nomi and beau

4

Nomi suddenly woke up from his sleep by the feeling of the night breeze touching his body. Nomi got up and sat on his bed. His rubs his head as it hurts so much. It feels like someone just knocked his head. His head is pounding so bad. He checks his phone to see 23 missed calls from Mr Haze and also received a lot of texts messages from him while his mother miss called him about 67 times with hundreds of text messages. He suddenly felt worried that he ignored their calls and messages. He does not know how to face both of them later. The time on his phone shows it is almost 1 a.m.

Nomi reads the texts that he got from the both of them. Of course, they are worried of him. He feels like an arse to ignore them just like that. He could not believe he has been sleeping for so long. He has a thought that maybe they will hate him for what he did to them. He feels stupid. He texts his mother and his teacher to let them know that he is alright. He could not stop apologising to the both of them.

Nomi feels sad and empty that night. He opened up his bag pack and took out a small pack of his Marlboros cigarettes and his small fire lighter. He feels like he is missing something that night that makes him feel..empty. The sad empty feeling hits you differently when it is late at night. The feeling is hard to explain. You can feel your heart is empty as if nothing is inside it anymore but just the outside. You can feel your soul is tired or it is gone from your body that it is just you left alone outside.

Nomi takes out his cardigan and put it on. He goes out to the balcony of his room. The night is windy that he could feel the breeze touching his skin. He pulled out the chair at the balcony and sat down. He took out one of his cigarettes from the pack then place the tip at his lips. He lit up his cigarette. The feeling of the nicotine that he inhales in makes him feel like he is in another world. His mother does not know that he smokes. He goes through his phone and starts to play Saved by Khalid on his Spotify's playlist. Starting from vaping since he was sixteen then changed to smoking cigarettes since he turned eighteen. He knows so well that he should not be doing this to himself, but that is the only way to distract him from emptiness. He knows how harmful it is to his health, but apart of him, he does not care of how harmful it is. He does not care if it damages his lungs. He does not even care if he dies. He thought he wants to die anyways, so why care about the harm that could cause him? The boy just wants to kill the emptiness feeling in him, but little does he know it could harm himself too? Yes, he does but he does not care. He has no hope to be in this world anymore. He thought, what is he still here for? He is useless.

To be honest, he misses his ex-girlfriend, Melissa but he does not miss her own self. He misses to have those moments he had with her. Nomi fell in love with her when they were thirteen. Melissa never noticed him at first because he was too shy to talk to her. And of course, she was a popular girl at school. He just could afford to look at her from the far. Nomi always tried to chase her and win her heart when they finally got to be in the same class when they were fifteen. He would try to talk to her. The effort went on for a good two years until they were seventeen. He misses those moments he had at the beginning of their relationship. They would call each other every night. Nomi would not care if it was a school night. He does not care feeling sleepy in the class every morning, he felt happy getting to make memories with her every night. He would fell asleep in the class and smiled thinking about the conversations they had the night before. They would meet at school everyday and would hang out after school. Nomi and Melissa and their friends would hang out at McDonalds after school every Fridays. Nomi would bring her to movies and take pictures with her everytime they hang out. Nomi remembers he got so excited the moment he got his driver's license, he would pick her up before going to school. He felt at heaven at first, he would woke up every morning with his dimpled smile with his heart feeling like it's blooming with flowers.

Although, they made a lot of memories together. He could not really be himself around her. Melissa would ditch him for being who he is and sometimes Nomi's quite and awkward attitude was embarrassing to Melissa. Unlike Melissa, she was a very sociable girl and had so many friends. Sometimes, Melissa would pointed out on his looks that made Nomi felt insecure but he chose to act like he never cared about it. Although, he felt 'happy' with her, he constantly felt like Melissa was embarrassed to have him around people. Too sad Nomi was too young to realize that, he ignored the warning signs that could break his heart. Melissa and Nomi agreed to never post their pictures on any social medias to have a 'private' relationship. When really, Melissa was just embarrassed to be with him. It made Nomi questioned his self worth. It made Nomi asked himself, "What is wrong with me?"

Eventually, Melissa will always make everything about her, self-centered and never cared to listen about Nomi when he tried to talk about his bad days or when he wanted to open up about his problems. If she did listened, Nomi would get blamed that every problems that happened to him was because he is too 'weak' and too 'quite' as Nomi usually got bullied when he was in secondary school.

Unfortunately, their relationship became more complicated when they completed their secondary school. Nomi went to work for a while after he completed Malaysian Certificate of Education (SPM). He was so busy that he could not really have time for her. He worked as a retail assistant so his working time really was taking up almost his whole daily life. He had to work 12 hours a day. Nomi knows he could just stay at home as he makes money off YouTube but he just wants to go to work to avoid himself from his toxic stepfather. He would rather exhausted himself working full time shifts then having to face his stepfather all day.

Nomi could not be using his phone while working and that became a problem for Melissa. Melissa is a rich girl who does not have to go to work like other kids when they completed their high school. Melissa realized Nomi has changed by not acting like how he used to anymore so she thought he did not love her anymore. They would fight a lot because Melissa constantly feel like he never gave her 'attention'. Nomi did find some time to check up on her everyday. She was always on his mind all the time.

