Chapter 3: The Escape Plan

Monday – Detention

Five minutes into detention, I realized something: I was not built for this.

The silence. The boredom. The way Mr. Harris kept glancing up like he could sense fun and was ready to destroy it.

Azri should have been here suffering with me, but no—he was probably at home, lying under a fan, watching YouTube videos or playing Mobile Legends without a single worry. Meanwhile, I was stuck in this prison of bad life choices.

Next to me, Rina tapped her pen against the desk and whispered, "You ever thought about escaping?"

I blinked at her. "Escaping? You make it sound like we're in Alcatraz."

She grinned. "I've done it before. Mr. Harris doesn't check if you actually stay the whole hour. You just gotta time it right."

I wasn't sure if I admired her confidence or feared for my future if I kept hanging around her. Probably both.

"Okay," I whispered back. "How?"

She casually stretched, then gestured toward the window. "We wait until he gets distracted, then we slide out through there. Easy."

I glanced at the window. It was open just enough for someone to squeeze through—if they weren't very tall or very unlucky. Unfortunately, I was both.

Before I could tell her this was a terrible idea, our chance came.

Mr. Harris' old Nokia phone started ringing, blasting the classic Nokia Tune. He sighed and answered. "Yeah? What? No, I didn't order ten packs of durian-flavored instant noodles. Who is this?"

Rina didn't wait. She grabbed my wrist, yanked me up, and before I knew it, I was halfway to the window.

"Go, go, go!" she hissed.

I hesitated. "What if we get caught?"

"Then we run."

I really, really needed smarter friends.

Taking a deep breath, I ducked down and tried to slip through the window. It was not graceful. First, my backpack got stuck. Then, my shoe almost fell off. And just as I managed to wriggle out, I heard—

"Mana!"

Busted.

I turned to see Mr. Harris standing there, still holding his Nokia phone, looking very unimpressed.

Rina, already halfway across the school field, waved. "Good luck, bro!" Then she sprinted off and disappeared around the corner.

Traitor.

And just like that, I earned myself another week of detention.

—Mana, Jan 2017