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EPISODE TWO

After break, we went to our elective courses. Andrew was taking Chinese to communicate with his followers in China, Mae was doing Art, and Jensen and I were enrolled in Design and Technology. Mr. Phillip Ngonzi was already waiting for us in the classroom.

"Now that the Christmas holidays are over, I need to pair you up for your final project, which will be submitted to the examination board," Mr. Ngonzi announced. "You're to develop something new or solve an existing problem. Consider this class free to work on your project. I want to see your inventions before you sit for your finals. Don't disappoint me! You'll be working in pairs for the rest of the year. The names are posted on the notice board, and I won't be changing any partners," he added firmly.

Jensen hoped Mr. Ngonzi would pair us together. "Mr. Ngonzi knows we're friends, so we'll be together," he said confidently. We rushed to the notice board to check the list. Jensen had been paired with a boy named James King Fitzroy, while I was paired with Tendai.

"You're with Tendai!" Jensen exclaimed in surprise.

I felt a knot of anxiety tighten in my stomach. Kemi was going to be furious with me for being paired with her boyfriend. "I need to talk to Mr. Ngonzi. This has to be a mistake," I said, leaving Jensen staring at the list. Tendai hadn't seen the list yet; we had been the first ones to check.

I found Mr. Ngonzi in his office. "Sir, there's been a mistake. I'm supposed to be paired with Jensen, not Tendai!" I said urgently.

"Adessa, it's not a mistake," Mr. Ngonzi replied. "I know Jensen and you are good friends, but to foster new ideas, you need to work with someone you don't interact with often."

"Please, sir, just give me someone else," I pleaded.

"Why are you afraid, Adessa? Is Tendai a bad person?" he asked.

I couldn't reveal my true reasons. "He's not bad," I said.

"Then as I told the class, I'm not changing the list," he said firmly.

Feeling disheartened, I left his office. Back in the Design & Technology class, Jensen was discussing the assignment with King, his new partner. Everyone else had paired up. Tendai was seated alone, waiting for me. He saw me and gestured for me to come. I walked over to him with a heavy heart.

Maybe she might not get as mad because it's just class, I convinced myself. Kemi wasn't in this class—she was in Art—so all I had to do was work with him only. No friendship.

"Hi!" Tendai said warmly.

I hesitated, struggling to find the right words. Partnering with him felt daunting, given how his girlfriend treated me. Kemi had tormented me with hurtful names because of my skin color, despite being a black person herself. Her behavior had always stung, and facing Tendai brought those painful memories rushing back.

Noticing my silence, Tendai continued, "Adessa, I know I haven't always been kind, but we need to work together to pass this course."

I didn't want him to see my inner turmoil, so I forced a smile. "Tendai, let's focus on the project. What do you have in mind?"

"I was thinking about something related to food," he suggested. "Innovative food, perhaps. What about you?"

"I'm not sure yet," I admitted. "Maybe we can brainstorm some ideas together. I want to work on something that addresses existing problems."

"That sounds like a good start," Tendai said encouragingly.

We brainstormed ideas for the duration of the period until it was time for lunch.

"Let's keep in contact, Adessa," Tendai said. "We need to continue brainstorming even after class. When you think about something, you can call me and vice versa."

I gave him my phone number.

"Tell me, Addie, did he abuse you?" Jensen asked me after class. "Because I will teach him a lesson!"

"No, he didn't do anything wrong. He was actually okay; we exchanged contacts so that we can continue brainstorming later on."

"How about you? How did it go with King?" I asked.

"King is a cool guy. He told me that we shall use his followers to help us do the work," he said. "You know he has a t****k channel with many followers."

"Are you okay with this?"

"It means you won't learn anything because his followers will do the work for you."

"I don't mind. It will give me time to focus on doing what I love most, which is to make you love me," Jensen claimed.

Jensen made me smile. He was dedicated to winning me over.

We found the cafeteria packed with students as usual. Other students were lining up for food, but Mae and Andrew were waiting on the side. Kemi and her friends were seated at a table talking. Tendai had joined them. When Kemi looked at us, she smiled. Her smile made me scared.

"They've told us to wait for everyone else to get food," Andrew said.

"Who said that?" I asked.

Andrew pointed at a Prefect who was supervising.

"Why?" I inquired.

"No particular reason," Mae said.

When it was finally our turn, we lined up. The Prefect told the cook to serve us from a particular saucepan. I knew this Prefect well; she was Cassie Graves. She was in a class below us.

"Hi Cassie," I said.

She said "Hi" but didn't look into our faces. The cooks served us our food, and we went and sat down. Andrew, Jensen, and Mae began eating immediately.

Something about what had just happened felt strange to me. Even though I was hungry, I didn't touch the food. I turned around to see Kemi, Liz, and Raven looking at us, smiling.

"Stop eating!" I yelled.

At that moment, Andrew found a rat tail in his soup. Everyone dropped their forks and knives. It hit all of us at that moment about what had just happened. Kemi and her friends had put a rat in our food, which was why they had made us get food last. This was such a low thing for them to do. Their table burst into laughter when they realized that we had noticed what they had done. I noticed Tendai wasn't laughing with them.

Jensen picked up the plate of food that had the rat tail, got up from the table, and walked up to them. We all followed him.

"Kemi, you have crossed the line this time, and you know it," he said.

He walked out of the cafeteria with the plate.

"What just happened?" Tendai asked.

"Stop acting innocent, Tendai. You know what they have done to us," Mae fumed.

"I don't know, Mae. I was in class with Adessa, so how would I know?" he responded.

"They put a rat in our sauce, Tendai," I said. "Andrew found it in his sauce."

Tendai was shocked.

"Kemi, is this true?" he asked.

"I did it because of what they did to me earlier!" she claimed.

"That was a low blow, Kemi. I have watched you disrespect them ever since I joined this school, but today is the last straw," he announced. "I am breaking up with you."

"You can't break up with me because of them and not in front of everyone," Kemi yelled.

Jensen came back with the Headmaster in tow.

"Kemi, is it true that you put a rat in their food?" the Headmaster asked.

"Yes, I had Liz and Raven get me a rat from the lab and put it in one of the soup saucepans," she admitted. "I forced Cassie Graves, the Food Prefect, to make sure that only the four of them ate the soup."

"Follow me, the three of you!" the Headmaster ordered. "Those who ate the rat soup, I need you to go to see the nurse for some medicine."