Kweiba up there.
Demi lovato- Stone Cold.
This chapter is dedicated to @t
Hearing all of this threw a lot of light unto the real deal in the house. What she saw when she entered the gates of Manhattan blew her away. Every freshman had been lined up outside in the lawn with their suitcases. She catches Madeline's eye.
" What's going on?" She asks, realising her friends weren't included.
" Majority of us are beginning to question the values and integrity of this house, somehow, this has reached Asare's ears and she asked to kick us out of the house."
" What?!, How?" Ciarra asks in amazement.
" Apparently, a unanimous vote of incertitude can send us flying out this easily. Asare is now in your dorm for an inspection before we leave. She inspected all our suitcases before we stepped out of our dorm too." Madeline says gripping her flight bag.
Ciarra was beyond perplexed as she left Madeline and rushed into the hallway and up the stairs to her dorm.
Truly, there Asare was with a plastic white cane in hand which she used in lifting out unprescribed clothing or gadgets found in their suitcases. As soon as she walked in, Mrs Asare turns to face her.
" Good you're here sweetheart, now bring me your bag and go stand next to your bed." She orders.
Ciarra knew she didn't bring any unprescribed stuff to school but surprisingly, she'd earned a lot of them in the past weeks. She makes eye contact with Kweiba who wiggled her eyebrows at her whiles she lifted her suitcase from infront of her bed and rolled hit towards Mrs Asare before returning to her bed.
" Don't worry, the sisters gave us a headstart before she got here so I have removed all things unprescribed from your suitcase...they are all under your bed." Kweiba whispers in a low voice to her when she came to stand next to her bed but still Asare notices.
" You better seal that palpitating cavity of yours before I shut it for you myself!" She warns sternly and Kweiba goes silent. All the seniors were present too but couldn't utter a word.
There was nothing incriminating in Ciarra's suitcase.
" Good, come for your bag and fold everything back again." She orders and Ciarra rushes towards her stuff and forced them into the suitcase before dragging it to her bed.
" So my dearest girls, a vote of incertitude has been cast against you by majority of your sisters in this house because they can't tell if you trust them or the house at all. As a result, I am forced to move you all to Florida house and move their girls in here. It's the only female house who's girls I can deem disciplined." Mrs Asare explains, " And you should be grateful to your sisters in this dorm. They pleaded on your behalf and on the behalf of the others and since they are the only ones who don't want you voted out, I am going to allow you all back in here in a week's time instead of the initial one month inscribed in our Honor book. Have a good day girls and be out of this room by the time I get out of dorm 1 Cortess."
They all nod as she walks out of the dorm and walks towards the next dorm. Everyone heaves a big sigh when she's gone. They could practically hear her loud yelling from Cortess.
" Honestly, left to me alone, you all should have been given more than a week there." Sabina says from her bed where she was solving past questions on Geography.
" Why?, What did we do wrong?" Heather asks as she picks up all her unprescribed underwear from under her bed ranging from colours of red, yellow, orange and green instead of the prescribed black or white.
" Your mates think we're just a bunch of over-priviledged snobs who are capable of murder." Velar explains.
" What?" Sarah asks.
" Oh come on, don't tell me you guys haven't thought about it one way or the other before." Candace scoffs.
There's silence for a long period as they all packed up their things.
" But what is so bad about Flori.." Healenore didn't even finish asking her question when the seniors begin to chuckle.
" Everything kiddo." Kathryn grins as she ruffles Mae's hair.
" I mean it's one of the oldest houses in the school but the problem is that their alumni prefer to support other projects in the school other than their house. You'll see." Lartifa adds.
" Yeah, you'll see the difference between Manhattan and the other houses." Beullah assures them.
" Don't worry, look on the bright side. You'll be learning a lot of DIYs" April jokes taking a swig from her flask.
They could hear Mrs Asare yelling from the other dorm, " What is this?...a red underwear? What do you think the boys will be looking at when you're in your house dress?!"
" Asare is at work!" Joy jokes and jumps off her bed and reaches for her clipboard on the top bunk of the bed she shared with Kathryn.
" She's gonna be out of there at any minute so you guys better get downstairs." Kelinam advises.
Ivy takes one last look at them, she couldn't take it, they were all irreplaceable.
" Awww, come here!" She swoons as she pulls Faye, Ciarra and Veronica into a tight group hug,
" I'm going to miss you guys."
