Disclaimer- contains mild swearing.
Out of the three terms making up a school session, second term was my favourite.
It was the shortest term, so teachers taught less and I spent less time in classes.
The annual interhouse sports competition held during second term, which meant more field time and less time spent in classes.
It was also the term school prefects were selected. Meaning more time spent ass kissing teachers, fake smiling, prefect interviews, but still of course less time for classes.
I think we've picked on the recurring theme here.
By 6:30 am, I was in my room, already getting dressed for the first day of my favourite term.
Mummy was in London, putting finishing touches on a celebrity's outfit for an award show. That left our housekeeper Aunty Goodness in charge of getting me ready for school. She woke me up by 6 then went downstairs to fix breakfast.
I studied myself in the full length mirror on my wall. Brown eyes so dark, they are often mistaken for black stare back at me. My hair in neat cornrows, made by Iya Risi yesterday. The cream blouse bearing the school crest is tucked neatly into the navy blue skirt. Fitted at the waist, it flared gently just below my knees. The dark blue school socks are on my feet. I completed my uniform with the matching blazer and cap.
I smiled at myself. The fitted waist complimented my trim figure and legs. I looked good. Responsible. Total Sports Prefect material.
Aunty Godness knocked, bringing me back from my musings. As usual, she came in without waiting for a response.
“See my girl looking good." She beamed at me. I gave her a twirl.
"Shakara girl. Better come and eat before your bus gets here.”
I had just come downstairs when the school bus horn blared. Aunty Goodness shoved a lunch bag in my hand and hurried me out. "Have a great day dear." "You too." I replied.
One time she overslept and didn't wake me up on time. I missed the bus and we had to book a ride to school since mummy was away. Aunty Goodness never got over it. I hugged her and left the house.
“Good morning Uncle Ben. Good morning Aunty Florence.” I greeted the bus driver and bus aunty. Uncle Ben asked about my holiday and Aunty Florence asked after mummy. I answered them as I sat down.
"Good morning Senior Kelechi."Jumoke greeted. Oby and Patience were fast asleep. Jumoke is my favourite junior in the bus, she's one of the best runners in yellow house. She is dressed similarly to me, expect in a pinafore instead of a skirt. I smiled at her and we make small talk about her break.
Ten minutes later a light-skinned girl ran out the house next to mine. She's about a foot shorter than me. When she entered the bus, I could see twinkling hazel eyes, a beautiful heart shaped face. She held her cap in her hands, Iya Risi went to her house from mine so we have matching hairstyles. Uncle Ben started the engine and drove off.
"I am so sorry I'm late." She gasped.
"Theodora don't let us fight this term oh." Uncle Ben teased.
"Me and you fight? That's not possible. How can we start a new year fighting? Haba!"
"Keep coming late and you'll see."
"Aunty Florence can you hear him? He wants to fight me."
I tuned out of the conversation, trying to tame my growing irritation.
"Oh my gosh! Aunty Florence I love your hair."
Aunty Florence touched her green braids self-consciously.
“You this girl! Stop whining me.”
“No honestly.” Theres no trace of insincerity in her voice, “It looks really good on you.”
She turned her attention to the other people in the bus, ignoring me in a way I knew was deliberate. I took off my cap and rested my head on the back of the seat in front of me. I was falling asleep when a sharp poke in my ribs woke me up.
“What is it?” I hissed.
"Why do you sound so pissed? Hope you now understand an inkling of how I felt this holiday." She squeezed her thumb and pinkie finger together as she spoke.
I kissed my teeth.
I had spent the Christmas holidays with mummy's extended family at Enugu.
Mummy's youngest sister Aunty Ginika had gotten married. I had gone for the wedding very reluctantly, I even went as far as requesting to go to my dad's for Christmas. A request mummy quickly denied. To make things worse, I was forced to share my room with my cousins and roped into wedding preparations. I spent most of the time hiding in my room or grandma's room.
