BEAUTIFUL LOSS

Winning.

Zayn was in the restroom when everyone got ready to move out the following morning. It was a good time to deal with Zayn.
Ayo gently crept under Zayn's bed bunk and picked up her already aging but neat school sandals and dropped them in the garbage bin outside their room. Childish, yeah?
'Well, let's see how Zaynab will represent us without a sandal'. Ayo mused quietly to herself. With the hope that she'll be asked to represent the school instead of Zayn, she smiled mischievously and went out to the multipurpose hall.

Upon returning from the lavatory, zaynab couldn't find her sandals. She looked everywhere but to her dismay, she couldn't find it. She didn't have a spare so she stood there totally flustered until she heard the voice of the instructor echo from the hall ordering all the representatives to come forward and then, she ran out like that.

Full of anxiety, she fell down on her way and injured her Shin. 'Will I be allowed to represent my school? I hope Ayo or anyone else is prepared if I'm not allowed.... Will Mr. Oladotun be mad at me?'.
A lot of questions were swimming in her head. She managed to stand up and continued moving towards the hall. Her leg was bleeding.
When she entered the hall, there was a still moment and then,it happened.
Some students let out a loud laugh while others shook their heads pitifully.
'Sorry but you have to come up here ' the instructor's voice surprised everyone. First aid couldn't be administered to her as she had to represent her school no matter.
  Fred wasn't laughing like many others, he was one of those who didn't find the situation amusing. He just couldn't. Despite being the son of the minister of health, he knew what it meant to rejected, mocked and embarrassed.
He left the hall quietly.

'The angle in a semi -circle is how many degrees? Asked the instructor.
'180°' Zayn replied. Lawrence wasn't talking either. They seemed to be distracted.
'That's wrong, it's 90° in a semicircle ' the instructor said. 'Morning star high school, choose your school'

'Question 13'. The curly haired girl answered.
'What's a line meeting a circle at a point called ?'
'A perpendicular line'. A plump short boy besides curly haired girl answered.
'Final answer ?
Zayn wasn't even thinking, she was beginning to settle for 2nd place. '2nd position is a good one, right?'she asked herself.
'Yes'. The plump said.
'Wrong answer. It's called a tangent'.
Yeah! Zayn's not a bad person but she was glad the boy missed the question. It meant another question for both schools.  It was only MSHS and CIA that made it to the last round.
This time around, she and Lawrence worked together one more time and have the answer. Unfortunately, the MSHS  students missed their question again and came second place.
"........And the winner of this year's NMI maths competition is the champions International Academy. Cheers ".
It was a real smash.
There was a standing ovation as Zayn and Lawrence excitedly hugged themselves. It was a bolt from the blue as they had only managed to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.

Just as she hugged Lawrence, she was out of his arms in no time. Wrong. She thought.
Their embellished medals was put around their necks and that of Mr. Oladotun as well.
Ayo couldn't stand seeing the remaining CIA students take turns in kissing the cup. She stormed out of the hall.

Soon, everyone left the hall to get prepared. Needing some quiet time alone, Zayn sat down on a chair. Everyone soon forgot she wasn't wearing sandals and that her shin was injured as well. First aid was discarded amidst the whole jubilation.

'That was a nice try' came the firm voice of Frederick DR.

'I think that was better than just a try'. She said batting her eyelashes violently at him.
He stood there for some dying seconds looking at her,then he bent down, took his handkerchief and attempted to clean her leg.
'Don't touch me'. Zayn said retracting her leg, pulling them away.

He paused then said, 'I'm not touching you for pleasure. I don't even like it. It's just that the kindness of God in me won't allow blood to be soiling everywhere'. He didn't understand why these extreme Muslim girls don't want guys to touch them, what is wrong with it? At least, he knew about two or three guys who were dating Muslim girls and they did all the crazy things you as a teen will do with someone you call your bae ,boo or whatever it was that they called themselves with. With that, he went closer and did clean her leg with his lemon coloured hanky, the little piece of clothing seemed too perfect to be used on Zayn's leg,that's what she thought. It soon became soiled with blood. He took his bandana from the back pocket of his trousers and tied the wound with it.
This singular act disarmed Zayn as she looked at him with astonishment. For the first time, she noticed how handsome Fred is. Her gaze shifted to a locket that was out of his shirt, it was opened. She saw a seemingly familiar face of a woman and a baby, the picture of the woman rang a bell in her head.

'It's kinda deep so see that you receive treatment later on'. He said with concern etched all over his face, disrupting Zayn's memory search. Then he stood his full height, hands in pocket and started walking away. He stopped midway and added 'it's very unfortunate how a grown up girl will misplace her sandals on a day like today'. He then continued walking away.

'I didn't misplace it! I don't know what happened' she shouted after him. Who even told him to dress my leg? She hissed aloud to herself. Wait, but who could have taken away my sandals? She started with her soliloquy. Ayo? No, not her. She discarded the thought that it was Ayo.
'It can't be Ayo'. She said to herself, though she didn't miss the disappointed look on Ayo's face earlier when she came into the hall.

The party was short and a lot of food was there to be devoured. Around 11pm, they all retired for the day.

The next day on their way back, Frederick dropped a bag on Zayn in the bus. 'It's a very cheap one, I just thought it's not my style to use shoes like that'. And he went to his seat. He came back some seconds later. 'You could use it or choose to discard it, it's no problem ' and he went back to his seat.
Really, she couldn't say she won't accept it. She had no sandal to use for the whole term and she couldn't send a, message home requesting for one.
Last night, after the whole partying, she thought deeply about her parents. They were going to be separated. They seemed incompatible even after 17 years of marriage. It was heart troubling to Zayn.

She stood up and walked towards the back, where Fred was seated. 'Thank you, but I'll find a way of paying you back. Certainly'.

'You say that too much I'm starting to lose hope of ever being repaid' Fred answered, waving her away.

She walked back to  her seat and afterwards, she slept off.

When they arrived school and were coming out of the bus, Fred pinched her awake.
'Do you really sleep at all times? I bet you were sleeping when someone took away your sandals. I hope one day, you'll be taken away too. Sleepy head '. He started walking away.

What did I do to him? 'Sleeping is a way to cut short the boring hours spent doing nothing while traveling'. She shouted after him. She headed to her hostel with the other girls .

Hello people, hawwaya?
Enjoying it? Who thinks Fred and Zayn will finally jell?
Assalam alaykum, bye.

*~faydah 😇