"Adaeze!" my civic education teacher screamed.
I raised my head up immediately, the sleep instantly clearing from my eyes. For a moment I forgot who or where I was. Spit formed at the corners of my mouth due to my sleeping. I wiped them in embarrassment.
"Yes. Yes" I answered.
The whole class burst into a fit of laughter.
"Dozie" Ben, the class bully mocked (In Nigeria, Dozie is a name of mockery to people who doze or sleep off too much)
What he said made the class laugh even louder. I adjusted my crooked square shaped glasses.
My teacher – Miss Ann shook her head in a mixture of disgust and confusion.
"Mtcheww" she hissed with a quick shake of her head "I pity you. Nationalism is defined as..."
I drifted away once again as she taught. Oh, you think I was dreaming right? No no no. What you read in the previous chapter is very real.
Let me make a quick introduction; my name is Adaeze Elizabeth Okoli. I'm a secret agent for The Conversion but every other day, I'm a sixteen-year-old ss2 science student of "The Bright Ambassadors College" in Lekki. I know you have a lot of questions and I assure you that they will be answered later on. Just be patient.
My classmates don't know, of course. Nobody knows apart from my fellow agents in the society. I keep a low profile in school so as not to be noticed. That is the mission of every spy after all; to be invisible. I talk to few people but I don't have any friends.
Friendship means house visits, spending time together, going out, telling secrets, chatting and so on. I cannot afford all these because I have an allegiance to my society.
Secrecy and loyalty are the top priorities in The Conversion. Secrecy cannot be achieved if I have a friend that's constantly worried about my life or checking on what I'm up to. I have things to do. I have lives to save.
"Did you guys hear the news?" Miss Ann asked us "The kidnapped girls have been rescued. The kidnappers have also been arrested"
My classmates were quick to jump into the conversation. Everyone knew about the kidnapped girls but no one, not even the government or the police, knew their whereabouts. Mr Michael was smart.
The society kept searching for secret warehouses and uncompleted buildings not knowing that they'd been in his house all along. No one would have suspected. It took us a month to figure it all out.
"Yes" A girl named Alexandra said "They said he's even a big man in VGC"
"Ehen" Chidera – our class gossip spoke "He's rich na. What is he looking for again?"
"Greed will not kill us in this country o, my sister" someone from the back added.
"Who rescued them ma?" Samantha asked.
Miss Ann shrugged.
"No names" she answered "The rescuers are anonymous. No trace of them after they called the police"
"They tried o" Ben said.
I smiled. We more than 'tried'. We kicked ass.
The class went on smoothly. The teacher explained and dictated notes which we took down. Everything was going smoothly until a knock on the door interrupted our lesson.
"Come in" Miss Ann answered.
The door opened revealing the principal – Mr Ajayi and an unfamiliar boy. He was wearing normal clothes, meaning he's probably a new student.
The class captain – Ahmed banged his hand on the table seven times as a signal to stand up.
"Class greet" he said.
I rolled my eyes. We're supposed to be over this method. We're seniors.
We stood up and greeted him.
"Good morning, sir" we chorused.
"Good morning class" Mr Ajayi responded "Sit down"
We sat and waited.
"Oh my gosh" I heard someone near me squeal.
Mr Ajayi spoke in hushed tones to Miss Ann as if instructing her to do something. The class erupted into a fit of whispers and giggles.
"He's fine o!" the girls exclaimed.
"And he's tall"
"See muscles, mehnnn"
The boy wasn't dressed in our school uniform. Instead, he was dressed in a white Versace T shirt, blue jeans and white sneakers. He was very good looking, tall and had curly brown hair.
He's obviously bi- racial or "Half caste" as we Nigerians would call it. He's gorgeous, no doubt about that and he's going to be trouble for the girls in our class.
Girls were already planning on how to talk to him, intensely preparing their accents and I'm sure the boys envied him already- he probably posed as a threat to their popularity status.
