The Externals-Chapter Nine

Thursday weren't the only days we had departmental classes. What this pretty day mainly stood for was extracurricular activities. And like I once said, I was an elite member of the press club which happened to be the most boring. On the other hand, Halima was a member of the drama club which every student wanted to join because their members were good talented at telling jokes and acting of course. As for Kenny, he was a popular member of Jet Club since he donated high amounts of money for their termly projects. He was the president and derived joy in using his position to opress students.

Deciding not to be a good girl anymore meant that I had to win over their club supporters to myself so I thought of doing something which later looked stupid to achieve my aim. My club wasn't on the preferred list because all our coordinators do during club meetings is point out everyone's flaws without working towards making things right. We also didn't have time to tell jokes because news collection was the most important of our agendas.

At recess, I left my homeroom for the staff room to collect my biology note from a teacher who needed to copy some topics there and he begged me to help him distribute some notes to JSS2 students. There, I heard some drama club members talking about how they couldn't wait to hear Halima's joke but my club members were sad because they knew theirs was going to be boring as usual.

In order to make our first club meeting for the term memorable and get back at Halima for the things she did to me by taking her supporters, I searched for nice jokes on Google and practiced how to present them. While doing so, Kenny caught me and didn't hesitate to report the incident because he wanted to get back at me. He was also guilty of the same offense but many people were behind him so he was immune to getting caught. Luckily for me, our English teacher saw me being taken to the proprietor's office. When he asked what my offense was, I told him I brought the phone to research news, and he did his best to have me released with zero punishment.

At the beginning of our club meeting, Aza took the opening prayer, then I came up with a manageable last minute which I read to everyone aloud then started telling my jokes. To be honest, it only made things worse. Only our coordinators heard it till the end. The other students fell asleep in the middle! If someone had told me things were going to turn out this way, I would have argued it out because when I watched those jokes on YouTube, they made me and every other person who watched it happy. Why didn't they feel the same way when I was telling and acting it?

"You should quit trying hard to impress me", Kenny decided to annoy me during our lesson break, when the news of my inability to tell a joke properly went viral.

"Who says I am?" I scoffed.

"You once asked if I loved you so who wouldn't think that way? Besides, everyone knows one of the reasons why I love Halima is because her jokes make people laugh, which is so unlike you", He smirked.

"You can say whatever you want because I don't bloody care!" I lied and headed for the class exit.

"Just so you know, I'm never going to fall for someone like you. All I wanted to do was use you", He chuckled as I turned my back on him.

For a couple of minutes, I stood in one of the girl's toilets and cried my eyes out despite the unpleasant smell in there. Those were some of the times I needed my mom or siblings to tell me how beautiful, smart, or intelligent I was so the words of a mere boy wouldn't get to me but it did hit me badly. Eventually, the tears which flowed endlessly from my eyes came to a stop, and I was more determined than ever to get my revenge. This time, I didn't even mind getting an assassin to kill those idiots because they were really beginning to get on my nerves!

I hated the idea of students wearing their club vests on Fridays because it was invented by none other than Halima and her club members were the only ones that had them but there was nothing I could do to stop it. My club members weren't consistent with our weekly club contributions so there no way we could get the money to buy those to blend with them.

Finally, my wish was granted because the second week of my first term in Senior Secondary School 3 which gave me so much headache was finally coming to an end. Most times, I wished I would just open my eyes and realize the events that happened within the past few days were not real but it didn't happen. Yet, I was scared to enter into the new school week ahead. As mandated by the school authority, we have to fast for the last three days of the week to commit our academic year into the hands of the Lord.

Instead of putting it in the first or second week, they decided to put it in the third week cause they knew most of the students and staff would have resumed by then. To make sure everything goes smoothly, our proprietor organized a meeting with the staff, prefects, and the remaining SS3 students after the closing hour on Friday.

"Good afternoon, everyone", He said at the beginning of the meeting." I'm delighted to have you here and start preparations for our upcoming fasting and prayer program".

"Same here, sir", Our principal replied to him."Is there any area you want us to work on?"

"It's still the same thing. There's no proper management of crowd at the foodshed when the prayer is over", He complained bitterly. "Students spend too much time there and end up doing nothing for the rest of the day".

"May I suggest that the food prefect records the names of those who want to buy food and collect their money during morning recess, and the food seller goes to prepare few minutes before we round up our prayer? It will minimize the amount of time they spend there" Halima said.

"That's a brilliant idea, my dear", Our proprietor commended her and made everyone applaud her. I was irritated but I had no choice but to do the same.

