The Externals - Chapter Eight

Most of the heroes and heroines in the high school movies I enjoyed watching during our previous holiday had their issues when prom was only a few weeks away so I kept wondering why mine had to be different. How could I of all people be punished on the second day of the second week of resumption? That was very unfair!

"My elder sis can handle dinner alone. Please let me stay", Jess offered to help me sweep our school compound after closing hour as our proprietor requested after I and Halima were caught fighting.

"It's fine. You told me your dad usually complains about her cooking", I picked a broom from the back of our classroom's door.

"Well, I'm not that good a cook. Dad won't let my mom cook because he feels irritated with the way she spits so he's going to buy us dinner. My siblings can handle the remaining chores so nothing can stop me from helping you", Khadijat hijacked the broom from me.

"I said I don't need your help!" I forcefully took the broom. "Go and train your siblings so they don't end up being a fool like me!"

Eventually, the people I thought were my only allies in GMC left me to deal with my problems alone. They gave in to my plea without looking back while I battled with the enormous task in front of me. Normally, the punishment for fighting in GMC was a whole week of sweeping the school's compound but my English teacher added his when he figured out that I lied to him about my sickness, then my maths teacher followed suit. He used every opportunity to punish me since I stopped being his favorite girl after failing to convince my dad to help him get a job at the company he worked for. Maybe I should have told him I didn't have a real father-daughter relationship with that man, and I even found it difficult to ask him for certain things that I'm even entitled to because we weren't that close.

"How can you repay me like this after everything I did for you?" Kenny walked up to me in the middle of work.

"How can you still have the guts to talk to me like that, sissy!" I made fun of him.

"How dare you call me that, b....!"He raised his fist.

"You dare not hit her!" Jess gave him a punch which made him lose balance.

"That's enough!" I held her back." I don't want you to get into troublr because of him. He's not worth it".

"I don't mind getting in trouble just to make sure he pays for what he has done", She insisted.

"Just so you know, her boyfriend's mom is only a king's concubine but people you wouldn't have imagined who will come running here if something happens to her but no one gives a damn about you!" He said to spite me and left.

"I didn't bargain for this..." I cried.

"It's okay. Don't mind that idiot", Jess comforted me and joined me in finishing the remaining work.

Since the teacher-in-charge of the sickbay wanted to fill it up with new kits the same time I and Halima were fighting, she caught us and took us to the proprietor's office. Instead of keeping her dirty mouth shut, that stupid girl told him everything that happened. She knew things weren't right between the two of us because of how I left when Kenny arrived at her house the other day and confronted him when I started showing the pregnancy symptoms because she claimed to be concerned about me. And even though we agreed to keep the Friday incident a secret, Kenny told Halima about it! Worse still, he dared to tell her I might have been raped and was even trying to force myself on him for the pregnancy. Does that make any sense?

After hearing the whole story, our proprietor was disappointed because he never thought I could get involved in that kind of scandal. He attempted to call my dad and explain everything to him in his angry mood but I was lucky there was no network on his phone at that time. Moreover, he counseled us for about an hour but didn't forget to assign us works, promised to keep watch over us, and threatened to expel me if my pregnancy is later confirmed because he doesn't encourage abortion as a Christian. Above all, I was the one who suffered most in all of this. I was the one whose reputation got tarnished so how could he still have the guts to say those nasty words to me instead of apologizing? How could he be so cruel? Why the hell did I fall for a person like that?

"Do you feel better? I can come home with you if you want", Jess said to me as were about to follow different routes to our homes.

"You don't have to pretend like you care. I know you think I'm stupid for liking him", I avoided her eyes.

"I'm not in the position to judge you, Lily. I mean I didn't dream of dating a Yoruba guy but look what happened", She reminded me.

"I'm sorry for talking to you that way", I apologized.

"It's okay", She hugged me."Don't be too hard on yourself. It's that stupid Kenny who's the real loser. You're too good for him anyway".

If someone had told me Jess would have been the one to say those words to me, I would have argued because she was a rigid person but I was glad she did. Her words gave me the needed strength to pull through the night though I couldn't stop thinking about what happened. At dawn, I resolved not to be the good girl anymore and get back at those two idiots for what they did to me!

"Dija, can't you manage to help us keep at all?" Jess told her as she was preparing for a match with the SS2 girls the next day.

