Schoolin Life

Joanna's POV

"JOANNA, GET UP." I heard someone yell.

"Could someone help me stop that noise?" I groaned, closing my ears with the pillow. "I really need this five minutes of extra sleep." I silently prayed.

"Joanna!" The voice came out again. This time it sounded clear and like –

Oh shit. I jumped off my bed immediately. Where could I hide?

"Joanna Gore Alex. Get the hell up or I swear, I will unleash hell on your head!" My mum shouted as she pounded on my door.

There went my delicious sleep people. Yes, I called sleep delicious. Have you tasted it? Trust me, you should. I hoped you would understand my current situation.

"Oh, you don't want to get up?" she questioned. "Suit yourself then." A few seconds later I heard her footsteps retreat.

"Thank God!" I sighed and did a happy, booty shake afterward. PS: it's a thing where you like roll your hips and twerk a little.

The booty shake was short-lived when I felt something cold and wet sting my skin. "What the – "

My eyes flashed opened to see my older brother, Elvis, look down at me with a smirk on his lips. Wait. How did he ... ? Never mind, he's so dead, I mused.

"Elvis!" I shouted before I hopped off my heavenly bed. Yes, it was heavenly – its features would agree.

He took off running immediately when he noticed I had gotten out of bed.

"Get back here you coward!" I blurted while I tried to catch up with him.

He was fast but since luck was on my side, I caught him in no time. Taking him unaware, I jumped on his back, my fingers going straight for the target.

"Oh no. Not the face. Not my face!" he screeched as he attempted to remove my hands from his face.

"Satisfied with my artwork, I got off him and sauntered to the kitchen where mum was making breakfast.

"Morning, Mom," I greeted, kissing her on the cheek.

She turned around to smile at me as her brown skin stood out the same way the smile did. She was taller, like way taller than dad. Maybe it was because she was from Sudan, the southern part to be specific, and not from Nigeria.

Mom worked as a lab scientist at a specialist hospital close to us so she was always around hence she was only called to work when there was a need for her services.

She was a full-time Christian who spent most of her time with God and her Bible. She had met dad in India, where they both attended college. Basically, I'm a half-cast.

"Did he succeed?" She smirked, returning to making breakfast.

I shrugged. "He did but I got my revenge," I replied as she swallowed hard. "Mum, don't worry. I didn't hurt your baby."

I rolled my eyes as she released the breath she was holding. Elvis has always been Momma's boy, and I was Daddy's girl.

"By the way, where's Dad?" I asked while I munched on an apple.

"Over here," he answered, coming down the stairs. He kissed my cheek when he reached me to which I responded with a happy smile. See, this was what I was talking about. Daddy's girl.

Dad himself had a fair complexion with an average height, hence why mom was a head taller than him. He was a professor at a university here in my state.

Though he worked part-time, he was always at school so his students could meet him anytime for questions and advice. Some even came to our home on Sundays for meals and other issues. They see Dad as their father, and Dad always took them as his children.

"How are you preparing for the first day of high school?" Mom questioned, trying to rile me up which definitely worked as I frowned.

"Mom, why do you ask?" I groaned to which Dad laughed and Mom rolled her eyes with a smile.

"Come on, let's eat," she said after she had set the table and placed the kettle that contained hot water on it for us to use in making our tea.

"Elvis!" I called out.

"I'm coming, chicken," he blurted out as he too came down the stairs in his tall glory. All dressed up and ready for school.

He took dad's skin color but mum's height rather, with his lean muscular body, a sharp jaw, light pink lips, piercing black eyes that made the girls run around him all the time.

"Well at least, someone's excited about school," I grumbled with a hint of sadness as I stared at him and noticed how plain looking I was.

"My skin was brown like Momma's just a little fairer and I took my dad's height – I'm average too with a slim figure. I'm curvy in some places but not in parts that make guys run around me, not that I was complaining that much but you get my drift.

I also had brown eyes with black flecks in them, a pointed nose, brown pouty lips, and high cheekbones.

