My Odyssey

6. MEETING GLORIA

Yeah… bullying.

Saying that word alone sends shivers through my spine.

I entered my new classroom and set down my bag as I was instructed to. I then went for the morning assembly as was our school tradition. All went well until the assembly was over and we returned to our classes.

Turns out that word had spread to my seniors that there would be a new student joining their class… A junior.

As I entered, I noticed they were waiting for me… Well, some of them were. I ignored their stares and moved toward my seat but was stopped by one of them.

“Who are you?” she asked. “I’m Chisom” I responded, already scared.

“What are you looking for in my class?” she asked angrily. “They told me this is my new class as from now onward” I answered sheepishly.

I don’t know why or what was wrong with my response that made her and her friends (or gang) become so angry… More angry than they already were. She went to my seat which was close to a window, picked up my bag and threw it out the window.

“Now if you love your school bag, you would get out of my class to go get it… and never come back!”… That was all she said. I burst into tears and walked out of the classroom amidst all the laughter from her friends. I walked to the back of the block to go look for my bag. Luckily I found it and picked it up, walked back into the class and moved toward my seat despite the threats I had received from the head bully (oh! By the way, her name is Gloria).

Gloria stopped me in my tracks. I could see the astonishment she felt… I knew she would’ve been wondering where I got such audacity from… You can’t blame me though, I am one hell of a stubborn fellow.

As she was still obviously contemplating on what to do, one of her friends, Joseph by name, suddenly rushed toward me and forcefully took my bag from me and went out to throw it even farther away. After he did this no one needed to tell me to go out, I slowly walked out the classroom to go look for my bag again. As I picked it up I walked back to the classroom in tears. This time though, I had to sit outside by the entrance because they had closed the door while I was out.

I heard some students trying to persuade Gloria to allow me stay in class but to no avail. From what I was hearing, turns out she was the best in class but had never aced tests and exams like I did. Turns out she was afraid of me coming in to take her position as top student.

This my newly found info gave me the morale I needed. There and then, I promised myself that was exactly what I would do, become the best student in the class and show Gloria who’s the boss. I got up from where I was seated and made my way to the staffroom to report the events of that morning to my new class teacher.

Luckily for me, my teacher (Mrs. Akan) was already on her way to the classroom to start teaching for the day, we met halfway.

She asked me what the problem was and I narrated all that happened to her. She was so sad, disappointed and angry all at once. She held my hand and walked me to the classroom.

Gloria, Joseph and the others were shocked to see me coming back with our teacher. They quickly threw open the door and tried to pretend to be of good behavior.

Mrs. Akan entered the classroom, looked at them and shook her head, sighing. She then gave them very strict warnings about ever bullying me or anyone else again. I didn’t believe they could be so timid, I almost burst out laughing.

After the pep talk they received from Mrs. Akan, we all settled down for the morning classes after which we went for a short break at about 11:30am.

I remained in my seat and brought out the food mum had packed for me. I was about eating when I noticed Gloria glaring at me from the corner, my heart skipped a beat and I literally started sweating profusely. Gloria kept glaring at me and didn’t say a word, even as she moved out of the class for the break. I was scared and thought I was still going to have a very hard time in that class, even after Mrs. Akan intervened.

I lost my appetite immediately but a girl named Debbie walked up to me and said “You don’t have to worry about anything, they can’t harm you, not now that our teacher has intervened. They fear her more than they dislike you.”

This kind of made me feel safer… well, it’s all part of the hard things of life.” I concluded…