The Final Year (PROJECT 2.0)

Meeting

A picture of Akorede Okikiola Wellington in the multimedia.

I came out of the lavatory running my fingers through my mildly wet hair. I spent the rest of my recess crying and washing the starchy substance away from my hair. I coughed, sneezed, blowed my nose and also wallowed in depressing thoughts about my miserable life here.

The scene kept flashing through my head, it was highly embarrassing.

Walking down the walk way to see if there is no starchy residue on my head, I walked past the trophy display on my way to class and I know am already late for the next class.

I paused staring at one of the trophies won by past students.

Ewatomi Bello....

"How did you do it?" I found myself asking the trophy. Anyone passing by would have thought am loony.

She was a scholarship student just like me and was also an Elite!

How did she get accepted?

How did she fit in to this jungle of a place?

I sniffed moving further towards my class. A class is going on, that i know of.

I have to face the class due to my lateness and I hate confrontation with teachers.

Growing some courage, I quietly opened the door before stepping in, to come face to face with a livid English teacher.

Mrs Umaru...

Today is a bad day for me, I swear!

"Yes?.. Why are you coming to the class now?"

All eyes were on us, I could hear snickers and mocking laughter here and there but I ignored it anyway.

"Uhn, I i-the be-bell~"

"I, I! What?! You didn't hear the bell when it rang or something covered your ears to make it deaf!" she snapped at me due to my stuttering mess.

The whole class burst into fits of laughter. I cowered... I felt like entering the wall. This is too much for one day.

"She was called by our class teacher"

Everywhere went quiet, even the teacher looked shocked on who decided to talk. I followed the gaze of everyone.

Evans sat behind my desk, looking calm and composed as always. He was going through his textbook not minding the stares on him.

"The class teacher called her, I was there when he was giving her some instructions"

I gaped at him. He was lying against me! To what? Get me out of trouble?

Our form teacher never told me to see him today, that will be tomorrow when he will probably hand over all my textbooks and educational iPad to me.

It came along with the scholarship.

"Oh.. " the teacher murmured stupidly telling me to take my seat not before warning me to speak up next time.

I nodded dumbly before walking towards my seat. I ignored him not knowing whether to thank him or just pretend he never lied. I don't think i should talk to him, he looks too concentrated on what he was reading and one thing I learnt about Evans while observing him from afar was he tends to explode on you if you ever have the effrontery of disturbing him while he studies.

Why did he do that?

He basically lied for me.

What will the teacher say if she got to find out he was lying?