hard to comprehend why his grandfather had decided to take him in as a Ward of the Thanachart Family.

Not only was he taken in as a Ward, but also was sent to the same school as his father and aunt. He would be attending the same class as his father.

He never imagined being classmates with his Father one day.

"All the admission procedures are done you can head to the class. " Met, Year's secretary who was given the duty of admitting him to the school said, coming out of the administration office.

"Thank you, P' Met," Noah said gratefully.

Met ruffled his hair and gave him directions to the classroom. Honestly, Noah didn't need it. He knew the layout of the whole school like the back of his hand. Still, he listened to Met in order to not raise suspicions.

Noah waved the older guy goodbye and headed inside the school. He had been admitted in the second year of high school, so he didn't have to undergo the orientation process like the first years. Yet he headed to the school auditorium where the orientation was being held as there was still time before the class started.

The orientation process was the same as usual. All the freshmen were seated in neat rows, wearing new uniforms.

Noah peaked at the audience and saw his aunt who was busy talking to a neighboring student. She seemed familiar with all of them and had already formed a group in the crowd.

As the Principal of the school, Jarinya took the dais and started her speech. "I am extremely honored and privileged to get an opportunity to welcome the new members to our prestigious institute. On behalf of the entire institute, I would like to welcome all the newcomers and other guests to this function and allow socializing with each other."

She had a perfunctory smile on her face as she spoke "I heartily congratulate all of you for achieving success in getting a seat in this reputed Crystal Senior High. This truly means the first step towards following your dreams and achieving your goals. And since for the next three years you are going to be part of this school, we heartily wish that you imbibe the best knowledge and experience from here."

Noah had long byhearted the speech that Jarinya gave each year to the freshmen. Each and every word of the speech was the same every year. "Students of today are the future of our school and nation. I strongly believe that your sincerity and honesty can always help you in making a good and responsible human being out of yourself. Of course, teachers and all other college staff will always remain as the navigators to guide you. The duty of the teachers is not only to impart education but also to inculcate discipline and qualities in the students. You should feel protected and shielded under the guidance of your teachers and hence, should honor their presence."

He animatedly copied her tone and body language doing a mock version of her speech the backstage. "While teachers are always available to guide you in your journey, students must also have a thirst for learning, developing the right attitude and~"

That was when he realized that two students had been watching him mimicking Jarinya all this while. He immediately froze on the spot. From the looks of it both of them were seniors. 

"Swadee Krab, Phi-Phi" He smiled awkwardly at them before grabbing his bag and running away.

He didn't wait for them to say another word.

After running a distance, he stopped panting heavily. "Damn it!"

The school bell rang announcing the start of the day's classes. 

Noah ran to the classroom that had a board that read 2-1 handing above it. He saw that the teacher had already entered the class. He politely knocked on the open door to get the teacher's attention.

The middle-aged man turned to look at the door and saw Noah. 

Noah waied at him respectfully.

"Are you the new transfer student?" The teacher asked.

"Khrab" Noah answered.

"Come in"

Noah nodded and entered the class. 

"This is Noah. He just transferred over to our school today. Hope you all will get along with him." The teacher said addressing the students.

The students murmured within themselves. It wasn't common for their school to take in new students in the second year that too for the first section. Getting into the first section of the year was a very difficult task. Everyone was wondering who the new kid was.

 The teacher turned to Noah "You can take the seat next to Ped."

"Khrab" Noah nodded, making his way towards Ped.

Ped was sitting alone. He didn't have a benchmate till now. 

Upon seeing Noah approaching his seat, Ped shifted to the seat next to him that was near the window, allowing Noah to take his previous seat so that the latter could see the blackboard clearly.

"Thanks" Noah smiled and thanked me for the considerate gesture. Ped smiled back at him.

Another round of murmurs started among the students. The Ped they all knew was cold and unapproachable. Seeing the way he was behaving to Noah, the students were even more curious about the latter.

Noah settled on the seat. It was the cornermost bench at the back of the class. He was really surprised to see that his father was a backbencher. He had assumed that Ped was a frontbencher, given his scores and clean record.

The teacher started saying "My name is Techadom and I will be your homeroom teacher for this year."

"Arjan, which subject do you teach?" One of the students asked.

"I will be taking Math" The teacher replied.

Students groaned hearing the word 'math'.

Techadom chuckled at the student's reaction. "Alright. Open your books. Let's start with the lessons."

The students unwillingly opened the books.

"The first chapter is Relations and Functions" Techadom started teaching.

As the class progressed, a notebook appeared in front of Noah.

'Why were you late?' He saw Ped's handwriting.

'The school is too big. I got lost' He wrote back.

'Didn't I offer to wait for you? Why did you turn down my help?'  Ped wrote.

 'Because, if I come in with you, it would be too eye-catching.'  Noah answered honestly. 

'Are you embarrassed to be associated with me?' Ped was sulking. In the past few days, Noah had been staying at the Thanachart mansion with him. They interacted more and became good friends with each other.

Ped had never actually had real friends. The people he called friends were the ones from similar social backgrounds whose parents used to hang out with his parents. He didn't consider them friends.

Noah was the first friend he made. He was really possessive and protective of him too. 

'No! What the hell are you saying?' Noah frowned. He just didn't want to attract too much attention on the first day of school. 

'Just felt that you didn't want to be seen with me.' Ped pouted.

'That feeling is wrong alright?'  Noah answered.

"Annop and Saruj! What is going on there in the back bench?" Techadom's voice startled the duo.

"I was just asking some doubts, Arjan," Noah said with an innocent expression.

"Next time you have doubts, ask me" Techadom didn't want to scold students on the first day itself.

"Khrab, Arjan" Noah nodded obediently.