"What the hell happened to your face?" Mom screeched and quickly rushed over to Elvis when her eyes spotted the little mark I gave him on his neck. She should be thankful it wasn't his face though.

"Momma's boy," I whispered with an evil grin.

"What did you do?" Dad questioned, giving me a weird glance as he too noticed the slight mark.

"Just a little payback for dumping a bucket of water on me in this cold. Besides, it's a harmattan morning!" I shivered as I remembered the event.

Harmattan was a season in Nigeria, similar to winter, spring, summer, raining season, etc. The harmattan season usually started in October and lasted till February.

It has a dry harsh feeling with a dusty breeze that swings from the Sahara Desert. The season was rare because its mornings are freezing, afternoons are blazing hot, and evenings windy with dust particles flying in every direction.

"I thought you said you didn't hurt him?" Mom asked after she sent a glare my way.

"Sometimes I lie," I replied with a shrug.

"Remind me not to wake you up again." He sighed as he nodded continuously. "But on a serious note, why the face? Even though you didn't succeed on that?"

"Aww. Is someone a baby?" I teased. "I didn't really do much harm." I winked as I ran to my room to get dressed.

Wow! First day of school, I mused as I thought of those teachers, with their foolish gossips.

They always looked for things to talk about. Plus, I was sure I was gonna meet some shitty teenagers.

Nothing was going to change, it was the same as junior high school. And hmmm, my ex. I was going to meet him in this school because it was the same school he had moved to. Well, that was what Harmony, my best friend told me.

I mean, why did he choose this school out of the many schools around? Even till now I always asked myself, what got me attracted to him? Was it his big ears or pimpled face? Or his dumb ass?

Sorry, if I sounded harsh but that was just the truth. The guy was a total douchebag and I doubted it was love. Maybe it was just the excitement of having a boyfriend back then. He was my first and I thanked God that shit didn't get real. If you know what I mean.

I made a vow to stand up to shitty friends and ignore the teachers and students gossip.

"I got dressed, said goodbye to Mom and Dad but not Elvis because he had left already for his school. I headed outside and started my trek to school. It wasn't far from home.

Elvis and I didn't attend the same school. I'm happy and sad at the same time. I sounded bipolar, didn't I?

"Well, school here I come. My favorite place in the world," I muttered sarcastically to no one in particular.

*******

Playing my favorite song If I were a Boy by Beyonce, my mind stayed afloat. Alone with my thoughts and nothing else. I didn't even realize that I was at the school's entrance until I heard voices from inside the school. People shouting and doing their daily stuff.

I immediately hid my phone from the authorities before they seized it. Phones weren't prohibited at this school but are not used except in the cafeteria, nowhere else.

Entering the school's premises, I knew that I was late because classes had started a while ago and guess what? The gossiping teachers Harmony told me about were attending to latecomers and at the same time, searching for interesting topics to gossip about.

I knew how schools like this worked. I've heard stories from Harmony and Elvis. Harmony was my childhood friend. He attended this school but he decided to search for another school in Enugu, where he traveled to for the holidays.

Apparently, he couldn't imagine facing the same bullshit in his last three years of secondary school, and from what I was seeing, I didn't blame him.

Since I was late, I knew that I'd be the top person of all their gossip.

A teacher noticed me and I guessed she was Harmony's worst teacher in the whole school from his description of her, plus the fact her shirt indicated business studies teacher in a thin line.

My life is going great, I thought sarcastically as I trudged towards them.

"Hey there!" She called out to me but I pretended not to have heard her and dragged my feet in a bid to prolong the moment.

"Didn't you hear my voice? Come over here!" She yelled which indicated my plan had failed and I was now in trouble.

"Hey! How can you afford to be late on your first day of senior secondary school? Teenagers nowadays," she scoffed, rolling her eyes as I was now in front of her.

I kept silent while she ranted on, instead, I took an interest in the grains of sand below my black sandal-clad feet.

