CHAPTER 3

Lagos, Nigeria.

2012.

Straightening her shoulders, Maliya watched Rumaysa intently.

Oh God, please don't let her be in this class.

Maliya could feel her hopes shatter moments later when Rumaysa took a seat when a teacher walked in.

Oh no

Maliya thought, a silent groan which didn't go unnoticed by the teacher escaping her mouth.

"You" the accusatory glare accompanied by the wagging finger the teacher threw her way had her bolting out of her chair instantly.

"Are you my student?" The teacher narrowed her cat-like eyes infinitesimally as Maliya replied in the affirmative.

"How come I've never seen you then?" The woman further questioned her.

"I just transferred to this school today ma'am" she replied as the woman grumbled something inaudible under her breath.

"Well then, introduce yourself to the class" immediately that sentence was uttered, Maliya decided there and then that she absolutely did NOT like the woman.

Getting up, she walked to the front of the class, head bent in shame at being called out on her first day in the school.

"My name is Maliya Jamil, and i was formerly in Queens College, Kwara state before transferring to this school" she said, nervously stroking her scar.

Overwhelmed by the lingering gazes of her unfamiliar classmates, she walked back to her sit, shoulders slumped.

"Since most of your seniors have not resumed due to the ongoing GCE examinations, the school authority has decided to postpone all academic activities to wednesday when they all would be done with their exams.

Cheers and whoops erupted throughout the class as the teacher picked up her bag and angrily strutted out of the class, once again ranting inaudibly.

Maliya went back to resting her head on the desk, some gazes still lingering intently on her face.

Bored a few minutes later, she decided to observe the hormonal teenagers she would practically live with for the next few years.

The class had its own hierachy, she decided as she looked around.

To her left were some girls huddled around a book, intently discussing its content. They were the same girls who had frowns on their faces after the class was cancelled.

'The over-sabis' she concluded.

To their right giving them the stink-eye were another group of girls, considerably more than the previous girls, with some sitting on the desk, and the others on the adjoining seat, they looked to be at the top of the food-chain.

'The It girls' she further concluded.

Beneath the deafening sound of the noise, the sweet melodies of the classical song 'All of me' by John legend wafted to her ears. The sound, in all its melody was being produced by a group of students.

There were about two boys and five girls in the group, and she decided there and then that it was

The glee squad.

Scattered around the class were some students like her, not really conversing.

The outcasts.

From her earlier encounter with Rumaysa, she had an intuition that she would be one of the It girls, but her only wish was that the girl in question was present to clarify her hypothesis.

'Or not' her subconscious argued.

A few minutes later, the girl in question strutted into the class, accompanied by her henchwomen.

Maliya was not at all surprised when they stopped in front of her desk.

One of the girls smiled at Maliya, only for her smile to thin when glared at by the other two girls.

"What do you want" Maliya muttered exasperated, but the only answer she got was an angry glare from Rumaysa.

By now, half the class was watching the display that Rumaysa and her minions were creating.

Even while feeling somewhat threatened, Maliya internally cracked up at their stance.

'Are they trying to imitate the cliques in foreign high school movies?' She thought.

But this was reality, and she wasn't going to watch them bully her.

She'd had enough of people treating her like she was inferior to them simply because she had no one to turn to.

"See, Rumaysa could you please postpone your taunts to when I actually care about your existence" Maliya muttered, glad her comeback wasn't utterly lame.

Rumaysa's response was cut off when the next teacher entered, and like the previous teacher, he looked at Maliya skeptically but nevertheless flashed a smile her way.

The man was really young, probably in his early twenties and had a jovial air about him.

Upon surveying, she noticed that most of her classmates--boys and girls alike--watched in rapt attention as he spoke eloquently.

*****

"I know you're not supposed to have classes till wednesday but I most probably won't be available to have that class, so let's take down the scheme of work" Maliya didn't know what subject the man taught but nevertheless pulled out a book from her bag.

"New student" Maliya looked up from her book, her name half-written.

"Yes sir?" She asked standing up.

"I know you've not stayed long in this school, but isn't it common courtesy to introduce yourself to your teachers" the teacher said with mischeviousness glowing in his charcoal dark eyes.

"I'm sorry Mr...." she began, remembering she hadn't got his name.

'See the pot calling the kettle black' Maliya thought disdainfully.

"My name is Zayn" the man interrupted her thoughts.

She cleared her throat, embarrassed.

"I'm sorry Mr Zayn. My name is Maliya sir" she responded, her eyes glued to the brown sandals that adorned her feet.

Zayn gazed upon the new girl in amusement, watching her thumb glide against her palm, the action oddly mesmerising.

Her skin was honey brown, the colour of his favourite treat.

She had small dark eyes with large fragments of hazel in them, the specks so large you could hardly see the dark river in which they swam.

Her hair looked like it was oiled with local shea butter, the long shiny braids coming to rest just below her shoulder, with some tendrils framing the sides of her face.

He couldn't bring his gaze to her lips though for fear of what he might discover. With a forced smile on his face, his hold tightened on the desk in front of him, his palpitating heart pumping more blood than it would after his weekly trip to the gym.

