Chp.19-Disciples.

As the bell rang and classes began, the room filled with murmurs of gossip and whispers of secret trouble. A man dressed in white tees and jean trousers walked in, a stack of paper in his hands. The whole of form twelve rose up and greeted him in unison, and the man smiled at them in return.

"I have finished marking your yesterday's pop up test," the man announced, "If I call your name, raise your hand so I can hand them to you." He continued. The classroom was filled with 'yes sir's and the man proceeded. He called their names and handed them their paper once their hands were raised. He smiled at those who passed, and shook his hand at those who had done fairly.

"Ivory-Marie Nwachukwu"

"Present sir!"

"Zephan Etaoma?"

"Here, sir!"

"Ifenna Estella Matthews."

"Here!" The light skinned, afro haired girl answered, her hands raised just above her chin. The man walked up to her and handed her her paper. Ifenna shrieked as she stared at it.

"90?! How did I score 90? I was sure I got all of the answers right!"

He shook his head. "You got almost all of the answers right. But you made a little blunder in your number 6. You used plus when you were meant to multiply." He told her. Ifenna's face screwed up and she glared at her paper. This was the first time she had gotten a low mark in mathematics. Surely, the man must have failed her intentionally! It was obvious he didn't really like her, that's probably why he had given her a low mark. She angrily shoved the sheet of paper in her bag, listening to the man calling more names.

"Teresa Okoye."

"Here, sir." Tessie answered, raising her hand and biting her lip as she noticed the amount of eyes on her. The man walked up to her with a big smile.

"Well-done, Teresa!" He praised, handing her her paper. Tessie stared down at it and a small smile tugged at her lips.

100/100

Excellent work!

Was written in red ink at the very top of her paper. Warmth spread in her stomach and she felt slightly happy. She blocked out sounds and voices from around her until she heard the bell ring again. The teacher waved at everyone and left the room, and the room picked up with chatters and murmurings. Tessie opened her biology textbook to read, but then a hand shut it close with force, startling her. Above her was a furious Ifenna, and her side kick/best friend, Chiazokam Isiekwe. A.K.A, soon to be Ms President.

"Aren't you ashamed of yourself?" Ifenna questioned, her head tilted and her eyes narrowing slits. Tessie stared at her bemused.

"You think we don't know what you're doing? Oh come on, don't pretend to be innocent!" Teresa continued to stare at them, refusing to utter a word.

What nonsense were they spewing now?

"We know about your affair with Mr Amsterdam." Chiazokam accused, a triumphant look on her face as if she had said something big.

"E-excuse me?" Tessie muttered finally. She was taken aback by the audacity of the two. They thought she was.... sleeping with their math teacher?

"I mean, its so obvious! You think we don't see how you two stare at each other in class. Or how you're always in his office?"

I'm always in his office because that's the second best place for me to study in peace! She wanted to scream at their faces. But she kept quiet and listened to the two continue with their assumptions.

"But I wouldn't be too surprised though. I mean, poor people like you..." Teresa glared at her. There she went again with the poor people speech. Always assuming all middle class people were criminals.

"Selling their body for a more convenient lifestyle isn't something new to people like you, right? You're selling yourself to him for better grades, right? Why can't you be honest? Why do people like you always have to choose a sly way to get things? Hmm?" By now, Teresa was sure the whole class was watching. Murmurs filled the room, louder than before and she was sure she heard a person cough the word 'whore' from the front. Tessie clenched her fist, anger seeping in.

She counted in her head to calm herself down.

1

2

3

4

5

6

"You know what Chiazokam?" She faced the soon to be president with a tight smile. "I think it's high time someone opens your eyes and tells you the truth to your face. You've never in your life made a single penny. You can't go around calling people poor when you yourself are poor." Both girls snorted, and she heard the people around her laughing at her 'stupidity'.

"Your father is the one who is wealthy, Chiazokam. Not you. Don't let the money get into your head and cloud your sense of reasoning. You need to think before you speak, and the nonsense you say. Just because others aren't born with a silver spoon in their mouths like you doesn't mean you should treat them differently." She paused, a wry smile tugging at her lips as she continued

"And remember, things don't always remain the same. Who knows what the future holds for you."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" "How fucking dare you" Both girls said at the same time, one with annoyance, the other with rage. Tessie only shrugged, opening the text book once more and started reading, ignoring the two completely. She heard something like a cry and a loud shriek mixed together, but she did not look up from her text book until she heard the sound of both girls sitting on their assigned desk, their chairs scraping the floor in an irritatingly loud way.

Tessie rolled her eyes for the thousandth time since this morning and continued to read. She felt eyes on her, and she knew they were gossiping about her in little whispers, but she had learnt to ignore them, and that is exactly what she did.

Ignoring the voices and getting lost in her own world.

~•~

Angel and his little clique sat in a circle at the back talking about an upcoming match. Well, it was more like two people arguing about who was going to win and the rest watching them bicker in amusement.

"Man, Chelsea is trash! There's no way they'll win." Faith Balogun said to Daryn, whom looked like he'd been shot in the chest, his eyes wide as he gasped dramatically.

"If I give you uppercut! How dare you-"

"Hi Daryn!" The boy paused and turned to look at the voices that called to him. His scowl deepened once he saw their faces.

"Yes?"

Ayodamola and Sasha stood side to side, a wide grin on their faces as they held a stack of paper to their chest. Their skirts were getting shorter by the term, their tops, tighter. Their first two buttons were open and their lips were so glossy it looked like they used ororo to rub their mouth. Angel eyed them in distate, while the rest just stared.

"We just wanted to share our flyer! Elections are starting in two weeks and umm, we know if we have your support, Chiazokam will win for sure!" Sasha stretched forth a flyer towards Daryn as Ayodamola stretched one towards Faith.

"Take that thing away from here! What's our business if Chiazokam wants to be president?" Faith snarled, pushing the girl's hand away. Both girls flinched at his harsh tone, their wide grins faltering.

"I- we just-"

"The fuck you still standing here for? Get lost!" Zaire snapped at them causing them to flinch again, fear taking over their facial expression as he glowered at them.

"Go back to your jesus, disciples." Daryn waved his hands dismissively at them earning a round of light chuckles from his friends. Sasha flushed in embarrassment, and Ayodamola in irritation. Ayodamola eyed them all and snatched the girl beside her by the hand and stormed off.