The Hidden Toxin ✔(#6 in the Our Side of The Dice Series)

Chapter 10: Acing by all means

Ebun

It was the senior from the corridor.

Ebun was surprised but the current anger in her had surpassed that feeling. Why was the girl always dragging her by her elbow? And what the hell did she want? Why was she here, pulling into a corner of the library after she'd graduated from the school? How did she even get in? Then she figured that it was quite possible.

"Josephine...why the hell are you here?" Ebun whispered and exclaimed simultaneously if that was a possible thing to do and yes, she called the senior by her name. "Are you here to tell me about how I was unable to figure your body language or how you wanted the guy from the corridor to touch you?"

"No..." the senior whispered and looked around from the corner of the shelf she hid in. "And I'm so sorry I said those things to you. Truth is...I didn't want the guy to have sex with me but I was just worried about you that's why I talked like that instead of just thanking you."

"Aw. I never knew. How cute!" Ebun blinked twice.

"I'm not joking, Ebun. I mean it."

"Oh...oh my God. Am I wearing clown make-up now? Wipe it off for me please so I won't tell jokes anymore."

Seeing that there was no point replying to Ebun's sarcastic remarks, Josephine ignored her and went straight to say her reason for coming.

"I came here to help you."

"With what?"

"Your upcoming final exams. I have what you need to help you pass your exams excellently."

"And...how do you know I need those?" Ebun blinked twice now but out of shock.

"The answer is simple, " Josephine shrugged. "I haven't heard the news of your graduation unlike your classmates from a year ago and when I made inquiries, I learned that you weren't doing well and you were repeating your classes and subjects."

Ebun stared at Josephine for a good moment. She didn't know if she could trust her after being an ass the first time they had a conversation. She didn't want her acting funny after receiving help from her. Stuff like...asking her for risky favors. Did she want her to fight the guy again? Was he still molesting her? Her eyes went wide as saucers at the possibility.

"Do you want something in return for helping me with my exams?"

"No. Please just see this as me paying you back for saving me then. I know it took me six years to repay you but please..." she suspended her words and brought out a printed sheet of paper from her purse instead. "This year's exams are going to be tough. Please don't ask me how I know. Miss me with your trust issues and collect this paper already. Study everything in this paper. Don't waste your time reading something else."

Slowly, Ebun collected the papers and opened them. Scribbled in the paper were the answers to the questions for her major subjects: Mathematics, English Language, Biology, Physics, and Chemistry. How could every damn answer for our subjects be contained in the paper? It was hard to believe but as she flipped the page back to front, it was so.

"How am I supposed to memorize all of this?"

"I'm not expecting you to because some of the answers are options for objective questions, " Josephine explained. "Have you heard of this saying, 'book wey no gree enter head go enter exam hall?"

Uncontrollable laughter escaped Ebun's lips. She'd never heard the saying before but she understood what it meant. Although she would rather chew charcoal than thank Josephine, she was grateful deep down. By not thanking her verbally, she was simply doing what was done to her six years ago.

***

The first day of the final examinations came. Physics was the first paper. The air was tense of course with students who were supposed to be her juniors, pacing round the hall with their notebooks in hand, trying to cram whatever formulas they could in the last minute but Ebun remained in her seat, relaxed, the sheet of paper containing the answers tucked neatly in between the buttons of her shirt.

As expected, no one tried or bothered to approach Ebun knowing that she was a dumbhead and at that moment, she couldn't be happier than she was with that impression they already have about her. Everyone else would work their poor brains while she made use of the paper.

She just hoped she wouldn't end up worse than the people who made efforts though. If the answers in that paper were wrong... She'd be so mad and Josephine would enter her permanent blacklist of demons she had to slay.

Ebun didn't realize just how important it was for her to graduate that year until the memories of her past six years in the goddamn school came to the forefront of her mind. How had she managed to stay alive during the hours when she couldn't masturbate, watch movies or try to look for an escape at all?

The answer came to her quicker than the question did. She fantasized about scenes from the movies she'd watched that were relevant to her desires. Many times, she imagined getting into a duel with the six demons and winning, beheading each of them. At other times, she was in a dark room bathing their faces with acid. The thrill often gave her the serotonin she needed to carry on for the rest of the day and to even pay attention in classes even if those times were seldom.

When the invigilator for the exam walked in and took a stroll around the hall, she spotted Ebunoluwa and recognized her immediately. A sly smile of mockery appeared on her round face. A smile that said more than words could ever have and the message was clear. Ebun seethed her teeth in embarrassment.

That was another reason for her to graduate. The school environment was such a toxic place for her and it made her an insane young girl who had to graduate as soon as possible to live her dreams of being an uncontrollable psychopath.

Once a copy from the bundle of question papers got to her, she took her time to study the expressions of every other student as they read through the questions. She wasn't expecting the student to voice out their complaints or discomforts since the exam was in session but she could study their expressions and they were horrible. She'd even heard someone behind her curse under his breath.

"Face your front, Ebunoluwa! And do well in your exams this time around!" The invigilator cautioned her.

Again, no one laughed. They didn't have the time to laugh because nothing was funny. Nothing about the examination questions was funny. Maybe the invigilator should give that advice to the other students. With a smirk on her face, she proceeded to start answering her questions.

She brought out the paper hidden in her shirt carefully and placed it in between the pages of her answer sheet and decided to answer the objective questions first. As she copied the answer carefully, she decided to miss some of the answers on purpose so no one would find her script suspicious.

She also tried to answer the questions slowly so it would look like she was having a hard time like everyone else especially whenever the invigilator walked past her row. It would be an abomination for Ebun the dullhead to answer her exam questions with ease.

She repeated these patterns for the rest of the week and she did it smoothly without creating any scene whatsoever. When she got done writing all of her exams, she awaited her results with all enthusiasm for the first time in years.

***
Quick note: I forgot to explain the meaning of mallam in the previous chapters but mallam means 'teacher' and is also a title used to address someone older than you but now, it's more of a stereotype used to term every Hausa man. Just like how people believe that Igbo people are obsessed with money. And you might be wondering why I used it when I know that it's a stereotype but that's the point especially since this is what Ebun has grown used to hearing people call Hausa men.

- 'Book wey no gree enter head go enter exam hall' is a pidgin saying and it simply means, if a particular topic in a subject or the subject at large is hard to assimilate, then materials that shouldn't be allowed in the exam hall would be used to aid the student in answering certain questions that are a difficulty to them.