Chapter 13: A Test of Fate

Friday – Class 4IR

I had survived three whole days of working with Nad for the Bahasa Melayu project. And by survived, I mean I had managed to avoid embarrassing myself too much.

But today, fate decided to test me.

Cikgu Zul walked into class, his usual serious expression in place. "Alright, before we continue with the lesson, I have an announcement."

The class quieted down.

"The school has decided to hold a Pantun competition next week."

Groans filled the room. Pantun—traditional Malay poetry—was fun to learn, but performing it in front of people? That was a different story.

Cikgu Zul continued, ignoring the complaints. "Each class must send two representatives."

I immediately looked down at my desk, trying to make myself invisible.

Too late.

"I have chosen the students based on their recent performance in class," Cikgu Zul said. "The representatives for 4IR will be… Mana and Nadirah."

I froze.

Azri turned to me, eyes wide with excitement. Rina covered her mouth, probably to stop herself from laughing.

Meanwhile, Nad simply nodded, as if this was the most normal thing in the world.

I, on the other hand, was panicking internally.

After Class – Hallway

"Bro, this is your moment," Azri said, patting my back.

"No, this is my nightmare," I corrected him.

Rina smirked. "Why are you freaking out? It's just a pantun competition."

"You don't get it," I groaned. "I have to go on stage again. And this time, Nad is my partner."

Azri laughed. "Hey, at least you're not a background character anymore."

I sighed. This was going to be a disaster.

Saturday – Library (Again)

Since the competition was just a few days away, Nad and I met up to prepare.

"We should come up with a theme for our pantun," Nad said, flipping through her notebook. "Something unique but easy to remember."

I nodded, pretending I wasn't internally screaming. "Yeah. Sounds good."

She tapped her pen on the table. "How about friendship?"

I hesitated. "Uh… sure."

I wasn't about to argue with her choice. Mostly because I still couldn't believe I was sitting across from Nadirah, actually working on something together.

After some brainstorming, we managed to come up with a decent set of pantun.

I had to admit—Nad made it fun. She had this way of making things feel less stressful.

At one point, she even smiled at me and said, "You're better at this than you think."

I nearly forgot how to breathe.

This competition was going to kill me.

—Mana, Feb 2017