Wrong Side Of The Bed

05 | the debacle of the debate club.

JANNAT'S P.O.V

     I DIDN'T GET TO WEAR MY NEW SHOES until early Wednesday morning. Baba had strictly forbid me from wearing any type of shoes other than house slippers inside the house.

My new Prada loafers went quite well along with my school attire, if I did say so myself. Thankfully our school didn't have the absurd rule of wearing shoes only prescribed by the school authorities. Like ew. One's shoes reflects one's personality - and I would have stirred up a riot and would have raised hell if I were forced to do the same.

Our school, thankfully, wasn't the strictest when it came to its dress code. As long as you wore a blazer with the school badge, school tie, any white shirt and a skirt that didn't flash everything to others when you crouched down - one could make whatever minimal alterations to it that one could want. And I had made alterations to mine, of course, alterations that didn't seem too much to a naked eye but would make me stand out in the crowd with ease — I always added some or other bright pop of colors. A flashy headband. A bright designed belt. A colorful ribbon or bow. An eye-catching bag. Little, game changing accessories like that.

"Have a great day at school, shona!" Baba shouted after me as I waved and Dad shot me a grin and a mock salute. I found Este and Adri waiting for me near the gate - all three of us lived in the same block, and thankfully I was the one who did all the driving while we carpooled - Este was a too-cautious driver and Adri was so scared of running people over that she had never learnt to drive. I used to have a driver who drove us to and back from school and I usually picked up Adri and Este on the way, but last week — the driver was caught trying to steal from the house. My parents were currently in search of a nice, faithful driver, and thanks to that — I had won the liberty of driving to school on my own.

"What's up, ladies?"

Este offered me a colossal smile. "Guess what?"

I frowned for a moment, pondering over the possibilities. "You finally got all the signs needed for your save turtles petition?"

"Unfortunately, no," She replied, slinging her backpack over her shoulder. "But Greta Thunberg liked my post on Instagram which talked about some environmental measures we could take to make life better for us in the city. Can you believe it?"

I could barely contain the squeal that whizzed past my lips as Adri threw her arms around Este. "I am so proud of you!"

"How are you not on the floor right now?" Adri asked, tossing her braided hair back. "You must be a bubble of excitement!"

"I am! I am!" Este squealed and grabbed my arm, pulling me in for a hug. I gave out a nervous laugh, awkwardly patting my best friends on their back.

I was truly proud of Estelle, I was. I had seen passionate tears escape her eyes while debating about environment, and her other favorites — turtles. Whenever we were to participate in any environment-themed debate competition, my first thought and choice was always her. She deserved all this attention and a lot more.

"What a beautiful Wednesday!" Estelle exclaimed wistfully, climbing into my Range Rover, the door giving out a loud metallic screech as she pulled it shut. I glared at her. Adri glared at her too.

"Okay okay, I promise to be more caring about cars! I'm sorry!"

I shook my head, stifling a chuckle as I peered at the two of them via the rear view mirror — waiting for them to put their seatbelts on, before pulling away from the curb. Adri spoke up.