Judge by the Cover: High School, Drama & Deadly Vices (Hafu Sans Halo Book 1)

by Melissa Abigail

  “But Mr. Lee—” she protested, not ashamed or put off by what was obviously coming across as desperation.

  He held out a bony arm, his palm upraised like a crossing guard to silence her. His gaze was steely in spite of a smile that she was certain by now was of nothing but spite.

  “I find this behaviour rather unbecoming, Haruna. Might I suggest you simply learn to work together? Keep in mind—this is worth twenty-five percent of your grade. Now, take a seat. There will be no more interruptions.”

  Haruna picked up her chair and plunged into it. Her queasiness grew as she allowed her thoughts to fester. A major assignment that was one-on-one with Ryu. This meant they’d have to talk to each other, work with each other… breathe the same air even, or—or see each other beyond the usual, obligatory encounters in the hallways and in class? Horrified, Haruna didn’t hear as the teacher confirmed the last play with the remaining students, didn’t see or notice the concerned glimpses of her friends in her direction. She just barely heard the closing words:

  “You have ten minutes until the bell. You may get with your groups,” Mr. Lee's eyes were on Haruna as he emphasised, “or partners—and discuss your assignments. You will not be given class time to work on this, so plan well.”

  Haruna didn’t will herself to move, her fingers gripped around a pen in one hand, the other hand clawing at a textbook while the scraping of chair legs and footsteps echoed around her. Slowly, Haruna turned. Ryu remained slumped back in his chair, idly spinning a pencil like a compass arrow at his desk. She looked to the front, daring to peek at Mr. Lee who was glaring, disapproval written all over his face. She gulped. He wasn’t pleased, and when she considered it, she had been impolite. It wasn’t like her to upset teachers.

  So, she really had no choice then?

  Haruna lifted herself to her feet, smoothing the front of her top and back of her skirt. With her nose in the air, she moved to the back of the class, to the now-empty desk in front of Ryu. Once seated, she swivelled to face him, and when he didn’t bother to look away from his desk to acknowledge her, she cleared her throat loudly. He met her eyes with contempt. Haruna frowned. If anyone should feel contempt about something, it should have been her. She looked to the assignment sheet quickly, clearing her throat again, but this time to talk.

  “Well, we’re in a group. I know neither of us wants this, but I guess we should look past our differences for this assignment. Agreed?”

  Silence.

  Haruna lifted her head. Ryu was faced away. She could see several silver hoops shining in his right ear, one in his lobe, one in the middle, and one looping at the very top. Multiple piercings—the classic sign of the rebel wannabe. Well, besides tattoos. She watched with disdain as Ryu glimpsed at his watch, then gave into an exaggerated yawn. Haruna's lips tightened. She wasn’t about to let him test her patience. Not again.

  “Anyway,” she continued, cheery, upbeat, “I’m thinking we can do a standard slideshow with PowerPoint. I’ve already read this play. It seems the best way to analyse it is by looking at themes. Good and evil could be a start.”

  “Oh, is that the way?” he mumbled.

  Ryu turned, his dark eyes accentuated by his long, razor-cut bangs. Haruna saw the glint of yet another piercing in his left ear. Tasteless. She swept back her own bangs in agitation and decided to ignore his sarcasm.

  “So with the good and evil theme, we can see that Shylock is clearly evil. That could be a starting point to work from,” she finished.

  One of Ryu’s sharply inclined eyebrows twitched. He didn’t smile.

  “Really? Because I’d actually say it’s society that’s evil.”

  Haruna's brows shot up. “Are you kidding? Of course, Shylock is the evil one! What kind of deranged psycho demands a pound of flesh?”

  As the story went, Shylock the Jewish moneylender was not only greedy, but vengeful. He leant money to another character, a Gentile, Antonio, demanding a pound of his flesh should he be unable to pay him back. Undoubtedly, Haruna reasoned, anyone, even a smug idiot like Ryu, should see that only an insane, incredibly evil person would suggest such a crazy thing.

  Ryu gave a casual roll of his shoulders. He scoffed and crossed his arms.

