The sun had yet to appear itself on the horizon, but the people had already started filling up the street. The noise of cars hooting and the motorcycles flying past were deafening to the ears.

Ali sighed as he looked down to his worn-out black watch encircling his wrist. It was still pretty early for the road to be this busy. His left hand was still gripping the handle of his sister's red Vespa scooter.

He purposely left his house earlier than usual to avoid the heavy traffic, but it seemed that these other people also got the same idea.

The day most dreaded by teachers and students alike had finally arrived. Ironically, it was the same day that the parents could finally breathed out in relief.

It was the first day of school after a full month of the end of the year break.

Good news for the parents who could legally get rid of their children although it was for short while, that is if the parents are sending them away to a day school or for far longer, if they were sent to the boarding school.

Not for the teachers though, since the time where they were relieved from the responsibility of being in charge of children that are not theirs, had sadly ended.

Ali watched from the opposite road. On the side of the road, a number of students clad in their white school uniform that Ali was more than familiar with, chatted with each other, while waiting for the pedestrian traffic light to turn green. Those were the exact uniform he had on ten years ago.

Gosh, he felt ancient.

Rows and rows of cars were parked right outside a public school. The three-laned road was then left with only two functioning road as the other one had involuntarily turned into a parking spot for the parents to drop off their kids.

On the school gate, there was a big, lettered sign in red stating, "NO ENTRY. TEACHERS AND STUDENTS ONLY". Only a few parents would simply drop off their child and drove away, to which Ali appreciated.

Most of them, however, went out of their car, hugging and waving to their child until they went inside the school under their watchful eyes, directly causing the traffic jam on the road.

Optimistic teachers would perceive that gesture as a show of support by the parents for their children's embarkment towards education.

Ali, however, saw it as a celebration of freedom by the parents of being free from their children, even it is only for half of the day.

Call him pessimistic. He would only be impressed if these supposed 'supportive' parents would also be the parents who actually show up to the compulsory parent-teacher conference or any school events, where their parental support would be much more welcomed.

A lean-bodied female security guard clad in her white uniform was standing right beside the half-opened gate with a STOP sign in her arms. The apparent wrinkle on her forehead and her eyes showed the sign of her age.

Her face was void of emotions as she watched the students passing by her into the school. The smaller students warily maintained a small distance. In contrast, the taller students would leisurely walked pass her almost like she was invincible.

Under his black full-face helmet, Ali's previous frown turned into an amused smile. She would always have that sort of effect on people, isn't she?

Suddenly, Ali felt something on his feet.

Too used of riding a motorcycle since his college, he always had his feet down on the road although it was more convenient to place his feet on the foot mat of the scooter. Looking down, he saw a small, tied plastic bag rolled passed his feet and was then stuck under the front tire.

Ali huffed in annoyance as he looked up to the countdown number on the traffic light. There was only 40 seconds left.

Since he was at the left side of the road next to the road border, the only possible way for that to happen is the trash coming from his right side, he deduced as he bent down to pick up the trash with much difficulty.

Despite the black visor covering his entire face, Ali took a sneaky glance towards the car on his right. The front seat window of the car was down entirely.

A stout middle-aged man was chattering animatedly on his phone with a burning cigarette in right hand. He grimaced as soon as his nose caught the disgusting smell of the cigarette smoke. As a anti-smoker, it did not take long before the smoke became too much for him causing him to choke repeatedly.

The choking sound must be quite loud that it managed to attract the attention of the man causing it. When their eyes finally met, the man as if was challenging him, simply rolled his eyes at him and indifferently continued his smoking.

Shocked would be an understatement. He silently watched the man who continued to chat loudly while inhaling his cigarette every now and then.

He could not imagine the man's behaviour towards those who had to deal with him day by day, if a total stranger like Ali, was treated terribly on a short encounter like this He wished if the word insufferable had a picture section next to it in the dictionary, the picture of this man's face should be pasted next to it.

Eyeing the accumulated trash at the side of the road, Ali knew the man to his right must be taught a lesson.

With the plastic bag crumpled in his hand along with the other trash that he had picked up on a whim, Ali kept his eyes fixed onto the countdown timer.