" Listen to Cheyenne guys, Gennie put her in charge." Candace says as she continues to file her nails.
" Me too." Ciarra replies honestly.
" But we're still your Sisters, you might not be welcomed into the house after today but you know our classes, don't you?"Anita speaks up from the entrance of her cabin.
Only Ashanti nods.
Zak sighs and pulls out a sheet of paper from her binder and handed it to Efua. It was a list of their names and their various classes and hangouts incase they needed any of them for anything.
" Keep it safe." Nalikem emphasises giving Efua a reassuring pat on the back.
" Oh God, I can't believe they are taking our superstars away and replacing them with some bunch of..." Praise finished her sentence with a face palm.
" We're gonna miss you." Mae finally says.
" Awwww, I'm not going to remind you your glasses is on top of your head when you start searching for it earnestly for a whole week." Velar chuckles.
" Oh come on guys, it's not like they are going to jail or something." Sabina remarks snidely.
" I am definitely going to miss you Sister Sabina." Veronica teases, " Especially your ill sense of humor."
Veronica could see Sabina heat up in fury and she quickly bolts out the door with her suitcase behind her when Sabina attempts jumping out of bed. They all begin to laugh at Veronica.
" Come on guys, let's get going." Heather says when she notices members of Dorm 1 Cortess rush out with their suitcases and backpacks.
They tug on the handles of their suitcases and rolled them out to the patio. After signing themselves out, they are let out unto the street to walk two miles to Florida.
They all stop after the long walk to the house. When they got to the house, most people were grimacing at the faded writing of the house. Manhattan house' name was inscribed in cursive writing in 3D concrete letters painted a turquoise blue.
Unlike Manhattan house where the colour white dominated most parts of the buildings, Florida had creamy yellow buildings with blue borderlines and most of the paint was beginning to peel off probably because it had been very long since it was repainted.
They could also see the Florida girls who were beaming with smiles at what awaited them in Manhattan at the entrance of their house. Most of them swooshed past them unto the street with their suitcases making loud noises as they dragged it speedily up the asphalt street.
" Asare is sure going to have a great time taming them." Healenore whispers to Kweiba.
" She loves punishing people and I can already count about five things she is going to criticize them about and punish them for as soon as they walk in." Kweiba grins wickedly , " Do you think we should give them a headstart?"
" Nope, it's much more fun when it's spontaneous." Healenore adds.
" I am starting to regret coming here." Ciarra says as she gives the buildings a once over.
" It's like Voldemort's home down here." Ashanti snickers as she looked through the windows.
An older girl and a gay looking middle aged woman walked over to them. That was when they resumed their walk into the house. Manhattan had paved floors throughout all the open spaces in the house, over here, the ground was sandy and rocky. Something Veronica detested.
They didn't even dry their clothes behind the house to give the place a better look, instead, the sagging faded ropes tied between several poles were the first things you'd see when you walked into the house. The insides of the building were just plainly cemented, no terrazzo nor any tiles like in Manhattan.
After signing them in, the woman who introduced herself as Mrs Annan, left them with their new house prefect Muse Ahmed. She showed them around the house and again, whereas every dorm had it's own set of bathrooms down the hall, in Florida, all the bathrooms were downstairs in a chain of buildings containing tiny rooms serving as bathrooms and toilets. Only ten bathhouses for all the dorms and two of them weren't functioning, the floordrains were broken.
Here, instead of windowpanes, they had louvre blades. Most of their bunk beds were wooden and their walls weren't white as in Manhattan, they were a pale green with streaks of dirt permanently stuck to the painting. Their new seniors there were a whole different story.
They were shuffled so dorm 1 Sey didn't carry the same girls it did back in Manhattan. Shockingly, there were a few freshers left behind who were actual Florida girls because most of the dorms in Manhattan didn't have students adding up to thirty so there wasn't enough beds. They couldn't get any for them to use for only a week so they left all those who's names were last on the house register behind.
So in Florida dorm 1 Sey, they had; Mae, Flynn, Amina, Ciarra, Fikele, Theresa and the Triple Threats ( a group of three girls who had all their names starting with the letter T, let's just say, they were the upcoming Joy, Kathryn and Vera in the house.); Tiffany, Tyrelles and Trinity. Then the last girl was an actual Florida house girl, Aku Sika.
