Saved by my nightmare (A Nigerian Story)

CHAPTER 5

Just to make things clear, flashbacks are going to be written in italics.

Single quotation marks ('.....') are the character's thoughts.

Double quotation marks (".......") are dialogue/ conversations.

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
**********
Lagos, Nigeria.
2012.

The third week of school met Maliya dreading the first class of the day.

Maliya chewed on her nails, half expecting the chemistry teacher to appear in front of her suddenly.

She could still hear the whispers from her classmates, and the looks sent her way.

Most of the looks were ones of amusement, and others sympathy, but apparently her crying episode didn't deter people from trying to make friends with her.

Now that school was in full swing, with virtually everybody in attendance, she had become a source of interest for her classmates.

Everytime someone would come up to her acting friendly, she would blankly stare at them till the end of their useless questions or boring introductions and then, send a small fake smile their way.

She didn't miss the nicknames whispered, she didn't even think they were trying not to be heard.

Seriously though was calling someone a crybaby, arrogant, or devilish the best insults they could come up with?.

She had always thought foreign and Nigerian high schools would be so different, giving how barbaric Nigerian teenagers were, but the school had cleared that stereotype.

She had expected the school to be unorganized due to the population of the students but she couldn't have been more wrong.

It was literally the most organized institution she had ever been in, albeit she had been in no more than three academic institutions.

But still.

The school was so organised that it's hierachy was unparalleled by any other she had heard of or seen.

Each class from jss1 to ss3 was similar in the sense that they all had a hierachy.

The students with the most influence in every set were the OG's.

They were a group of the most popular students, usually comprising of seven to ten students.

They were the group of the best looking, best dressed students. They were the party organisers, the sponsors, the most feared even by teachers, the most hated by the school authorities.

They were the best looking in the sense that they had altered the normally simple uniform to something a bit more complex.

They were the group everyone wanted to be part of, the ones people would kill to hang out with, the risk takers, and law makers.

Second in line were the sport freaks, these were the school's runners, basket ballers, footballers, tennis players, and jumpers.

They were popular in school, especially during second terms when the school held it's inter school competitions.

While they weren't as well dressed as the populars, they were generally well liked. It was in this group you would be likely to find aspiring military recruits.

The best of them often travelled to schools in and out of the state, and the authorities absolutely loved them.

One would think the reverse was the case, as they were the fastest in running away from general labour, but apparently winning gold trophies for the school was enough reason to overlook their faults.