The wedding day found me and my cousins, suddenly getting along. One of them, Ngozi had posted some pictures of us on her Instagram and in true Theodora fashion she sent the posts to me with cryptic comments I had ignored, too tired to reassure her she was still my best friend.
I landed in Lagos Saturday evening and spent all my time preparing for school. That left no time to go to Theodora's house. Hence the attitude this morning.
" I'm sorry I didn't call often. I was really busy."
"You must not have been that busy if you found time to do Tiktoks with your cousins. Thought you hated them?"
Several times, I have ranted to Theodora about my cousins and the mutual hate relationship we shared. They thought I was a snob, I found them razz and local. They also had the annoying habit of always speaking Igbo when in the same room with me, a language they knew I didn't understand. Staying in the same room at my grandma's house had surprisingly helped us find a common bond, and I had enjoyed my stay.
Of course I was not going to tell Theodora that.
" Omo I hate those razz girls. But everybody started getting on my case about being snobbish and even my mum got involved. I just had to."
" You're too nice for your own good, that's your problem Kelly. You shouldn't even have agreed to stay in the same room with them, didn't your mum build the house?"
"Now you've given those village girls hope that you're their friend. Next thing they'll start disturbing you."
I decided not to tell her Ngozi and I had been chatting since I got back. It was best to let sleeping dogs lie.
We stopped to pick Zoe and Zara, the twins in JSS3 before heading for school. The rest of the ride, Theodora ranted to me about how boring her holiday was.
Traffic was minimal and we got to school before assembly. The gates of St Clara Girls College (SCGS as we called it) greeted us and I felt the familiar feelings of apprehension and excitement that marked a new term.
The school buildings were built around two large grass fields in the middle of school grounds. The school had received a fresh link of paint during the holidays. Everything looked new. From the tall buildings to the well maintained shrubs and plants.
"Back to school." Theodora quipped as we walked to class, " Nothing reminds me I've resumed like seeing Aunty Florence ridiculous hairstyles."
"Oh my gosh! Theodora you are so mean!" I gasped.
"Did you see the nonsense on her head? Like girl!" She emphasized on the last syllables. "Total jumpscare moment." She shook her head.
I was still laughing as we entered my class.
"What's so funny?" Tami asked.
I opened my mouth to respond but Theodora pinched me.
"It was nothing. What's up Tami?"
Tami's eyes narrowed then she shrugged and opened her hands for a hug.
"Oh my gosh! I've missed you guys so much."
Tami was even shorter than Theodora who was 5'3. She was dark skinned like me, with black eyes and a bulbous nose. The uniform fitted badly at her middle, emphasizing her rolls of fat.She hugged Theodora first, then me.
"Ahn ahn Kelly is it Enugu that's making you glow like this?"
"Which yeye glow? Abeg abeg!"
"But you're shining. Theo isn't she glowing?"
Theodora looked at me quizzically then shook her head. "She looks the same to me."
"Hater." Tami scoffed. She turned back to me. "Kelly you are glowing okay? I saw the pictures too. Your makeup was so nice, like babes you ATE. Gist me about the wedding."
"It was just there." I shrugged. I was unprepared for another fight with Theodora.
"Okay oh! If you say so."
"Well while she's been "glowing", someone else has been growing." Theodora laughed.
Tami's face froze mid-smile. I glared at Theodora. Tami's weight was a huge sore point for her. Especially with her mother constantly pushing her to lose weight.
Theodora gasped and covered her mouth with her hands.
"Oh my gosh Tami I'm so sorry. I didn't mean it."
The entire class has gone silent. My other classmates had stopped their conversation to eavesdrop.
Theodora stood in front of her, and placed her hands on her shoulders.
"Tami please I'm sorry. I feel so bad. That was out of line I'm so sorry."
"It's okay." Tami's voice was hoarse.
"It's not okay! I'm the worst! Please forgive me. You have to forgive me." Her voice broke at the end.
