A Secondary School Survivor; Year One...

First Time Under the Bus

I am actually doing this. Me of all people? Something is really, horribly wrong.

Duna stood in front of the Tuck-shop's sales girl for the first time to buy something she could eat. She had been in that spot for almost two minutes trying to decide between buying Waferz Stix or Uniquo Chips. The salesgirl was getting impatient. Finally, Duna closed her eyes and made her purchase then fled for JSS1A.

~º⁓º⁓º⁓º⁓º⁓º

Fola had no idea who was meant to sweep either. Sosa sighed and summoned all the juniors to the front of the hostel.

"Who was meant to sweep?"

No hand went up.

"Okay who knows who was meant to sweep?"

No hands.

"So who did I not give hostel work to?"

Silence.

Then two hands rose above the crowd.

"Dunamis, Temilo, where were you two when I was sharing the hostel work?"

"I had no idea we were meant to get hostel work alongside the normal labor. I'm sorry." Duna said nervously. Sosa seemed a bit calmer. Only a bit before she set her attention on Temilo.

"And you? Where were you?" Sosa prodded.

Temilo responded with a careless shrug, "I was with my sister", she said in a bored tone.

Okay, rude much? Duna thought to herself and rolled her eyes. She noticed Sosa's jaw tick but she kept her mouth firmly shut. Apparently, whoever Temilo's sister was, Sosa was probably annoyed that she couldn't lay hands on her. She let out a forced breath.

"Fine, since the two of you are the only ones that didn't get any work, pick up the brooms and sweep", Sosa said with an air of finality and dismissed the rest of the girls. Duna went to fetch one of the brooms and Temilo...

She was leaving the hostel?

"Hey, stop there!" Duna reached for her arm and nearly missed it, "where do you think you are going? We're meant to be sweeping", Duna said and punctuated her statement by waving the broom in front of her face. Temilo's nose scrunched up.

"Why would I want to do that?" she asked in a half whisper. Duna was confused as to why she was whispering but ignored her.

"Simply because we were told to", Duna stated the obvious. Temilo gave another careless shrug.

"So? If you have nothing better to tell me then please leave me alone. I'm going back to my sister's hostel", Temilo retorted.

"I'm not letting you go unless you sweep your half of the hostel", Duna said firmly. Temilo let out a huff in response and swatted Duna's hand away.

"You're not the boss of me Dunag and you are not my mom. My mom wouldn't even ask me to sweep if I were at home. I don't sweep. I never have. Nobody is going to make me", she said to shush Dunamis and quickly left before she could reply.

Duna wanted to believe for the best that Temilo was just joking and being stubborn so she did what she did; swept only half the hostel with the view that Temilo would surely return to finish the job. Sosa was heading out when Duna was on the job and was assured that it would be done quite nicely. After she left, Temilo still didn't show.