Months later, Nomi started to feel constantly sad because of her. Everyday, he would be stressed out because of her. Everyday, he would wake up in fear thinking if they were going to have another fight for the day. Because of her, Nomi lost a lot of friends in just one year because he was avoiding from everyone as he started to be depressed, including her. He realised she showed her true colours by then. They would fight all day, Melissa would say hurtful words to him, insulting him for being 'good for nothing' and 'useless'. Nomi realise this was all his fault. He regrets of what happened. He blames himself for letting her go but that is what the best for both of them. He realized that they both were toxic for each other. He still loved her by then, but he knows he was not happy with her. He realised he could never really be himself around her as she would never like for who he is. He chose to try his best to be who she wanted him to be but that was never enough for her. He did everything he could to fight for her love. What they had was very unhealthy. He feels like as if that was just one sided love. He loved her so much with all his heart, but he thought maybe he did not know how to love properly. He tried his best to be enough for her. Nomi remember he would spent nights crying for her and he would get anxiety attacks every night, Melissa would threatened to leave him if he did not want to what she wanted. It would put himself at the highest level of fear that his whole body would shivered for hours every night just because he was so scared of losing her. He loved her that much, but it is just too sad how someone could be dumb enough to not see a person's effort towards them. Until one night, Nomi had lost it all, he called her and screamed at her to the top his lungs to let out his anger that he has been holding for years. He screamed with tears in his eyes but Melissa does not care about how he felt but played the victim card and labelled him as 'toxic', 'abusive' and 'hot tempered', and also 'psycho'. As Melissa went to college while Nomi went into Form 6, they got separated, things got worse. Melissa got a lot of new friends and even a new love that Nomi became nothing to her anymore. Nomi felt like he lost her for good but he was still clinging onto her. He would brave himself to break his own heart to stalk her to see pictures of her with her new love. She left just like that, without a word.

One night, he got really depressed. He cried the whole night. He ended up cutting his thighs aggressively as he blamed himself on everything that happened. The cuts were very deep that it was hard for him to walk. It got painful when he tried to take a shower in the morning. When he went to school in the morning, it was very painful for him to walk. His legs filled with scars and bruises. He was too exhausted to walk. He collected all his strength and walked into the school. He had to act like nothing happened. He still had hope for her to come back but she never did. He blamed himself for everything, he blamed himself for being toxic.

"I hope you think of all the times we shared, I hope you finally realise I was the only one who cared, it's crazy how this love thing seems unfair, you won't find a love like mine anywhere."

These are Nomi's favourite lyrics from Khalid's song, Saved . These lyrics hit differently when he misses someone. Smoking feels a lot better when he listens to this song. It suits his mood and his soul. He knows he did the best he could to do everything for her, but she never saw that in him. Sometimes, he tends to ask himself what is wrong with him that he feels like nobody wants to appreciate him? Is he that bad? Nomi realized things are not meant to be although he always prayed to marry her someday. He loved her so much. He did what he had to do to her. He loved her with all his heart, but she never appreciate that in her. Wherever she goes, she will never going to find a love like his in anyone else.

Nomi remembered when they were both in love, they hung out at Nomi's favourite shopping mall to watch Annabelle Creation. After the movie, Nomi brought her to a quite place outside the mall with the dimming lights on that night. The night was cold and windy. He held her hand as they were walking to there. As they got there, they were talking about the movie. After a while, they stopped talking and they began to stare at each other. Nomi created the most beautiful smile to her as he focused on her beauty. Brown eyes, curly hair, and plumpy lips. Nomi felt like he was lost in her eyes, Nomi got near to her and started to kiss her. As he pressed his lips onto hers and began the kiss, he could feel the difficulty of breathing. He felt like he got lost by how her lips felt. It was the most beautiful moment that he had in his life. That was his first kiss. To find someone to love you genuinely in this very cruel world nowadays is rare.

Gratefully, Nomi has moved on from her now but his world still feels empty. Although, she is not in his life anymore, he is grateful that she was. He remembers how he used to pray to God every night to have her in his life. He feels grateful getting to know her. Most importantly, he is grateful to know that God showed him that she was never good for him. In the end, he loved her very much, he is thankful that she was once apart of his life but for sure, he would never want her to be back again.

As Nomi smokes, he heard his phone beeped. He received a text from Mr Haze.

'Bro, u smoke? Astaghfirullah.' , Nomi felt annoyed as he read Mr Haze's text.

'yeah,why ?' , Nomi calmly replied.

'U good?' , Mr Haze asked.

'i am. :)' , Nomi replied.

'Hmmm, do you mind if i come to ur room and have a little guy talk?' , Mr Haze asked.

'hahaha, what do you wanna talk about?' , Nomi asked with a laughing emoji.

'yourself?' , Mr Haze's reply made Nomi getting a little anxiety attack but he feels more to calm as he is smoking. Nomi guesses that maybe Mr Haze is mad at him for leaving him just like that at school yesterday evening and now, smoking. He thought he was definitely getting into trouble.

Nomi heard a short buzzing sound from the outside of his room. He thought maybe that is Mr Haze. Honestly, Nomi does not feel like talking to anyone right now. He just wants to have an alone time. With a heavy heart, he slowly got up and walked towards the door to welcome Mr Haze.

Nomi does not care what his teacher wants to say about him, he relaxingly holds his cigarette in his hand. Mr Haze gave him a shocked look then changed to a serious look.

"What do you want to talk about?", Nomi asked while getting distant from him as he smokes.

"I wanna ask you one more time, big guy. Are you okay?", Mr Haze asked with a serious look while feeling sympathy towards him.

"Yes, I am.", Nomi said simply although he knows it is not true.

"Are you sure?", Mr Haze asked.

