Write an occasion when a furious argument took place based

on a case of mistaken identity.

Ryan entered the classroom, smiling. It was one of those days when
the weather was neither too hot nor too cold. He took his seat at the back
corner of the classroom and gazed out the window. The sun’s rays streamed
through the gaps in the clouds, soaking the morning in a pleasant hue of
warm yellow.

“What a perfect start to a new semester,” Ryan sighed to himself.

As he leaned back in his chair, he let himself be absorbed in the

conversations buzzing around him. There was an edge of excitement
lingering in their voices. He strained his ears, wondering what their topic of
conversation was.

“Did you know that there will be a new student joining our class from
today onwards?” Ashley asked Selena animatedly.

Selena gasped. “You know about it too? I saw him speaking with the
principal and Ms Marvel this morning. I can’t wait to meet him. He looks so
cute!” She squealed, almost bouncing in her seat.

Ryan smiled to himself, amused. Girls will always be girls, he thought.

He was used to the two peas in a pod speaking about boys like that. After all,
he had sat behind them for the past 5 months.

Just then, Ms Marvel entered the classroom. Ryan heard the two girls in
front of him gasp. Tailing behind their teacher was an athletic-looking boy
who had an angular face and a boyish smile. His hair was styled in spikes. A
single silver bracelet hung around his wrist. Ryan stared at it. There was
something oddly familiar about that bracelet.

“Good morning class. Today we have a new classmate joining us. This
is Ken. He is new here so I hope you will all assist him if he needs any help,”
Ms Marvel said, gesturing towards Ken. “Ken, would you like to introduce
yourself?”

“Thank you, Ms Marvel.” Smiling, Ken turned to the class. ”Hi

everyone! As you all know, my name is Ken. I have just moved into this area
exactly a month ago. It is my pleasure to meet all of you and I hope we can
all be friends.”

The class erupted in applause. Ryan was hardly paying attention. He

was racking his brain trying to figure out where he had seen the bracelet
before. A month ago… What was it that had bothered him a month ago? Ryan
thought harder. Suddenly, it all came into place. Ryan felt his anger start to
boil as he watched Ken. He was going to have his revenge.

“Ken, you may take your seat at the empty table beside Ryan,” Ms
Marvel told him.

As Ken made his way to his assigned seat, Ryan scowled. He had his
mind set. He would not make a scene on the first day of school. He would
start with giving Ken the cold shoulder.

As expected, Ken tried to make conversation as soon as he reached

the table. Ryan would not give in. He turned away and pulled his table away
from Ken’s. Out of his peripheral vision, he saw Ken stare at him confusedly,
but before Ken could say anything, Selena and Ashley turned around in their
seats and started chatting with Ken.

Ryan could hardly wait until recess. When the bell rang, he shot out of
his seat and strode across the room to Matt, his best friend since
kindergarten. He dragged Matt out of the classroom to the canteen.

“Hey, don’t you want to ask Ken along? We could eat with him,” Matt
suggested.

“No,” Ryan answered curtly. “I have something to tell you about him. It
happened during the holidays.”

Ryan let his mind wander back to that fateful day in June. He had been
terribly sick on that day, and was sulking all alone in bed at home. The doctor
had ordered him to stay in bed until he was feeling better. He had had a sore
throat, which had caused him to lose his voice, and had to constantly hold a
tissue in his hand to wipe off his mucus.

Fortunately, his bed was just beside the window. At least he could
watch the changes in the sky stretching across the horizon. As he was
watching a flock birds soaring in the sky above, he caught a glimpse of
movement just outside his house. Struggling to peer out the window, he
spotted a boy of about his age pulling a bicycle away, all the while glancing
around to make sure he was not noticed. Ryan squinted and realized that the
bicycle was his! He was actually watching his own prized possession being
stolen by some stranger.

Ryan could do nothing about it except fume in anger. He was too weak
to get out of bed and he could not speak even if he wanted to report the
case. As Ryan watched the boy helplessly from his window, he saw the
sunlight glisten off the boy’s bracelet as it caught the sun.

“And that bracelet is exactly the same as the one Ken was wearing
today!” Ryan finished his story, trying to control his rage.

“Are you positive it was Ken that you saw?” Matt questioned him
doubtfully, eyeing Ken who was chatting happily with some of their
classmates at another table. “He does not look like the type that would
steal.”
 “Haven’t you heard of the phrase ‘looks can be deceived’?” Ryan threw
his arms up in the air, shaking his head in frustration. He slurped the final few
drops of his lemonade and stood up. “I’m going to confront him one of these
days.”

Back in class, Ryan continued giving the cold shoulder to Ken. This
went on for a couple of days. Ken could not take it any longer. He had to find
out what it was about him that made Ryan hate him so much.

“Alright, Ryan. I don’t want to play this game anymore. I am sick of you
ignoring me all the time when nobody else does. What’s up with you? Why do
you hate me so much?” Ken asked Ryan during recess in the classroom one
day.

Ryan, who had been doing his Math homework, looked up at Ken. “And
you still have the nerve to ask me that question. You should know it
yourself.” Ken snapped.

“Now I really do not understand what you are talking about. What is it?
Is it because I’m new? Or that you don’t like my hair? My style? My attitude?
What is it, Ryan?” Ken demanded.

“You stole my bike,” Ryan spat, slowly emphasizing on each word.

“You came to my house last month, and you wheeled my bike away like it
was all yours.”

“What?” Ken exclaimed in disbelief. “I was in my house unpacking my

belongings and repainting my house the whole of the holidays! How can you
accuse me like that?”

“I saw you! I saw you with my own two eyes!” Ryan bellowed, unable
to control his anger any longer. “Don’t try to deny it too. I recognize that
stupid bracelet of yours. The only reason I did not report it was because I was
sick. But I am going to get my revenge someday.”

“Oh, so you accuse me of stealing your bicycle, just because I wear the
same bracelet as the thief? Well, let me tell you something. My whole family
wears this bracelet! It’s a family tradition, and it could be anyone of us that
you saw!” Ken retorted.

“Yes, but ironically, the thief resembles you in more ways than one. He
had the same spiky hair, the same lean body, and not to forget, the same
silver bracelet! Unless you have a twin or something, all of the description
goes down to you,” Ryan countered.

“Wait. My cousin in Australia looks just like me, and he also has this
bracelet. When was it again that it happened?” Ken asked, recalling
something.
 “June second. At about three in the afternoon,” Ryan answered,
puzzled.

“Ah ha!” Ken snapped his fingers. “Then it must have been Kaye, my
evil cousin who looks just like me! He had come to visit during the holidays. I
never liked him. He had always been mischievous. And on that day, he had
brought home a blue bicycle, claiming that he had bought it with his own
money. He asked me to keep it for him, so that when he comes to visit, he
can play with it.”

“What? Really?” Ryan frowned, skeptical. “So now you have my bicycle
at your house?”

“Yeah, come by to my house after school. I will return it to you,” Ken

said sincerely.

Ryan felt relieved, and at the same time guilty. Immediately, he

apologized to Ken for his behaviour ever since school started. He promised
that he would not accuse anyone like that anymore. Smiling, they shook
hands.

“Let’s start all over again. Hi, my name is Ryan. Nice to meet you,”
Ryan introduced himself.

“I’m Ken. It’s a pleasure to meet you too.” Ken flashed his boyish
smile. Laughing, they sat down to wait for their next teacher to arrive.