Chapter 3
1169 Words
“Kate, Adeline, Alexander! Get up, you’ll be late for the exam!” Grandma Nelly’s voice exploded through the hallway like a siren.
Kate jerked awake first.
“Oh my goodness!” she yelped, sitting up straight, checking her phone for time. She grabbed a pillow and smacked Adeline’s arm. “Babe, wake up we have ONE HOUR. One hour! Get up!”
Adeline only groaned and rolled over, hugging the blanket like it was a life-support machine.
“Adeline!” Kate hissed.
Still nothing.
Grandma Nelly stormed into the room with her legendary mop stick — the one every grandchild feared more than poverty.
Before Kate could warn her, whap!
“Ouch!” Adeline jumped up so fast the blanket flew off. “I was already getting up!!! Granny why!?” She grabbed her pillow and shielded herself dramatically. “You want to kill me before the exam?!”
Nelly didn’t even blink. “If I don’t wake you, the scholarship will leave you behind. Move! Bathroom!”
Adeline sprinted out of the room before another strike landed.
Satisfied, Grandma Nelly marched into Alexander’s room.
He was snoring. Peacefully. Comfortably. Like someone without earthly responsibilities.
Whap!
“Jesus!” Alexander flung his sheets away and fell off the bed. “Mama, why!? I’m awake!! I’m awake! I swear I was dreaming about studying!”
“Dreaming doesn’t pass exams,” Nelly said, tapping the mop on the floor. “Go and bathe. Now.”
Within minutes, the house turned into a full-blown survival show — running water, scattered clothes, three people fighting for the same mirror, and Nelly shouting reminders every 20 seconds.
“Thirty minutes!”
“Brush your teeth, not just your tongues!”
“Pack your bags!”
“Alexander !?”
Finally, after a chaotic, breathless half-hour — the trio stood in the living room, fully dressed in clean clothes, exam-ready, and emotionally unstable.
They all gathered around Grandma Nelly.
She held their hands together, her eyes soft with pride. “Let us pray.”
Five minutes of prayer followed — intense prayer, the kind that could split heavens open.
“Lord, guide their minds…” “Give them speed and clarity…” “No confusion, no bad luck…”
When she finished, she tapped each of their foreheads.
“You will succeed. Now go before the traffic will disgrace your destiny.”
The three rushed out, flagged down a cab, and squeezed into the backseat.
Adeline let out a shaky breath. “I swear, I’m not mentally prepared.”
“You never are,” Kate muttered, digging into her bag to check her ID card for the tenth time.
Alexander stretched his neck dramatically. “If I fail, I’ll blame that mop stick.”
“You’ll blame your sleep addiction,” Kate fired back.
Adeline looked out of the window — quiet, nervous, and trying not to show it. Three days from now, they would know their fate. Three days that could change everything.
The cab drove off into the morning light.
.......
BRIAN’S HOUSE
Brian had barely finished buttoning his shirt when his phone buzzed.
DAD: Meet me in my office in 5 minutes.
No explanation. Just the message.
And the tone… the tone meant business.
Brian sighed, grabbed his hoodie, and headed downstairs. The house was quiet, too quiet for a Monday morning — which meant his father had been awake for hours. As usual.
He reached the office door and knocked.
“Enter,” Mr. Dave’s deep voice replied.
Brian stepped in.
“Morning, Pops,” he said with a crooked smile.
His father didn’t smile back. Not immediately. He was standing at the window, his hands behind his back, staring at the garden outside like it was a chessboard only he understood.
“Sit.”
Brian obeyed.
Mr. Dave finally turned to him. “I assume you know what today is.”
“The scholarship exam day,” Brian replied.
“Good.” His father walked to the desk and sat. “This year… the scholarship students will be handled differently.”
Brian’s brows went up. “Differently how?”
Mr. Dave folded his hands. “They’ll be placed under direct supervision. Not just from the school board, but from you… Louis… and Brian.”
Brian blinked. “I’m Brian.”
Mr. Dave sighed and waved his hand. “You know who I meant. You, Louis, and Isaac.”
Brian leaned back in the chair. “Okay… but why us?”
“Because,” Mr. Dave said slowly, “this batch is… special. I have reasons to believe that one or two among them may rise to become key figures in the academy.”
Brian paused. “What makes you think that?”
“You will see soon enough.” Mr. Dave opened a file on his table. “The scholarship exam is happening as we speak. Results will be out in three days. When they arrive at Westbridge, I want the three of you to guide them through their first weeks.”
Brian frowned slightly. “So basically babysitting?”
“Mentorship,” his father corrected sharply. “Not babysitting.”
Brian smirked. “Right.”
Mr. Dave studied him for a moment. “I know how you get. Don’t make this into a war zone with Louis. And don’t ignore the students just because you’re busy brooding or painting.”
Brian opened his mouth to argue.
His father raised a hand. “And whatever you do… do not repeat last year’s stunt.”
Brian winced. “That was one time—”
“You almost set the lab on fire.”
“It was an experiment!”
“It was stupidity.”
Brian threw his head back dramatically. “Pops, I’ve changed.”
His father gave him a long, skeptical stare. “We shall see.”
Brian licked his lips. “So… who are these scholarship kids anyway?”
“We don’t know their names yet,” Mr. Dave said. “But I am expecting exceptional ones this year.”
Brian shrugged. “Alright. If they’re cool, I’ll handle them. If they’re annoying—”
“You will still handle them,” his father snapped.
Brian sighed. “Fine.”
There was a brief silence before Mr. Dave leaned back in his chair. “Brian.”
“Yeah?”
“You are a leader, whether you admit it or not.”
Brian blinked.
“You have influence. Students listen to you. Even teachers fear your temper. Use that power for something meaningful this year.”
Brian exhaled deeply. That was his father’s version of “I believe in you.”
“Got it,” he said quietly.
Mr. Dave nodded once. “Good. You’re dismissed. Call Louis and Isaac — I’ll speak to them next.”
As Brian walked out, he rubbed his neck, lost in thought.
Scholarship students. New faces. New drama.
He could already sense it
this year was going to be different.
Very different.
- Writer
