CHAPTER TWO

Mike walked into the class looking down replaying his brother’s words over and over again in his mind. He still couldn’t comprehend how his own brother would let him get beat up and do nothing about it and when he finally did do something about it, it was to scold him about how pathetic he was for getting beaten up all the time and not to defend him like he thought his brother would. It hurt him but there was nothing he could do.

He got to his seat, right in the front of the class, and sat down in his seat and before he could start taking out his books from his bag he heard a loud thump beside him and he looked up to see his friend. His only friend if he was being honest. He didn't really exceed in the ‘friend making’ department but if he was friends with Harry then there had to be something he was doing right and all he had to do was figure out that one thing then use it to his advantage and make more friends. No pressure right.

Harry flashed a smile at Mike and sat down in the vacant seat next to his friend and just as he was about to open his mouth to start up a conversation the teacher walked into the classroom and stopped whatever the boys were going to start talking about. Mike was a very intricate person and because of it, he was made to feel estrange. Their chemistry teacher, Mr. Mwansa, was a very educated man but he was constantly under scrutiny because he was an African; a black African man. Mike didn’t really care about his teacher’s ethnicity but others definitely did. They felt like he wasn’t suitable to teach but that didn’t affect Mr. Mwansa’s teaching one bit.

“Morning class.”

Mr. Mwansa said once he was situated at his desk. The man had an African accent, something that distinguished him from the rest of the other teachers and the student body. On his first day at Macendric High, he gave a brief backstory on himself and Mike was very fascinated because throughout his entire story Mike was attentive and soaking up all the information as though he was a dry sponge thrown in water.

“Morning Sir.”

The students chorused back. After their formalities the middle-aged man started to do his thing, scribbling notes, equations, and formulae on the board and within a short space of time, the whiteboard was covered in what one can only describe as gibberish. It was true that Mike didn’t like the subject but it wasn’t like he was failing the subject. He just constantly found himself spacing out and barely concentrating when he was in this class. He was one of the brightest students along with a couple handful of other students but he knew that he could easily be the best if he wanted to but that invisible shackle that his family had placed on him had proven to be quite the adversary. He didn’t like it when his brain wandered off and started to ponder on a subject as sensitive as this one and especially when he was at school. He already had his brother’s words to think about he didn’t need anything else added to the load.

The lesson was quickly coming to a close and Mike knew that he had to write down something or his teacher would think that he wasn’t paying attention. Mike was intellectually gifted but he was raised in a family where not everyone appreciated his gift and because of it, they made him feel inferior. He had spent his life suppressing his own knowledge and telling himself that he had no worth and in time he began to believe his own lies but there was always that one person who was there to remind him of just how wrong he was, and that person was Harry.

The two had been best friends since forever ago and they had grown up together even though Michael’s family wasn’t too pleased with it. Whenever Harry went over to the Jacobs home he was treated better than Mike was and although it angered him he got used to it and accepted it as how his life would be. Mike would always get teased and shoved around, mainly by his older brother, while Harry would get invited to play with Steven’s latest games or just hang out with Sophie. He envied his best friend for a long time and wondered what he needed to do to have his family treat him like a real member of the family. At some point, Mike got so jealous he stopped inviting Harry over but his siblings didn’t take too well to it and accused him of trying to 'sabotage' their friendships with Harry.

Mike had gotten so caught up in his memories that he didn’t hear the bell ring. He got up packed his things and looked over his shoulder to see if his friend was ready to leave.

“What class do you have next?”

Mike asked his best friend.

“I’m having History. You?”

“I’m going for Math and we know how that’s going to turn out.”

Mike, unlike other sophomore students, was a very intelligent person as already established and because of it he was placed in some of the more advanced classes with the seniors. One of the senior classes he was placed in was the advanced math class, where both his siblings were in. Steven and Sophie had nothing but spite for their younger brother and even thought that he was doing it on purpose just to get on their nerves but they soon found out that he was in their math class only because he was ‘Way too advanced for his sophomore class’, teachers words, not his.

“I would say good luck but I don’t think that’s going to help you. So if things get too tough just pull out the white flag.”

It always put Mike’s mind to ease how Harry could make a joke out of anything in any situation. That was one of the things Mike found appealing about his best friend and considered to be one of his best qualities.

“I envy you Harry, I really do.”

The boys kept laughing and making small talk until it came for them to part ways and go to their separate classes.

“Hey, Mike do me a favor?”

Harry called out before Mike could go too far.

“Yeah sure.”

“Try not to cause any trouble with your siblings.”

Mike just laughed at the joke and went off to his class. He would have been lying if he said he wasn’t excited to see what he got in the test. He walked into the class and as usual, his siblings were in two different corners of the classroom laughing and chatting with their friends while he just took a seat and waited for their teacher to walk in.

‘Just like any regular day’ he thought to himself but what he didn’t know was that today would be far from it.