Her Mistake

∆ TWENTY FOUR ∆

I strolled into the class a tired look on my face. Throughout the weekend, I was moody due to the incident which happened last week at the river.

The punctual ones amongst my classmates were in the class. Most of them arrive during the assembly or after the assembly, only a few would arrive before the assembly time and I happened to be amongst those few once in a blue moon.

I spotted Zara in her seat writing furiously in her notebook as she copied a book place on her table. She took a quick glance at me, a surprised look on her face then carried on writing. Two of our classmates were also beside her copying from the book on the table. Pamela was standing and writing on the table while Ngozi had her book on Pamela's back, she looked from Zara's book then wrote in hers.

"Tobi, have you done your mathematics assignment?" Audu, one of my classmates asks as I made my way to my seat.

"The one on circle geometry?" I halted to ask.

"Yes." He answers nodding vigorously.

"I've done it." I told him then carried on walking to my seat, Audu on my trail. I dropped my bag gently on my chair before sitting.

"Please, can I have your note. I want to copy the answers to the maths assignment. I have not done mine." Audu begs. I open my bag and hand him the notebook as soon as I see it after searching through the things in my bag.

He scurries to his seat with the note in his hands after uttering a quick, "Thank you."

Monday morning, the busiest for students. Monday morning for students are wontedly chaotic. Most mornings for students were for copying answers to assignments which were given to us. This was to avoid being punished or whipped. That alone is chaotic.

Minutes later, Zara announces, "I'm finally done." Some ask for her note so they could copy from it and she gives them.

"Thunder fire mathematics!" Zara mutters as she plops on Anna's chair that's next to mine. I chortle due to her words and rest my elbows on the table.

"I called you throughout the weekend, you didn't answer any of my calls. May I know the reason for that?"

"My phone was dead." The lie rolled of my tongue smoothly.

"Where were you and Daniel on Friday? You left the whole class to do the cleaning after the party."

I shifted uncomfortably. I wasn't excited to hear his name. The bell for assembly was rung making me avoid answering the question which I was thankful for. We made our way to the assembly ground and assembled in our respective lines.

The assembly went by very fast, the day was also going by fast as we were already in the period before lunch break. This, I'm very pleased about.

Mrs Iboro's voice pulled me out of my reverie. Her voice was the only voice being heard as the whole class was quiet as she expounded on the topic she's teaching.

"Another way of preventing pregnancies apart from family planning is through the use of condoms. Condoms are readily available everywhere. They're very cheap and one of the cheapest ways to prevent pregnancies. It's not very reliable since condoms can cut during sex. The best and most reliable method to prevent pregnancies is abstinence. It's also the best way for youths to prevent unwanted pregnancies." Mrs Iboro continued to explain.

School had been going fine, I had even forgotten about what happened last week Friday then Mrs Iboro walked into the class to mock my plight by teaching us the topic Family Planning.