Most of the Manhattan girls were in their grey house dresses but some of them were still in their Sunday attire like Ciarra. The Manhattan girls could easily be identified by the colour of their house dress. The house was dominated by the blue colour of all the house mates' dresses except for Manhattan's which was grey.
Dorm 1 Cortess had Faye, Kweiba, Cheyenne, Wohalay, Enam from dorm 4 Cortess back in Manhattan, Brenda, Hannah who is originally from Florida, Veronica, Eraadjoa and Ashanti.
Efua and Heather were in dorm 2 Sey along with Mackie, Madeline, Soraya, Darling, Rashida and new faces she was now trying to make out though they were all from Manhattan.
Healenore and Sarah were in the same dorm as Jordyn and her hyperactive twinnie ( what the girls call your lookalike whom you met in the school.), Chiquitita in dorm 5 Cortess.
As soon as they are done settling in and making their beds, three girls who looked matured than they were walked into Dorm 1 Cortess. They were the first seniors in their dorm that they had come across because the room had been empty when they arrived except for their fellow freshman who had been in her bed when they arrived.
Veronica still stood next to her unpacked suitcase and kept glaring at the walls.
" What?!, Do you want to reconstruct our walls for us?" One of the seniors snaps and the others chuckle as they sit in their various beds.
Veronica stops and after glancing at them briefly, moves to her assigned bed. Back in Manhattan, there was only one person in her dorm who was this irritating but it seemed as if the whole dorm over here was going to be filled with Florida's version of Sabina. No Ivy or Anita to defend you and definitely no Joy and April to correct your fashion choices. No Velar to be slipping you stuff to keep you alert and definitely no Beullah and Lartifa taking you out or getting you expensive alcohol.
Cheyenne assumes her role and hands a sheet of paper to one of the seniors. It was from Genevieve, Manhattan's house prefect who wrote this letter on their behalf so they aren't treated harshly.
" Guys, take a look at this?!" The one who received the letter scoffed rolling her eyes.
" Gennie want us to pamper her little princesses huh?" The other who was quite taller skims through the letter and says.
" Oh my gosh, listen to this," The third girl chortles as she reads the content, " Who is Veronica?"
Veronica slowly raises her hand.
" I hear you get depressed easily." She coos like she's talking to a toddler, " Well over here we don't treat anyone special especially not you snooty kids."
" Who's Healeenoore?" She reads out the name.
" Dorm 5." Ashanti responds
" She has to compulsorily shower with steamy warm water?...what is she, a chicken?" One of the seniors asks.
Cheyenne wasn't one to ignore snide remarks, " And neither do we wanna be involved in your wack way of life in this atrocious house." She states with a small smile before walking out.
" Damn, I like that girl already." The girl still holding on to the letter says, " But do let her know that we don't take such behaviors lightly in this house. She wouldn't like what will happen the next time she tries that. Right Hannah?"
The petit looking freshman nods fervently from her bed.
" Anyway I am Abigail, this is Mary and Takyiwaa." The one holding on to the letter introduces. The girls look at them briefly and turn to what they were doing without acknowledging them.
" Oh and very disrespectful too. This is going to be even more fun! " Mary grins to herself and walks out. The other two all walk out.
" Guys you just messed with the nicest people in the dorm!" Hannah whisper-shouts when they were all gone.
" They are the nicest in this dorm?... Then I wonder how mean the others will be. " Enam says as she packs her books into her backpack for prep.
" Ashanti, will you escort me back to Manhattan, I need to get some groceries from my box for this week." Eraadjoa asks as she picks out a red paper bag from her suitcase.
" Sure, Ronnie wanna go with?" Ashanti asks Veronica who gladly agrees.
They meet Ciarra who had now changed into her house dress and Ha Won in the hallway. They were also going to the house for their stuff.
The street of the girls complex was bustling with girls walking up and down the street, some gossiping about the exiled Manhattan girls and others about the upcoming party. The girls felt weird walking in the midst of them because Manhattan was the first house in the Girls Complex so they never had to walk up a street of girls to reach their house.
They all sighed as they approached their house where a few of their seniors were standing in front of, probably to avoid an encounter with the Florida girls now in their dorms who they deemed lower than them.
Surprisingly, there was a guy in a black trench coat Ciarra found to be familiar. What was a guy doing in the girls complex, guys were never allowed there unless they had a good agenda. The girls around him laughed at what he was saying...were they flirting with him?
