Chapter 7 - Crisis 3
"You two, why are you walking around here? Shouldn't you be with your club?"
While Akmal and Basir were wandering around the school to search for a suitable sports club to join, they suddenly heard someone shout from afar.
While Basir was oblivious to the voice and looked in the voice's direction without much emotion, Akmal shuddered as he recognized the voice immediately.
That voice belonged to the most popular and scariest teacher in school, Cikgu Malik who was also the discipline teacher.
His popularity was not because he was handsome or something similar like that but because he was known to give harsh punishment to students who broke the rules.
If he called out to you, you know you were highly likely to be in trouble.
"The discipline teacher," Akmal whispered to Basir since he looked oblivious to the situation.
When Basir heard that, he immediately straightened his back and followed Akmal towards the teacher.
Cikgu Malik stood rooted there while waiting for the duo to come to him. He crossed his arm while holding onto a cane made from some kind of wood, possibly bamboo or rattan.
He looked domineering.
"What year are you?" Cikgu Malik questioned immediately while he stared dagger at Akmal and Basir.
Basir remained silent while Akmal took the stage and answered, "Form 4 Class PS-B…" he trailed a bit towards the end.
"Cannot find a spot in any club?" Cikgu Malik asked. His voice's tone softened a bit. He thought that the duo were troublemakers.
"Yes, all the clubs we want to enter are full," Akmal replied with more confidence when he felt the teacher's voice soften a bit.
"There will not be many clubs left for you to enter then. I passed through the Volleyball Club earlier and they have a lot of spots left. You can try there," Cikgu Malik suggested.
"Well…" Akmal glanced sneakily at Basir. Cikgu Malik saw that but before Akmal could answer, he added.
"The Basketball Club, Football Club, and a few other sports clubs have a lot of spots left. If you are not the active type, you can try applying for the manager or logistic position. No need to fret so much about it," Cikgu Malik suggested.
"There is a position like that?" Basir spoke excitedly. As long as he did not need to play, he was fine with whatever position was available.
"Yes but the spots for that kind of position are usually available to bigger clubs like the football and rugby club," he answered.
"Akmal, let's go to the football club and apply for the manager position!" Basir spoke excitedly and thanked Cikgu Malik before he dragged Akmal to the football field.
Cikgu Malik shook his head helplessly. He did not finish talking but they had left. He continued with his patrol.
Basir and Akmal went to the Football field and asked about the managerial positions but unfortunately, the positions were only given to those who were experienced with the sports and also booked for their injured member.
Basir was devastated by the news but he did not want to give up. He tried haggling for a bit but a solid and definite 'NO' came from the teacher-in-charge's mouth.
Basir did not want to give up and went to the other clubs but the answer was similar. As they were wandering around asking for this, they did not realize that more and more clubs were filled.
"Basir, let's stop doing this. If we are too late, we will not have any choice left," Akmal suggested. Basir decided to give up and they decided to enter the easiest sports available.
Be that as it may, they wasted time too much and thus, they failed to enter the easy sports. They moved on to the other clubs and all of them were full.
Now, all that was left was the 'hard' sports based on Basir's categorization.
Sepak Takraw, which needed flexibility and reflexes, was a hard sport for Basir.
Football which needs to run around the big field was hard too.
Basketball which needed accuracy and ball bouncing was also hard. Moreover, rather than the ball bouncing, Basir's fat would bounce more.
Rugby was a bit too fierce for Basir.
Volleyball was fine but once they arrived there, it was full.
All the sports using rackets were full since a while ago.
Silat, Taekwondo, Karate, and other martial arts were as fierce as Rugby which was not to Basir's liking.
Akmal stayed silent while Basir heavily contemplated which club he wanted to join. Akmal did not mind whichever club he ended up with but Basir was different.
While they continued wandering around, they met Cikgu Malik again.
"Why are you guys still here?" He asked while raising his brow.
"Erm… that," Akmal did not know what to answer.
"Don't be too choosy. You guys will end up in big trouble if you act like this after you enter the workforce. Do you know why many University graduates are unemployed? Because they are too choosy with their job."
"They don't want to work hard and want an easy job. They want to work in an office typing on the computer all day. They don't want to be under the sun a bit."
Cikgu Malik started lecturing the duo. Akmal and Basir could not do anything. They needed to listen to this because the teacher was not wrong.
Fifteen minutes later, the lecture ended but a more surprising event unfolded immediately.
"Come with me. I will help you ask around. Don't be too choosy and just choose whatever is available," Cikgu Malik said.
"Yes," Akmal and Basir answered.
They followed Cikgu Malik to every sports club that they thought still had any empty spot but unfortunately, it was too late now.
As they were towed around by Cikgu Malik, their popularity surged. Who would not get popular when they were escorted by the most popular teacher?
Those students who were in a similar situation as Akmal and Basir saw this from afar. They did not want to end up like them and immediately join whatever was available. Thus, many of the clubs became full immediately.
The effect of being escorted by the discipline teacher gave a wake-up call to many of them but it was too late for the duo.
After that, they found out that they could not find any spots left.
"Hmm… This is a problem," Cikgu Malik muttered.
"Fine, I will let you two join my club," Cikgu Malik spoke.
"?????" Akmal and Basir were confused. "Cikgu, are you in charge of any club?" Akmal asked.
"Yes, I am," Cikgu Malik smiled.
"!!!" Akmal realized something.