Inaya’s repeat O Levels result is out. Her siblings realise she must have checked it on her phone all by herself and hurry to her room....
COVER STORY
Inaya’s repeat O Levels result is out. Her siblings realise she must have checked it on her phone all by herself and hurry to her room.
Jasir and Leena ran to Inaya’s room.
“Inaya?” Leena asked in a small voice.
“Inaya!” Jasir knocked on the door. “You don’t have to tell us what it is. We can postpone Bad News Day until you feel better.”
The door flung open to reveal a very sleep deprived Inaya with a determined expression. “It’s not Bad News Day anymore!” she said. “It’s Result Day.”
“So...” Leena looked at Inaya closely. “Do you want me to go first?”
“What do you mean, first?” Inaya frowned. “Isn’t there still time until your result?”
“Are you going to show a fake result again?” Jasir asked, turning to Leena.
Leena smiled. “My result came out last week. I’ve been saving it for Bad News—I mean, Result Day. You know, in case Mama and Papa need some distraction.”
Inaya covered her face with her hands. “That won’t work,” she said. “I only got two A grades.”
“That’s...that’s more than last year’s result, right?” Jasir turned to Leena, who nodded. “It was four B grades, three C grades and a D grade,” she said.
“How do you know her result from last year?” Jasir said.
Leena reached out and pulled Inaya into a hug, upon which Inaya immediately started crying at full volume.
“Don’t do that!” Jasir said. “It doesn’t matter what else you got. You went back for a full year and came back with two A grades! It’s good enough.”
Inaya paused crying to sniff hard before saying, “I got 2 A’s, 4 B’s, a C and a D.” She sniffed again. Leena immediately said, “You improved your grades in your best subjects?” Inaya sniffed. “And the lowest grades remained the same as last year’s?” Leena went on. Inaya nodded and let go of Leena.
“I’m done,” she said. “I am done with this.”
“That’s good,” Leena said. “Now, should we go together to tell Mama and Papa about this Result Day?” Inaya nodded. Jasir fell into step alongside them. “You’re sure in a hurry for someone who doesn’t have a board exam this year,” Inaya said.
“I just want to get this over with so I can get my turn at the computer,” Jasir said, but he smiled.
***
“Why are we stuck inside, studying this again?” Awais scribbled absentmindedly in the corner of the tuition workbook which lay between him and Jasir during their evening home tuition.
The two friends were stuck inside studying while the rest of the Moin family were in the front lawn.
“My sisters,” Jasir said, reaching forward and making a grid on Awais’s rough paper.
Awais made a circle in the grid, followed by Jasir making a cross on the opposite side. “I don’t understand,” he said. Jasir proceeded to fill the grid with crosses. “You can just answer in words,” Awais said.
Jasir laughed. “Inaya is going to apply to the Women‘s College that Leena wanted to get into in the first place,” he said.
“Is that a good thing?” Awais asked. “Will it finally get us out of studying during summer holidays?”
“I don’t think so,” Jasir said. “Now that Inaya wants to go there, our cousin Arisha will want to apply as well, so there will always be something going on.”
“Jasir,” said Awais, sitting up straight. “Tell me you’re going to use your scholarship that you won in Student Super Star. That means we’ll never have to waste our summers again.”
“I am telling you that I am going to use my scholarship that I got from the Student Super Star reality TV show,” Jasir said.
“You just said that because I said ‘tell me’, right?” Awais said, then they both fell laughing.
***
“Kids!” Mama called out. “Did you get your schedules from your teachers? Do you know what to do for your first class?” It was the first day of the new academic year and the family was running around the kitchen in various states of disarray.
“I didn’t know you would be this excited about us going back to school and college,” Inaya said while Mama quickly handed her a lunch bag.
“She’s been waiting all year for you to get back to a regular student routine instead of just cramming for exams,” Leena said, handing her a water bottle.
Inaya frowned. “Really?” she asked.
Mama smiled. “You’re happy when you’re busy,” was all she said.
“But...” Inaya turned to Papa who was being handed his own lunch box. “I was busy all year preparing for exams.”
“It is good to see you move forward in your education,” Papa said. “You can spend a lot of time being busy in the same spot without actually going anywhere.”
“This is another fatherly saying, isn’t it?” Inaya said.
“Sounds more like something Jasir would say,” Leena said.
“I can hear all of you, you know?” Jasir’s answer came from where he sat at the computer table.
“What would you call it, Jasir?” Inaya asked.
Jasir looked thoughtfully into the distance until the screensaver appeared on the computer screen. “I would call it a life tip or life hack,” he said finally. “Hack as in, getting to know the most important point about what you are trying to do, that helps you do it successfully.”
“Get ready, kids,” Papa said. “It’s time to go to school.” The three Moin children gathered their things and packed themselves into the car.
The family car went down the street and then took a turn, headed towards another morning, another school day, another work day, another Hackschool Project.
This was Hackschool Project. I hope you liked it. I loved reading all the letters the readers sent in over the years. Please let Us know what you thought of it. Send in your questions for Leena, Inaya and Jasir. I will be happy to answer on their behalf. Also, there will be a surprise related to Hackschool Project. I will let you know soon.
Regards,
Iqra Asad
Well, readers, Iqra has ended Hackschool, but is it really ended? The ‘surprise’ gives us hope that we will meet the Moins again. Till then, Iqra will keep you entertained with something new… So wait for it; it’s coming soon!