The second person who called me on my new phone was my maternal Aunt, and that was because she wanted to inform me about the surprise welcome party she planned for my grandma on her homecoming from Jerusalem. To begin with, I didn't even know when and why she left the country but I still wished her a safe landing and promised to be on time for the party, then she promised to send her new home address which was going to be the party's venue. After dinner, I checked it out on whatsapp and started going through my wardrobe for the perfect outfit to wear but I had to postpone it because my favorite comedy series titled, "Squatterz" was about to begin and I couldn't afford to miss it.

"Hello! Lily, where are you?"I heard a knock on my front door the next morning.

"I'm coming", I said as loud as I could, while struggling to put on my favorite pair of bum shorts and a pink top.

"Please hurry. It's too cold outside", The familiar voice said.

"Just a minute", I hurried to open the door for the persistent knocker, who turned out to be Khadijat.

"What took you so long", She gave me a hug, not minding the fact that her body was wet.

" I was dressing up", I told her."What're you doing here?"

"NEPA people came to disconnect our light so I got bored and decided to come to lend a storybook from you if you have any", She explained to me.

"Why didn't you consider reading the ones in your literature note?" We both laughed.

"Lily Allen is the only one in our class who has the brains to study several weeks before examination", She made me blush.

"You can do it too if you try", I let her go through the portion of my wardrobe where I kept novels which I don't get to read as much as I want.

Khadijat was the one person who loved reading frictions (including those meant for primary and nursery school pupils), more than anyone else in GMC. She was also fast in doing so, and also good at narrating events orally but her answer scripts were always scanty.

"Mehn, you're very lucky to have this nice room to yourself", She fell on my bed and played with the sheets." One of the reasons why I never get to study is because my younger ones are lousy and there's nowhere else I can stay".

"I understand but that's still not an excuse", I gave her a stern look." Your classroom is also noisy but you manage to assimilate things there when necessary".

"Fine. Can we please drop that subject and talk about something else?"She sighed.

"Like what?"I kept combing my stubborn hair and applying melted shea butter to it.

"Why are you dressing up?" She winked at me."Are you going to see someone?"

"Of course not!"I rolled my eyes." I don't have the time to date those useless teenage boys who only think about using girls".

"Everyone's not like that" She countered.

"I'm not even in the mood to discuss that. How do I look?" I turned to her, fully dressed for my grandma's party.

She accessed me from head to toe and finally spoke, "Not bad but a little make-up will.."

"That's not necessary. I don't even have the kits".

"I have so.."She offered to help.

"Don't worry jare", I dragged her out of the house, yet she offered to accompany me to the bus station.

Aunty Joke's house stood out among others in the neighborhood where she lived with her husband and four children. It was a two-story apartment with a car park where exotic cars like Benz and Hummer were kept. Asides having a pretty house, they had fine Jarman Shepard dogs and a cinema room with movies that date as far as the eighties. When I heard about my grandma's party, I thought it was just going to be a small thing among family members only but I was wrong. People I wasn't familiar with came and it wasn't even my Aunt or her kids that attended to their needs. There were lot of waiters they could ask for help if they wanted to refill their wine glasses or have more snacks.

"Hey, get me a bottle of a plate of green salad without the cream", A tall lady with long lashes and red lipstick said to me while I was observing the party's setting.

Her request made me feel embarrassed and regret not following Halima's advice.

Wait, does that mean not wearing makeup made me look like a waiter? A mere person? Hell no!

It was me who didn't dress well enough or carry myself because no one taught me how to do that and I didn't bother learning it either.

"Oh my God! It's so good to see you again, sweetheart", Aunt Joke pulled me close and pecked my forehead, which saved me from further embarrassment." How have you been?"

"Fine, ma", I smiled a bit.

"Is this the person you've been expecting, mom?" The other lady took a closer look at me and shook her head. I couldn't believe she was the same person who bathed me as a kid few years back. She had grown so tallll...

"Don't start, Fiona. Not everyone is a fashion freak like you", Aunt Joke was about leading me to the table where other members of our family sat.

"This will not happen when I'm still hale and hearty", Fiona grabbed my hand and took me to a room on the second floor.

In this same room, her baby picture of was on a pink wall and lots of expensive makeup kits were scattered on her dressing table. Even though the champagne gold gown she gave me to wear was short and sleeveless, I didn't dare to refuse it because I loved the material and the pearl necklace she paired with it. To crown it all, she put in a lot of energy in doing my makeover which came out nice. I really loved it because it made me look mature. I was nothing like the vulnerable girl Kenny made me out to be and even looked hotter than Halima!!!!

A/N

Hey, guys. I'm so sorry for keeping you waiting all this while. I was busy with Wedding preparations for my sis and thank God, it was a huge success. Hope you enjoyed this chapter even if I decided to make the main character a sort of villain...lol..If you have any questions to ask about it, don't hesitate to message me privately. Don't also forget to click on the star icon when you're done reading. God bless you abundantly!!!!!!!!!!