My Secondary School Life

Friends look out for friends

"Wow! Tega you're really early today and why and how did you lock yourself up? " I heard a voice say as I woke up from my sleep, yawning and rubbing my eyes to see the person better. I opened my eyes, looking up at the person and I came across sparkling light brown eyes. It belonged to Stella, our Class prefect. The class prefect and the assistant were the only ones who had the keys to the class. Only God knows how Williams locked me in
"Hi Stella" I said, as I yawned again. Stella and I are the only two light-skinned girls in my class. So I was nicknamed Americana by the French teacher, who rarely remembers the names of my classmates. People often say I have the skin tone of an American and it flatters me. Stella on the other hand, looks much like an Albino, with light brown eyes that sparkled when the sun shone on it. She has very short light brown hair and is always a cheerful person.
"Umm, actually, I was locked in class" I stated simply. Being locked in class wasn't as bad as I thought. Despite the fact that I didn't get a good sleep and it was really hot in there, it was peaceful. I'm a quiet and often shy person and I love being on my own most times. Unfortunately, my family don't really give me the privilege, when I'm alone they say I'm isolating myself from the rest of the family members.
Wait! My uniform, it's soaked with sweat and tears from yesterday. I can't wear this today.
"Stella, there's no time to explain. I have to go home quick and change okay" I told her as I got up to leave the class. My house isn't very far from the school so I walked there.

On reaching the house I knocked on the door, Enohor opened it with a cheerful smile on her face. I assumed she saw me through the window.
"Otega!! Where were you last night. Daddy and I were really worried"
"Sorry, Eno, I slept over at Kemi's house with his sister, Tami" I lied.
" Why? "
" It's long story".
I ran to my room, changed out of my soaked school uniform and into my towel to take my bath. Shortly after, I wore my clean school uniform and dropped my lunch box on the table in the kitchen. I brushed my teeth and sprayed some perfume. I also collected money from my savings for lunch as I didn't want to meet my parents.
I ran towards the door only to be stopped by my dad.
" When did you arrive and where were you? Answer my question now! " My father said angrily.
" I spent the night at Kemi's house with his sister, Tami". Kemi and I recently figured out that our parents were childhood friends and they seemed happy to know that Kemi and I are friends although, It seemed like they were happy about something entirely different from friendship. "I'm very sorry Daddy, I'm just really tired of seeing you, mummy and Aunty Enita fight and mummy or Aunty Enita ending up getting hurt each time. Aunty Enita is causing conflict in the family, I want her to leave." I said, not knowing where my sudden courage came from. I had never been so straight forward to my parents about my opinions out of fear that they might hurt me or shut me down. Regardless, I maintained eye contact with my father who stared at me in shock.
He cleared his throat and spoke "I'm sorry, but your Aunty cannot leave. I can see your mother has poisoned your mind".And with that he walked away. What?! Why does he always blame my mother for everything related to Aunty Enita!!! Doesn't he trust her? I stood there feeling sorry for my mother.

At school:
It was now 7:00 AM, and assembly starts by 7:30 AM. I gradually approached the school gate. I walked inside freely since I left my bag in the class.
I walked inside to see Stella, Raphael, Emmanuel, Kemi, Ngozi and Ezinne.
"Score!!! I came before Tega!" Kemi shouted joyfully.
"No way! Tega came before all of us. I came by 6:20 AM and she was already here. She said she needed to go home and change for some reason. See her bag is here. By the way, what did you mean by you were locked in class yesterday?" Stella said. No! I don't want anyone to know that, especially Kemi who gave me a questioning look.
" Did I say locked in class? I probably meant...stuck and...CRASH!!" And then I started laughing nervously.
" Mmm, pretty sure I heard locked in class!" Uh! I felt like strangling Stella to death. Suddenly, someone grabbed my hand, startling me a little.
"Kemi where are you dragging me to?" I asked as I looked up at him. He didn't answer me. "Where are you dragging me na?!" I asked again, louder this time. He still didn't answer me. So I decided to keep quiet until we stopped at the back of the school.
"Oya talk!" He commanded.
"Okay, my favorite food is Jollof rice, I'm scared of dogs but I love puppies, I love vanilla and chocolate ice cream. My favorite chocolate is sneakers. My best colour is-"
" Not that! Why and how did you get locked in class? Does it have anything to do with Kosi?" He asked, giving me a suspicious look off "And don't you dare lie to me".
"Well....." I said. "I, umm, you see..."
"Tega!"
"Fine!" I said, surrendering. I ran upstairs telling Kemi to stay down and brought out the note Kosi and Williams left for me yesterday.
"This would explain everything" I said. He grabbed the note and began reading it. After he was done, he looked up and stared at me. Then tore the paper.
"So you're just going to let them bully you like this?" He asked.
"No, I'm learning Karate so I can defend myself" I replied "But I can't report to a teacher. They're only going to hate me more and make my life more miserable"
"You can't but I can" He said giving a firm look. "And also, you have to stop liking Daniel, Kosi's tormenting you because of him. I thought you cared about your school reputation more than anything?" He asked.
" Yeah" I answered.
"Well, Kosi's already destroying your school reputation all because of a guy, Daniel isn't worth it Tega. You'll find better guys in the future, ok" he said. Even though I hate to admit it, Kemi has a point.
" Can you help me with that?" I pleaded.
" Sure, whatever" he said.
I gave him a hug, he's the best friend a girl could ever ask for. But then slowly, I released him.
"What?" He asked.
"Remember no skinship" He rolled his eyes and pulled me in for a hug.
"I don't care what those people say, we're best of friends and friends hug" he said.

"But what about Williams, am I going to stay away from you too?" I said once we stopped hugging.
"You can try but you'll never succeed" He said, grinning. I rolled my eyes and punched him in the arm playfully.
" Seriously"
"I can just tell her I don't like her the same way" He said simply.
"No way, she's going to take out her anger on me, like Kosi did" I stated.
"Yeah, you have a point, mmm, okay, we make up a really big lie about her that could get her expelled" He said, eagerly.
I slapped my palm on my forehead.
"No!" I said.
"Okay, I could teach you how to stand up for yourself. Your quiet nature and kind behavior together with your fear of getting hurt is what is making those girls to have so much courage to bully you like this"
"Was that a sort of complement?" I asked, smiling wildly.
"Sort of" He said, grinning.

We went back to class only to find Kosi speaking with Stella. I paused and gradually went behind Kemi. I saw him roll his eyes and he held my hand, giving me an assuring look. Luckily, Kosi ignored me completely until it was time for our morning assembly.