Beforehand, our boys had gone on the field to play against two remaining classes and they won both matches. Kenny was the champion of the game since he scored the highest number of goals but who cared? I felt his skills were limited to the walls of GMC. If he really wanted to prove himself, he should have trained his team to compete with students from elite schools.

"If she doesn't want to do it, you don't have to force her", Halima acted like she cared."After all, she's not the only tall girl in our class. Some people have height but it's useless". I didn't need anyone to tell she was referring to me.

"Jess, can you get me a sportswear?"I closed the novel in front of me and tossed it aside.

"Sure", She was glad I decided to join them in playing football for once.

"This is insane!"Halima laughed mischievously."We're going to lose this match to our juniors if she joins our team".

"Does it matter?" Khadijat rejoined the conversation."We've been winning them ever since and it's not as if we got anything for doing so".

"Exactly. We can even tag it a play match", Jess buttressed her point.

"No way! I'm not going to be part of this stupid adventure", Halima wanted to walk away, but her supposed boyfriend refrained her from doing so.

"You can't leave, baby", He said to her. "Show the world that you can win even with an incompetent bitch on your team".

"Of course", She grinned.

Many lips opened widely when I entered the field because I wasn't known to be a sporty person. Apart from that, the sportswear I wore was my junior's so it revealed my laps than usual and the top was a bit clingy but I didn't mind. My attention was on Halima throughout the game. I begged Jess to defend our goal post on my behalf so I could get a chance to wrestle with her for the ball and at least score a goal to shame her.

However, that smart lil bitch pulled a fast one on me. She ensured I didn't have any chance to access either to the ball or her through the help of her allies. I kept running around effortlessly throughout the game like a crazy woman, while she kept scoring goals easily. At the end of the day, our team won the match. The most annoying part was when Kenny lifted her and called her his champion then the junior students flocked around her to sing her praises. I wish I wasn't there to witness it but it happened right before my eyes. Right before I went to the toilet quietly to change back into my uniform because I didn't own a sportswear.

"Lily" John waved at me from the foodshed when I was returning to the classroom.

"What's up?" I joined him since I wasn't prepared to face my mortal enemies.

"You were cool back then", He smiled at me.

"Oh, thanks", I cooed.

"You must have lost a lot of energy during the game...eat something", Our food seller cut in.

"That's not..." I tried explaining to her that I didn't come there to eat.

"It's okay. You can order whatever you want", He didn't let me finish my statement. "I'll pay for it".

"Thanks, hubby" I smiled.

Later in the day, Halima showed me some of my pictures and videos which she captured during the match on Kenny's IPhone. Ignoring the fact that they looked cool and well detailed, he still threatened to delete them if I refuse to beg him but I didn't. During that period, our eyes met and I could vividly see every hint of anger burning in them. My weak heart wanted to succumb to his selfish interest but my pride wouldn't let that happen so I had to spend the better part of the night regretting my action even if I didn't want to.

Why does this always happen? Why do we sometimes lose our sense of reasoning when we fall in love? Why do we place the happiness of loved ones above ours? Does doing so make us selfless or stupid?

"Looks like you didn't get enough sleep last night as well", Aza gave me a concerned look as he sat on my desk the next morning.

"Don't worry. I'll be fine. Thanks for your concern", I gave him a fake smile.

"It's high time you leave worrying about this pretty lady to me", John placed his backpack next to mine.

"What does that mean?" Clueless Timi said.

"This is one of the reasons why you've not made a girl fall for you yet" John patted him on his shoulder.

"Hmm.. It's time for assembly guys", I walked them out of the class.

After fifteen minutes of assembly, the students of other departments had to evacuate our classroom because we had departmental classes so I was left to deal with the wolves - Kenny and Halima of course. Well, it's not like other members of our department didn't like me. They did but those were their major fans. If asked to choose between us, they would choose them over me a thousand times because they were always more willing to share answers with them in the examination hall than I was.

While they gossip, play video games, or chase girls after closing hour, I read like my life depends on it yet they get mad at me for not helping them out during exams. Most of them joke with every information teachers offer them till examination is around the corner. They only bother about updating their notes to earn marks during pre-mid-term-tests yet they blame me for their failure. Regardless of what they did or said, I didn't care nor planned on doing that in our final year. My goal was to ignore anyone who messed with me till graduation.