  “So what? They signed the contract, didn’t they? If Antonio was dumb enough to agree to it, too bad. Like Shylock says, a bond is a bond. If anything, Antonio is a hypocrite and the law is evil for taking his side.”

  By now, Haruna was convinced Ryu must have been satanic for real, practising weird rituals at home, uttering incantations and sacrificing kittens. What a freak. Well, it was either that or all the marijuana use had completely addled his brain.

  She rolled her eyes. “Yeah, of course you’d say something like that. But this isn’t about whatever you’re into, it’s about this play. Good and Evil, and Shylock represents evil.” Haruna sniffed and folded her arms.

  Following his blank stare, Ryu's lips tugged into a half-smile that morphed into a laugh. Haruna glowered. She had never heard or seen him laugh, but now he was laughing at her. After throwing his head back once, he lowered it and leered.

  “What 'I'm' into? Oh, man, I’m sorry, I thought you were supposed to be smart?”

  Haruna batted her eyelids. “Pardon me?”

  “You heard me. If you’ve concluded that based on one stupid line in the play, then you’ve missed the entire point.”

  Haruna felt the veins throb in her wrist as she clenched at the folds of her skirt.

  “I missed the point, eh? Well you know what? Screw you. A boy who never speaks in class and doesn’t even study acting like he actually knows something?”

  Ryu was unfazed, his sneering face appearing only further amused. “And that’s just the response I’d expect from a girl like you. Pretending to be some model student, meanwhile a total drama queen, fake as those stupid fake contacts you’re wearing. Yep. The Academy’s finest over here.”

  Haruna shot to her feet, ignoring the curious glances of surrounding students. “You’re scum, Debiru. Why don’t you just drop out, already? It would do our school a favour.”

  She'd spoken. Slowly. Just loud enough to convey anger, but too quiet for their teacher to hear some distance away at the front. There were murmurs and jeering from others. Ryu's face was expressionless, if only for a moment, and the smirk faded merely to be traded in for a frown. Haruna felt her inner fire fizzle into vapours. He rose from his seat just as she had, and though he wasn’t very tall, he was without a doubt taller and more intimidating than she was. Suddenly on edge, Haruna cringed, feeling her insides take a dive. It was happening again. It was just like when he had blown smoke in her face.

  “Oh? What’s this? You’re name-calling now? Dropping out would be a favour to who, Haruna? Do you mean the whole school or just yourself?” His tone was chilling enough to rival his facial expression. She’d never heard him say her name before. It was like venom oozing off his tongue. “I know you’re terrified of me 'cause I’m not afraid to call all of you out on your—” Ryu stopped as Haruna stepped back, backing into her chair in a way that caused it to screech against the floor. His eyes shifted overhead. The room was much quieter, and she wondered if this meant that others were staring.

  Then the bell rang.

  The class was over, but Haruna remained paralysed, stock-still, just as she had been when he had walked away from her in the hallway.

  His eyes shifted back to her, narrowed. He grumbled under his breath, “Never mind—I don’t care. Screw you.”

  Her own words echoed back to her.

  The words stung.

  Amid the unease that followed, Haruna registered that the room was emptying. She lowered her eyes, snatched up her books and took off. She didn’t pause, didn’t look back, didn’t take notice of her friends waiting for her in the hall as she breezed by them. Haruna had made up her mind. She would not tolerate anything, not the words, not the attitude, not any of the intimidation tacti
cs of that conceited dolt. Even if it meant working on her own, she would do it.

  Mr. Lee would just have to accept the fact that they didn’t work well together.

  It was Tuesday afternoon, and the four girlfriends had remained after school for club activities. Once finished, they made their way to a local pizza restaurant to discuss the latest in their lives. Haruna had lied to her grandmother, telling her she would be tutoring. She wasn’t allowed to be socializing on school days, save for her Friday meetings with Mani before church commitments. Haruna rarely disobeyed, but times were desperate, and she desperately needed this.

  “Wow, no way—partners? With Ryu Debiru?” exclaimed Tracy, her almond-shaped eyes fluttering in exaggerated, slow blinks. “What are the freakin’ odds?”

  “Yup.” Haruna pushed aside her Perrier bottle in frustration.

