She had always been painfully shy. Except in rare cases when she was annoyed or angry.
Regardless of how much her grandfather tried to bring her out of her shell, Tobi still stubbornly refused to come out. Familiarity was a treasure to her, she had an irrevocable fear of the unknown.
Especially now as she stood, slightly shaking, in front of the huge metal gates leading to Awe Academy; she was scared to enter. If she had a choice, she would not even see the shadow of the academy but alas, her bad decisions had landed her here. She sighed.
The academy was located in the blossoming part of Lagos, Nigeria, where the elite resided. They could never have been able to afford to send her here, but she was a smart student and earned herself a full scholarship here instead. Good grades were imperative in Nigeria, but connections were useful too.
She had both.
This was supposed to be a good thing, except, she couldn't find the courage to push the metal gates open and walk in. Her legs unconsciously started to shake, the unfamiliarity causing her to become anxious. She took out her phone from her skirt pocket and checked the time. 8:56 AM.
"I'm already late", she muttered to herself. "Might as well go back home". Anything to avoid having to go through with this.
She turned and took two steps forward and came to a halt. Her grandfather's smiling face as she left home suddenly appeared, he looked so happy she was starting over and she couldn't bring herself to hurt him again.
"I can't go back", she lamented quietly to herself. "Baba would be disappointed, I worked so hard to get this scholarship".
With a self-depreciating sigh, she once again turned around to face the metal gates. This time though, she pushed it open and kept walking even as she passed the security guards who had been watching her solo drama from moments ago. They smiled at her as she passed and she took it as silent encouragement for the journey she was just about to embark on, she smiled back.
Her fingers had the blue skirt of her uniform in a death grip. Strong enough to leave creases but she couldn't be bothered by that at the moment, she was so ready to get this day over and done with.
The mahogany doors which led to the school building were wide open, and she peeked inside to see if any of the other students were as late as she was. They weren't.
The lobby was huge, they even had a chandelier. Standing air conditioners, which forced out cold air, were placed at the four corners of the lobby. She shivered.
'As expected from an overpriced secondary school', she thought with disdain.
What caught her attention next were the stairs. They were quite a distance from the front doors and they started as one and then divided to the left and right. She looked around for anybody to guide her and spotted the reception at the right side of the lobby.
She fumbled her way to the front desk and adjusted her school bag, forcing it higher on her back. The top of her white uniform shirt had become rumpled due to the number of times she had adjusted her school bag. She tried to hide the creases with the straps of her school bag but failed.
The receptionist, she assumed, looked up at the noise.
"Hello, new face?", she asked with a smile.
She was very pretty and seemed sensible. She was dressed officially. Her glossy, black, natural hair in a neat bun on her head and her thin glasses placed on a thin pile of papers lying on the table. She picked them up and wore them to get a better look of the student in front of her.
"Good morning ma'am. My name is Baba Oluwatobi and I'm a transfer student here". Tobi said quietly, staring at the papers scattered on the receptionist's desk. She fought the urge to arrange them into a neat pile.
"Do you have your papers?", the woman asked. Her attention now focused on the monitor in front of her.
Tobi's head shot up at the question and she pulled down her school bag, knelt by the desk and fumbled for the transfer papers. She searched through new notebooks, stationery and random papers filled with her doodles and stick drawings but could not find the transfer papers.
"I know I brought them...", She muttered as she searched. Finally, her hands brushed a stack of neatly arranged papers containing her transfer information. Baba had organised them himself.
She stood up and handled them respectfully to the receptionist.
"Here ma'am", she offered.
The receptionist smiled, "Call me Miss Oye. I'm the school receptionist. Please wait a moment while I confirm your trasfer".
"Okay". Tobi muttered. Her eyes wandered around the lobby. There was a huge centre piece of the school's logo placed in middle of the hall, a few feet behind it were the stairs which led to the other floors. The left side of the floor had several waiting chairs neatly arranged and water dispensers skilfully placed between them.
There were pictures of successful past alumni hung on the left walls. The right side had pictures of the current Principal and other staff of the academy.
Tobi looked back at Miss Oye. Even as she went through Tobi's transfer papers, her smile never wavered. Seconds later, she transferred her attention back to the monitor on her desk and began clicking.
It wasn't long before the sound of a printer could be heard. Miss Oye took the printed paper and signed on it and then handed it to Tobi.
Tobi glanced down at the paper to see that her transfer has been completed and she was assigned to a class. SS2 A Science class.
"The stairs are right over there. Go through the right side" Miss Oye said as she pointed to the fancy stairs after her desk. "Your new classroom is on the first floor. It's the first class, you cannot miss it.", she concluded with a smile.
Tobi smiled awkwardly back and thanked her, and then turned to make her way to class.
