Black Pride

11.

Ayo entered the room. It had three bookshelves which were stacked full with books. Some students were already there, they were reading books but stopped and cheered as Ayo and the new detainee students joined. The supervisor there shushed them immediately. Ayo went in and picked the nearest available seat. There were ten benches with desks, and three students sat on each bench. The seat that Ayo had picked had two spaces free as a boy had sat on the left side. Ayo sat on the right side, far away from him, whoever came next would have to sit in the middle.

The boy on the left side of her seat was dozing off over a book. Ayo looked at him in disgust; he was fat and snored loudly as he slept. Many times the supervisor had tried to wake him, but he still dozed off again, so in the long run, he was left alone to do as he pleased.

Jeremy saw Ayo sitting on a bench with a space in the middle. Although, there were other free spaces, he was determined to sit near Ayo. As he made his way towards her side, someone hit him on the shoulder and his orange slip fell to the floor. He bent down to search for it and picked it up as quickly as he could. He dusted it and kept it back in the pocket of his shirt. He then made his way to Ayo's side but discovered, much to his disappointment, that a girl had slipped into the free space on the bench where Ayo sat so he sat in the free space behind them.

He had planned on chatting with Ayo, but now he really couldn't, as he was on the left side of his seat and Ayo was on the right side of hers. A girl and another boy had taken the remaining free spaces on his bench.

Ayo had gone to pick up a book that was recommended for her by the supervisor; 'The Secret To Avoiding Distractions'. "Really?" Ayo thought. She took the book and went back to her bench. Another boy had stayed at the left side of her bench and the sleeping fat boy had moved to the middle. He was wide awake now and flipping through his book. Ayo sighed. "Why always fat boys?" She thought.

She buried herself in the book when she heard a sound from her side. A sound that was a little bit familiar.

"Hey, I noticed that you were the girl I met earlier," the boy had said. He had recognized Ayo because he had seen her with his sister. Kevin had asked the girl who sat in the middle to exchange seats with him and she had done so gladly, with the hopes of getting closer to him. He smiled and apologized to Jolly, the fat boy who sat at the left side of the bench because he had accidentally nudged him with his elbow while trying to get into the middle area on the bench.

Ayo looked up from her book and her eyes became widened. She tried so hard to calm herself. "Yeah, that's right, I'm Ayo, nice to meet you," she said and forcefully plastered a smile on her pretty face.

"Kevin, Kevin Muoneke," he said. Something about him made Ayo want to hug him. His face looked soft and his blue eyes gleamed. His curly hair partly fell down to his face and he brushed it away with his hands. He had a small cute nose on his face and he slightly resembled Brie.

"So, what are you here for?" he asked. She smiled as she told him the whole scenario that had happened earlier. Jeremy watched from behind them. His face was red with jealousy.

Just then, a squeezed and scruffy looking paper hit his head. He caught it before it fell on the floor and opened it. "Sucker" was what was written on it. He glanced over to the side it came from. The boy who had hit his shoulder earlier jeered. His two partners on the bench laughed and grinned as they looked at their books on the table. Jeremy frowned. He wasn't going to get bullied on his first day of detention.

He removed his gaze from them and looked at Ayo who was talking and laughing with the new boy beside her. He recognized him. That was Kevin, the twin brother of Brie. They had once lived on the same street before he moved to another city. He didn't trust Kevin. "I would have to warn Ayo later about him," he thought.

Everyone in Room D2 stopped what they were doing and looked at the newest two entering. They were arguing loudly and bitterly.

"You just had to say 'Hi', uhn?" Brie shouted angrily. Her plan had been working perfectly as her robot had already gotten its slip stamped. She was maneuvering it to the detention room when Simon had seen her. He was going to the same detention room and had said 'hi' to her. He had waved as he said it but his hand had mistakenly hit a nearby window, making it to slant to her robot's side, hooking it and damaging the main parts.

In no time, they had found out Brie's secret and had called for her. The head of the office staff had wanted to give her an orange with a black cross slip but had changed his mind and only warned her instead, since it was her first time. "We do not tolerate any form of deceit in the students at all," she had been warned sternly. She and Simon were sent to Room D5 but it was filled to the brim, so they had to come back to the only available room, Room D2.

The supervisor quickly hushed them up and told them to find seats. Simon sat at the far back of the room beside two boys that he wanted to play gambles with. Brie came to where Jolly was staying. "Scram kid, you make a noise and you're not gonna be going home with ten fingers," she said and gave him a harsh look.

Fearfully, Jolly packed the books he was supposed to be reading and went to find another free seat. Brie sat near her brother and winked at Ayo. Ayo laughed. She was happy to see Brie. Jeremy looked at Brie and memories passed through his mind. He had once had a crush on Brie but she had given him no chance at all to express himself.

Kevin started telling stories of his childhood to Ayo. Brie nudged him. He was saying it somehow wrongly so she added her contributions in it, and tried to tell it correctly. Ayo laughed. Kevin was telling her of the time he swam in a bath tub of brown dye in order to look like his twin sister. Brie laughed as she remembered. "For days, he looked like a Dalmatian with brown spots, as the dye left big patches of brown on his white skin," she said and burst out laughing.

Ayo laughed as well. She was enjoying every moment of her detention. She wouldn't mind if this was how it turned out to be every day. Jeremy frowned from his seat. His seat partners had tried to start a conversation with him but anytime he heard Kevin's loud laughter mingled with Ayo's, his face turned sour. He didn't like the way Kevin was getting so into Ayo, he would have to do something about that immediately.

The next day was a Sunday and since no classes were taken, the detention continued on Monday. On that Monday, the supervisor changed Ayo's seat partners. He had mixed Brie and Kevin with other students. He had also changed other students' seats to minimize the noise making. He nodded and he felt satisfied as he observed his great ingenuity. The day before, a student had suggested mixing the students and changing their seats in order for them to focus more on their books. He wondered why he hadn't thought of that before. Ayo's new partners were girls. She looked at Kevin where he was sitting. He was talking with the boy and girl he sat with, already sharing jokes and making them laugh. She smiled. She liked the fact that Kevin could actually stir up people to be cheerful and keep their moods lightened. As she was scanning her eyes round the class, her gaze rested on Jeremy. He was looking at her and smiling, hoping she would notice him. She turned her face away and continued to read her book. "His smile is creeping me out. Why won't he just read his book?" she thought.