It was hard to believe that Kail would warn the bullies not to torment Jamal. Silje couldn’t picture him doing something like that. He wouldn’t get involved in something that wouldn’t benefit him.
Then why?
Silje shook her head in confusion and stood up with her lunch tray. She wanted to ask Kail, but he wasn’t around anymore. It had been a few days already since the last time she saw him.
She returned the lunch tray and walked towards the door. At least, she finally had some peace and quiet, and it seemed like Jamal was safe as well for now.
She glanced at his table quickly as she passed by. Although she wanted to chat with Jamal, it seemed inappropriate to approach him with no good reason.
Then one day, a perfect chance came unexpectedly.
Silje was an excellent student with top grades, but her only weakness was math. Since she failed the recent geometry test, she and the five other students were required to take supplementary classes after school.
And one of the five students was Jamal Rakahi.
“Hello!”
When Silje turned around, Jamal looked at her with a bright smile.
Black hair just like hers and dark skin. Jamal seemed like a cheerful young man. Not to mention, he knew her name already.
“You are eleventh grader Silje Kim Pettersen, right?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
This was so unexpected that Silje didn’t know what to say. She wanted to ask him if he was ok, but it seemed strange to ask such a personal and sensitive question considering this was their first time talking to each other. Silje especially could guess what he must be going through, so she felt hesitant about what kind of questions would be appropriate to ask him.
But it seemed that Jamal was eager to talk to her. He chatted freely.
“I have been wanting to talk to you for a very long time.”
Jamal looked around cautiously.
“You are the only Asian student other than me in this school, right?”
Silje nodded.
“Yeah, nice to meet you. I wanted to talk to you too, Jamal.”
“Nice to meet you too. I want us to be friends. To be honest, I don’t have any friends because I’m new to this school.”
Jamal talked in a friendly manner and soon, he was helping Silje with her math problems.
“If it were me, I would assign “y” here. You can get “x” using the equation. See here?”
Watching Jamal, who solved the problem easily, Silje commented, “You’re good at math.”
“I guess.”
“So how come you failed your geometry test too and ended up here?”
“Umm, the thing was… I made a mistake. I didn’t get to the classroom on time for the test, so I didn’t get to take the test at all. I won’t make that mistake again.”
Jamal grinned, showing off his white teeth.
With his black eyes shining brightly, Jamal looked like he had an amazingly optimistic personality. In fact, it seemed like he was enjoying his school life.
He gave some good pieces of advice for Silje.
“If I were you, I would just focus on the equation and forget about calculus. You’ll have a better chance of getting decent grades by concentrating on the area you understand best.”
Silje smiled with gratitude.
“Alright, thanks. Sadly, I suck at math, but if I follow your advice, I think I might just make it.”
At her smile, Jamal blinked.
“By the way…”
“Hmm?”
“I just wanted to tell you that I think you’re cool. You look like a person who is very confident and knows what she is doing. Not like me at all, so I am envious.”
Silje looked at him with genuine empathy and replied quietly, “The truth is, I wanted to talk to you the first time I saw you in the cafeteria. It is obvious that we are in similar situations. And although it seems that we are using different methods to survive in this school, I really hope that you endure it well, Jamal.”
Silje said to the Pakistani boy, who reminded of herself.
She really wanted him to be alright.
Silje added, “If there is anything I can do for you, please let me know. I will help you in any way I can.”
She meant what she said.
Jamal seemed thankful for her offer. When he nodded silently, Silje smiled and continued, “Now let’s get back to this math problem. Can you teach me this one?”
They spent only a short time together, but Silje could tell that Jamal was very intelligent. And he was making an effort to make friends in this school.
Jamal explained, “It was very difficult for me to immigrate into this country. This is the land that will give me the chance I need. My birth father is Norwegian, but he refused to invite me and my mom to Norway. We had to beg him for a very long time and finally, he let us come here. I have to graduate from this school for my mom who worked so hard to raise me as a single parent. This is one of the few private schools in Norway, and if I want to attend my dream university, I have to graduate from this school.”
On their third encounter in the study room, Jamal told her about his situation. He smiled widely, and Silje felt worried after looking at Jamal. He was such a kind gentle soul. How would he be able to survive here?
The bullies were quiet for now, but there was no guarantee that this was going to last.
“Jamal, I have a question for you. Are the kids still bullying you nowadays?”
When Silje asked curiously, Jamal shook his head with a cheerful smile.
“No, not at all. I’ve been left alone for a while now and I don’t know why.”
She thought secretly, ‘You may not know, but I call it Kail’s whim.’
And she didn’t know how long it was going to last.
“Silje, let’s have lunch together! It’s better to eat with someone else rather than eating alone, right? Good for your digestion.”
When Jamal asked with another smile, and Silje nodded. Walking slowly, Jamal asked, “By the way, you are really tall, especially compared to me.”
Jamal blushed in embarrassment. It was true; he was much smaller than other boys his age.
He continued, “You have black hair just like me, but your hair looks so much silkier and nicer. Under the sun, it looks like black silk. You smell nice too.”
Jamal was still blushing, but it was obvious that he wasn’t interested in her. He only saw her as a friend and nothing more. Silje was sure of it because she knew Jamal liked another girl named Katrina.
Whenever her name was mentioned, Jamal blushed and acted shy.
He asked Silje, “Do you think Katrina would be interested in a boy who is shorter than her? I guess if I want to become taller, I should eat more?”
Silje shrugged her shoulders and answered, “I guess. So eat everything on your lunch tray, okay?”
“Yup! I will.”
While they walked together, they suddenly heard someone chuckling from behind.
“Freaks.”
At the aggressive tone, Silje frowned and turned around to see a large guy.
She recognized a familiar figure.
Rough facial features, broken front tooth, and odd-eyed.
Felicien!
And he was with his usual gang.