"Yes.", Nomi said with a numb face. Mr Haze sighed at Nomi's answer.

"You're not.", Mr Haze said slowly while shaking his head in disappointment.

"Okay then.", Nomi said with a numb face then walked to the balcony to sit there so he can smoke comfortably. He hates to smoke when there are people around. Mr Haze followed Nomi along to the balcony to continued talking to him. He feels a little weird that Nomi is acting differently tonight. The way he talks and his attitude are just different. He thought maybe it is because of the smoking.

"You smoke?", Nomi asked simply as he sat down.

"Used to.", Mr Haze said as he leans against the wall.

"What made you stop?", Nomi asked before he takes another taste of nicotine from his cigarette and exhales it.

"I don't know. I just kinda stop.". Mr Haze said as he crossed his hands.

"When did you started smoking?", Nomi asked as he is watching the night sky.

"I was fifteen. I was stupid back then.", Mr Haze chuckled.

"You think I'm stupid?", Nomi asked as he watches the smoke ashes falling out of his cigarette.

"We all get stupid once in our lives. We're gonna get over that later on.", Mr Haze said as he watches the night sky.

"Well you wanna be stupid again?", Nomi asked as he took out another cigarette from his cigarette pack and lent it to Mr Haze with a smirk.

"Nope. I'm not gonna go down that road again.", Mr Haze shook his head and smirked.

"You must be hating me now.", Nomi said as he pushed down his cigarette onto an ashtray at the balcony's table. He took another one and lit up the cigarette at the thought how nobody really wants to accept him.

"For what?", Mr Haze asked as he looks at him.

"This.", Nomi said as he points his finger towards himself.

"Nah. Why would?", Mr Haze asked in a deep tone with a smile. He puts his hands into his pants pocket.

"I don't know. Everyone f*****g hates me anyways. So...of course you are too.", Nomi said with a smile. Mr Haze is a little surprised by how Nomi talks to him right now but he does not show the feeling. He understands how Nomi feels and trying to listen to what this boy wants to say. He does not mind if Nomi wants to treat him other than a teacher for a while.

"Is that why you always avoid yourself from everyone? Because you always think that way?", Mr Haze asked.

"I don't just think it. It always happens when I meet people.", Nomi said as he places the tip of the cigarette on his lips and smokes.

"What made them hate you?", Mr Haze asked.

"Myself. My whole f*****g existance.", Nomi said simply.

"Do you...really think that I hate you?", Mr Haze asked while his eyes focusing properly on Nomi.

"Then why do you think I ran away from you this evening?", Nomi asked seriously in a little bit of anger.

"What if I don't hate you?", Mr Haze asked.

"Then your ass fuckin crazy then.", Nomi laughs as he feels his heart is crying inside.

"Maybe I am f*****g crazy. Maybe most people who meets you might be f*****g crazy. Your mom is f*****g crazy. Like those three of your desk mates you're sitting with in the class, they might be f*****g crazy too.", Mr Haze said with a numb face.

"Then y'all should go see a therapist then.", Nomi laughs.

"We don't need that.", Mr Haze shakes his head slowly as he wants to continue talking but gets cut off by Nomi who is chuckling before he continues his words.

"Haha. Don't tell me that I'm the one who should see a f*****g therapist.", Nomi said with a smirk.

"You don't need a therapist. Or maybe your ass do. But..you know. You don't need a therapist, you just need love, maybe you just need someone who can change your perspective on love. You won't have to think this way.", Mr Haze said calmly that stops Nomi from smoking his cigarette.

"Love doesen't even want me.", Nomi said as he holds the tears in his eyes because he does not want to cry infront of Mr Haze. He continues to smoke as his heart aches. Mr Haze's words just hit him in the heart. What he said is just true.

"Nomi, you're young. You have a long way to go. You have a journey to go. I don't personally know you but I can see you are going through something, you are probably at your worst now which you think you can never find love anymore. You feel like everyone is pushing you down and everything falls apart that you think nobody really loves you. But Nomi, love can be found in everywhere you go. But that doesen't mean you have to just sit like this and wait for it to come. It will come to you, at the right time, at the right place. Love will find you unconditionally whether you are at your best or your worst. I am no one judge you. Stop running away from the world, stop avoiding yourself from everyone. Go out there, shine yourself. Your shine may light up someone's dark world out there. Your shine will inspire someone. We are all humans, we tend to need someone to make ourselves to feel complete. You were not born to this world without a reason. There will always be a reason why you are here. You might think you are not matter in this world, but you are Nomi. I am no one to change that for now. But someday, someone will make you believe that you are matter in this world.", Mr Haze said with a calm smile on his face.

Mr Haze's words made Nomi failed to control the tears filling in his eyes. He does not want to face Mr Haze as he wants to let his tears fall from his eyes. He lets them run down through his cheeks with his face still looking serious as he is trying his best to not show to his teacher that he is completely broken. He smokes his cigarette in order to show his ego building up in him. He thought why the hell does he has to cry right now?

"If I was matter, my father would be there since the day I was born. My father would have wanted me like any other fathers do. But no, my mother had to do this all alone. My father never even care. And of course, I know my mother didn't want me too. Nobody even wants me. How am I still matter?", Nomi said in anger but he realized he has said something that he should be telling anyone about it.

"Your father?", Mr Haze asked in confused.

"You know what? It's nothing.", Nomi said as he shakes his head without looking at Mr Haze because he was feeling embarrassed.

"You don't wanna talk about it?", Mr Haze asked with a hope Nomi would tell him about it.