After a long conversation of whispers, Mr Ajayi gave the boy a warm smile and pat on the back then left the class.
"What's your name?" Miss Ann asked him.
"Justin" he answered smoothly.
Girls swooned and fanned themselves at the sound of his voice, already tripping for his foreign accent. I shook my head. Girls....
Maya, the "school queen" (a.k.a our famous Instagram model and influencer) smoothened and adjusted her already short skirt.
I chuckled.
Anyway, time for my spy check. You can never be too careful.
The operative (me) studied the subject (Justin). The subject seemed calm and walked with confident strides as he went to sit on the empty chair provided for him.
My glasses weren't just normal recommended glasses. They were spy glasses specially customized by the Spanish branch of The Conversion. My mother got it for me when she went on a mission in Spain. It had a microchip where the facial features of wanted criminals were stored so all it needed to do was scan the person to see if the person was a target or not.
My glasses did a quick scan.
Eyes: Brown
Hair colour: Brown
Hair Type: Curly
Skin colour: White
The subject brought out his books and began to take notes. The operative noticed the designer signatures on the subject; Versace t shirt, fashion nova jeans and white Nike's.
NOT A THREAT! NORMAL CIVILIAN!
Okay then.
I turned away my attention from Justin and focused on the class.
Girls still spoke in hushed tones, planning how to talk to him. I'm sure the popular guys in our school class will try to initiate him too. He looks the part anyway.
The girly girl in me wanted to sigh and swoon at how gorgeous he is but the spy in me asked questions like I was trained to the first time I see someone;
Is he really an ordinary civilian?
Why did he leave his former school?
What do his parents do for a living?
None of my business anyway. I'm in school, not on a mission.
A few minutes later, the bell rang for short break. Miss Ann gave us an assignment then left. Students filed in an orderly line to go and collect their snacks provided by the school in the cafeteria downstairs.
I never went with them. I always brought my own snacks. Going with them would mean I have to socialize which I couldn't. Besides, no one cares about my presence or absence anyway.
I had reports to write about the mission yesterday to deliver to the organization but instead I decided to read a novel to cool my mind.
In between spy training, meetings, missions and school (with the assignments, tests, projects and exams), I'm bound to be exhausted. That explains my constant dozing off in class but I couldn't help it. I still did my best to come out as the best.
My classmates trooped in groups to talk to the new boy and introduce themselves but I noticed how he quickly dismissed each of them with a quick nod, a tight smile and mono syllabic replies
Hmmm...
The subject is quiet and not much of a talkative. An introvert, perhaps.
Just like me.
I brought out my snacks; popcorn and berry blast (my favourite drink) and a novel from my bag. I sighed in excitement. It was by one of my favourite authors 'Stephen King". I dived into the book immediately.
Ben, the class bully I told you about, knocked over my book on purpose from behind.
"Dozie" he mocked. He and the guys behind him laughed.
I rolled my eyes and picked up the book. Little does he know that I take down guys way bigger than him in my missions. I can knock him out in a heartbeat. I'm used to the taunting and slight bullying. Everyone thinks I'm proud and self-absorbed because I always top the class. They think that's why I don't talk to anyone, because I feel I'm too good for them.
The class was empty and it's going to be like that for the next twenty minutes till short break is over. I smiled as I entered into the world of horror that Stephen King created.
"You're a Stephen King fan?" a smooth voice asked.
I looked up and came face to face with a pair of beautiful green eyes.
Justin.
He stood there with a bottle of Berry Blast in his hand as well. I thought most people hated this drink.
I looked around to make sure he was talking to me. I was stunned. There isn't anyone behind or around me. I'm probably embarrassing myself right now but I don't care.
Why is he talking to me? No one ever talks to me.
I sat there in silence, not knowing what to say.
"Do you by any chance speak English?"
I laughed. He laughed too. The tension dissolved a little. I felt at ease now.