"Idiot. Are you even listening to me?" she asked, poking me with the end of her cane.

"Don't mind the delinquent," a new voice said.

Did she just call me delinquent? I thought as I gazed up to find the famous "sugar mummy of Comprehensive High School, who taught home management according to what the thin line on her blouse said.

She stared down at me her eyes blazing in fury. Harmony had also told me about her.

"Her skirt is even short and is that makeup?" she scoffed and tapped my cheek. "So, because your breasts are fully developed, you want to seduce the guys of this school."

"You now want attention from them, right?" she questioned, coming closer. "Let me tell you. You're ugly, you're like a stick, you're shapeless and no one will love you ... "

I tuned her out and stared straight ahead.

"Hey!" She yelled when she realized I stopped paying attention. Frustrated, she grabbed the cane from the other teacher and the next thing I heard was a whip sound as it stung my skin harshly, causing me to groan in pain.

"What the – " I looked up and saw the woman glaring at me. My breathing accelerated as I came to terms with the fact that she actually hit me with the cane. I saw red. Pure freaking red. I suddenly had the urge to bash her on that wall beside her.

Breathe, Joanna. Breathe. I willed myself to calm down and took deep breaths. In. Out. In. Out. Slowly, slowly, pea-

"Come on, get that mop and do your portion of cleaning, you latecomer." She poked me with the end of the cane again.

Was she still talking? Hmmm. Just ignore her. Ignore her, I kept telling myself as I went to get the mop.

The next thing she said, made her smirk like a maniac, "Move that free ass, slut."

OMG, she did it. She fucking actually did it. No one ever called me a slut – like no one. The red light I was seeing was increasing and then I exploded.

I sharply turned and faced her. "What did you just say? You called me a slut?" I laughed.

"I mean, the sugar mummy is calling me a slut. Look everyone, she's calling me a slut. The old hag that fucks around with her male students is calling me a slut." I chuckled.

"You think I don't know what you've been doing in this school. You think I don't have ears?" I questioned, glaring at her.

"Listen here, woman, before you call me a slut, kindly ask yourself who you are because I think you're the slut here." I scoffed. "You're the slut, got that?" I spat on her face and stormed out of the hall in anger with shocked faces and eyes behind me.

I was so busy trying to calm my nerves that I wasn't paying attention to where I was going until I bumped into a fluffy pillow – wait how is that even possible? Who kept a big fluffy pillow standing in a school hallway?

Still confused and wanting to make sure I was right, I wrapped my arms "around said pillow and squeezed tight, sighing at its softness, I rested my head on it before I closed my eyes.

Only a weirdo would hug a pillow in the middle of the school hallway – the way only a weirdo would place a huge pillow in the middle of a school hallway.

I felt myself drifting off to sleep and yes I was still standing, It was so blissful until I heard a voice. A voice I despised. A voice which made me jump away from the pillow immediately.

"Are you done using me as a pillow?" The voice said, which made me glance around to find where it was coming from. "I'm right here, look up."

I complied and looked up. Guess what? The pillow spoke.

It was really strange a pillow could talk, I wondered. Oh, wait it didn't just talk.

I then examined it closely, to notice it had a head, arms, and legs too.

Wait, it's a person? And is that not James? I asked myself as I my vision came in contact with a sorry face.

"James?" I called, trying to confirm my suspicions.

"The one and only." He grinned.

"When did you turn into a human potato?" I questioned with a frown.

"A potato whom you once cuddled and who still loves you." He smirked and pulled me in for a kiss.

"Get off me you a disgusting human-sized potato," I screamed and pushed him away, making a beeline for my class "while I muttered profanities under my breath.

Dear ladies and gentlemen, if you haven't put two and two together yet then let me do it for you.

That human-sized pillow or potato which I just cuddled was none other than my ex-boyfriend. He had some nerve trying to kiss me.

"Asshole," I cursed internally before I walked into class.

I failed at ignoring hoes and bitches. It was still my first day and my plans were already failing.

Yay life.