"Sorry. I don't like to talk about it. I probably won't even know what to talk about him. I have never met him. I don't even f*****g know his name. Even my f*****g birth certificate is incomplete like my f*****g life.", Nomi said in a deep tone.

"Really? Your mom never tells you about him?", Mr Haze asked, feeling curious.

"Nah. I have no power to get into another fight with her with that question ever again. I'm f*****g tired.", Nomi sighs and he continues to smoke.

"Why would? So you never know anything about your own father?", Mr Haze asked, feeling disatisfied.

"Why the f**k do you have to ask me? I really don't know s**t about my own father.", Nomi said in irritation. He glared at Mr Haze without he realizes that is his teacher and he has to respect him.

"So..your mother is a single mother?", Mr Haze asked.

"No. She lives with an asshole who f***s with every single part of me everyday.", Nomi said as he is referring to his stepfather, Mr Fawaad. Nomi does not know why he suddenly feels open to talk about one of his darkest secrets to his own teacher. Nomi suddenly feels embarrassed horribly.

"What do you mean, bro?", Mr Haze asked in feeling worried.

"I-I'm sorry, teacher. I can't talk about it. I don't know, this s**t is just too much for me to talk about. I think you better go.", Nomi said as he started to feel bad about himself.

"Seriously, Nomi. What's wrong? You should tell me if you have a problem with him.", Mr Haze said in concern.

"No, it's fine. I'm just getting too tired to talk. I'll see you in the morning at the hotel entrance.", Nomi said in a hope that Mr Haze won't force him to talk about it. He got up from his seat and threw away his cigarette into the trash can at the balcony. He walked into his hotel room. Mr Haze lets out a heavy sigh at Nomi's answer.

"Hmm..it's fine. I get that. It's not easy for people to talk about the things they are scared about. But if you really need to let it out, you can always find someone to talk to. Even if it's not me. You are not alone. And you will never be, remember that.", Mr Haze smiled and started to walk out of Nomi's room.

After Mr Haze got out of his room. He suddenly realised how he talked to Mr Haze just now. He started to feel guilty about it but he is surprised that Mr Haze could still act cool about that. He could not wait till the morning to apologise to Mr Haze as he feels really bad about.

Nomi feels really exhausted from having to go through one of his bad days. At least, he got through it. He made it although he thought that he won't. Nomi should be proud of himself but he is still sad about what happened. Nomi finally fell asleep until morning.

•

"Well, hello there, Nomi! Are you okay now? Mr Haze told me you weren't feeling well yesterday.", Mr Greg welcomed Nomi with a smile on his face. In the same time, he is feeling pity at Nomi.

"Yes, I am.", Nomi said with giving an awkward smile to him.

"Are you ready, buddy? Well we're not really going to do the acts now. I'll just explain to you what is it about. It's just simple and I think you and Beau will like it. I didn't sleep for a few nights trying to change the scripts.", Mr Greg said as he chuckled. He told Nomi he has to go find Mrs Felicia for a while. He gave Nomi the new script that Nomi has to learn for the show. Nomi just hopes that this show ends quickly because he does not want to stay here any longer.

Nomi saw Mr Haze and tried to came near to him. He could not stop thinking about how badly he treated Mr Haze last night. He has the thought maybe Mr Haze will hate him for disrespecting him horribly.

"Uhm...teacher?", Nomi called awkwardly.

"Yeah?", Mr Haze's eyes immediately turned to Nomi as he heard Nomi's awkward voice, calling him. He got distracted from looking at the new scripts.

"Uhm..I'm sorry about last night..", Nomi said slowly and he looked down in feeling regret.

"Haha..Why?", Mr Haze chuckled. Nomi is surprised at Mr Haze's reaction. He begins to have a thought if Mr Haze is just pretending to do so.

"You know how I talked to you last night...wow I was far away from my limits. I'm so sorry. And sorry, I smoked infront of you. You know, I shouldn't do that. I'm so stupid. I'm sorry-", Nomi apologises but got cut off by Mr Haze.

"Nomi, Nomi. It's okay.", Mr Haze pats Nomi's shoulder and smiled calmly. Nomi felt scared by his reaction thinking if he is just faking it.

"But..I was being rude.", Nomi said in regret.

"You weren't at all. Maybe you were just high on nicotine.", Mr Haze laughed and continues his words. "But you weren't. I appreciate that you are not scared with me. And I appreciate that you could openly treated me as a friend, bro. We all tend to show our true selves at late night, our broken selves. You are not rude, you were just broken inside, I guess..that you actually showed your honest self to me. I don't mind about that. I appreciate that.", Mr Haze said delightfully that made Nomi feels so sure that Mr Haze's words are really genuine. He can tell that Mr Haze is not faking it.

"Thank you, teacher.", Nomi said in feeling grateful. His regrets and anxious disappeared just like that.

Mr Greg came into the room and sighed in feeling relief at his face. "Well, Mrs Felicia couldn't attend our meeting today. So, I guess it's just the three of us huh?", Mr Greg asked. He brought Nomi and Mr Haze to the corner of the dancing hall. They sat down on the floor to explain about the scripts. Nomi is attracted by the title of the script, "Bury A Friend". He could not wait to perform for the show with Beau. In the same time, he is feeling anxious.