  Indeed, what were the odds? They'd gone nearly two whole months of the semester not ever having to speak to each other in class and four years at Shady Glenn not having to deal with each other at all. And now for a major assignment in her final school year she was forced to work with him one-on-one. Haruna wondered what she had done, what kind of grave sin she must have committed to deserve such punishment.

  “Are you sure Mr. Lee will allow you to work independently?” Angelique asked, obvious in her scepticism.

  “He has to! There’s no way she could tolerate that guy’s crap,” Tracy said, her mouth half-full with pizza crust. “He called her fake and said she was a drama queen. What a jerk-nozzle.”

  Haruna beamed. That’s right—she shouldn’t tolerate it. She looked to Gabrielle, but she only remained silent. Of course. She and Seth were “an item” now. Come weekend, the two would be off on their first date, revelling in romantic bliss.

  Meanwhile, Haruna would be stuck in her own personal hell with Seth’s best friend, possibly for weeks. Weeks that would feel like several life sentences. Haruna didn't need to think twice where her own best friend’s loyalty lay now.

  “Well, otherwise, I’m glad we got Romeo and Juliet. It’s the only play I bothered to care about,” said Angelique.

  English was not Angelique's favourite subject, so naturally she didn’t care much for Mr. Lee’s Shakespeare-a-thon of dated slang, boring analyses, summary reports, and now this.

  “Really?” chimed Gabrielle, speaking at last. “Hamlet is pretty interesting, too.”

  Angelique gave an indifferent flick with her hand.

  “Too many words, not enough numbers.”

  Spoken like a true maths person.

  Angelique inclined her head, and Haruna pulled back as she met her oddly stern gaze.

  “About the drama queen thing,” Angelique began. “Do you really think Ryu’s wrong? You made such a big deal in class. Maybe you overreacted.”

  Overreacted? Haruna frowned. “Easy for you to say since you and Elle are grouped together. I—on the other hand—get partnered with the dumbest boy in the class who is, by the way, a huge bully. Nope, my reaction was just about right.” Haruna felt the fire reignite just revisiting in her mind the awful moment when he blew smoke in her face. She breathed deeply to calm herself, but still felt agitated. “Think about it. We attend a prep school—why do we have to do stupid, 'be creative' stuff? All that matters is that we know everything and get the top scores so we can get into good universities so, so…” Haruna gave way to an exasperated groan.

  Infuriating. That's what this topic was.

  It seemed Haruna's bark had just enough bite. Her friends shrunk in their seats, not bothering to argue or continue the conversation further. Haruna sulked.

  How could they blame her? Was she wrong?

  Were they?

  It all continued to bother her. After they had paid and left the restaurant. When she had gotten home. Even at 10:30 PM when Mani had called her up on her cell phone to ask how her day had been. Mani seemed pretty calm about the situation, but unlike the others he was not critical.

  At least somebody saw her point.

  “Yeah, this Ryu person seems like a joke. What’s wrong with Shady Glenn Academy? Idiots like him would never be accepted into Glasgow,” he said over the other line.

  Haruna pouted. More reasons why Mani’s school was far better than hers. She didn't need reminding.

  “But listen. You shouldn’t hate him. You should feel sorry for him.”

  Haruna scrunched her nose. “What? Why?” she mumbled into the receiver, her words jumbling as she lay on her bed.

  “You know, love your enemy, something something. Bible and such. Besides, he's a loser. Academy or not, with that attitude he’s got no future. You can’t let people like that get in your way. The important thing is getting into UBC.”

  Haruna sighed. Mani would definitely be getting into the University of British Columbia. Maybe even a U.S. Ivy League. She knew she had the grades too, even for a full scholarship if she wanted it. They had plans. Plans beyond Campbelton and high school drama. This major assignment was a threat to all of that.

  “So what do you think I should do?” Haruna whispered.

  There was a moment where neither spoke, then Mani replied, “Do what you gotta do, babe. But if it’s a group assignment, it’s a group assignment.”

  Haruna sighed. She knew exactly what that meant. She’d have to give it a try.

  “I guess.”

  “See, now here’s the plan. You guys meet somewhere, like the public library or something. I’ll chaperone. So guaranteed, he won't be able to mess with you.”