"Yes, I'm a huge fan" I replied.
"Me too" he grinned "You like Berry Blast too then?"
I nodded.
"It's my favourite drink" I replied.
"Cool. Mine too"
He sat on the chair in front of me and turned it around so he could face me.
"I was surprised when I saw it. I've never met a girl who likes horror. Most people I know haven't even heard of him"
That is true. That's one of the reasons I don't fit in. Girls in my school are way into fashion and social media, I'm more into books and other stuff. I've never met anyone that I can relate with. Everyone thinks I'm weird.
"I understand. I feel the same way" I said.
"I'm Justin" he said with an outstretched hand. I shook him in return.
"I'm Adaeze but you can call me Ada"
"Ada?"
It was more like a question. The name rolled over his tongue like an unfamiliar word he was trying to get used to.
"That's a pretty name. What does it mean?"
Annihilate. Don't. Agitate.
"It means 'daughter of a king". It's a name the Igbos give their first born daughters"
"That's cool. You're the first child then?"
"Only child actually"
"Cool"
"What does Justin mean?"
"I don't know" he laughed.
I chuckled. Of course, he wouldn't know.
"What's your favourite novel by King?" he asked me.
"The shining"
"Me too! Although, I feel the movie didn't do the book enough justice"
I felt the same way too!
"I know right! It wasn't even that scary"
"True. Ever read 'In the tall grass'?"
I nodded eagerly.
"Yes! I love it. Only Stephen King can make a horror movie out of plants"
"He is the master of horror to me"
We got engrossed in our discussion. We clicked instantly. It was like we've known each other for a long time. We talked about books of every kind. He told me his favourite authors were Sidney Sheldon, Nora Roberts and Ted Dekker.
"I have a signed Harry Potter book by JK Rowling. I met her in London"
I gasped.
"You lucky child!"
He laughed.
"I guess. Have you met any author?"
"No but I went for a book fair in the US once"
A group of three girls entered the class; Maya and her followers; Laura and Nnena. They eyed me with a mixture of confusion and envy. Their expressions read 'Why is he talking to the freak and not us?"
I saw them when they previously tried to talk to Justin but he didn't give them room for conversation yet here he is, talking to me...listening to me. I felt special for some reason.
"Hi Justin" Maya greeted.
"Hi" Justin quickly replied, as if she was a disturbance.
He rushed back into our conversation.
"Do you like comics as well?" he asked me.
"Yes"
"DC or Marvel"
"Uhm, DC totally"
'Oh, hell no"
"Come on, Dc has got some pretty great heroes"
"Avengers all the way yo"
"They are overrated"
"Shut up! What about the X men? I bet they can take DC heroes down"
"Let me remind you that DC has superman and wonder woman"
"Let me remind YOU that avengers have scarlet witch. She can literally create a parallel universe"
"Why didn't you come down for snacks?" Maya asked Justin, a flimsy excuse to get him to talk to her.
"I've been talking to Ada" he said.
I giggled. He pronounced my name wrong.
"It's Ah-da, not A-da"
"Oh, my bad" he laughed.
"Ah like 'ah' for apple"
"Ada" he correctly said.
"Better"
We laughed in unison then continued talking.
Maya's face was as hard as stone. She and her friends sat down and started talking while looking in our direction. It doesn't take a genius to know she was talking about me.
Maya is the most popular girl in our school and the prettiest girl in the class, according to the boys. Well, I do agree with them but you get the point. She also has a large following on Instagram due to her family's history. Her mom is a very famous actress. She is a well-known model and teen actress as well and so is her sister.
Maya's pictures never stray far away from the Instagram explore page. Every billboard or almost every single magazine has her face on it. She meets the coolest celebrities and influencers too. Due to her beauty, fame and filthy rich parents, boys wanted to date her and girls desperately wanted to be her friend.
Therefore, she was used to getting whatever she wanted but it isn't the case this time.