As the three are busy focusing on the meeting, as Nomi and Mr Haze are too interested to listen to Mr Greg's explanation, they suddenly hear the sound of footsteps with the noise of something knocking to the floor coming from behind them. At first, Nomi and Mr Haze decided to ignore the person who is walking behind them until they both noticed Mr Greg stopped explaining to them all of the sudden as his jaw dropped looking at what is happening at the back. Mr Greg's face is shocked mixed with confusion.

Nomi and Mr Haze followed along to look back to see what is happening that made Mr Greg did that face. Nomi widened his eyes to see a grumpy looking girl, who is struggling to walk with a walking stick. The girl wears a big loose black shirt that is probably too big for her body and a pair of baggy tracksuit pants. The girl looks very pale. She stopped walking as she has caught their attention. She bend down a little as she is tired from walking. She is panting as she has difficulty of breathing for a moment. Mr Haze raised his eyebrows to see the girl while Nomi dropped his jaw to focus on her features. The girl dyed her hair dark turquoise. "Who is she?", Nomi thought.

"Oh my God!", Mr Greg whispered harshly that Nomi and Mr Haze could hear him.

As the girl is done panting and finally got herself together, she looked straight at Mr Greg and smirked in a naughty way. "Yo, ya miss me?", the girl asked Mr Greg.

"Beau! Oh my God! What the hell do you think you're doing?", Mr Greg started to nag as he stood up from where he was sitting and came to Beau.

"What?", Beau frowned at Mr Greg.

"Aren't you supposed to be at home? It's just been three days.", Mr Greg nagged.

"Hey, hey, chill out, bro! I'm good.", Beau pats Mr Greg's shoulder to calm him down but Mr Greg is still with his worried face.

"Yeah, right. You can't even walk properly. What are you doing here?", Mr Greg asked.

"I can walk, duh!", Beau teased and rolled her eyes away from Mr Greg. "I'm just bored at home. So I came to school.", Beau made an excuse.

"That's a lie! You told me you hate school.", Mr Greg teased Beau.

Beau got silent for a few seconds and laughed. "Hahaha! You know me bro, you know me.", Beau winked at Mr Greg and faked punching his shoulder. Mr Greg sighed at her attitude. Nomi giggled a little at how she talks. The way she talks could make him cracks a smile on his face. Meanwhile, Mr Haze dropped his jaw seeing her appearance because she wears an overly baggy clothes. He thought if Beau is wearing her father's clothes or something. He is also thinking of her hair dye colour. He thinks if she is allowed to go to school with that hair but hey it's Los Angeles kids, right? Is it allowed in Los Angeles?

"Who are these guys?", Beau's eyes turned to Nomi and Mr Haze with her finger pointing at them and gives them a confused look.

"Alright. Since you are here, I want to introduce you, Mr Haze and this, is Najmi Khan or you can call him, Nomi. He is going to be your partner for the show.", Mr Greg introduced.

"Nomi? Isn't that a girl's name? C'mon bro, pick a better name.", Beau giggled at Nomi. Nomi felt awkward all of the sudden. He looks down and started to blush horribly. He is confused if Beau is just joking or really making fun of his name. He does not understand why he has to take that seriously but he feels embarrassed by that all of the sudden.

"Beau...", Mr Greg warned Beau to stop teasing Nomi. He gives her a stern look but Beau could not care less.

Meanwhile, Mr Haze is still giving her the strangest look he has ever given someone. He is still thinking how can a student goes to school with that hair? If she goes to school like that in Malaysia, for sure the discipline teacher would burn her pretty dark turquoise hair. It is weird how her discipline teacher does not do anything about it but who is he to judge, right? He honestly does not mind with Beau's hair colour, he does thinks that her hair is pretty but he has never seen anyone goes to school with hair dyes. If he did, he will watch the student will get kicked in butt by a discipline teacher! He just feels a little weird about that.

"And you?", Beau turned to Mr Haze who has been giving her the strange look. Mr Haze's thoughts got distracted by her question.

"I'm Haze. Nice to meet you.", Mr Haze smiled at Beau, not wanting to show his real expression in seeing her.

"Woah, you look hot. You could be someone's sugar daddy.", Beau tried to flirt with Mr Haze and she sticks her tongue out in a flirty way.

"Excuse me?", Mr Haze asked as he immediately got goosebumps by what Beau just said to him.

"I mean yeah, I thought you were gonna be the one who would be my partner. You're short as hell. I thought you were a student. While Nomi, looks like your dad. But you're smokin hot, bro. You single? Hi, I'm Beau Diana and I would like to sit on your face someday.", Beau winked at Mr Haze and smiled cheekily.

Mr Haze's jaw dropped by what Beau said to her. Of course, Mr Haze is every girl's dream husband at school but no one has ever been brave enough to flirt with him like that before. Meanwhile, Nomi feels even more embarrassed by Beau's words. It is true that Mr Haze looks younger than him. He feels so old. While, Mr Haze feels like five year old child when Beau told him that he is 'short as hell' and in the same time he feels speechless by how Beau talked to him. Mr Greg does not seem to look surprised by Beau's attitude as if he is used to her acting that way. Mr Greg secretly pinched Beau at her back that made Beau whispered, "Ouch!" harshly. She rubs her back at the place where Mr Greg pinched her. Mr Haze tries to act cool to Beau and gives her a smirk. In the same time, he looks at Mr Greg hoping that he could save him from this situation.

"Uhm, Beau. Since you are here, why don't we sit down and we talk about the show, alright? They came a long way from Malaysia to see you. They're excited, you know?", Mr Greg told Beau.

"Oh, okay! So where's James?", Beau suddenly asked about James.

