STORMS AND TWISTS

CHAPTER ONE

Casey alighted from the BMW that belonged to his sister. He looked at the school gate and exhaled. He looked back to his sister.

“Casey, don’t tell me you feel confused”. Clara said, shifting her gaze from the steering wheel to her younger brother.

“I do. Moving to a new school makes me feel a part of me is gone.” He complained with a shrug.

“Just trust me okay. Mill High School is just what you need.”

“I don’t know. I am not sure”. He said. He turned back and took a step forward.

“Wait”. She called out. He stopped but he didn’t turn back.

“Remember, you are a champion. Show them what you’ve got”. She said and drove off.

He heaved a sigh. He entered the premises of the school. He was just new in the school. Initially, he didn’t know why his father and his sister had to change his school. He was in the ninth grade and was getting good grades. He was doing fine.

Now he was promoted to the tenth grade and changing his school wasn’t ideal. He presumed. He felt like he was lost. He entered his new class and settled on one of the seats in the front row. He placed his bag beside him and buried his head under the desk.

He was recalling all the good moments he had at St. Mark’s High School. It was an Anglican school and he was just beginning to enjoy the school when he had his school changed. He remembered how he argued with his sister and dad when they told him about the decision.

“No dad, I love St. Mark’s.” He had complained bitterly.

“But you said you despised it”. Clara said, rolling her eyeballs.

“Big sis, I really like it now. Changing it’s going to be hard for me.” He had protested, heaving repeatedly.

“You might want to know something.” Clara said nervously.

“Sweetie, we’ve registered you at Mill High School already. We’ve also paid the tuition fees in advance.” His father said, folding his arms.

“I’m not sweetie. I am nor a girl. Please Clara can you do something about this?”

“Okay”. She said with indifference.

“You said ‘okay’ but the way you said it leaves me to think it’s not okay at all”. He said, looking at her with doubt.

“Guys, I have to go to bed. Tomorrow’s schedule is tight”. Mr. ‘Manuel stood up with a yawn and left for his room.

“Bye. I also have to go”. Clara said and also stood up.

“No Clara, you can’t also walk out on me”

“Yes I can”. She said and walked away.

He raised his head up and came back into reality. He saw three boys in front of his desk.

“New student, eh; so what brings you here?” One of them said with a tough voice and a loud bang on his desk.

“Yeah, what’s your former high school, Lame High School?” Another said and they burst into a round of laughter.

“These boys are not cool”. He thought to himself.

“Yeah, he’s not answering. It’s got to be Lame High School. You were right”. The one that appeared to be the ring leader said.

“Well, let’s walk away”. One of them said and they left already.

Casey frowned a bit. The day wasn’t getting better but worse. This was just the first day and things were turning out like that. The school wasn’t better than St. Mark’s like Clara said. Rather, it was the other way round.

He later got to find out that the three boys that taunted him were the biggest bullies in the school. Their names were Carl, Jeff and Harry. They tried to show everyone in school that they were the most powerful and anyone that had crossed their lines had themselves to blame.

It was the close of school activities for the day. Many students took their bags and left for home but Casey stood behind. He wanted to figure something out. The school was way different from St. Mark’s.

At St. Mark’s High School, everyone loved one another. It neither was nor was an expensive schools but there no infrastructural differences. Everyone respected one another. Mill High School was expensive, everyone was classy and unfriendly. That was so easy to detect. The hostile treatment those boys gave him earlier served as an eye opener. Besides, no one deemed it fit to welcome him as a new student.

The students looked happy, rich and contented. He was almost sure they all had moms. He would be happier if his mother was still alive. He remembered how he found out.

He had just learnt about a family tree in Social Studies in the second grade. He asked his friends if they had moms and they all answered in the affirmative. He began to nurse suspicious feelings. If all his friends had moms, why didn’t he?

As he walked towards the zebra crossing that was in front of the school, he made a firm resolve. He was going to question Clara about it when he got home.

He walked in without knocking. He saw his sister inside the living room. She was still in her school uniform and it was obvious she also just came back from school. She was in High School and she was classy. Clara was beautiful. She was tall and slim. Her eyes and long hairs added to her alluring beauty. He recalled she was also just fifteen and he was seven.

“Clara, I want to ask you something”. He said, dropping his backpack on the sofa.

“Okay, you can ask me anything. You never stop asking questions. It’s you”. She said with a smile and sat on the couch.

“Where’s mom?” He dropped the bombshell.

Clara’s smile dried up immediately. She sat up to listen to more of what he was about to say.

“What do you mean? Stop it if it’s a joke”. She said, folding her arms with a slight frown. She thought her trick would wok magic as usual but she was wrong.

“I mean the woman that held us in her womb for nine months. Where is she?” He said, tapping his foot on the ground with a frown.

“Okay. Don’t come crying to me when it’s too much to bear.” She said, deciding to finally tell the truth. He came back to the present. Over the years, he had created a strong bond with his sister. They were friends. She was even like his mother. Though she was innocent and naïve, she looked after him and that mattered a lot.

Clara was twenty-four years old. She had already graduated from the university and she became a famous actress at her youth. However, her fame didn’t stop her in having time and the childhood fun with Casey. They confided with each other a lot. Their father was busy a lot running his auditing company. He was deeply immersed in business because he wanted the best for him but they had each other’s company.

Casey walked to school. Clara had gone for a movie shoot earlier that morning. He would have boarded a taxi but he decided to walk half a mile to get to school.

He approached Mill High School. He exhaled. He hoped luck would just shine his path. The first day was not good and he didn’t know what schooling there had in stock for him.

The bell chimed. He checked his wrist-watch and realized that it was 8:30a.m. He hurried to his class. At first, he was late but he evaded punishment because all the prefects would have gone to their classes. No one wanted to miss classes all in the name of carrying out duties on behalf of the school.

Clara was not at home so he slept late and of course, he woke up late. He had stayed up late the previous night playing videogames. He just hoped that he would not be dealt with severely by the teacher.

He composed himself well. He got to the class. He prayed he would be merciful towards him.

“Good morning sir.” He said, stopping by the doorway.

“Late coming isn’t it? This is just the second day of school. Kid, you are preparing in earnest form for failure”. The teacher bellowed

The teacher stopped just when he noticed something.

“You are a new student, eh. Well you have two options”.

”I’m sorry sir”.

“No need for that. It’s strictly two options. It’s either you answer a question or you spend ninety minutes in detention after school”.

“Okay sir. I would like to answer the question”.

”List the first twenty elements in front of the whole class”.

He walked to the front of the class and exhaled deeply owing to the fact that he was nervous. He was silent for some moments and just when the teacher was about to speak, he began to recite with confidence.

“Hydrogen, Helium, Boron, Beryllium. Carbon….”

The students were awed by the courage and the confidence of this new boy who was promising as he appeared. They watched in amazement until he said the last element.

“Thank you.” Casey said and ended his speech. It was actually more of a recitation.

“You can have your seat”. The teacher said to him. Every student turned their gaze to him as he walked towards the middle row of the class.

“Let me have your attention everyone.” The teacher called out.

“As you are aware, this is a new session, I am here to introduce myself to you. I am Mr. Harley and I will be your chemistry teacher. Have a nice day every one”. The teacher said and walked away.