As Ali was leaving the staffroom, he looked across Mr Andi who seemed totally be in a good mood after the principal left. He smiled in encouragement while giving him a thumbs up. "Good luck!!", he remarked, as if he was not the one who compared Ali as the new teacher to the new lamb moments before.
When he was about to reach the classroom, Ali stopped in his tracks. His heart was beating fast at the thought that he was about to meet the students that he would be in charge for the rest of the term.
He hid behind the white boulder nearby, his hand patting down his chest repeatedly to sooth his thunderous heartbeat. One would think after three years of teaching, his nervousness would disappear. Apparently not for him.
After the previous incident with the principal which ended badly with him getting a warning, there was no way she would leave him alone easily.
From outside the classroom, he could hear the chattering noises becoming louder and louder, especially since the teacher is not around. At this rate, the noise might even reach the principal's office, which was not that far from here.
His mind wandered to the face of the woman who was the main cause of his current distress. Just the thought that she might appear out of nowhere to reprimand him for the second time made him shudder in fear.
Not to mention, his previous altercation with the ill-mannered student which had got him into trouble in the first place.
Wait, what if that female student is one of his students in that classroom? It can't be, right? What about the other students? What if the students inside are also the ones who had witnessed their altercation?
Even if they are not, rumours spread like wildfire in school. They must have gotten wind of it at least.
Ali shook his head. Since when did he become such a coward? What can these bunch of 16 years old kids do to him anyways? Talk behind his back? At most, probably slash his tires?
He is the teacher. Nothing they do should scare him.
With that sudden realisation that he was the one in charge, Ali suddenly felt courage coursing through his body. He wiped his forehead that was beaded with sweat with the back of his hand and walked towards the classroom with his head held up high.
With a single knock on the door, the loud chattering noise slowly died down and gradually reduced into hushed whispers. Ali cleared his throat as he walked towards his seat, under the hawk-like eyes of the students in the classroom.
After putting down his briefcase on the desk, he straightened up his dress shirt. To his surprise, he was not as nervous as he thought. In fact, these students' stares made him felt rather powerful.
Pleased with his newfound confidence, Ali made sure that his eyes met the eyes of every single student in from of him. One glance was enough for him to perceive that they were just as curious of him as he is of them.
The seating arrangement was the traditional one making it easier for him to observe them. The students were seated in five columns and four rows. Each row consisted of ten students where they sat in pairs. A quick count from the seats revealed the total number of his students would be forty students.
They looked tidy in their visibly new ironed uniforms. The boys with their neat hairstyles, in compliance with the strict school rules. The non-Muslim girls looked prim in their ponytails with blue bow tying it while the Muslim girls were in their baju kurung* uniform and headscarves.
Ali felt relieved. Although this was a stark contrast to his previous school, this could mean that the students in front of him had parents that care for them.
Most students in his previous wore clothes that did not really belong to them. It can be either too big or too small. Sometimes stained but most of them were well worn. Their old clothes did not diminish their enthusiasm for learning though, which made Ali's job as a teacher easier than ever.
Ali noticed some of the seats were empty. He was about to ask but upon seeing the inquisitive looks in their eyes, Ali did not wish to prolong the awkwardness and the silence any longer.
He got up and walked to the centre of the classroom. After writing his name on the white board, he turned around, facing the curious faces of the students in front of him.
"Who is the class leader?", he asked with raised eyebrow.
There was a pause. Suddenly, a hand shot up from the left row. It belonged to a plump male student with thick eyebrows. He looked hesitant and pointed towards the female student in front of him, who was currently engrossed in writing on a piece of paper.
It took her several minutes to notice that everyone is staring at her. She jolted from her seat in surprise, stood up straighter than a flagpole and chanted the standard class greeting followed by her other classmates.
Ali felt slightly apologetic for causing her poor student the near experience to a heart attack, but he also could not help feeling amused at the same time.
He smiled as he waved for them to take their seats. His smile must have taken away some of the tension inside the classroom. Some started smiling on their own, their previously tense shoulders visibly relaxing as they sat down to their seat.
Some maintained their tense expression to which Ali considered pretty normal.
"Assalamualaikum* and good morning, everyone. Let me introduce myself. My name is Muhammad Ali. You can call me Teacher Ali or Sir Ali, up to you." He continued, "I am new here and I will be your class teacher for the rest of this term. Let's take care of each other, okay. As for now, do you have anything to ask me?"