"Oh, I forgot to tell you. We replaced James with Nomi. James have quit.", Mr Greg explained.

"Oh, okay.", Beau sat down beside Nomi. She looks at Nomi and she thought he is kind of a handsome man. He looks so matured and innocent in the same time. She could see Nomi looks scared of something by the look on his face. Nomi just looks down, feeling drowned in embarrassment but he is just trying to act cool in front of her. He does not realise that Beau is staring at him with a smile.

"So, boy. How old are you?", Beau asked Nomi simply. Nomi does not feel like talking to anyone especially Beau but he is trying his best to act the coolest way in front of her.

"Eighteen.", Nomi answered without looking at her but the scripts.

"f**k that s**t. Why is your name Nomi?", Beau asked and she is trying to hold her laughter. Nomi turns his head up from the scripts to look at her. Nomi gives a sharp stare as he is feeling annoyed by her. He could not think of anything to say to her but to take a piece of tape and tapes her mouth. He really wishes to do that to her.

"I don't know.", Nomi said as he could already feel tired with her.

"You don't know? Bro, it's your name. Defend yourself.", Beau laughed out loud that it is kind of difficult for Mr Greg to explain about the scripts.

"What is wrong with the name Nomi?", Mr Greg asked with a confused face.

"I don't know. It's like really weird for someone like him.", Beau laughs hysterically. Nomi feels so irritated by her. He gave Beau a sharp glare and continues to read his scripts. He started to think if Beau has also injured her brain other than just her ankle because she is acting stupid.

They all went silent and started to be serious in order to focus for the show except for Beau who is just smiling cheekily and could not stop teasing Nomi. Nomi just choose to ignore her during the meeting. Luckily for Beau, because she is a girl. Nomi has a thought if she was a boy and trying to get on his nerves like this, he would have kicked her in the butt! How annoying someone could be? Nomi also thinks why is he being sensitive to this? This is just a small issue, why is he making it as a big deal. His mother created the name for him since he was a baby. Of course, he is feeling sensitive about it.

The meeting is over and they all decided to have a lunch before they go home. Again, Nomi feels like he wants to be alone. He could not stand being with Beau. As they are walking at the school hallway, Beau continues to increase Nomi's blood pressure. Luckily, Nomi takes it easy and still have patience left in himself.

"Yo, tell me. Where are you from?", Beau asked like a gangster.

"Malaysia.", Nomi answered without looking at her.

"Where the hell is that? Like I never heard that country before. I don't know s**t about that country. You guys have the weirdest names. Even your country's name sounds bizzare..is that a real place?", Beau asked in confusion.

"Then what the f**k did you learn in Geography and History? Cut it out.", Nomi said in feeling annoyed.

"My Geography teacher, Mr Wilson is boring so I always sleep in his class.", Beau said, not seeming interested. Nomi rolled his eyes from her.

"Then how about History?", Nomi asked.

"Hmmm...I don't remember Mr Greg ever tell us about your country. But I'll ask him about that.", said Beau simply.

"That's because your ass always sleeps in the class.", Nomi rolled his eyes from her.

"No. f**k you! I'll ask Mr Greg.", Beau said and her steps speeds to catch Mr Greg infront of her.

"Mr Greg. Bro, do we ever learn about Malaysia in the class? Seriously, I never heard about that country.", Beau asked in confusion. Mr Greg stopped walking and raised his eyebrows in shock.

"Are you kidding? You did a PowerPoint presentation of Malaysia's contribution in the United Nations in the 1990's last month? Don't you remember?", Mr Greg asked with looking surprised.

"Oh!!! s**t ! I totally forgot about that.", Beau puts her hand on her head. Mr Greg and Mr Haze laughed hysterically at Beau. Nomi giggled a little bit while trying to hold in his laughter as he wants to act serious in front of Beau. He bites his lips as he is trying so hard not to laugh. He thinks that Beau is actually cute but she is so annoying because she keeps making fun of him. Beau turned to Nomi, "Yo, that country does exist. But sorry, I already forgot about the contributions y'all did. I thought I was doing the presentations about Phillipines. Meh, I don't give a s**t. Let's eat."

"Beau, you got an A for that. Now you forgot about that?", Mr Greg expressed his disappointment but Beau could not care less about that.

"Meh, I never really give a s**t about anything I learn in the class anyways. Why bother?", Beau said and keeps walking towards the school's cafeteria. Mr Greg shakes his head and chuckled because he is so used to Beau's attitude since she was a sophomore in the school.

"Woah, Nomi. They have already learnt about that. You guys are going to learn about that in the third semester too.", Mr Haze said with a smirk.

"Seriously?", Nomi asked with his eyebrows raised.

"Yeah. There's a lot about United Nations. But you don't need to think about that now. Just focus on your assignments for now.", Mr Haze said. Nomi just nodded as he understands that.

As they arrived at the cafeteria, Nomi suddenly felt anxiety lingering inside him. He saw there are a lot of students in the cafeteria. He noticed some students gave him and Mr Haze a confused look as they have never seen them before. Nomi immediately looks down as he does not want to make an eye contact with any of them. In the same time, he is wondering where is Beau as she disappeared in the sea of the crowded students all of the sudden. Mr Greg brought them to an empty table and the cafeteria. They both sat down and looked around the cafeteria.

"You good, man?", Mr Haze asked. Nomi just nodded and smile. "Yeah, I am." Mr Haze nodded and started to look at his phone to wait for Mr Greg to come.

