Her silence

Thirteen

Previously on her silence....

"Vera"I smiled following her at a slower pace.

"I sure missed you."

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Judy's eyes widened in anticipation. Unable to sit still, she bounced up and down with the agitation of an excited toddler. The chair wobbled under her weight, I'm afraid it might give way with the performance she's carrying.

"This is going to be interesting!" Her squeal echoed into hall.

Mira glanced around the hall, taking in its spaciousness. "I know right!" Excitement laced her tone.

We all took seats on the second row. Judy, Mira and Vera sat on my left, while Xen and Darla are on my right.

A sigh made its way from my mouth and I crossed my legs. It seemed odd for the authorities to call a meeting at this time of a day. I agreed with Judy and Mira, something is definitely up.

"Do you know why they huddled us in one room?"I heard Xen whispering to Darla.

" I dunno oo," She shrugged, "Guess they want to give us a formal welcome or something"

"She's coming!" A girl's scream suddenly pierced through the air. I whipped my head around as a dark skinned girl with short curls bounded up the aisle. She walked past me and sat in the middle of her group of friends in first row.

'Hey, Who's coming?" Another girl from behind asked in loud voice.

She yelled back," A teacher,"

Students loitering about began scrambling to their seats at the girl's revelation. A hush settled over the hall as all the Whispers and chattering reduced to nothing.

The sounds of heels clinking cut through the silence. Every girls head turned in expectation to the the entrance door on the far left of the evelated podium.

A woman with crisp white skin pushed the door open and stepped into hall. Several girls gasped when they saw her. Her skin almost glowed under the fluorescent light. Her attire breathed immaculatedness, clad in a beige chiffon blouse tucked in a black pencil skirt. Her ice blonde hair is tied in a chignon. She looked in all elegant, for a woman her age.

Her grey eyes skimmed through for room for a second, they paused a little in their movement when they reached our row. She gazed at each of her faces like she's trying to commit them to memory. Her gaze faltered and she catwalked to center of the podium.

Her red cupid's bows lips broke into a smile.

"Good morning girls!" Her cheery voice boomed into the hall,"Before we start our daily activities, I just wanted to welcome all of you,"

"She seems nice," Vera whispered to our crew.

The white lady adjusted her blouse. As she does, I noticed she held a big red scroll.

"My name is Mrs Buttercup"she continued.

I chucked lightly. Wait that's like her actual name? White people have dumb last names I guess.

Mira hums, somewhat delighted," She is sweet like butter,"

Mrs. Buttercup opened the large scroll in her hand and read out loud,"Rule number one"

"Stealing is a grave act and if you are caught under any circumstances stealing,you will be expelled on the spot." All iota of niceness disappeared from her voice. Her British accent now had an authoritarian lilt to it.

She paused for a second and skimmed our faces,"Rule number two,"she read on.

"There are two hostels in the school. The first hotel will be occupied by boys. It is painted dark green. It is surrounded by a fence and a little garden. Under no circumstances should a girl be found loitering around that area or there would be serious consequences. The other hostel is located close to the school farm. It is painted light green.

"The girls will stay in this hostel during the evenings from 4pm-8pm after which they will be forced to retire to bed. Four girls to a room. You are under obligation to keep your room always neat. Failure to do that will result to a three week suspension. If you are suspended twice you'd be expelled."

"Ugh! They really like the color green"I whispered.

Xen whispered back," She's not nice anymore."

"All I hear is expelled"Mira whispered and I giggled.

"Rule number three lights out," She interrupted our little chatter. "You are all expected to go to bed by 8pm and wake up 5 am. If you are caught using any form of light after 8pm, it'd lead to two weeks of washing any designated bathroom"

"At least she didn't say suspension for this"Judy joked.

But the lady's grim face told me that she wasn't joking at all.

"Rule number four: feeding. The school has already provided cooking materials. A time table will be provided for each student to cook. The time table will be provided in such a way it will cut across everyone for the term. The timetable will be provided to you later. You are not to eat any other food that has not been cooked in the hostel, snacks and chocolates inclusive. If any are found in your possession they will be confiscated and you'll weed the _gardens_ ."

Color drained out of Darla's face. "Why that's crazy!" she whisper-streamed.

"The good thing is that I'm allergic to chocolate"I laughed but my joke died off with the grave faces of everyone.

"Rule number five. Learning."

"Provisions has been made for you to learn in a building. The boys are also to learn in that building but there are some few changes...."

"Changes!"Mira and I groaned.

"The girls will learn in half section and the boys will learn in the remaining half. Under no circumstances whatsoever should a girl be found in the section not theirs. If they are found they will be expelled. A girl is not expected to come 5 feets closer to a boy at all times and they should be no display of affection like hugging, kissing e.t.c if you are caught in such act not only will you wash the toilet and weed the garden then you will be expelled"she said as matter-of-fact.

Xen shook her head in disbelief, "Expelled? I didn't see that coming,"

"Why call this a mixed school? We aren't even going to have any contact with boys!"Vera screamed.

The corners of Mrs. Buttercups lips lifted into a evil smile as her eyes ran through the words or the rule she was about to read, "Rule number six:Fun!"

"It has been noted that young children do like to have fun. So during the weekends recreational centers will be created for the boys and for the girls. Fun activities will be provided and for students who do exceptionally well they will be rewards. Under no circumstances should a boy and girl be caught away from their recreational centres," She, Buttercup paused to clear her throat.

Darla face fell, "They've made the arrangements so meticulously we won't even see a boy's face"

"Or you'll be-"

"Expelled?" A voice cut her speech, "Yes, we know miss. Do you have more threats or is it the same old games of expelled, cleaning the toilet and weeding the garden?"

The crowd gasped in shock and turned to see who had the audacity to interrupt Miss buttercup's speech.

Ruby stepped into the hall, her arms crossed in defiance. She eyed Miss Buttercup's cold expression then turned to scan the crowd for our faces.

" Hi guys I'm back.Miss me?"

I could only smirk.

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Thanks so much to Priceless_Truths for making this chapter a success. Without her, this chapter well.. would have just remained an idea in my head.

Who else thinks this rules are absurd? Five feets? Reminds me of a movie I once watched Five feets apart. It did not end well! That's that. Ruby is back yaaay! Um..what happened next? Next week Tuesday.

Chapter song: How Bad Could It Be by Burna Boy.