Ali nodded towards the male student with tanned skin and curly hair, raised his hand with a huge smile on his face. "Sir, are you sure you are not that famous boxer, Muhammad Ali?"
While Ali was still confused, the boy chortled to his own joke and turned around to face his friend behind him. His friend then replied, "Boxer? What boxer? You mean, the boxer underwear?".
Amused, both of them erupted in laughter. This promptly provoked a chorus of jeers and laugher from boys and girls alike. Only one or two looked nervous as they kept glancing at Ali with a guilty expression.
Ali felt his cheeks and ears warming up.
He struggled maintained a tight-lipped smile to hide his anger while chanting to himself to calm down and that the people in front of him are not adults. They are only 16 years old teenagers who still found dumb jokes as funny.
Small part of him was impressed that they have the guts to make fun of him right to his face. When he was a student, even the thought of making fun of the teacher would send a shiver down everyone's spine.
Due to that, such thought remain as a thought that would never be fulfilled no matter how ruthless and rage inducing the teacher would be. To him, that is how it should be.
Ali remembered how he got his homework thrown to the floor, nearly hitting his face in the process when he failed to complete a homework. The teacher ranted on how he would fail in his life if he continued abandoning his study.
He did curse the teacher out after that (not to her face, of course) but now that he was an adult, he understood. The teacher was angry because she cares.
However, he did not do anything deserving of being made fun of yet. Suddenly, he was reminded of the previous incident in the staffroom. Is this what Mr Andi meant when he insinuated that Ali could be new lamb?
He could feel the anger brewing inside him but he was still aware of the eyes on him. Instinctually, he faked a laugh.
"I think it's pretty obvious I'm not the legend boxer Muhammad Ali and absolutely not the boxer underwear." He continued with a faux smile on his face. "You know…, you should be glad I'm not him. If I am, you will both be KO'd on this floor right now."
Right away, the laughter died down. All the students' stares were on him, tense and anxious but Ali focused his eyes on these two boys who previously had been mocking him. Watching how fast the smile on their faces dropped and how quickly those smiles turned into a frown, Ali pressed his lips together to suppress a smirk.
His satisfaction, however was temporary lived because as soon as his eyes landed on the nervous expression that his students had on their faces, it made Ali felt guilty.
They immediately avoided eye contact as soon their eyes met his and some continued whispering to one another. Ali bit his lips. This is not good.
His initial mission was to make good first impression but from the way things are going, looked like his mission might fail instantly.
Teaching itself is a tough job. Much tougher if the students already dislike him. Ali reprimand himself for uttering his honest thoughts out loud without filtering it through his brain first.
Still agitated, Ali directed his gaze to the inspirational quotes pasted on colourful papers on the notice board at the back of the classroom and his eyes immediately focusing on the one in yellow stating, 'If you can't beat them, join them'.
Few moments later, a light bulb went off on his head.
Making sure his smile appears as sincere as possible, Ali said, "Don't worry, everyone. I'm just joking. I can be both if you want." He let out a small laugh.
It was awkward. Instead of looking relaxed, they looked back at him sceptically. It was obvious that they were still wary of him.
Clutching the attendance register in his hand, Ali looked towards the faces in front of him. Dwelling on this would only be a waste of time.
"I need to know all of your names so one by one, please stand up and introduce yourself." He continued. "Just your name will do. If you prefer to be called by your nickname, feel free to share them with the class okay."
Their replies were mostly mumbles or grunts of "yes" or "okay". Although his sharp hearing did catch a mocking snort sound among those agreeing sounds, Ali ignored it.
If it was him three years ago, he would try to catch that one student and scold him or her. However, Ali wanted to prove to himself that he had changed. Plus, based on his experience as a teenager, students would rebel more if they were called out and they could be such a dramatic goon if they want to.
"Does anyone want to start?"
Again, the awkward silence.
Suddenly, there was a knock on the door revealing four female students and two male students. Four of them were prefects clad in their blue uniform while two of them wearing the normal white uniform.
Ali nodded at them as one by one entered and nodded at him. He gulped when his eyes spotted the female prefect which he desperately wanted to avoid.
Their eyes met. Her eyes widened in shock but she was quick to recover because despite the initial surprise, she quickly fixed her expression and walked nonchalantly to her seat in the middle of the classroom.
Ali took a deep breath. It was only his first day in this school, yet he already made the principal hate him. Not his students too.