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.