Highschool Intermission

1

At exactly 13:10 hours, Monday to Friday, a group of grade 12 students would emerge from their classroom, make their way to the school tuck shop where they would buy snacks for their lunch break and head back to their semi-empty classroom. It was part of their daily routine, something they never went a day without doing because it lead to something bigger. The intermission.

The group of five girls were a tight knit group of friends who had known each other from childhood. Though coming from different backgrounds, the girls each held a deep respect for one another that strengthened their bond of friendship.

Everyday at lunch break, they would gather in one of the classroom corners where they would hold their daily intermission. This was a meeting of sorts where the girls could discuss openly and freely between each other what was on their minds or things they'd heard. Whatever was spoken of during the intermission was not repeated elsewhere or to anyone else.

"Guys you won't believe what I heard! " Chilufya immediately said as soon as they were all sitting. She was dark in complexion with big brown eyes and beautiful short black hair that she dyed a different color every other week. This week she was keeping it natural, the school had informed them of the upcoming ID photos capturing that would take place some time during the week and all the students, both male and female were expected to stay natural. That meant no funny haircuts for the boys and no makeup or strange hair colors for the girls.

"My friend just tell us, we all know you're not patient enough to listen to our guesses." Abigail responded to Chilufya's exclamation. She wasn't a very patient person and was always cutting to the point when it came to their discussions. She was never one to beat about the bush. She had similar complexion to Chilufya but had longer hair than her and she was fond of wearing colored contacts to hide the natural brown almost black color of her eyes. Today her eyes were grey.

"Abigail relax, let her enjoy her moment. You know Chilufya never brings any stories or topics of discussion to the table so for her this is a very big achievement." Helen said, her tone humorous. She was the lightest in the group, thanks to her light skinned mother, and had hair similar in length to Abigail's.

"Helen you're one to speak, when was the last time you started any discussion. In fact, the only thing you do is comment so you and Chilufya are in the same category." Beatrice said.

"I'm with Beatrice, you two never start anything but are always more than willing to comment, our very own chief commentators " Victoria laughed. The rest of the group joined in as Chilufya playfully scoweld at them. Beatrice and Victoria were identical twins and shared only their looks and last name. The two sisters were opposites of each other and very rarely agreed on anything.

"will you all shut up and listen to what I have to say" Chilufya interrupted their laughter, "this morning on the bus to school I heard one of the grade 12 boys in the other class bragging to his friends that a girl from this class sent him nudes and he intends on exposing her in the school whatsapp group tonight. "

"Do you know who it is? " Abigail immediately asked.

"Abi it doesn't matter who it is, what we need to focus on is that a few hours from now a girl is going to have her reputation tarnished by some boy who has no respect whatsoever for her. I can't begin to imagine the pain and humiliation she'll be going through. " Beatrice said.

"I can't begin to understand why she sent him nude pictures of herself in the first place, I mean if you're going to do so why not cut out your face so no one knows it's you? "

"Victoria not everyone is thinking about being exposed by the person they trust when sending nudes, I mean do we even know the relationship status of the two. For all we know they could have been dating for months or even years. I know there are some women out there who would send nudes to any guy who asks for them but you need to keep in mind also that not everyone will do that. " Helen added.

"Exactly, for some it takes getting to a certain level of intimacy and trust for them to do that. " Chilufya said.

"So what are we saying? Is it okay to send nudes or what? " Beatrice asked

"That is a personal decision that everyone makes on their own. It may be right it may be wrong but the thing that we need to remember is that no one should ever force you into making that decision. " Victoria answered.

"And no one has the right to expose or blackmail anyone because of that decision. " Chilufya added.

"I think it should be made illegal to expose women and men's nude photos, I mean the amount of damage it causes is simply irreparable and irreversible."

"I agree with you Victoria " Helen said

"You can actually report it to the police and charges will be pressed against that person for circulation of pornographic material " Beatrice stated.

"But then doesn't that mean that the person who's nudes are being circulated will also face some charges for sending that material to the other party in the first place? " Abigail asked with a bewildered expression on her face.

"Probably, but it's better to report the matter to the cops, especially if blackmail is involved. No one should hold such power over anyone, it's not right. " Helen responded.

"True that. You guys I know the boy who is planning on exposing the girl, why don't we do something about it? " Chilufya asked.

"Something like what? " Abigail replied

"Anything to stop him from doing what he plans on doing. " Chilufya said

"I say we forcefully take him to the girl's toilets, strip him and take photos of him naked then post them as a counterattack. "

All four girls turn to look at Abigail who stares back at them with a fake innocent expression on her face.

"No" Chilufya says

"We would be just as sick as him" Beatrice adds.

"Moreover we would get in trouble with the school, the police, our parents and the world at large. " Victoria comments

"Let's come up with something legal and morally acceptable shall we? " Helen asks.

Everyone nods in agreement, including Abigail.

"Wait, who's the guy? " Victoria asks all of a sudden.

"Oh, it's Taonga. " Chilufya says

"Taonga Natasha's boyfriend? " Victoria asks.

"Taonga the son of that notorious gang leader? " Beatrice adds on

"Which other Taonga do we know, of course that Taonga. " Chilufya replies.

"Natasha isn't in our class so she can't be the girl he plans on exposing. Moreover, Tasha is psycho so he would never try to do that to her. " Beatrice says.

"Guys I have an idea! " Helen says all of a sudden. The girls turn to look at her and she grins like a lunatic.

"You all know my older brother is a successful business man right? " She asks and they all nod in ascension. "Well, Taonga's dad has been begging my brother to assist him with something or the other and well my brother was thinking of agreeing. " Helen explains to her friends.

"Wait you're telling me your super hot brother, Masuzyo, plans on assisting a gang leader and this is when you're telling us about it!?" Victoria whisper yells.

"Ah ahI kind of forgot about it and it wasn't that big of a deal. Anyway I could tell Masuzyo to tell Taonga's dad that he will assist him only if he forces Taonga not to post the photos. " Helen explains her plan further.

"That actually makes more sense, with the amount of power and wealth your brother has this plan just might work. And we all know Taonga's dad is a shot tempered man, hopefully he'll knock some sense into his son once he realizes what he intended to do. " Beatrice says.

"And if that's not reason enough, the fact that his son's actions could have cost him a very important deal will surely be incentive enough to warrant a well deserved beating. " Abigail says, a large grin forming on her face.

"I guess all that's left to do now is speak to my brother. " Helen says

"And hope no one else decides to follow in Taonga's footsteps " Chilufya adss

"I don't think anyone will. We'll be here to make sure of it. " Helen says, a determined look flashing through her eyes.