STORMS AND TWISTS

It was soon lunchtime. Only a few students were left in the classroom including Casey. He was getting bored about this new school already. He didn’t like the school. Not that his ‘parents’ couldn’t afford it- his dad was the owner of a reputable auditing company and his sister was one of the most famous young actresses of her time. He just hated the school for no reason. Well, maybe the unfriendly atmosphere had a quota to contribute; he didn’t just know why. He was still pondering about this when a student about his age walked up to him. “Hi. I see that you are new”. The boy approached him politely. “Yes I am. Thanks” “I am sorry for the way those guys picked on you yesterday and the way the Chemistry teacher reacted towards you today.” The boy said “Thank you for your care. It’s not your fault it’s theirs.” “Anyways what you did earlier today was awesome”. “Really” “Yes, everyone thought you would just stand there and stammer. You blew everyone’s mind”. The boy complemented. “I did?” “Yes, you did. By the way, I saw you were alone. Maybe we could hang out and become friends?” Casey wasn’t sure of what to say. This boy was calm and friendly so he decided to give him a trial. “Yes, thanks for being you. I’m Casey ‘Manuel”. “I’m Cody Morris”. He said with an extended hand for a handshake. “It's nice to meet you”. Casey said receiving his extended hand. “Nice meeting you”. … It was 3:45p.m. The taxi stopped at the front of a big mansion. Casey emerged out of the cab. He walked right in and saw his sister in the living room. She had her pink earphone on and she was moving to the tempo of the song she was listening to when her eyes met him. Casey exhaled. He knew Clara would bombard him with series of questions. She wasn’t at home the preceding afternoon so she didn’t get updates. She removed her earphone. “Hi Clara, you are back from the movie shoot already”. “Yes. I’m feeling cheated because that movie shoot deprived me of some gist. How did your first day at school go?” She asked, fixing her gaze on him. “I knew you would ask. The first day was bad”. He reported She gasped in bewilderment. “What! How did that happen?” “The students were unfriendly and proud, you know. Some boys even came to taunt me.” He said, using his hands to make gestures for clearer description. “So, what happened today?” “Today was almost like yesterday. At least until lunchtime. I woke up late and walked to school out of will.” “What can you do without me?” “Stop it already”. He said with a shrug. “Sorry. Just continue”. “The Chemistry teacher thought I would be humiliated in class because I didn’t want to answer his questions at first but to the surprise of everyone he did. Clara clapped and smiled. “That’s my brilliant brother”. “Sure, it is. At lunchtime I made a friend and I think I like him”. “Yes. I told you that you were going to get along”. “By the way, what’s for lunch, I’m famished”. “Your food is on the dining table”. CHAPTER FIVE The alarm rang. It was time for him to wake up. He reflected that it was 6:30 in the morning. He wanted to snooze the alarm like he did the previous day but Clara would not hear of it. He rose from his bed and yawned, stretching his arms. He was still in his pajamas. He knelt down by his bed to pray. He got himself ready for school and Clara also got ready to drive him. It had become customary for her to do so because he had objected to having the chauffeur to drive him. During the drive, he kept thinking about the boy he met the previous day. Cody’s appearance was good. He looked nice and he just hoped he would be like his friends at St. Mark’s. Suddenly, the car stopped. Clara expected him to get out of the car but he didn’t. Clara tapped him and he came back to reality. “What were you thinking about?” She said with a suspicious look on her face. “I must have trailed…. Off”. He said, reaching his hands for the door knob. “Okay, be yourself and don’t forget to collect food from the cafeteria during lunchtime. He frowned slightly. He was in the habit of doing that and he disliked it whenever Clara or anyone else teased him about it. “Are you for real, Clara?" I think we talked about this”. “Yeah, we did. Just have a nice time and enjoy yourself”. “Okay”. He said and walked on. … It was lunchtime. Casey was in the class as usual, avoiding the cafeteria. The café was not a place he preferred. He brought out his Mathematics textbook to solve some questions. “Hi. I like the way you work hard.” A voice said to him. He looked up and saw it was Cody “Good morning, you showed up”. Casey said with a bright smile. “Of course, I did. What if we leave Mathematics for now and go to the cafeteria?” Cody offered politely “I would love to but visiting the cafeteria is not my thing”. Casey replied, declining the offer politely. “That’s not bad. But can you please give a chance only for today, please”. Cody said with a look that was difficult to resist. “Okay”. Casey said, finally obliging to his request. As they walked towards the cafeteria, Casey decided to stir up a conversation. “Where are your friends?” He asked, twiddling out of nervousness. “I don’t have any friends here. I noticed you were exceptional and that was the reason I walked up to you to have a conversation that day”. Cody said. “It was just yesterday”. “Oh, pardon me. The fun fact is that I’m also kind of a new student”. Casey was a bit surprised. “What do you mean?” He asked out of surprise. “I got here a term to the end of last session” “Oh, that’s what you meant”. He said, heaving a sigh of relief. “The reason I haven’t made any friends since then is that everyone here is too classy, unfriendly and hostile”. “That’s exactly what I also thought”. CHAPTER SIX It was Saturday. Casey and Clara were inside the living room. Clara was chatting on her phone while Casey was lying on the couch. As it appeared, he was bored. He yawned out of boredom. Clara chuckled. “Stop it. It’s not funny.” He protested. “Why must you choose to be bored when you have a choice between boredom and fun?” Suddenly, someone knocked on the door. Casey jumped up to open the door. He was anticipating someone’s arrival- Cody to be specific. He opened the door and saw that it was the person he had been expecting. “Hi, bro” Casey said, shaking his hands. “Hi. How’s everything?” Cody asked. “It’s fine”. He replied and they walked towards Clara. “Cody meet my big sister, Clara and Clara meet the Cody I’ve been telling you about him”. Casey said, introducing him to them to each other.” “Nice meeting you”. Cody said, extending his hands for a handshake. “Nice meeting you too. It’s such a pleasure to know that my brother could befriend you although he could be a nerd sometimes”. Clara said and received the handshake. Casey frowned at her. “Wait a minute, you are Clara ‘Manuel, you are a Hollywood star. Casey never told me it’s you”. Cody said after examining her face. “Yes, I have an amazing sister, don’t I?" By the way, let’s go and read.” They walked into the room. They read for three hours. Cody was the first to stop. He closed his textbook and looked at Casey. Casey noticed he was no longer reading and he also stopped. “Why did you stop reading?” Casey asked, closing his book. “Nothing, we’ve been reading for three hour and besides it’s just the first week of the term.” Cody said unzipping his backpack and putting his books back there. “Well, I’m glad to inform you that we have covered next week’s work”. Casey said with a smile. “But if you study so hard at home, then why do you wait behind every day after school to read?” He asked, anticipating an answer. “First, I stay back to have a review about all we did in class. Then either by default of staying late or by sheer coincidences, I see some dirty secrets.” Casey explained, making gestures with his hand. “Like what secrets?” Cody asked, eager to know more. “You are so inquisitive but I will answer. Are you aware Thomas and Vida are dating?” Cody was surprised. He couldn’t believe it. “What! They don’t even speak to each other in class. They only exchange glances and winks and that’s seldom”. Cody said, arguing out of disbelief. “I used to think in that same way about them until I saw them kissing after school on Thursday.” “Did they see you in turn?” “No. they were so engrossed in what they were doing that they didn’t know when I passed right beside them.” “That’s crazy”. “That’s what I also thought. Let’s play some video games”. Casey said, pulling out a drawer. “Sure”.