As soon as the number on the countdown timer went down to one, Ali threw the crumpled trash into the man's car, not the slightest worried that he might have thrown it right to the man's head, and sped off as the light turned green.

Glancing towards side mirror of his scooter, Ali smiled in triumph. The man must had been completely stunned by Ali's quick trash dumping into his car to make any attempt of chasing him that he was left so far behind.

Turned out his decision, 'forced' decision to be exact, to lend his 3 years-old car to his younger sister in exchange for her scooter was not that bad after all. Ali thought as he weaved through the other cars with ease.

His mother who seemed to be truly oblivious of how a little devil his sister could be, nagged him into relenting to his sister's request. He even had a bad dream last night of her wrecking his car with a huge smile.

Although her face did morph into Angeline Jolie halfway through the dream, it failed to get rid of Ali's fear that this terrible dream might turn into a reality someday, either on purpose or otherwise.

Though the recent event might has changed his mind a little bit.

Ali heaved a sigh of relief once he passed the school gate into the school.

Outside, there were parents who tried to walk past the school gate despite the huge sign on the school gate. They were stopped by the female security guard, who despite her small stature had a loud booming voice.

She yelled her lungs out to stop those stubborn parents from entering and though harsh, it was proven effective. After that one yell, not a single parent dared to challenge her patience.

The female security guard was guarding the students who wanted to cross the road. With a honk, Ali pushed his visor up revealing his face and waved to the female security guard then pointed to the school gate.

She did not notice him but other parents do. Feeling slightly embarassed, Ali quickly rode away. Upon passing the school gate, Ali realised the layout of the school had changed so much beyond his recognition.

Ali's mouth gaped in amazement,

The road, instead of directly leading up to the soiled field which he had gotten used to, led him to a garden with hedges on the side and a decorative water fountain on the centre, which reminded him of the National Botanical Garden in Shah Alam.

Right after the school gate, the steel-roofed parking spaces can be seen on the left and the right side of the road with the left specifically for cars and the right for the motorcycles. Ali parked his scooter under the roofed parking space facing the football field, purposefully choosing the very end of the parking space.

He noticed the other motorcycles parked there as well and a group of male students were chatting with each other with three sitting on their motorcycle seat and two standing nearby. He also noticed there was one scooter there.

However, unlike his that was in a heart red in colour, the other scooter was bright pink in colour with Hello Kitty sticker covering all over its body. Ali let out an exasperated sigh, while his hands removing his helmet. He really need his car back.

As he was making up plans to steal his car back from his sister who will definitely refuse had he asked nicely, suddenly, a motorcycle rode into the parking space next to his. Ali gasped in surprise when his eyes landed on the red superbike and the black logo of Ducati facing him.

A man in dark green dress shirt and black trouser seemed completely oblivious that his presence had gained the attention of the students passing by, shook his head while removing his white helmet with ease.

Ali was curious, of course. He was the first person he seen that did not dress like a student. However, half of him was still concerned that the man had chosen to park his bike next to his scooter when there are other empty spaces available, as if mocking him. It was like when heaven and earth stood side by side.

Unfortunately, Ali's introverted self-did not allow him to initiate conversation so he pretended to fix his cuffs on the side mirror while sneaking glances towards the man. That was until he felt a tap on his shoulder.

"Are you new here?" He initiated the conversation while fixing his windswept hair, indirectly breaking Ali's chain of thought.

He was almost the same height as Ali though far sturdier than him. The tan line around his neck was visible from above the collar of his shirt.

He looked mature with the apparent five o'clock shadow on his chin and the dark circle under his eyes. Though he carried himself with youthful vigour as he waved happily towards the enamoured group of male students who had not stop staring at his superbike since he arrived.

"Yes, first day." Ali answered shortly while fixing his sleeves which he had previously rolled up to his elbow. He wondered if the man was also a new teacher like him but judging by how at-ease he acted, he might not.

Plus, the other man seemed more invested in fixing his own appearance than to be in a conversation with Ali.

After humming in reply and putting on his grey backpack, he suddenly extended his right hand towards Ali for a handshake to which Ali hesitantly accepted. "Kassim." Ali nodded. "I'm Ali."

Ali then slowly took out his black briefcase from the compartment below his seat. Glancing towards the man's grey backpack, he wondered if he was being too old-fashioned. It is harder to find nowadays as well.