  “Really? You’ll do that?”

  Haruna smiled, feeling a new surge of hope. It was a great idea! She heard the roll of Mani’s muffled laughter.

  “Text me the time and place. I’m there.”

  Every passing hour was an exercise in patience, every second, torture. Even though it was Wednesday, it might as well have been Friday. Time passed painfully slow.

  Haruna gaped at the clock, watching the minute hand drag along, advancing unhurriedly, tick by tick. Her knee rattled. As Mr. Lee faced the chalkboard, Haruna stretched her neck, slowly rotating to glimpse over her shoulder. She wanted to look at the bulletin board on the back wall of course, not—certainly not—attempt to sneak a peek at Ryu for the fourth time that afternoon. Ryu, unsurprisingly, had his head buried in his arms. Was he sleeping? Why was it that someone like him was allowed to get away with sleeping in class? It must have been oh-so-wonderful sitting all the way in the back of the room like a coward.

  Haruna caught her mind wandering and returned her head to the front.

  Why was she looking at him anyway?

  The bulletin board.

  That’s what she had turned to look back at.

  “Now, in constructing an argumentative paper—as we discussed last week—this is where rhetorical devices are useful. Who can name some rhetorical devices?” asked Mr. Lee.

  “Repetition?” answered the always bright and often right, Emma Abbot.

  “Excellent,” Lee complimented. “Any others?”

  Haruna sighed. She wished so badly she had Emma as a partner instead of this useless, other person. Haruna’s eyes returned to the clock. Fifteen more minutes remained until the bell. She felt the nerves come again as she lowered her eyes to her desk, focusing edgily at the ballpoint pen rested there. Biting her lip, she stretched out an arm. With a swipe the pen rolled to the floor and under her desk. Feigning an apologetic smile to a neighbouring student, she quietly pushed back her chair to retrieve it. Bent over, Haruna’s eyes flickered to the back of the classroom. Ryu had awoken from his nap. Just as she noticed this, his gaze shifted to her. Haruna jumped, and with a thud she banged her head against the underside of her desk.

  “OW!”

  “A-Ahem! Haruna! Perhaps, you know the answer?” Mr. Lee’s mouth was a line, stretched thin like his patience.

  Haruna rose with a cringe, rubbing her head, flushed and hot from embarrassment.

 
What?

  Oh, that’s right. Rhetorical devices.

  “U-Um… allegory!" she managed, forcing a grin.

  Mr. Lee folded his arms. Her heart sank.

  “Allegory? The question was about where one places a thesis statement in an essay. Like I thought, not paying attention at all, are you?”

  Haruna slumped in her seat as Mr. Lee turned away, casting one last look of scorn before selecting a willing volunteer among the others. She sighed. This teacher definitely had it out for her. She didn’t even like English class or rather, this English class. Mr. Lee never showed preferences. For most students this was great, but Haruna was not most students. She won teachers over with politeness, confidence and high scores.

  Not this man, though.

  In fact, he seemed to have a huge fondness for “decorating” her essays and book reports with a flurry of red scribbles, circles, question marks, sprinkling the dreaded words “why?” or “explain” throughout. He was often a solemn man, but oh boy, when he talked about the nuances of Shakespeare he sure did get excited.

  Haruna grumbled under her breath.

  She hadn’t been paying attention. Her mind was busy, and she was stressing again. She decided to follow through on Mani’s suggestion: learn to work with Ryu. Haruna was gearing up to set a meet-date. This was the day to do it. Since Ryu wasn’t one to take initiative or be productive at all, Haruna knew the ball was forever in her court. So when the bell rang at 2:45, it was time for the thing she despised the most: talking to him.

  “Definitely not looking forward to this thesis paper on top of the Shakespeare project,” Angelique said, gathering her books. Just as Gabrielle began the walk over from her side of the room, Haruna spotted Ryu from the corner of her eye, heading out the door.

  “Sorry—gotta do something—catch you all later!”

  Haruna rushed past her confused friends and after the dark-haired boy. She broke into a sprint, evading students like an obstacle course as she watched him descend farther and farther down the hall.