Timothy`s boarding school

Chapter 14 - What`s the fun in that?

Monday morning and I'm the last to wake today, I had totally overslept or was it the other way round. Did people wake up too early? It seems it was the later. Lying in my sheets with my head propped on the bed stand, I stared at what lay in front of me. My friends shuffling books into their bags, it was five o'clock and they had decided to have an early study. They had excluded me for obvious reasons, I was already smart and they thought I knew everything which is true, I was always prepared. Being considered was always nice but they had totally left me out, maybe it was because of my ego which I awfully floated around. There are not talking to each other, everyone is just focused on getting themselves ready. Peter is the first out the door, followed by the rest, Martin going out last. I was all alone for the first time in my room. I could not think or sleep, the silence was haunting me. I finally resolved to listen to music. I put my earphones and played Beyonce on repeat.

I woke up two hours later and this time I was late for sure. My roommates had returned from their study and were just freshening up to go for breakfast. It was bad omen to start late on the day of examinations, the rest of your day usually ended up being a letdown. I would feel pressured and end up making countless mistakes in my papers. I tried to take some breaking exercises to calm myself, got out of my sheets, no time to bath so I skipped (another bad omen, always bath on the day of your first exam) and was ready by the time of inspection. Michael's roommate Josh had taken Michael's responsibilities and was in charge of us now. He was chilled compared to Michael but he was quickly angered, it was best not to try silly stuff with him. He had no regard for the school rules, he didn't care that he was a prefect, if you disrespected him; he would whip your ass right there in the moment. He was tall, very muscular, probably because of the time he so much wasted lifting weights in the common room and very smart, probably the smartest in their form. His body was a bit out of proportion, as he spent most of the time lifting weights with his hands, his legs looked rather scrawny. He was often teased by his peers as they said he looked like a badly moulded child clay figure. They said he had been drawn out of a child's play book. These words were often said in secret, as even his peers were a bit scared of him.

He doesn't get in our room, he just didn't care, he yells from the door "You can go" and quickly moves away. We start walking towards the dining hall. We reach the dining hall and it's a mess. Almost everyone is holding some paper, pamphlet or something and reading from it. Were people, always this ill prepared? Some are posing questions to each other from cards and some look like are in deep prayer, even Brian is holding some papers in his hand. This site always seemed to intrigue me although it happens during all the exam times. Maybe it was because it made me feel special somehow in that I did not have to try as hard as everyone else when it came to school work, which was my advantage in life I guess. But this was nothing compared to the social life I so much envied. To have girls hanging around me not because I was smart but because they liked me and I was cool, to have them fight over me and to have that one girl that everyone wanted as my girlfriend. I guess this is just wishful thinking. Mr Stevens is already outside the Dining hall and he is having a conversation with some juniors who are trying to coax him into reviewing what he has put in the design and technology exam which they were writing today. This is all such a big drag. I just lean my head against the windows of the Dining hall, exasperated and wait for the cooks to open the door.

Today we were writing the maths exam and I totally wanted to ace it. I liked anything with numbers. I was therefore very good in all mathematical subjects. I was sort of a logical thinker, I rather based my things on facts and proofs, and therefore I leaned towards scientific subjects at the expense of the arts. My lowest marks were therefore in History, English and other subjects that had no numbers or theories or anything exciting about them. I liked discovery and diving in the world of the unknown.

At assembly, it was announced that Michael had been suspended, which I already knew, and relieved of all his prefect duties. Our exams were starting at eight o'clock sharp. We started our exam promptly; Josh and the head boy were our invigilators. We had to be spread out, to discourage cheating, among the other classes as the third-formers had been moved to the hall. We were roughly twenty pupils in my class, Theo, Chido, Kimberly and Jack were also writing in my classroom.

The exam started smoothly, the paper was quite easy but I had a tendency of getting the simplest things wrong. I think it was because of my cockiness, I was so high riding my own wave, feeling myself that I turned to overlook those small details that made the most difference. In my classroom, there was roughly a metre between desks. Stacy who was sitting just beside me this time, seemed like she was having a tough time, from the corner of my eye I could tell that she kept staring in my direction. I was not going to help her it's not my fault she didn't read enough but I kind of felt sorry for her though. Jack was in a worse condition that Stacy, sited diagonally in front of me, he kept turning back to me and asking for help. He kept whispering my name but all he got was my expressionless face. It was so deadpan that I think I saw a tear rolling down his cheek or was it me just making fun of him now.