This was Manhattan girls, they don't flirt... Unless they were really into the guy or there was a catch to all of it.
Yes!, It was him. Ciarra quickly turns and buries her face in the crook of Veronica's neck in an attempt to hide from him.
" Hey." Veronica whispers,
" What's up?"
" Has he seen me?" Ciarra asks and as if on cue, April, who was part of the girls beams at Ciarra something that even Veronica and Ashanti hadn't phatomed she was capable of doing for them.
" Lol. There she is!!"
Ciarra had no choice but to turn and meet his eyes. He grinned and walks towards her, her friends also begin to walk away.
" See you in the house." Ha Won whispers as they all leave her and walk away.
A stiff breeze rushes through her hair as she approaches him. He looked quite nervous as he sauntered towards her with a warm grin. Her seniors watched on from behind.
" Hey." He greets checking her out in her house dress, she looked more like a freshman in her house dress, " I forgot to give you something earlier, and I had to get it to you before someone else takes it from me."
" Alright, but what is it about?" She asks and he retrieves a thick square card from inside his coat and handed it to her. It had a 3D printing in ink that read out, Ink It, in cursive blue letters and below it were the words Let's Make Your Mark on Nelson. There was a rubber printing on the back where she slowly run her finger across, it felt as if the image could be easily ripped into two. It looked like a typical tattoo marking.
" You can take it off." He informs her and she slowly scrapped her fingers at the one of the sides and it pulled off like a sticker. It was the image of a burning flame,
" You're supposed to have that on as an identification mark. The party is this Saturday at the Arnold Jansen's Glade."
Ciarra looks at the card and back at him, why was he inviting her to a party?
" Thank you." She says nonetheless with a grateful smile but she had no idea what this party was going to be about or even feel like. She didn't want to ask him in order not to sound like a novice.
" You're welcome, I'd better get going before Mrs Asare catches me here." Fedes smiles, " See you around."
" Bye." She says before he leaves.
As soon as he's out of earshot, April and Naa Djormo begin to stare at her. It was so intense that she felt intimidated as she walked towards the gates of Manhattan and into the house.
She quickly rushed up the stairs away from the intense glares that could probably drill a perfect hole into her skull. In the Box room,her friends looked up from their boxes when she walked in.
Ha Won was the first to notice the card in her hand and halted packing several packages of salt crackers into her bag.
" Is that what I think it is?" She gasps as she leaps off of the ground and approaches Ciarra. The others' attention is drawn.
" What?" Veronica wonders in an exhausted tone as she selects her groceries.
" It's an invitation." Ciarra replies guilelessly and this time everyone was interested.
" Tell me it's to a party because I am not sure I can live a full week in that depressing house without something vivacious to look forward to." Ashanti says.
" It's not just any party, this is Ink It. The most exclusive party ever hosted for high schools in the country and this year, Nelesco was supposed to host it but according to Principal Yankee, there was no way she was going to use the school's entertainment dues to fund a party where no authority figure was to be present." Ha Won explains to them then Eraadjoa recalls.
" No authority figure as in?" Veronica asks.
" No teachers or stewards, it's just us and three people the school trusts to run things...I think all this while the school was waiting for those three guys, your guy included, Ciarra." Ha Won elucidates.
" You're right, my sister told me about it. She's an alumni now, she didn't get to attend any during her time because she wasn't really friends with the influential people in the school. I hear you get to invite one extra person if you get the card." Eraadjoa adds as she lifts up a pack of Kool-aid from her box.
" How?" Ciarra asks as she kneels infront of her box and unlocks the tiny padlock locking it up.
" There are two tattoo stickers in it. You give one to your friend and you take one. It's for identification." Ha Won clarifies returning to her stuff, " The image is one but can be divided into two so you give the other half to someone, when you combine both your images, you should get equal sizes of the tattoo."
" I hear, so who wants to be my other half to the party?" Ciarra asks taking out a container of peanuts from her box.
" Me!!" They all call in unison and Ciarra freezes in the middle of picking out her jar of sugar.
" Wow, I'm already starting to hate this invitation because it's going to make me choose between my friends." She drawls.
" Mail for Ashanti Goodman!" Vera stands in the doorway waving a white envelope at the girls.
" Mail?" Ashanti asks in confusion as she stands up to approach her.
*********
Thanks a lot for reading and following. Here's a link to my other short stories.
https://my.w.tt/Xp9uXzx3Acb
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