"So let me get this straight," Nelson said, voice cracking in disbelief as he wriggled through a hula hoop, "Sam's only met Mimi twice, and he's got some sort of thing for her?"

The hoop slides from Nelson's arm to Tengku's through their joined hands, and it was the other boy's turn to struggle to contort his lean body through it.

"Ye 'odo," he remarked, craning his neck to pass through the hoop. "Ingat ni drama kul 7 kat TV3 ke?"

"Cepatlah, Tengku," Layla calls out from the front of the line we had formed. "Team lain dah nak habis dah. Nanti kalau last kena hukum."

"I'm trying!" Tengku groans, sticking his head through the hoop. The plastic hoop strikes his arm. "Ow!"

The hoop passes to Sam, who does a little jiggle and slips right through like an eel. The hula hoop hangs in the crook of his elbow as he spreads his arms wide. "Ta-da! Senang je, buk."

Cheers erupt from the other end of the hall. Layla's eyes grow wide in horror. "Sam, jatuhkan!"

Mirroring her expression, Sam straightens his arm and the hoop drops to the ground, but not fast enough.

"Aha!" Sir Uwais strides over to our line. "Ni kumpulan apa ni?"

"Enam," Apple replies, one foot pointed at the door of the hall, as if prepared to run.

"Okay, semua duduk kecuali Kumpulan Enam," Sir Uwais instructs, and everyone complies.

Great. Kena hukum.

"Tula, korang ni, banyak cakap, tengok, kita dah last," Layla mutters, rolling her eyes.

"Eh." Sam holds his arms up in mock surrender. "Bukan salah aku, Tengku dan Nick yang menyibuk."

Apple brings her hands up to cover her acne-ridden face. "It's going to be the Chicken Dance, isn't it? They're going to make us do the Chicken Dance."

"So dramatic." Nana shakes her head. "No, of course it's not going to be the Chicken Dance."

"Semua orang kat sini tahu kan lagu Chicken Dance?" Sir Uwais asks. Everyone else in the hall nods gleefully.

"And in one, two-"

I turn to Nana, whose eyes have bulged out of her skull. "You were saying?"

The entire hall bursts into a poorly-synced version of the Chicken Dance song, which we reluctantly begin to move our limbs to.

"Tenet-net-net-net-net-net, tenet-net-net-net-net-net, tenet-net-net-net-net-net, tenet-net-net...

"Tenet-net-net-net-net-net, tenet-net-net-net-net-net, tenet-net-net-net-net-net, tenet-net-net...

"Tenet-net-net-net-net-net, tenet-net-net-net-net-net, tenet-net-net-net-net-net, tenet-net-net..."

The song reaches the bridge, and all eight of us spin around slowly, flapping our arms like chicken wings.

"How much longer?" Umaira whines as the chorus resumes, wiggling her bottom as she lowers herself to the ground before wiggling upwards again.

"I don't know," I reply hopelessly, flapping my arms like I'm chasing a mosquito away.

Apple lets out a faint whimper, her face bright red in embarrassment.

"You're doing great, Nick!" A Zonrian girl cheers, flashing a thumbs up as she waves her photographer's camera in the air. "This is going into the yearbook!"

"Oh, crap." Nick squeezes his eyes shut, as if trying to wish everything away. "Please don't let this go viral."

Sam, however, is enjoying himself immensely, throwing all his energy into each shake of his hips and every flap of his skinny arms. "C'mon, guys, we must live in the moment!"

Tengku attempts to follow his lead, a pained smile stretching across his face.

"Can somebody strangle him please?" Nana mumbles, casting a glance at Sam, her own movements minimal and restrained.

"We tried," Layla replies, dancing as if she has given up on life completely at the moment. "It just makes him chirpier."

Umaira's eyebrows shoot up. "Kinky, huh?"

"Saya tidak faham maksud anda," Sam declares, nose up in the air as he continues to flap confidently in a circle. "Nggak bisa Bahasa Inggeris."

"And... stop!" Sir Uwais calls out, and the horrible singing comes to an end.

Almost all of us drop to the ground, legs crossed and backs hunched, as if that would hide us from public view. Sam delivers a dramatic bow before settling down with us.

"Jadinya, Sir harap, aktiviti tadi dapat build sikit teamwork antara ahli kumpulan," Sir Uwais claps his hands together. "Okay, sekarang, Sir nak, kamu semua fikirkan 'cheer' untuk kumpulan masing-masing. Sir bagi lima minit, pastu setiap kumpulan kena tunjuk 'cheer' diorang. Boleh?"

"Boleh," everyone intones.

We gather into a lopsided circle, where Apple leans on my shoulder.