It always amused me how people looked at me for answers but when I needed their help no one came to my aid. I had to beg every time. Theo was inexpressive as always and he seemed to have everything under control proved by the rate at which he was flipping his answer script or was it just a facade, maybe he was making so many mistakes that he was just starting over each time. I just don't know, but I'm not going to lose to him and that I'm very sure.

Like what I had predicted, the head boy had taken Kimberly's answer script, wrote her all the answers and gave her back. How nice, I was going to be bit by a cheat. She better make sure to get some wrong or I'm going to tell on her. Brian also had earned the favour of Josh as he kept murmuring some words into his ear, most probably answers.

Chido did not even bother looking my way, she knew when it came to exams, I was unyielding. At one time she had called me the devil himself. I was hurt. It was not my fault they were all so damn lazy. She finished writing her test before me, it wasn't because she was so smart, one thing I knew about her, was that she did not waste time on things she didn't know. Faced with a tuff question, she just skipped it and left a blank, I had warned her at one point, telling her it was better to write a wrong answer even, as she could get patty marks, but sometimes she was just so dense. Just as I had told her not to for in love with Theo but no, she had other plans; her arrogance definitely tickled my temper in irritation.

I loved examination time. Everyone seemed to like me, girls I didn't even know greeted me in the hall ways and some even came over to chat. I would get orders of food sent to my table in the dining hall, all the boys played with me, hanging out in my room most of the time. It was like I was a celebrity and I did my very best to preserve that status as long as I could. There was no way I was sharing it with someone else. I knew this would be short lived as people generally reverted back to their ways after the exam period was over, so I had to act fast whilst the sun was still shining on me. I would make my move today on Christine and just tell her how I feel. I was going to wait for her, at the entrance of the hall, so that I can accompany her to her hostel after school.

We finish writing the last paper of the day and immediately after collection I rush to the hall. I find the third-formers still writing their exam, there are left with another twenty minutes. I wait patiently sitting on one of the stairs on the hall's entrance. Whilst just minding my own business, lingering the thought of what I was going to say to Christine, Theo appears out of the blue. s**t I say to myself, what was I going to do? Was he here to see her too? Most probably he was, as he rarely spoke to anyone else in this stream. I couldn't definitely compete for the attention of his sister with him, I would lose. What should I do? I say hie to him and he just nods. Like really dude? You just nod? Are you kidding me? This was not going to end well, I had to leave now, and I will have to save my words for another day.

I leave the hall feeling defeated and I bounce onto Stacy. She greets me and I greet her back with a simple "Hy".

"I could see that you were totally flowing in that test" she says smiling and definitely wanting to get a response from me.

"Yah maybe, it was a fair test." I say not trying to blow my own trumpet or seem cocky. She is acting weird today. Under this huge Msasa tree we are standing, patches of yellow sunlight are hitting her light brown almost white skin and making it glow. The steady wind is blowing against her is making her school dress billow, her hands holding each other in an arc try to keep it down. She had short hair although most girls seemed to look better with long or plaited hair, I would say she was the opposite. Her hair just a brush cut was perfect, it was silky black and I could tell she would still look fine even though she didn't comb it. The only thing that always put me off about her was how skinny she was. I was fuller than her; you could see the bones showing from her arms, her chest flat; you could mistake her for a boy, not to forget her flat back which the boys at the hostel always referenced to being a door. Leaves from the tree blew just in between us, bringing freshness to this conversation that was standing on one leg. The cool breeze turning her cheeks pink as it passed.

"Such nice weather today" she says. Was she serious? She was talking about weather with me; she must be at her end.

Trying to make the conversation more interesting, I comment and tell her how pretty she looked in her new shoes. She smiles. I move towards her and remove the leaves that had invaded her hair; my breath is on her forehead now, as I'm just a few feet from her plucking the leaves behind her head. She bows down her head allowing me to remove the leaves, as I touch her hair removing the last leave she twitches. I immediately pull back and apologize "I'm sorry, did I pull on your hair?"

Her cheeks are flush red; she is speechless for a while until she manages to slip out "its okay, it was the cold wind". But it wasn't that cold today, not to mention she was wearing a blazer. I definitely didn't want to read too much into this. I therefore drop the matter and say my goodbyes, patting her shoulder in departure. She smiles broadly in response.

Just as I'm about to leave the hall area I notice Theo and Christine coming from the other side. They notice me too. Christine gives me this enigmatic look in sync with her brother. This was one weird family. Was she happy to see me, angry, indifferent, I could not tell? We all look at each other for about a minute before they both turn their heads and continue on their way. I start going towards the hostel as the large crowd of third-formers coming from the hall was now right behind me and I certainly didn't want to bump into them. As I pass the middle block I see Kimberly coming out of the block with the head boy. Had she moved on already? Doesn't she get tired of being used? I wonder why I wasted my fist on Michael. I should have let her suffer.

