Faris slumped against his chair as he stared at the word problem Miss Ahmed had just explained on the board. To him, it felt like insects crawling on the board and nothing else.

It wasn’t like he was a bad student. In fact, Faris was a hardworking student, if not a smart-working one. It was just this subject, maths, where no matter how hard he worked, nothing seemed to make sense.

Miss Ahmed noticed Faris’s struggle. She was a kind teacher, one who was genuinely passionate about teaching. She knew the only subject stopping Faris from getting a good position was mathematics.

So, after the class ended and everyone rushed to pack their bags as if they had businesses to run (instead of lying in bed and doomscrolling), Miss Ahmed asked Faris to stay back.

“Faris,........

© Dawn Young Magazine