Half Step At A Time

chapter 30: 'Those eyes'

"Kpow!".
The sound thundered loudly in my ears like it didn't come from me.
"What was that for?". Michael held his cheeks and muttered quietly. He was too stunned to speak properly.
Out of all the reactions I could have thought of, it was slapping him that made the most sense. I was desperately looking for a way to make my dumb classmates think the opposite way or if possible, erase their memory. Anything to avoid unneccesary attention from the people I had tried so hard to prevent interacting with. My invisible streak was going down. I had to do something.
Michael's face being so close to mine was already leading them on, so I guess that was what brought about the idea.
"Sorry". I mouthed at him as others watched the commotion.

"Aww, they are even having a lovers quarrel". Said one.
"But why would she slap him if she likes him?". Said another.
"They're probably having a lovers quarrel". The first replied.

I guess my little trick didn't work the way I wanted.
On hearing those words, I stood up, still not knowing what I was doing.

"We are NOT having a lovers quarrel". I said  firmly to the whole class and walked out of the classroom.
"Wait!". Michael yelled behind me but I ignored and kept walking.

          ***********************************

I walked into the school's Chapel and headed straight to where the keyboard stood, just to the right of the pulpit.
Longford high was a school dominated by Christians. Our principal, I got to learn, was even a venerable in one of the most influential Anglican churches in the area.
99.9% of the students were Christians, so we knew the respect that should be given to the house of God. This explained why this place was the quietest place in the whole school(in competition with the school library). It was literally as silent as a graveyard.

The students could play, laugh, joke, litter and loiter about in other places, but when they got to the Chapel, it was a whole new world. The rules for maintaining the Chapel were pretty strict too. It wasn't open all the time, save for Sundays and at night during the weekdays, because some students come to pray just before the night reading starts.
It just happened to be open today, on a Monday afternoon because it was undergoing some renovations in preparation for advent. This was an advantage for me. I had walked round the whole school after running away from class. I needed a place to hide for the mean time.

I took in the beauty of the room. It was magnificent. It almost looked like heaven on earth. I wasn't used to this kind of decor because I attended a fairly different church back at home. The altar, which was the sacred part of the hall, was at the extreme front. In it, there was a huge wooden cross, an in front of the cross, there was a wide wooden table covered with linen that had prints of crosses on it.
On the table itself stood a smaller cross, but this one was metal. There was a Holy Bible on the table too, with two candles, one on each side of the Bible. A small aluminium gate separated the altar from the pulpit in front, where the Preacher stood to preach during services.
      
The walls of the altar were adorned with beautiful wallpapers that had paintings of Jesus, angels, and cherubim. It was a beautiful sight indeed. I would never get used to the beauty.
   
I plugged in the keyboard, sat down and moved straight to work. Alas! A curse turned blessing. Who would've known that I would actually benefit from being forced to learn to play the keyboard at a young age, thanks to my overly demanding father? No one, I tell you.
I started by playing the chords to one of my favourite songs titled 'paradise', and then proceeded to sing along. I chose this song because I could finally resonate with the lyrics at this moment, unlike the first time I heard it.

       There's a war in the sky
       I feel it in the air every night
       Birds that don't fly
       People who can never die
       Raindrops when you cry
       Why am I here?
       I feel a slight emotion of fear
       I'm fearful, yes indeed.
       This pretty much all the things I've seen.
       Paradise, paradise.
       You roll the dice
       Now you're on thin ice
       Oh, here the bugs don't bite
       Automatic lullabies
       Purple clouds in the sky
       Welcome to my paradise.