Tina Daniels: A Short Story

CHAPTER ONE

          I sat on my bed that Monday morning. It was my first day of school. 'That's right, first day of school' I thought.
I was going to a new school, Fifteen year old me, in SS3. I was so excited. I quickly said my prayers and went downstairs. Mom was already in the kitchen, I greeted her and went back up to get ready for school. Mom was divorced and although we were only two in the house, we lived in a duplex. We weren't super rich but we were well-to-do.

We never went to church. But I believed I had a personal relationship with God, I always prayed. I got ready for school, and I had mom drop me off.
As I entered the school premises, I knew a new phase of my life had begun. I just knew it.
          'Are you Tina Daniels?' I heard a voice say. I turned around and saw a well dressed man, really young and handsome. If not for his dressing,  I would have thought that he was also a senior.
   "Yes sir, I am" I quickly replied.
   "Good, I'm your form teacher(homeroom teacher), come with me".

I followed him and we ended up in a classroom. I slowly walked in, my heart pounding faster by each passing second, anxious to meet my new classmates. The class got up and greeted him.

   "Good morning Mr. Chris, God bless you" they chorused.
   "Good morning y'all, you can have your seats" he replied.

They all sat down but I could notice the stares. I looked at the people before me, after having a good look at them, my anxiety seemed to disappear.

   "So class, we have a new student with us, her name is Tina Daniels. I want you all to treat her like family" Mr. Chris said.
   "OK sir" they chorused.
   "Mercy, she'll be sitting with you" he said again.

I looked up and saw a thin girl looking at me, oh she was very thin. 'How can a human be this thin' I thought.
I walked over to her and sat beside her, keeping my bag on the desk. The teacher said some other words, encouraging us to be serious in our studies and stuff like that. Then he turned to me.

   "Em Tina, see me in my office during break time" he said while walking out, not even waiting for a reply from me.
'This is it' I thought. New school, new friends, new life.

"Hi" I heard the girl beside me say. "I'm Mercy, nice to meet you" she said.
"Yeah, I know. Nice to meet you too" I replied. She smiled at me. Then I knew it, she was going to be my friend, one not to forget.
   "Wow, you're so beautiful" Mercy said.
   "What?"
   "I said you're so beautiful" she said again.
   "Oh, thanks" I said.
   "So, are you a Christian?" she asked.
   "Kinda"
   "What do you mean kinda, it's a polar question, you can't be in between" Mercy said so quickly. Gosh, she talked so fast.
   "I mean, I don't really go to church or have a Bible, I just know that there's a God and I pray to him" I said honestly.

"Well, I'm a child of God and I'll love to lead you to Christ" Mercy said.
TBH, I was very confused. I didn't understand what she was saying but I agreed to hear her out. We had mathematics the first period but our math teacher was absent. That gave Mercy a lot of time to talk.

She talked about a man, Jesus, whose father sent him to earth to die for sinners. God sent his son to the world to save sinners, to save us. She took a book of mine and wrote:

ᒍOᕼᑎ 3:16 ᖴOᖇ ᘜOᗪ ՏO ᒪOᐯᗴ Tᕼᗴ ᗯOᖇᒪᗪ TᕼᗩT ᕼᗴ ՏᗴᑎT ᕼIՏ OᑎᒪY ᗷᗴᘜOTTᗴᑎ ՏOᑎ, TᕼᗩT ᗯᕼOՏOᗴᐯᗴᖇ ᗷᗴᒪIᗴᐯᗴTᕼ Iᑎ ᕼIᗰ Տᕼᗩᒪᒪ ᑎOT ᑭᗴᖇIՏᕼ, ᗷᑌT ᕼᗩᐯᗴ ᗴᐯᗴᖇᒪᗩՏTIᑎᘜ ᒪIᖴᗴ.

   "Make sure you read it frequently" she said. I simply nodded.
The stares I was getting was making me feel quite uncomfortable. Soon, different girls and boys started to come to me, asking to be my friend. It felt really strange but well..... I said yes to all of them.

It was break time already, I didn't have an appetite so I decided to go meet Mr. Chris right away. I asked Mercy to show me his office, which she did. I knocked on the door and went in.

"Good afternoon sir" I greeted.
"Good afternoon dear" he said with a radiant smile. "Have your seat".
I did as I was told and sat down. He was just looking at me and smiling. Fine, he was handsome and all... But he was starting to creep me out.
   "So sir, why have you called me?" I asked trying to get rid of the awkwardness in the air.
   "Right, so Tina, how are you?"
He asked.
   "Very well, sir"
   "I hope you like our school?"
   "Oh yes, I do". I said.
   "I just wanted you to know that in case you have any problems, you can always come to me. As you see, I'm your form teacher". He said.
   "Oh, ok sir" I replied.
   "Oh please!" he exclaimed.
   "Huh?" I said in clear shock
   "No need to call me sir, you can call me Chris" he said smiling.
   "What?!!" I said almost shouting. All my years of school, it was a norm to not call teachers by their names. And this sure felt strange.

   "Hahaha" he laughed. "Do I look any older than you?" he asked
And truly, he didn't. I wondered how. This was too much trouble for a first day of school. Giving up, I said :
   "OK....Chris".