Brown Skinned Bet

Chapter XXVIII

•Kainene•

         "SS3 girls oh,bus has arrived and Geography Uncle said he is leaving in twenty minutes,please you guys should hurry up!" Annabelle's voice boomed from where she stood at the centre of the square.

         I sighed,peeling myself off my bed so that I was now seated and rummaging through my underwear bag to find a suitable pair of extra long black socks as A-class girls had decided to use that as some form of special embellishment today hence I was faced with the task of having to co-operate even though I felt rather indifferent to the idea.

          Besides,school within the past few weeks had been nothing but pure hell to me. I'd become so psychologically worked up,physically stressed and emotionally wrecked that I concluded I was at the verge of losing myself. Sometimes,I wished I could simply erase everything from my mind.

          Jade and I had become awfully awkward since the day of my outburst,so much that some days went by without us speaking ten complete sentences to each other. I felt guilty,my conscience pressed on me each time I found myself alone once again,as I'd successfully pushed everyone away,I did want to apologise but surprisingly,I didn't know how.

         Writing exams had never butchered my bones as much as writing the first mock examinations did. Onome was never around,Oghale was always busy and Jade did well in avoiding me most times. It was like the solution to my problems was sitting right before me yet I couldn't reach out to it.

         In summary,I was lonely. Despite Jawal's constant attempts to engage me in some form of conversation or the other with him,I still felt lonely. To make matters worse,exams finally came to an end hence my mind became less occupied,it was like I'd lost my essence in life.

         I felt like an empty shell,waking up,going through my morning routine and just having to lay on my bed all day without a purpose. Another not so humorous fact,was how my mind drifted to Daryl from time to time,how I kept harbouring thoughts like He wouldn't let me go through this alone if only he knew. But everytime I saw him,I wondered who really needed more help between us.

         Today,being the Saturday of the first extra week after exams,had been scheduled for our geography excursion which we were supposed to have been attended to by our SS1 but had been so much deferred that we had to do it now even when a good number of us no longer offered the course.

         "You guys I'm staying in C class bus oh" Onome declared as we made our way out the double flush doors of the hostel alongside the rest of our classmates,each one of us clad in our best set of our school uniform,pleats well laid,white dress shirts well ironed,school shoes brightly polished and ties knotted and clipped to the mid rib of our dress shirt.

        It was only normal to see everyone in their best dressing,we would be exiting the school premises after all and Pacreis girls never fucked up when it came it to dressing to impress. I mean,I'd spotted girls who had loosened their woven hair yesterday and braided their hair into a new style through the night.

         "Chai,I knew you would ditch us in the very end" Jade commented from where she walked,to the right of Onome. "Abeg e" Onome brushed off while I remained silent,paying more attention to the sound emanating from the trudging of our feet against the slabways as we approached the three coaster buses which had been parked just before the admin block.
      
         As usual,the boys made it out of the hostel before the girls seeing how they flanked around the buses,waiting for when the cue would be given so they could settle into the bus.

        Coincidentally,the cue was given as soon as we reached where they stood,causing the double flush doors of the white buses to be pushed open and we surged through them. I trailed behind though,watching as Onome diverted towards the third bus and I sighed internally,knowing that this would be yet another long lonely day for me.