A Loner's Journey Through Lemonade Making

Chapter 8|Acidic Tongues

More often than not, school work didn't fully start until the second week. Sometimes, it wasn't until the third. It made sense anyway, seeing as that was the most students resumed.

The management just loved seeing our faces and were never willing to let us go, which was why we usually resumed early and went on holidays after schools run by normal people vacated. Little wonder students avoided resuming for as long as they could.

Basic Science class had ended almost an hour ago. Another teacher should have entered immediately or at least five minutes after, but no teacher did, and nobody bothered to check why.

While I waited for a teacher, or better still the bell for break, I read the note from my Business studies class. The extra week I'd spent at the hospital had caused a good amount of pages in my notebooks to be folded and left for whenever I would be bold enough to ask a classmate for theirs. Or until a teacher asked why I'd barely written anything in my books, even. I had nothing else to do, so I resorted to reading the little I'd written.
My notebook lay open on my desk, my eyes going from line to line and my brain registering words and tables. My textbook also lay open for referral.
The word had been settling in fine until a shadow appeared on my book. I looked up.

"Hey." Leilah stood with her hands resting on my desk, a sickly sweet smile plastered on her face. Behind her stood Dorcas, her most loyal subject.

Confusion and fear set in at that moment, my mind racing with different thoughts. Leilah and I almost never spoke. In fact, the first time I'd spoken to her since JSS2 was earlier today when she'd come to talk about Jomi- of course!

"What do you want?" I said straightforwardly.
I was trying to give off the impression that her presence did not intimidate me. But it was not true. I was a wreck inside.

She made to sit on my desk. I quickly took my books off and closed them.

The whole class seemed oblivious to our unusual meeting, as no one even looked our way. I blinked, chiding myself for expecting anything from people who barely noticed me.

"You're still trying your luck abi?" She started, laughing humourlessly.

I rose a brow, feigning confusion, although I had long clocked the reason for her sudden visit.

"Be there forming lost and confused." Dorcas snorted. I chuckled to myself and turned to look at her.
"Hello?" I got up from my seat and looked around class, pretending to be looking for someone. I even went to all the windows around class that weren't too crowded. Joju looked at me weirdly, and so did most of the class. I finally returned to my seat and sat down. "That was me looking for who the hell asked for your opinion." I smiled. "And guess what? I saw nobody. Nobody. Asked. For. Your. Opinion." I clapped after each world. Feeling satisfied with myself, I patted my shoulder.

"Please who are you?" I asked rhetorically, looking genuinely confused. "What value are you adding here, Dorcas?"

Dorcas took a step back, mouth agape. I had barely said anything, but I knew it wasn't what I'd said or hadn't said that had surprised her; it was simply the fact that I'd even said something.

I caught Leilah laughing at her minion for a nanosecond before she shaking her head. Dorcas just eyed me and looked away.

"You still don't know?" Leilah asked.

I rolled my eyes. "It's about Joju, isn't it?"

"Ehen," she smacked my wrist lightly. "Took you long enough. We're writing BECE soon though. Better wise up."

Her insult stung like I had an injury and someone had just emptied a tin full of salt on it. I did well to cover it up anyway. God forbid that she knew she intimidated me.