TEENAGE TRAUMA

Chapter 6- Well that's odd..

Well, Cristal and I got suspended for a week because Amber told her dad about what we had done to her and I'm quite sure she was the one that insisted on getting us suspended. Kevin didn't get into any sort of trouble, of course 🙄
At first, I was scared to my spine when I heard that I had been suspended. I thought my mum was gonna give me some serious whooping and I was not good at enduring physical pain at all, but to my surprise, she praised me instead. "No daughter of Zebede would pick on my daughter and get away with it. At least I didn't raise a coward" She said. After Cristal's mum and mine had confronted the School principal arguing that Amber started the misunderstanding and should get suspended too-all to no avail, my mum stepped out of the office and kept smiling at me. I asked her why she hadn't scolded me in the car, on our way home and she replied, "At least you stood up for yourself and didn't allow her trample all over you easily. That is what I want you to be like, strong and persevering. That's all that matters. But I still don't understand why that girl was left Scot free! You did say she spilled water on you first, right?"

"Yh, but her parents own the school" I replied
"All those spoiled young girls, I know their type. But I also want you to try to stay out of trouble in this new school, okay?" My mum mentioned.

The week went by fast as I spent most of my time on my phone and reading for the upcoming assessments. Soon enough, I was back in school, I had been practising how I was gonna apologise to Cristal for getting her suspended but fortunately, when she saw me, both of us just laughed at each other for getting into the kind of trouble that was gonna end up on our  permanent school records. Some time later, the usual classes began. Thankfully, Tricia was in school again but she just kept her head on her desk all the time. I had no idea what she was doing. Maybe sleeping, thinking, crying...no idea. I tried talking to her but she gave me cold replies or didn't even reply at all. During the break time, I was discussing with Kevin when he mentioned, "Aren't you bothered about Tricia?". "Of course, I am. Does she do this often?" I asked in reply. "She does that a lot. I'm not even really surprised right now" he replied.
"Really? Has she ever told you why?"

"No, whenever she's like this, it lasts for the whole day and she comes back to school the next day acting like it never happened. It's kinda weird, right?"

"It really is, I should talk to her, don't you think?." I suggested.
"Just don't expect an answer" he informed me.
"I'm going anyway" I said to Kevin and left to meet Tricia. Just as I was about to meet her, she stood up and stormed out of the class! "Well that was weird". I thought. Even during the lunch break, she left the class didn't come back till after a long time...when she got back, she kept panting like she had just fought a lion or something and this made me and Kevin even more interested in what was wrong. We went to confront her and she immediately started crying. I was so confused. Kevin and I tried comforting her but she moved away swiftly and was acting like a psychic!-Really. She was stammering saying, "Please just leave me alone, guys, nothing is wrong with me, I just need you to leave me alone." Saying that, she stormed off again, drawing most of the class attention to us. Kevin and I were totally flabbergasted! I saw the look of worry in Kevin's eyes and I didn't even know what to do.
During the Biology class later that day, Tricia remained dull and the teacher noticed, he had questioned her unusual mood but she just tried to ignore the question. He became quite interested and asked Tricia to see the counsellor. Cristal and I went to listen in on Tricia'a conversation with the counsellor but we couldn't here a thing! Tricia let out uncontrollable tears for about 5 minutes straight and the counsellor was accommodating enough to allow her. We went back to our classroom and I found Kevin reading during the Free class we had. "Bookworm, well done" I said, initiating a conversation with him". "😅You caught me there...but it's only cause of our upcoming assessments in the next two weeks" he responded. "Yeah, two whole weeks! Anyway, I was wondering, is Tricia brilliant? I mean does she get High grades or she's just struggling?" I whispered to Kevin, leaning closer.
"Between you and me, I don't even know how that girl manages to promote classes. I even heard she once repeated a year." Kevin responded. Wow. Just then, a huge woman barged into the class and started looking around as though she had lost a hostage. She had huge biceps and a long scar running through her face. She had golden brown hair and was on a low-cut making her bulging eyes pop. She looked intimidating and sweaty like she was from the streets. Her clothes, were evidence of her razz lifestyle, she wore a singlet with a black leather jacket and 'crazy jeans' with holes in it. Her sneakers, looking dirty and was completely worn out. She got the whole class shivering.
She called out for Tricia with her deep, loud and intimidating voice. "Where are you? Come out now, I give you 2 seconds!" Tricia burst out crying but the woman replied, "Abeg stop crying like a baby and come here joh". Tricia reluctantly stood up and went out with this woman. She didn't seem like she had a choice. I immediately concluded that woman was the reason behind Tricia's unusual mood. But I began having second thoughts about that when I found out she was Tricia's mum! That woman looked like a mass murderer and nothing like a mum. Not trying to be rude, but honestly, she did! She left with Tricia to the back of the school and the whole class began to chatter, all talking about Tricia's mum and what just happened. About 3 minutes later, Tricia came back to the class, limping, she had obviously just hurt her leg. The noise in the class immediately died down as Tricia walked to her seat and didn't say a word, she just packed her bag and left the school and didn't come back that day. Kevin, Cristal and I felt like crying. I felt so sorry for Tricia and I knew that woman definitely beat her up or something.