"Kelly come and beg Tami to forgive me." She turned to me.
"Theo it's okay." Tami sighed.
"No it's not. I'm always saying stupid shit. I really hate myself right now."
"Don't say that." Tami looked at me with wide eyes, imploring me to do something.
"Theo what you said was wrong. But it's all good, right?'
Tami nodded. "Right. I forgive you it's okay."
"Thank you." Theodora hugged her.
"Jessica hasn't left the hostel yet?' I asked, trying to change the conversation.
"Yeah. Boarders haven't come out yet."
The siren rang out, signalling assembly time.
Since it was the first day of the term, Assembly took longer than usual. Sister Mary Anne our administrator even made an appearance. After we all went back to class. Theodora and Jessica to B, the science class, Tami and I to C, commercial class, Arts students went to A and Technical students to D.
My first class was Financial Accounting. Beginning of every term we got an email with the scheme of work for each term and the notes for the first week. Of course, nobody read that, except for maybe Ndidi and her friends.
Mrs Peters was doing revision for the last term's exams and as much as I tried to focus, I found myself lost at the middle of her class.
It wasn't until 3rd period, Economics class when I got caught. I was so lost in thought, I didn't even notice Tami trying to get my attention.
"Kelechi!" I jostled forward in my seat. The entire class laughed.
Except for Miss Benson and Tami
"Ma?" I shrugged, trying and failing badly to act like I wasn't caught zoning out in class.
"Stand up and answer my question."
My legs shook as I stood. I stared at my desk, too ashamed to look up.
"I'm waiting Kelechi. You're taking your sweet time."
"I don't know it." I mumbled.
"You don't know it." She sounded amazed. "Okay. Just tell me the last thing I said."
I kept quiet.
"I hope you people know it is not by force to go to school. Some of you just came here to waste your parents' money. First day of the term you're not listening. You're already tired."
She continued, "Look at the people that want to become prefects. Is this how you want to lead the school?"
"I'm sorry ma." I mumbled.
"Sorry for yourself." She snapped.
"Sorry ma." Tami joined in. "She's sorry ma." Some of my classmates joined in pleading.
"Alright that's enough." Miss Benson held her hands up.
"Kelechi sit down and pay attention."Properly chastised I sat as the siren rang.
"Ma it's our break period." Olivia said.
"I know. I'm leaving." Miss Benson snapped. She kissed her teeth and left.
Tami turned to me, "Are you okay?"
"Yeah I'm cool. Just tired.""Tired ke? When we just resumed?""I'm already tired of learning please. Let's go and eat."
The cafetaria is one of the largest rooms at SCGS. A large hall with rows of tables and benches greets us, the sound of chatter and clink of cutleries against the plate fill the air. Girls are chatting excitedly to their friends.
Tami and I join the line. Surprisingly, the food looks good today, jellof rice and two square sized pieces of fried beef. We joined Jessica and Theodora at our usual table.
"Hey babes." Jessica greeted up cheerily.
Her brown eyes twinkled behind purple framed glasses. Her black hair was cropped short, a rule for boarding students. She is the curviest of the four of us, with rounded hips, the second tallest in our group.
"Why were you guys late?" Theodora asked.
"We were so excited to come and eat the delicacy in front of us." I deadpanned.
The whole table laughed.
"Funny thing it actually tastes good today." Jessica said.
"Clearly hostel food has damaged your taste buds." Tami teased.
The three of us laughed as Jessica protested.
"God I can't wait till they make us prefects and we can have our own table." Theodora groaned as the junior students opposite us played with their food.
We all glanced to the section of the hall reserved for prefects.
"Soon. Very soon." Jessica smiled. "Just imagine, me as Head Girl, Theo as Social Prefect, Tami as Labour Prefect and Kelly as Sports Prefect. We are going to rule this school."
"That's a fact." Tami agreed.
"I'm not too sure about that." Theodora said.
"Not too sure? There's no way we're not getting those badges." Tami scoffed.