"Mimi, I'm tired. Wake me up when they're done." She plops her head into my lap and closes her eyes.

Nana rolls her eyes and starts shaking Apple. "No, no, you don't get to sleep. You're supposed to figure this out. Wake up."

"We can let Mister Enthusiastic over there do it," Apple mumbles, rolling around in my lap so she doesn't have to face her sister. "Just a nap, Nana."

"Since we're Group Six, we should pick something to do with the number six," Layla suggests.

"Okay, okay, okay," Sam claps his hands repeatedly to get our attention, "how about, you know that Camp Rock movie?"

Umaira shakes her head with a terrified smile on her face. "No, no, not the-"

"Hand gestures," Sam finishes, his arms rotating back and forth in a series of claps and movements. "CAMP ROCK!"

"Cringe," Tengku comments. "I say we just do simple, E-NAM! Pastu tunjuk enam kt jari."

"That sounds good." Umaira nods.

I pretend to lick my fingers, miming popping my thumb out my mouth loudly as I do Giyomi Number Six. 

Apple giggles in my lap like a baby. She points up at me. "We can just do this!" 

"Girl, can you sit up straight?" 

Apple jerks upright at the sound of Puan Kalaivani's voice. She turns around to face our discipline teacher, the one I'd vomitted on earlier. 

"Please show some discipline. Other schools are watching." 

I let out an innocent cough. Puan Kalaivani blanches, as if the memory of 'the incident' is flashing through her mind. She quickly sashays away, her heels somehow clacking on the tikar. 

Apple stifles a grin. She catches the rest of our group staring. "Anyways, what was it? E-NAM?"

"Mimi did something, I didn't see what it was," Layla prompted. 

"Oh. Mimi, show them."

Seven pairs of eyes focus on me. 

I begin to shake my head. "Takde pape pun--"

"Ehem, ehem!" Sir Uwais clears his throat, striding into the middle of the hall. "Masa sudah tamat."

He surveys the room, and my stomach sinks as his eyes fall on us. 

"Apa kata kita tengok cheer daripada Kumpulan Enam dulu?"

Stunned, all eight of us stay put, bottoms firmly planted on the woven mat.

"Maira," Nana hisses at Umaira. "Can you tell your cousin to chill?"

Umaira raises her shoulders. "What do you want me to do? I barely know the guy. I only see him once a year during Raya."

Apple squishes her cheeks with her palms, eyes pinned upwards as if she is expecting meteors to fall from the sky. "Why is it always us? What have we done to be cursed so?"

A teasing grin appears on Sir Uwais's face. "Nampaknya Kumpulan Enam malu sikit, tadi dah buat persembahan, sekarang kena buat lagi. Let's give them some encouragement, okay?"

The entire hall erupts into whoops and cheers, practically bullying us into standing up. 

Sir Uwais holds up three fingers. "In three, two, one..."

Tengku jumps into action, springing to the front and holding up his fingers in the way he'd suggested. "E-NAM!"

Layla, Nelson, Umaira, Nana and I copy him, hands stiffly extended at the elbows. "E-NAM!"

Unfortunately, the lack of proper discussion had left Sam and Apple with very different ideas.

At the sound of Tengku's voice, Sam begins his series of complex hand gestures, throwing his bony limbs around like nunchucks, while Apple mimes licking her fingers one by one like the way I had shown her. 

Apple finishes her cheer first, jabbing her thumb forward as she shouts, "E-NAM!"

Tengku plays along, pushing his fingers out again. "E-NAM!"

We repeat after him. "E-NAM!"

Sam then completes his sequence. "E-NAM!"

Tengku follows, a frantic look in his eye. "E-NAM!"

And we follow him again. "E-NAM!"

Tengku then casts his gaze around our circle, ready to shout his cheer again if anyone adds some more. 

"Very good! Panjang sikit, tapi Sir bagi A for effort! " Sir Uwais claps, and all of us plop down into our circle again. He calls on another group, and they begin their short cheer demonstration. 

Dumbfounded, the eight of us stare at each other, not even sparing the other groups' cheers a glance. A second later, everyone begins talking at the same time.

"You guys do realise that we have to do that whole thing again the next time they ask for group cheers, right?" Nelson asks, frowning. 

Layla counts on her fingers. "We said E-NAM a total of eight times."

Tengku throws his hands in the air. "Why was that so hard?"

"Has anyone ever questioned, who started the saying, A for effort? I mean, isn't it E?" Apple blathers. She thrusts her chin onto my shoulder. "Mimi, I'm still sleepy."

"Well, that was a disaster," Nana comments. 

Umaira smacks her forehead, the sound of her palm on her skin loud enough to silence everyone. "This group is a disaster."