Chapter 5

After saying the school pledge the principal, an average height woman with a robust body and a chocolate complexion cleared her throat ( something that irritated Kiishi very much ) as she took the stage.

" Good morning students. " She greeted like a robot for she did this every morning in the same tone. Kiishi sometimes wondered if during weekends and holidays Mrs. Ariyo greeted her children that way because she could not imagine a day going by without her saying ' Good morning students. '

" Today is a Friday... "

" Bitch get on with it. " Kiishi hissed, of course today was a Friday, who didn't know that?

" Kiishi you graced us with your presence this morning. " The principal had heard Kiishi's voice but Kiishi hoped she had not heard the content of her sentence.

" Is there something you want to tell us? Kiishi? "

" No ma. " Kiishi replied with her most respectful voice.

" Okay. So as I was saying... " And Mrs Ariyo went on and on about the usual things she always droned about and Kiishi got bored. Kiishi thought that someday it will be possible for her to sleep while on her feet because of how boring the assembly was.

The bell rang to signal first period and Kiishi could not be more grateful, attending assembly today had been a total waste of time and at some point she had begun to think that Bisola had given her a wrong gist but the whispers of students around her had been about Mrs. Danjuma and her escapades.

" Kiishi. " A voice hushed her name and when she turned back she saw Joshua who was not her boyfriend but from whom she was enjoying a lot of  ' benefits ' from him.

" Hmm? "

" I didn't see you yesterday. We were supposed to meet in the library. " They were out of the hall and were now walking side by side. She saw some students looking their way and whispering to themselves but she couldn't care less, she knew they were simply jealous. Joshua was in SS 3 while she was in SS 1 and he was one of the popular boys in school and handsome too. A lot of girls especially his female classmates were jealous he chose to hang out with her instead but they were wrong she had been the one to chose him.

When she had just entered senior school she had decided it was time to make a reality of some of her fantasies and she had chosen Joshua to make them come true. He just happened to be the perfect candidate, he was the most intelligent boy in his set, the most handsome, most popular and although his body could not compare with the men she fed her eyes with it came pretty close and what more he was the head boy!

She had walked up to him after spending just two weeks in senior school, he had been standing on the field watching his friends play football bidding his own time. She had given him a small piece of paper that had read ' library in 30mins, ' she had watched him read it, saw his smile and she had known she had him. He had looked up from the paper to study her face and had said " fifteen minutes '' and that was how they had started their affair. A week after that he had asked her to be his girlfriend and she had told him no she was not interested in wasting time on pointless feelings and that they had no need to put a name on their ' escapades. ' He had been surprised and had told her ' I like you, you're not like all the other girls. '

" My bus had to leave early yesterday. " She replied Joshua.

" Okay. Today? " He asked with a hopeful voice.

" I'm not sure, I have drama rehearsals. " She shrugged.

" Can you make time for me? Please? " Joshua begged.

" Not today. You know you don't have to play faithful to me. I'm not your girlfriend, you can have someone else today. " Kiishi told him.

" Kiishi. I'll wait for you in the art room by 1:45pm. " Joshua said ignoring what she had just told him.

" Joshua, you are not listening... "

" I want you not someone else. " And he walked away leaving no room for her to respond.

" Kiishi baby. " Bisola crooned as she joined her in front of her class.

" Is everything okay? Joshua looked like he ate sour beans. " Bisola commented.

" He's just been difficult. " Kiishi shrugged.

" He really likes you. Kayode said Joshua only thinks of... "

" Please Ola, we are not having this discussion besides we both know Joshua's reputation. "

" That changed when he met you. You changed everything for him. "

" That is not true, he's only this way because I refuse to cling onto him like all the other girls do. "

" Good morning class. " Mr Ahmed their civic teacher strolled into class making it impossible for Bisola to respond to what she had just said.

" Good morning sir. " The class chorused, this was something she wanted to change in the school system. It will be better if the teacher came into class and dived right into the lecture instead they had to waste forty five seconds of the period exchanging pointless greetings.

" Thank you, have your sit. Today we are going to talk about HIV... " It was then she tuned out. If they were discussing the merits and demerits of the constitution she might have been interested but about HIV what new thing might they tell her that she did not already know? Do not have unprotected sex? Do not use unsterilised items? It was in classes like this one she read novels to keep her mind from sleeping.

So for the next twenty-five minutes as Mr Ahmed rambled on about HIV her mind was actively absorbing John Grisham's The associate.