He quickly dismissed the thought. Why did he care so much about what kind of bags is he using? He came here to teach.

Together, Ali and Kassim walked along with other student with a line of green hedges on their sides. The garden ended with a huge concrete staircase with three yellow metal railings.

On each riser of the steps, a motivational quote was painted in colourful colours. Some of them were sloppily made that the paint managed to form a pool on the bottom steps instead. At last, something that looked familiar to him.

They finally arrived at the sight of the students lining up in front the five prefects in their blue coloured uniform at the top staircase. They stood beside a wood table, rummaging through the student's school bags before letting them pass to the hall.

Kassim then stopped in front of one male prefect who looked like he would rather be anywhere else and put his grey backpack on the table beside him.

Ali was puzzled. The last time he was in this school, no one dared to inspect the teachers' bags. Did the school rules really had changed this drastic since then?

Ali did not even have time to recover from his shock when a female prefect suddenly appeared in front of him with her left hand behind her back and her right hand pointing towards a female prefect with braided ponytail next to them.

"Student, please put your bag there. We need to inspect your bag." She said with her lips pressed together firmly with her eyes hidden behind the silver thin-framed glasses, crinkled in frustration.

Ali was lost for words.

If he is a cartoon character, his jaw would be on the floor at that moment. Did he just got mistaken as a student? Him, a 28-year-old man got mistaken as this high school comprising of 13 to 17 years old student. For real?

Did he just go back in time? Like in Kdramas that his sister kept obsesssing over? But he just checked himself out at the mirror, he definitely did not look like a teenager. Was he supposed to feel flattered?

Unfortunately, there was no time for Ali to continue contemplating.

Noticing Kassim and the other students' curious stares on him, Ali cleared his throat and fixed his own thin gold-framed glass to regain his composure. After taking a quick look to the nametag on the girl's blue blazer, Ali took few careful steps closer towards her in an attempt to inform his identity.

He whispered, "You see ... Anna ...Urm, I am not a stu .…".

He did not even manage to finish his words as she immediately held up her hand perpendicular to his face as if she was traffic officer in the middle of the road with a broken traffic light. She started backing herself away from him.

"Student, can you please ... please be cooperative."

With a frustrated sigh, she then pointed towards the line behind him with her other hand on her waist. "Hey, don't argue with me. Can't you see that so many people are waiting? You're holding up the line."

Ali could feel his face and ears getting warmer and warmer as if he was a kettle filled with water that was about to boil. Man, this is bad.

She might have noticed Ali's rising frustration towards her as she crossed her arms in front of him with an enigmatic smile on her face. That smug expression had Ali convinced that she was the type to not back away unless and until he relented.

Fighting with a student would only put him in a bad spot, especially him as a male teacher with a female student regardless of the reason. No matter which way it goes, that female student will be seen as innocent and him the pervert.

Is that why she was acting so smug with him? Kids these days are scary.

While shaking his head, Ali walked towards the fidgeting female prefect who looked like she was about to bolt at any moment. Suddenly, the nervous student was pushed aside and she was replaced by the smug prefect.

With a smirk, she knocked on the table twice while pointing towards Ali's briefcase. Ali looked around in disbelief. Is no one surprised of this unbelievable behaviour?

None. The student's watchful stares were fixed on him and the dissatisfied whispers coming from behind him, was directed at him.

Realizing that he was the current public enemy and prolonging this would easily evolve into a fight which would end up bad only for him, Ali reluctantly placed his briefcase on the wood table.

She wasted no time to rummage his briefcase while Ali was calculating the perfect time to reveal his true identity and to watch the horrifying look on her face once she found out.

She suddenly stopped. Her eyes widened in half surprise and half delight as she slowly took out an old and scratched Samsung Galaxy A04 which by appearance, would not even get sold at a second-hand store.

"Student, bringing your phone to school is against the school rules. I have to confiscate this." She said, while waving his phone to the air attracting everyone's attention. Gasps of surprises could be heard around them.

Ali was too stunned to speak. This girl is out here testing his patience.

As if the little stunt she did was not enough, she then whispered to him with a small bemused smile on her face, "That's why you should not mess with me, peasant."