Chapter Four

"What's going on here?"  Edmond shouted, and the students quickly rushed out of the dining hall, for fear of being implicated. He walked over to us and found us panting heavily.  "I asked what happened here!!" he yelled.

"It's Susan, Edmond. Susan and Stephanie joined forces and attacked us" Charlotte quickly spoke up and pretended to cry. Her friends joined her, pretending to be crying, I stared at them in surprise.

"You girls are so....." I wanted to shout at them, I wanted to smack them for lying against me.

1You this new girl, just what is your problem" he angrily asked, I dropped my head low in embarrassment. Edmond looked at Stephanie in anger. " I'm not scared of you, Steph, but what I'll tell you is that you have to stop causing trouble wherever you go. The next time I remind you of it, you get suspended" he warned strictly.

"Come on nigga, I don't know anything about their fight, I only came to help this girl" Stephanie said and pointed towards me.

"So you are the cause of the fight, uh?" Edmond asked, but I pretended not to hear. "I'm talking to the new girl," he said, and I quickly raised my head.

"Pardon?" I asked, pretending like I didn't understand what he was saying.

"Senior Edmond, she really beat me," Eva said and cried out loud.

"Brother, she's really troublesome," Chloe chipped in.

"It's okay everyone," Edmond said. "Who started the fight?" he asked, and Allison hurriedly came out from his hiding place.

"It was Charlotte that started to trouble Susan, but Susan started the fight," he said and briefed Edmond on what had happened.

"All of you to the disciplinarian's office" Edmond ordered.  "And you," he pointed at me.

"Ye… ye…yes" I stammered.

"Mind yourself" he said. "To the office girls" he said and led them out of the dining hall, heading towards the disciplinarian's office.

"You will be in hell today," Sarah whispered to me.

"Shut up" I snapped and continued to walk.

"She's so dumb" Charlotte chipped in.

"Charlotte, you are stupid" I said. I didn't know that my voice was loud. Edmond heard my voice and turned to look at me.  Charlotte and her friends quickly pretended as if they knew nothing.

"Who just said that word?" he asked and frowned. Charlotte, and her group of friends, pointed at me.

"She did," they said at once and I could only look confused.

"Did you?" He asked me.

"It was a slip of the tongue" I murmured.

"I can't hear you. Can you please speak louder?"  he said.

"I said it was a slip of the tongue" I said louder.

"Let's go," he said and continued to walk.

                      In the disciplinarian office.

"Excuse me sir"  Edmond said and walked into the office. A round, plump man with ruddy hair, putting on spectacles, sat on a seat.

"Yes, who is it?"  he asked in a rough voice.

"It's Edmond sir," Edmond replied.

"Oh Edmond," he exclaimed. "How do you do?"

"I am doing well sir, may I come in sir?" Edmond asked.

"Oh Yes you are free to" he replied and laughed in a stupid manner.

"Come in girls" Edmond said and opened the door wider for the girls to come in. They trooped in one after the other. The teacher looked confused.

"What is it, Edmond, why are they here?" he asked.

"Culprits sir" he replied.

" Which offense have they committed?" the teacher asked again, he was beginning to look interested in their matter.

"Fighting sir" Edmond replied and bowed.

"Fighting?"  the teacher asked and shifted in his seat, making a loud noise. It was so funny that I couldn't resist the urge to laugh. "Who dares laugh in my office?" he roared, and I kept quiet, giggling silently.

"Susan did sir" Charlotte replied, and I cried without tears.

"Who's Susan?" the teacher asked.

"The New girl"

"I am sir" I and Chloe both spoke at once.

"I don't understand, can't one person speak?"  the teacher asked.

"Susan is the new girl in college, sir," Edmond politely replied.

"Come over to the front of my desk so that I can see you, Susan or whatever you calm yourself" he ordered, and I slowly walked to the front of his desk with a funny expression.

"Here I am sir"

"Were you laughing at me?" he asked.

"Sir?" I said pretending to be deaf.

"Why were you laughing at me?" he questioned.

"Me?" I asked and laughed again. The student in the office stared at me in surprise. Even the teacher shifted his spectacles.

"Shut up girl" he roared. "How dare you laugh at your teacher? Don't you have respect? Weren't you taught how to respect elders?" he questioned.

"But you asked me to laugh, sir" she said and shrugged. "I only did what you asked me to do sir, you said I should laugh and I did so sir. What offense have I committed in doing as my teacher had said?" I questioned, and the teacher opened his mouth in bewilderment.

"Is…is…is she the…the…new…girl?" the teacher stammered, and the students nodded their heads because they were shocked and couldn't speak. Suddenly, Allison jumped to the front of the teacher.

"She's fearless, sir, isn't she?" he asked and smiled sheepishly.

"Shut up" the teacher roared.  "Get out of my front right now" . He said, and Allison walked away with embarrassment.

"I was only trying to help," he murmured.

"New girl?" the teacher called.

"Yes sir" I replied and bowed.

"Is this your first time meeting me?" he asked, and I nodded. "Are you certain?" he asked and frowned.

"I don't know sir" I replied.

"Hmmm, you are too…. I don't know what to say about you" he said and shook his head in disbelief.

"I'm sorry sir" I said and knelt on the floor, making a loud sound with my knee. "I'm truly sorry sir, please forgive my manners" I pleaded, and the room went silent for a while.

"You are forgiven," the teacher replied, and I stood up.

"Thank you sir"

"Don't mention it" he said, and I started laughing, making everyone look at me. I wasn't concerned about the fact that they were looking at me, and that I was just forgiven by the same man I was presently laughing at.

"What's wrong with you, Susan?" Sarah asked with an angry face, but I couldn't hear her, instead I laughed louder, making them use their palms to close their ears.

"Susan?" Edmond yelled. I turned to him and stared at his angry face before I kept quiet.

"You are weird, " the teacher said.

"I'll take that as a compliment Sir" I said and the other students laughed at me.

Shut up" the teacher said and looked at Edmond. "Tell me what brings you here, Edmond," the teacher requested.

"All of them, aside from Allison, were caught fighting," he replied.

"Including the new girl? He asked.