Suddenly, he saw Beau bringing two students to their table that he guesses maybe they are her friends. "f**k why?" , Nomi thought. He does not want to talk to anyone at the moment as he is feeling anxious.

"Y'all, this is Nomi.", Beau introduced Nomi to the two students with an excited smile. Beau turned to Nomi and said, "Say hi, b***h. Don't be shy. We cool."

Nomi frowned at Beau and turned to the two students and gave them a smile. "Hi.", he said shyly with his hand did a little wave to them.

"Hey, I'm George. Just call me Joji by the way.", one of Beau's friends who is a good looking boy and is kind of nerdy, holds a lot of books in his hands, wears a pair of glasses. He puts all his books on the table and giving out his hand to Nomi in order to shake hands with Nomi.

"This, is Joji. He's a Maths motherfucker. Always be getting an A+ in the class. He's mixed with Japanese by the way. I learn a lot of Japanese from him. You can learn too, Nomi. You probably don't know s**t about Japanese.", Beau teased and chuckled. Nomi has nothing to reply but just smiling at them.

"Haha. It's fine by the way. Nice to meet you, Nomi.", Joji said as he sat down beside Nomi.

"I'm Hannah, by the way. Hi.", Beau's another friend, a blonde short haired girl named, Hannah took out her hand and shook hands with Nomi. Nomi did the same too.

"This is my best friend. We have been friends since we were babies!", Beau said delightedly. Nomi nodded and smiled at Hannah.

"And who is this?", Joji's finger pointed at Mr Haze.

"This is Nomi's teacher, Mr Haze. He's single by the way. You can hit him up anytime. Hahaha. Right, Mr Haze?", Beau winked at Mr Haze.

"Hey!", Mr Haze said and laughed in embarrassment.

"Wow, how old are you?", Hannah asked in curiosity.

"27.", Mr Haze replied with a smiled.

"Wow! I thought you were our age.", Hannah said, feeling impressed.

"Bro, seriously. Are you really gonna grow that beard?", Beau asked while pointing out on Mr Haze's beard.

"Nope. Just going to keep it this way.", Mr Haze said while touching his neat beard.

"Please don't let that s**t grow. You will look like an elf! Cause you short as f**k! Hahahaha.", Beau teased and laughed. Mr Haze looks at Nomi and covered his mouth to hold his laughter. Nomi shakes his head as he feels tired with Beau.

"Hey by the way. I'm sorry about when I said I wanna sit on your face. I was just joking. But if you're down...you know...just let me know. Hahahaha!", Beau laughed.

"I forgive you. But just know that it will never gonna happen.", Mr Haze said with a sarcastic smile. They all laughed along including Beau.

Mr Greg came along to sit with the group. "Oooh..what are y'all laughing about?", Mr Greg smiled.

"Oh, we are just laughing about how Beau wants to sit on Mr Haze's face. Hahahaha!", Hannah teased Beau and they all laughed again.

"Oh my God, Beau will you stop? Hahahaha!", Mr Greg laughs awkwardly. The second hand embarrassment hits Mr Greg that he blushed really hard. His cheeks are warming red for Beau.

"So, Nomi. Why are you here looking like that Hindi actor. Like who is that...Salman Khan? Are you Indian?", Beau asked. Hannah and Joji immediately started focusing on Nomi.

"Yeah, are you Indian?", Joji asked.

Nomi nodded and he looked down. "So you know how to speak Indian language? Bro, you rock!", Beau asked in curiosity. Nomi just nodded and smiled at them.

"First of all, India has over 100 languages, so which one are you referring to?", Joji asked Beau with a smirk.

"What? Bro are you serious? So you know all those 100 languages?", Beau dropped her jaw when she thought Nomi could speak 100 languages.

"No, I just know how to speak Malayalam.", Nomi said.

"Wow! I never heard about that. You gotta teach how to curse in that language, bro!", Beau said. Nomi just giggled. Nomi shook his head as a 'no' to Beau.

"Bro, I wanna ask again. One more time. Why the f**k is your name Nomi?", Beau asked the question again to tease Nomi.

"I don't f*****g know. Why don't you ask my mum?", Nomi started to feel annoyed again.

"Okay. I will ask your mum when I meet her. Is your mom's here?", Beau asked.

"Yes.", Nomi said simply and tried to ignore in order to avoid any conversations about his name with her.

"Haha, don't be mad about it, Nomi. I met Beau when we were freshmen. And she literally questioned why my nickname is Joji for three months straight. Goodluck going through this phase.", Joji chuckled.

"So Nomi is your nickname? Then what's your real name?", Hannah asked.

"Najmi Khan.", Nomi answered.

"Wow. It's nice getting to know you", Hannah said as she is feeling impressed. "Thank you.", Nomi replied to Hannah.

The food Mr Greg ordered has arrived. They are all ready to eat. As they are eating, Beau is still talking to Nomi.

"So Nomi, you're 18. How are you so damn tall? Like bro, what's your height?", Beau asked in curiosity.

"Around 180 centimetres.", Nomi replied lazily as he wants to eat.

"I wanna ask you a question. Why is your name Beau?", Nomi asked to just get back at Beau.

"Boy, it's 2019. Google translate that.", Beau said while eating her burger.

"Yeah, I know what it means! But my friend, Mimi has a dog named Beau. So you reminded me of her dog.", Nomi teased and chuckled.

"Wow. Is her dog cute like me?", Beau asked with a cheeky smile with burger sauce smudges around her mouth. Nomi smiled a little looking at how she eats.

