6

Nora and Zehra picked up a sleepy Ivanka from her house and headed to school in Nora’s car. Ivanka immediately fell asleep in the backseat but jolted awake when they stopped abruptly at a red light.

“Didn’t sleep well yesterday?” Zehra asked.

Ivanka shook her head. “Party at Shay Chris'.”

The light turned green but neither Nora nor Zehra moved as they gaped at Ivanka. The car behind them honked and Zehra finally found her voice.

“You. Ivanka Anne Schneider. Went. To. A cheerleader party?!”

Ivanka ran a hand through her hair. “Just start the damn car, we’re causing a block.”

Nora started driving and Zehra turned to Ivanka.

“Seriously, what’s wrong with you? Shay Chris' party? Were you high!”

“There could’ve been consequences,” Nora said from behind the wheel.

“There were,” Ivanka stated.

“What?!”

“The party’s not the reason I slept late. I was up crying.”

“What happened?” Zehra asked in concern and Ivanka explained everything in detail. Nora stopped in the school parking lot.

“You shouldn’t have gone,” she said.

“Tell me something I don’t know,”

“You still shouldn’t have gone,”

Ivanka sighed. “I don’t want to go to school. I can’t face them,”

“Oh come on now,” Nora said and got out.

“Next time darling, don't bite off more than you can chew,” said Alexia.

Ivanka turned red.  “That’s a lot for you to say," she bit back.

“Is that a threat?” asked Alexia.

Ivanka rolled her eyes. “No, you dimwit. That was a fact.”

“Just saying that next time, stay at home and do your math or whatever, and leave the partying to those more socially successful,” Svetlana said glaring, and they sashayed away.

“Now that sounded like a threat.”

Ivanka turned to see Lucas David. She glared at him and walked away.

“And then she’s like, drenched in Lana’s drink,”

Hugo’s jaw tightened and he remembered Ivanka’s words. I’m just a low level out cast...

“And poor Wanky was dripping in her cheap imitation of a dress,” Alexia snickered.

I’m a mere commoner, a loser...

“And Shay’s all like, ‘come on you poor dear, mummy'll help you’ and the next thing that loser knows, is SPLASH!”

Everyone laughed loudly.

Why can’t you tell them to back off?

Hugo gritted his teeth and walked away from the table. He could hear Lucas call his name and Svetlana say ‘What’s wrong with him?’. But he didn’t look back. He ran outside to the bleachers and sat there, thinking about all the complications that had arrived in his life lately. Lucas David ran up to him and sat on the bleachers.

“Get lost, Lucas.”

"Something has been bothering you lately. What is it?"

"It's complicated. Believe me, you don't want to know," Hugo warned.

“Tell me everything. Every single thing.”

So Hugo told him, he told Lucas everything without specifying the names and details.

Lucas was silent for a while. “You’re in deep shit, mahn.”

Hugo sighed tiredly. “I know. It was just, you know, fun in the beginning. A joke. But then I got too involved and I’m in trouble now. There’s no backing out of this.”

“A word of warning; don’t. Don’t do this.”

“But... you don’t get it,”

“I don’t get it? Bro just think! Think about what you’ve just told me. This isn’t kid’s play–"

“I CAN’T NOT DO IT! I CAN’T!” Hugo shouted.

Lucas was quiet. Hugo took deep breaths to calm himself. He was angry and scared at the same time, and it was frustrating.

“Sorry,” Hugo mumbled.

“I just want you to know that I won’t support you on this. This is totally wrong and I’m gonna pretend I know nothing about this. I’m sorry.” Lucas said and walked away.

“So can’t Hugo just ask them to back off?” Nora asked.

“Exactly! That’s what I told him. And he said I don’t understand,” Ivanka exclaimed.

“Ow,”

“Yeah, and– wait, who’s that?"

Waiting for them by Nora’s car was a well dressed middle-aged man.

“Hello,” he said politely with an accent and turned to Zehra. “You must be Zehra Mahmood?”

“Um... yes?”

“Miss Mahmood, I need to speak to you, alone.”

“No way. I don’t even know you. You could be a serial killer for all I know!”

“Good point,” he said, then took out a card and handed it to her. She read it.

“Now may I speak to you?”

Zehra nodded and they stood a few feet away while Ivanka and Nora got into the car. Ivanka pointed to her eyes and then to him and said, “I’m watching you,” as she got into the car.

“Sweet friends, you’ve got.”

“Who the hell are you? How do you know me?”

“As you read in my card, I’m Dr. Zaffran. Half Canadian, Half Irani. I’m a research scholar at the SRO.”

“What’s the SRO?”

"An organisation,"

"Of what?"

“You will come to know in due time, when and if we are convinced that you can be trusted.”

Zehra raised an eyebrow. “I see.”

“Ms. Mahmood–”

“Call me Zehra,”

“Thank you. Zehra, we have noticed that you are a brilliant student whose field of research coincides with ours.”

"Oh. How do you know...”

“We have our sources. Coming to the point, we figured you would be a valuable asset to our little organization.”

“Little?”

“Yes, we started up only recently.”

“Why would I be a valuable asset?”

“Well, we’re just beginners with not much members and it’s not every day that we come across a brilliant young teenager living and studying with similar-aged young minds from diverse cultures. And that too, a person with such zeal and passion for... our area of interest."

“Oh,”

“So, are you interested?”

“Is this like some... will I have to attend underground meetings and stuff?”

Dr. Zaffran laughed. “I assure you, you’ll hardly have to do a thing, Just report the results of yours research to us.”

“But I don’t know how.”

“If you consent, all necessary information will be passed to you."

“Ok.”

“So do I have your consent?”

“I guess,”

“Alright. I’ll be in touch soon. Ma’a salam,” Dr Zaffran said and disappeared.