In All Her Glory

•06. In the Pridelands•

Something hollow was in my chest as I watched him pause his steps, shake his head, and continue walking. It felt awfully like loss.

I lifted my hands to cover my face, successfully blocking out the image of Ephraim striding across the field and back into the main school building.

When will my demons stop haunting me?

From the way I had refused Ephraim's attempt to comfort me, I knew that I was still the same girl I was when I left my family.

An unwelcome picture filled my closed eyes. Twelve-year-old Sammy walking away from sobbing, weeping eleven-year-old me on the last day of primary school.

The sound of the bell ringing forced me to open my eyes. I wiped my eyes and took out my phone from my skirt's pocket.

Yikes, my eyes were puffy, but not too red. Knowing I couldn't deal with punishment right now, I took a deep breath that was supposed to calm me. But, of course, it did nothing to my soul.

I just want to be happy.

I entered the Assembly Hall.

•••

"Silence!" my English teacher's thick voice resonated in the classroom.

I stuck my fingers in my ears. That was something only Tasha Cobbs-Leonard should be able to do.

Mrs Abudu will make an excellent mezzo-soprano.

The SS3 class became quiet. One of Soji's minions scraped his chair against the floor.

"I guess I'll be flogging someone today. Who was that?" Mrs Abudu bellowed.

The stupid boys giggled behind the class.

"Nobody? The chair scraped itself?" she walked down the aisle closest to me and toward the back of the room, her perfume assaulting my nostrils. I held back a sneeze as her rainbow-coloured midi skirt swished by.

I turned my head to look behind the class. My eyes met Ephraim's. My heart galloped as he gave me a small smile. It seemed like he had been staring at me.

I suppressed the stupid smile that threatened to form and focused on our teacher. My face burned as he kept gazing. I was beginning to get jumpy when he finally turned to look behind him.

What was that?

She stopped in front of the three boys who had giggled. Two of them looked away from her in guilt. The one in the middle smiled. I couldn't see Mrs Abudu's  face, but I knew that she was annoyed. Who wouldn't be?

"One, two, three," she pointed her pankere at each of their faces. "Go to the front of the class, kneel down, and raise up your hands. Now!"

(A/N: Pankere is a cane. It is called split rattan in English.)

They scurried out of their seats, but halfway to the front of the class, they began to swagger. I scoffed quietly and shook my head.

Such moronic guys.

They did as Mrs Abudu told them, but in slow motion. My eyes met those of the one who had been smiling. Soji's right-hand man. I smirked at him and pointed my thumb down. He frowned and stared at me for a while. I stared back, until he got tired and looked elsewhere.