"Ew, no. Her dog's cuter.", Nomi teased.

"Wait, Mimi has a dog? She ever cried seeing an ant but has a dog? Hahahaha!", Mr Haze laughed remembering Mimi.

"Who's Mimi?", Beau asked.

"My classmate. She sits with me in the class.", Nomi talked about Mimi.

Nomi begins to study Beau's features properly while eating his lunch. She does has a very pretty face. Blue icy ocean eyes, cute nose, plumpy pink lips that made Nomi think how amazing it will be if someone gets to kiss those lips. Her face shaped perfectly with her pointed chin. She has dimples when she smiles. Her features are just everything any humans could have asked for. Nomi started to think if she is really a human because of how beautiful she is as a human being. She is just too beautiful for a human being. He has never seen someone that beautiful before in his life. However, in the same time, he is still annoyed with Beau's attitude that loves to make fun of his name.

"b***h, why you're coming to school today? You're lucky to get to be at home for a week.", Hannah said to Beau.

"Yeah, aren't you supposed to rest at home for a week? You're literally struggling to walk.", Joji said in concern.

"Bro, you really think I'm that desperate to go to school? Ew.", Beau said in disgusted tone.

"Then why are you here?", Hannah asked in curiosity.

"Some b***h if you know who I mean, sent me death threats if I don't come to the rehearsal today. So it triggered the s**t out of me.", Beau said then she continues to take another bite of her burger.

"What? Who?", Mr Greg asked with a shocked face.

"You mean, Mrs Felicia?", Hannah asked to make sure although she knows very well who is Beau talking about.

"Who else?", Beau asked sarcastically.

"What? OMG what did she say?", Joji asked as he dropped his jaw in shocked.

"This burger is good. I don't wanna ruin my moment to talk about that bitch.", Beau told Joji.

"Beau, when did she said those things to you?", Mr Greg asked.

"Girl, what's the tea?", Hannah asked in curiosity.

"Through text messages. I have the actual receipts.", Beau said simply. Mr Greg dropped his jaw in shock as he could not expect Mrs Felicia would say act that way to students. How selfish it is of her to do that. He is pity for Beau that she got really scared until she rather strengthen herself to wake up in the morning to go to school although Beau still has not completely recover from her injury. Mr Haze is shocked with the news too.

"Who's Mrs Felicia?", Nomi asked in curiosity. He frowned his face when he asked that.

"Our Chemistry teacher. She's pure evil. Ugh!", Joji exclaimed in trauma.

"I don't know if you have meet her yet. But she is going to be the leader teacher for your show besides Mr Greg. She is super toxic. She is a pro at making students feeling like s**t. I always skip her classes. I don't care if I'm gonna get suspended or failing Chemistry. I'd rather not torture my mental health than having to face her.", Hannah told Nomi.

"And I never come to school if we have Chemistry class on that day. Hahaha.", Beau laughed a little.

Nomi suddenly remember the teacher who talked to him yesterday evening when he was alone at the dancing hall. The teacher successfully caused him to cut himself yesterday. He is guessing that would be Mrs Felicia. The teacher did not even introduced herself yesterday. Nomi suddenly felt worried and he looked down.

"Alright, alright. Beau, you screenshot those conversations you had with Mrs Felicia and send them to me. I wanna know what she told you. I can't stand her anymore.", Mr Greg said seriously.

"Yahoo! Okay!", Beau said and immediately took out her phone to send Mr Greg the screenshots.

"Oh my God. This is horrible.", Mr Greg said as he received the messages from Beau. "I'll have to talk to the principal about this. I don't think I want her in the club anymore. But I don't have any power to do that.", Mr Greg said.

"Bro, she should've just get her ass fired for her toxic attitude. Nobody cares.", Beau said in irritation.

After they had their lunch, they got up and they are ready to go home. Nomi and Mr Haze headed to an Uber that has been waiting for them outside the school to get to the hotel.

"Ugh such a weirdo!", Nomi whispered harshly and he crossed his arms with an annoyed face.

"Why?", Mr Haze asked.

"Beau. Ugh, I feel so exhausted with her. She keeps whining about my name all day long. It's not my fault that everybody in my family calls me Nomi. I don't know what is so funny about that?", Nomi expressed his confusion.

"Well she should probably ask herself why is her name 'Beau'. That name sounds weird.", Mr Haze rolled his eyes.

"Well I can't say anything about her name. It's meaning is 'beautiful' in French language.", Nomi looked down as he is thinking of something.

"She? Beautiful? Really? She looks like she's on crack. I mean she is pretty, but she talks like she's high. But I can't hate her for that, she's kind of funny!", Mr Haze chuckled.

"I don't know why my mom calls me 'Nomi'. I should ask her. Haha.", Nomi chuckled.

"Why don't you ask her?", Mr Haze asked.

"I don't know. I have always been hearing my mom calls me that since I was a baby. I always kinda thought it rhymes with Najmi. Like, 'Nomi', 'Najmi', 'Najmi', 'Nomi'. It kinda stick to me. Haha.", Nomi giggled.

"Oh. That doesn't sound so bad. I don't know why she wants to laugh on that.", Mr Haze laughed.

"I know. God, she really gets on my nerves. Such a 5 year old attitude.", Nomi shook his head and sighed.

"I think maybe she's going through something that makes her sad. She needs something to laugh about.", Mr Haze said as he looked out to the car window.

"No, she's just on crack.", Nomi laughed and Mr Haze shook his head and giggled a little.