chapter nine

Stewart led me through a passage with doors on either side. I realized that behind the doors were classrooms. This was understandable since the school was first designed to be a state historical museum.

As we furthered down the passage, the sound of many voices became clearer. I wanted to tell Stewart that we can wait and l could just go find her when classes resume but I didn't want to seem undecisive.

The same nervousness that burns my stomach started again. Luckily Stewart was walking in front of me, otherwise he would have thought they were periodic pains

We reached two glass double doors and he put his hands on the silver handles. He turned to me.

"Ready?", he asked and I nodded.

He pushed open the doors and the noise poured out. He went in first then just stepped aside holding the door from shutting. His other hand gestured for me to enter. l swallowed hard then moved in.

The large cafeteria became quiet at once. All stares were directed to me. My heels started echoing in the quietness as l moved to the middle of the room. My body was just moving on its own without any idea of where l was supposed to go.

Fortunately Stewart came to my rescue, taking my hand and walked searching for Keisty' table. I saw a small wave from a table in a corner. When l looked l saw Prisca seated with some other girl beside her. She had a tray of burger and fries with a can of Pepsi before her on the table.

I looked beside her expecting to see Keisty but the other two chairs opposite her on the small round table were vacant.

Suddenly an arm hooked into mine and dragged me to the side pulling me from Stewart's grip. I stumbled a bit but a hand held me firmly by the waist.

I looked to see who it was and saw Keisty. She laced my fingers with hers and held me possessively.

"I will take it from here, thank you", Keisty said with a very serious face.

Stewart was baffled for a second but then nodded understandingly. He smiled at me then turned back to leave the cafeteria.

I gripped the sleeve of his blazer remembering that l hadn't thanked him yet. He turned and looked at me.

"Thank you for escorting me and showing me around the school. You make the best tour guide", l said in gratitude with a sweet voice .

He smiled widely before answering back. "It was an honor and my pleasure to get to know you." He turned to Keisty and then smiled. "You have a good friend Keisty, you can invite her to our club. I'm sure she will make a great team."

Keisty gave him a forced fake smile and answered, "l will see about that."

She didn't wait for Stewart to answer back and walked me to her table where Prisca and the other girl where seated watching the drama like the rest of the students. Keisty pulled one of the empty chairs and pressed me down to it. She then pulled her chair and set beside me sulkily.

All talking in the room resumed but something told me that they were all talking about the incident that recently occurred. I looked at Keisty who was now grumpily stuffing her mouth with vegetable salad and chewing angrily. I wondered what had turned off her mood so drastically.

I was about to ask her but as soon as I opened my mouth she raised a finger and put it to my lips to stop me.

"I don't want to talk about it", she said without looking at me.

I just noticed that a strand of hair had loosen from her scrunchie and was dangling before her face. I reached my hand gently, half expecting her to swipe it off but she didn't. She softened a bit when l took the strand and tucked it back into the ponytail.

"I sense jealous here, a love triangle ", Prisca said bouncing up and down on her chair excitedly. The girl beside her giggled. I had almost forgotten that we had company.

"Please shut up Prisca, she's my cousin", Keisty said trying to contain her frustration.

Prisca turned to look at the girl beside her. ," what are the odds that the reserved, self-centered principal's son would agree on escorting a new student. More so, willing to walk with her into a crowded place like this for the first time. Oh l bet he even wants you to invite her to your club so that he would get more time with her."

This time Keisty raised her head and gave Prisca a murderous glare.

" Ok, ok l will stop, l am sorry for telling the truth",  Prisca said with a disappointed look.

Keisty sighed in defeat. Keisty had carried my little satchel with her knowing that l would come to the cafeteria. We ate our food now talking about many funny things, like the nicknames that Prisca had given to students on the tables around the cafeteria. We giggled covering our mouths in fear that they might hear us.

"And that girl giving you a death glare behind you is called Beatrice, we just call her Tris. She is miss grumpy. She is the last former Miss Aquila. She had been holding the position for almost three terms unrivaled until she fell sick and went to the hospital for a month. When she returned a new Miss Aquila had been chosen."

I discreetly craned my head over my shoulders to see who Prisca was talking about. My eyes met hers but she didn't avert them in embarrassment. I was the one who quickly turned back to look at Prisca.

The girl was a dark haired beauty with a models structure. Her shiny black hair and dark eyes were in wide contrast with her radiant white skin. She sat on her tablet alone with her long wavy hair cascading down her shoulders. l noticed that her blazer had three merit badges with the last one having a beautiful dazzling pendant.

"So, who is the new Miss Aquila?", l asked.

Suddenly the two double doors burst open and excited screams came from out the door nearing. A group of cheerleaders rushed in spinning and doing some backflips whilst singing. They were wearing tiny orange pleated skirts and tiny white T-shirts with orange stripes. The T-shirts left their flat bellies bare.

They sang in unison and danced seductively. They raised their pom-poms twisted their bodies like they were boneless. Their tiny skirts would rise and sway at their movements.