'Astaghfirullah(Forgive me, God)' he chanted mentally, lowering his head when she caught his gaze.

"Sit down" Zayn instructed, turning to face the white board.

He would normally dictate the notes to the class, but due to a certain female who was causing him to feel cardiac contractions, he chose to write on the board.

Maliya soon found out when Zayn started writing that he taught chemistry. Even though she sat at the back of the class, there was a lingering tension between her and the teacher since she caught him staring at her.

He would make sure to avoid her gaze when he was explaining, Maliya felt a little akward in those rare moments when their eyes would meet.

A sigh of relief escaped Maliya when the belI rang.

'Two more periods till break time' she thought.

An anorexic lady came walking in, her big bag almost twice her arm weight balancing on her shoulders.

A short mini gown adorned her thin body, her skinny legs supported by maroon high heels.

She looked like she walked straight out of a magazine, and had a black wig atop her head which cascaded down her back to blend into a deep purple colour and stop at her waist.

She looked to be in her late twenties, her face caked in professionally applied make-up.

Maliya's eyes were transfixed on the woman as she strutted to the front of the class as if it were a runway, the only thing missing being the red carpet.

The woman--although very tall--reached just above Zayn's chest. The freakishly tall man cringed when the woman who in his opinion looked like a rubber doll batted her false eyelashes at him.

The way he distanced himself from her made Maliya laugh out loud, the look on his face was so comical she found herself clutching her stomach laughing.

Tears escaped her eyes as her laughs subsided. She looked foward just in time to catch everyone's eyes on her. She was glad she didn't have fair skin in that moment, or she would resemble a freshly picked beet.

Zayn caught himself just as he took a step towards Maliya, her laughter had his knees going weak, and it took every atom in his disoriented brain to stop him from taking a step towards her.

*********

Maliya walked into class on wednesday morning noticing how it looked considerably larger, what hadn't changed however were the whispers.

She walked to her seat her head bowed down.

"Hi" a bunch of girls walked towards Maliya, their formation posing no visible hierachy.

They seemed to be friends, unlike those groups of friends who seemed like civilians unwillingly following a military dictator who dragged them by a chain.

"Hi" she answered, suprised at how unflinchingly she had answered them.

"Well, we are from the literary and debating club" a light plump girl said.

Maliya quirked an eyebrow at her, glad when she took the hint to talk faster.

"I'm the co-president of the literary and debating club, the president is in ss3 and our assembly prefect"

Probably because she saw the bored look that was sure to be etched on Maliya's face, the girl who later introduced herself as Chinenye briefed Maliya about her club, and how nice it was if she could be one of it's members.

"I'll think about it" an uninterested Maliya dismissed her, not wanting the boisterous girl to waste half the period persuading her.

Maliya glanced at her watch, the digital device displaying the numbers 8:15 in bright red lighting.

After a few minutes, she remembered Mr Zayn was meant to them today.

'Maybe this was his period' she thought, he had said he wasn't going to be around.

A feeling of relief consumed her.

She felt embarrassed to be in the same class with the man who had heard her laughing like a maniac.

Sighing deeply, she laid her head on the dark brown mahogany wood, inhaling its oddly mesmerising scent, the incessant talks of her classmates however didn't produce that feeling.

They repulsed her.

A naval personnel walked into the class, a long cane in hand.

"Class sit-up" a shrill voice somewhere in the middle of the class shouted.

She looked on confused as the people who were standing halted in their steps, hands coming to rest by their sides.

The others sitting, stretched their hands in front of them, and in a few moments an ominous silence had enveloped the class.

She did what she saw the boy sitting a few seats to her right do, while the naval personnel whose name tag had  'Omini J.E' written on it paraded round the class.

The man seemed to have no intentions of releasing them from the torture.

By now, coupled with her trembling arms, beads of sweat had begun rolling down her temples to her chin.

"Sit easy" the man's gruff voice broke the silence.

"Aye-aye sir" was the corresponding response followed by groans as people slumped unto their desks with resounding thuds.

The manic laughter of the muscular man was borderline ominous, but was laced with amusement at their suffering.

Sadist.

"Class captain" the man asked questioningly.

A tall girl got up spitting out something she had been chewing, probably the over chewed fruit of the season, agbalumo.

"Sir?" She answered haughtily, adjusting her glasses.

"Sarah, so you're the class captain, abeg who gave you that position" the man queried incredulously.

The way his eyes widened in disbelief had people snickering, but Maliya was just trying to process what was going on.

After a series of questions on what they were having, the man left with the promise of sending someone to come watch us while he ran an errand.

Several minutes later, Maliya heard everyone go quiet.

The whispers of 'labour prefect' made her head rise from its position of rest. A tall masculine back that seemed oddly familiar was making its way towards the front of the class.

Her eyes locked onto the figure while her brain simultaneously tried to figure out the information that the optical organ so very annoyingly demanded.

Her still resuscitating brain however only registered the information she wanted to know when the haunting eyes of the figure met hers.

And slowly a smile began forming on her face.