"Obviously I knew that. I'm not too sure about the posts though." She shrugged.
"Which ones?" A edge had crept into Jessica's voice.
"I mean Jessica, what if I want to be Head Girl?"
"You can't be the Head Girl." Jessica hissed.
"Says who? Why can't I be Head Girl?"
Tami tried to make eye contact with me but I ignored her eyes, focusing on the food in front of me.
Jessica and Theodora stared at each other in tense silence before Theodora burst into laughter.
"Oh my gosh! Jess look at you. Do you want to slap me?"
"A little bit." Jessica agreed.
"I'm just playing with you. You need to chill babes."
"I can't even be Head Girl. Like do you know how stressful that shit is? I can't put myself through that."
"I guess." Jessica mumbled.
"It's just a joke." Theodora laughed.
"An expensive one." Tami replied frostily.
"Babes you should be thanking me. Like if what I said got you triggered eh, I don't know how you'll work with Sister Mary Anne."
Our administrator had a reputation among students, parents and teachers for being a cold-hearted bitch. Students often left her office in tears. Unsurprisingly, she had a soft spot for Theodora.
"I get shaa." Jessica sounded unsure.
"I mean, can you think of anybody who deserves it more than you?"
Tami and I exchanged uneasy glances at that question.
Theodora took our silence as agreement. "Exactly."
The rest of the day was uneventful after that and by 3:40pm, I was more than happy to leave the school premises. I got home to find Aunty Goodness in front of the television watching Zee World. I greeted her and went upstairs to freshen up.
I was on my bed, scrolling through Instagram when someone knocked on my door and Theodora entered.
Without a word, she laid on the bed next to me.
I counted to sixty before I spoke.
"Are you good?"
"I was a bitch at school today, wasn't I?"
"Yeah." I turned to my best friend.
"What's wrong?"
"Omo it's just my family wahala. I can't even deal I'm tired of them."
"Everything will be okay."
"I'm tired of hearing that. It will not."
Theodora's father was laid off last year. His cushy oil company job had fed the family comfortably and now, they struggled on her mum's banking salary. The country's economy wasn't making things better, the cost of everything had multiplied.
"I don't get why everything is just so expensive." Theodora moaned. "You won't understand."
I didn't say anything. Yes, Aunty Goodness complained everytime she came back from the market. Mummy had made some offhand comment about dwindling sales and the price of materials. We had also stopped using the air conditioners, but we still fared better than most people.
The last time I was in Theodora’s house, I was shocked to find their fridge empty.
"Apart from the whole there is no money thing," She rolled her eyes, " Gabriel's expulsion made things worse."
Gabriel, Theodora's immediate elder brother was expelled from university last month after he was caught smoking weed. I thought Mummy Timi, Theodora's mum was going to lose her mind when it happened.
"Sometimes I wish I could just leave everything and run away."
"Run away to where?" I teased. "You're not going anywhere."
"Just watch me." She smirked.
I rolled my eyes. "The only place we're going to is America. On my basketball scholarship and on your science scholarship."
"I can't believe you still remember that."
"How can I forget the defining moment of our friendship?"
"I don't even know why you want a scholarship. Your father can pay your school fees in his sleep. Even mine too."
I glared, kissing my teeth and she laughed.
"Okay, okay. I know why you want a scholarship. But at this point it's all looking like an impossible dream."
"A possible dream that we would make happen."
Theodora smiled. "This is why you're my best friend."
"Aww. I feel so loved."
"Don't I'm using you for your parents' money. "
"And I'm using you for your brains. We're even."
She shook her head. "Crazy girl."
I was engrossed in the movie and didn't look up when Theodora poked my shoulder.
"What is it?" I grumbled.
"Promise me we'll be best friends forever."
The seriousness in her tone makes me sit up. I hold out my pinkie finger. "Best friends forever. Till death do us part." She smiled and linked her finger with mine.
If only I knew how soon my words would come to pass.