I meet up with Ryan on my way to the hostel, who was coming from escorting Adele to her hostel. How lucky he was. I wish I had someone pretty to escort to the hostel but that's just wishful thinking. I discuss the test with him asking what answers he had placed and I can tell he had botched this test. He will be lucky if he gets to half but certainly I can't tell him that. He looks so happy; he is smiling, agitated and eager to get good results. I so hope my judgement is wrong. Plus even more, if he fails it means I was a bad teacher as well, which sucks. I had put everything, the last few weeks into teaching him, but I can only go as far, the rest was up to him.

We reach the hostel and my roommates are discussing nothing else but the test. They refused for me to join in as they claimed I would give them unnecessary stress by telling them the correct answer. They always took me to be like a mark scheme. I didn't object as I had my fair share of stress by not being able to see Christine. I just sat on my bed and tried to strategize my next move on how I was going to get Christine.

Yayen came to get me, so that we can head for supper. As always we would go for a walk around the fields first. Passing the junior block, we take notice of Theo who is sitting outside with his desk and chair and with several books scattered all over his table. Theo really worked hard, as much as I didn't want him to be better than me, I so much wished for him to get what he surely deserved. Yayen lifts his left hand and waves at him, he lifts mine with his right hand as he knew I wouldn't do it. Theo smiles at us, at me; this is surely a triumph for me. Theo has never smiled towards me, I'm so delighted that I can't help it and end up giving him a smile back. This was really a magical moment. He drops the juice bottle on his table, spilling all the juice on the ground, he curses, we laugh as we head to the grounds, directly facing the sunset.

I fill Yayen on what had happened today and I ask him what Theo thinks about me and his sister. Yayen was our common ground. He equally spoke with each of us, I wonder if he reviewed my secrets to him, but I leave that thought for another day. He tells me that Theo was not happy about it, in fact he says he was infuriated quoting his own words. He thinks you are playing with her and trying to provoke him by going to her. On second thought I didn't really care what he thought, she was going to be mine.

"But Yayen you know that my love is sincere right?" I say, trying to get at least one person to support me. He looks away and manages a chuckle.

"Well, Tenzo (I hated it when he called me this) I don't really know" he says using his hands for gestures "it seems, I'm not saying that's what I think, as an act of revenge"

"Ooh come on Yaya, what will I be revenging" I say, my face and arms living up to my statement, "I'm already better than him in everything", releasing a cheeky smile as I said my last statement.

"That's your problem Tim, you feel yourself too much. That is why Theo is going to bit you this time. Did you see how much he is reading? And you busy going on dead end missions with his sister. Why do you always rush for things you cannot have. There are so many girls, way prettier than her, who would love to get your attention. Just cut your losses and move on." He says trying to reason with me. He really tried to mend the rift between me and Theo but I reckon we were born to strife. It was written in the stars.

We are now facing the crowd in the distant standing outside the dining hall. From the looks of things we seemed to still have a couple of minutes in our pockets before supper will be ready. It seems we are having veggies with sugar beans and pap, the strong smell of boiled veggies with rarely enough oil could be smelt from afar. This are the days I hated boarding school. When they made us eat food cooked fit for animals.

"What will be the fun in time?" I look away from the dining hall and stare in to his eyes. I can tell he is alarmed by my response."You are definitely crazy, you doing this for fun." He bursts into huge feats of laughter, with the laugh running from his belly to his mouth, just like how santa is portrayed to do it "Tim, this is a dangerous sport you are playing, trust me."

"I have had worse" I say my last statement cutting our conversation, as Barret was now looking at us from the dining hall and raising his hand for us to run over there. What a drag, I hated this. We reach there and he makes us run once more around the roundabout just in front of the girls' hostel gate which faced the dining hall. It was so embarrassing. Girls watched us as we ran in our school uniform and I almost fell when I caught a glance of Christine.

As predicted supper was horrible, aside from the disgusting meal I have already stated, they was also a side dish of Lindsay's rotten mouth as she talked about how my face on our table everyday made her lose appetite. No one cared what she thought anyway, she was just a loser trying to get recognition by bashing me. At the end of the day, I was everything she wanted from a guy but could never have. She is probably mad as I had refused to be her best friend last year, when she had proposed.