Jazz It Up

CHAPTER 21

Mr Ajayi walked into the classroom with a tablet in his hand and the students stared at him surprisedly because he wasn't the teacher on duty for evening prep. When he saw their expressions, he said, "Your Miss Toke is very busy at the moment so she asked me to fill in for her today."

He sat on the teachers' desk at the front of the class and started playing games on his tablet. He got irritated when he saw that they were still staring at him. "Well, get something doing. Must I tell you everything," he said and shook his head, continuing his gaming session.

The students hurriedly scrambled for their books and pens to engage themselves with studying or doing assignments. Ella walked to Mitchel's desk with her chair and smiled at him. For a moment he was confused and stared back at her before he realized why she was there.

"Oh, I forgot, my bad. I wanted to use this time to do my English assignment," he said before he moved a little so they could share his desk. Barely a minute later, when he was about to start tutoring her, Mr Ajayi interrupted them. "What are you two doing?" He asked.

"I'm tutoring her," Mitchel replied.

"What are you tutoring her?"

"Maths."

"Maths." Mr Ajayi scoffed. "Now, Ella, go back to your seat and start doing the assignment I gave you, and you too, Mitchel. In fact, everyone get out your dictionary and do your assignment," he ordered.

Everyone started murmuring as they had other things they planned to do but did as they were told. When Ella passed Jazz on her way back to her seat, Jazz smiled at her so brightly that it almost looked genuine. Ella just sneered in return and slumped into her chair.

"I know that this assignment sucks, but it almost seemed as if she hated you more than the assignment," Abu commented.

Jazz shrugged. "That's her problem."

"Abu, stop distracting Jazz and face your work," Mr Ajayi said. "If you want to work in pairs and groups then you can do so, but don't make any noise while at it," he added with a sigh and the students were excited about the chance to sit with their friends.

Kelechi and Ronke sat together at Kelechi's desk while Mitchel took his chair to Jazz's seat. "Mind if I join you?" He asked and she nodded.

"You have chanced me, I wanted to sit with her," Abu protested.

"Who stopped you? You were sitting right beside her," Princess deadpanned. "You can come sit with me if you want to pair with someone," she offered.

"No thank you," Abu said and opened his dictionary so quickly that it almost tore. Princess huffed.

Ella was busy boring holes into Jazz's back and Jazz was aware that Ella was glaring at her but she didn't care as she made an exaggerated show of interest in the assignment she was doing with Mitchel, sometimes flipping her hair to anger Ella the more.

The students used the evening prep to do the English assignment given to them and some of them decided to utilize the time they had left by studying while some decided to do their other assignments.

* * *

During the rest of the week, Jazz and Mitchel spent a considerable amount of time together. If they weren't studying for their upcoming tests, they were rehearsing for their upcoming play. Jazz was fascinated by his all-round knowledge and enthusiasm towards everything he did, from his extra school activities to his academics.