Kenya. Turkey. Japan. Suit and tie. He was in her way.
She hadn't paid much attention to him until now. The teacher introduced the lean, dark haired teen as an American, from New York, New York.
Nothing she was interested in; not that she had something against American's. It was just all the hype surrounding them that bugged her. "They dress better" they say (whatever that meant). And they were just cooler to hang around. Honestly, the boy who stood in front of the entire class looked no different from the French boys in her class, nor the Swedish ones at home. Guys were guys. No matter what country you traveled to.
"Introduce yourself," the teacher ceased his fiddling with his ballpoint pen, "Tell us your name,"
"In French," snared Tommy behind Victoria.
The American ignored them by focusing on his cold, white knuckles.
Malina tried peering behind the transfer, through the cracks that his arms provided, but he kept moving in motion, nervously.
"Leo Albert," he murmured.
"Well class, let's give Leo a fond bonjour,"
Everyone moaned it through their teeth like it pained them. Malina, on the other hand, placed her pencil down, and sighed lowly to herself. That’s when her piecing blue eyes studied him and his fancy suit, his ironed tie and blushing face. "Hi,"
The room soaked in silence, while the teacher looked to the transfer then back at her. "He can speak French," he notified.
"I know," she bit her bottom lip. " I just thought it would be nice" muttering this in French, Malina closed her notebook. She could finish it up later. He wasn't going to stand in the way the entire semester.
"Take a seat," the teacher gestured to the back of the flourished classroom.
Very carefully, and calmly, Leo hurried to the nearest empty space by the window pane. Passing Malina with a friendly nodd. A few other kids giggled as he took a few books out from his bag, and straightened his tie. He ignored it. Leo just wished he would have worn something a little more casual. He would have bamed his mom. But then again, she was trying to help.
He slumped his messenger bag beside his leg, unsure if he would disrupt the class by tossing it in the far-right corner. He was still waiting for a locker so, he decided to keep it there, avoiding the extra attention.
"Our last discussion was on human rights. Do any one of you remember were we left off?"
"Child Marriage," a girl in a dark sweater piped. " We came to the conclusion that it was doing an injustice to children,"
"Yes, Daisy. These laws are very common in India." he began pacing the floor. "Families are allowed to marry their child away at the youngest age of seven."
The hair on Leo's arms began to stick up. "India is also one of the poorest countries in the entire world, so this law is supposed to be "helping" their economy. If parents can't afford enough food or nourishment for their kids, they'll go as far as marrying the "weakest" sex off," His fingers created another air parentheses .
"The subjects under the topic human rights come in many different forms. So, this semester you'll be partnered up to tackle one of your choice." Daisy grinned widely, her eyes finding Malina's.
If she was paired up with that girl again, she reckoned she'd lose her mind.
"Tomorrow we'll discuss partners,"