I saw other students clearing their tables to create space. I looked at Keisty who didn't even bother looking in their direction then l looked at Prisca who just shrugged. "Wait and see", she said.

The cheerleaders came up together and bunched up into a group clearing the center space. They stood with their eyes excitedly looking at the door like they were anticipating someone.

I heard some bouncing of a ball in the passage then a basket ball shot through the door and straight into a bin in the corner of the room. A loud noise of boys cheering erupted from outside the doors. A group of boys in white vest like jerseys with orange print entered the room.

They were shouting and making a lot of noise with their deep voice stirring up all the attention to them. Among them l spotted one familiar face.

I saw the same boy whom we met the previous morning while we waited for Prisca. His haircut was hard to miss with the lightning trim on it.

He seemed to be the leader of the group because all the boys were listening and laughing at his jokes. With the jovial mood that they were all in, l didn't have to be told that they had won their game.

After a while the boys team walked to some boys sitting at their tables and stood crossing their arms. The other boys quickly stood from their seats and walked away leaving their food on the table.

The basketball team boys laughed devilishly and occupied the seats. They started eating the food that the boys had left.

I looked at Prisca then asked her, "who are they?"

"A bunch of nobodies and baboons only good at bulling", Keisty answered my question in disgust.

I looked back at them. The girls in the cheerleaders team were now hanging on the shoulders of their basket ball team boyfriends.  Some where seating on the tables and some on the laps of their boyfriends kissing. The sight disgusted me and l looked back to our table. My appetite had already left me.

Suddenly l felt a tap on my shoulders and looked up. I saw three cheerleader girls standing beside me. They were looking at me with amused smiles.

"Wow she's beautiful, no lies there", they said to each other looking at me.

Keisty stood up immediately and came before me, defending me from their view.

"What the heck, Keisty!", one of the girls complained.

Keisty turned back at me as if to see if l was still behind her then turned back to the girl. Prisca lightly tugged my hand which was on the table. I looked at her then she whispered.

"You were asking who the new Miss Aquila was, there she is." I nodded to her.

"What do you want from her Whitney, don't try to pull your dirty games on her, she is my cousin", Keisty said in a voice that was angry and carried a hint of scolding. She was talking to a very pretty brunette. Dark brown eyes and dark brown hair and smooth olive skin. Looks like a girl from the advertising image of a lotion bottle. A tall, slender beautiful model in appearance.

"I just came to introduce myself. I heard of the new beautiful girl and just thought that l should see her for myself", Whitney said in a small innocent voice.

"Well you have seen her, now go", Keisty said angrily.

"Ok but let me just greet her formally, l promise that's all l want", she said peeping over Keisty's shoulder to see me.

I almost felt sorry for the way Keisty was acting towards her. The girl moved from her two friends and went by Keisty's side. Keisty flinched a bit but did not protest.

Whitney came to my side and extended her hand to me. I stood up looking at her hand in hesitation. It seemed as though everyone was waiting to see what will happen. I was trying to read her eyes to see if she would not pull anything to embarrass me or hurt me.

I hesitantly took her hand, she smiled and shook our hands. She looked deep into my eyes as l looked deep into hers. Behind the sparkling glaze in her eyes was something that told me she was suffering.

After a lengthy hand shake she turned and beckoned her friends to follow her. Keisty looked at me then she set down. I followed suit and set down.

I heard a ball bouncing towards us. Before l turned to look, Prisca sighed deeply and murmured a silent, "oh my god".

I looked at Keisty when l heard a crack from her. She was gripping a plastic fork so tight in her hand that it had broken. It gave me a clue of who was coming without looking.

"You have come for me, l knew you would", Mark said placing his basketball on our table and sitting beside it.

Keisty was beyond irritated, she didn't even want to look in his direction. Her teeth gritted against each other. I was inwardly praying that she wouldn't cause a scene.

I stood up and looked  squarely into his eyes. "I hardly know you".

A loud grasp sounded from the side were the boys were sitting. That was when I realized that everyone was watching us.

Mark was taken aback by my reaction. He stared blankly at me with his mouth open. It must had been the first time he had received such straight forward rejection. He looked at lose of words. Men and their ego.

Keisty stood up with a smile and took my hand. "And now if you may excuse us"

She dragged me towards the doors. Someone held my other hand and stopped us. I looked and saw a handsome looking boy with an apron and a net covering his hair. I could see that he was wearing a uniform under his apron.

I immediately recognized him. The guy from the inn where auntie brought me food on our way from the hospital. So he is continuing his family business even at school, how diligent.

He decided not to remind me of the day we first met. He must have judged wisely from the way l reacted to Mark.

He extended his hand holding a small yellow plastic bag to me. "Please, just accept this as a welcome gift."

I wanted to tell him that I was not supposed to eat fast foods but l would disappoint him if l refused his gift. I took the plastic bag from his hands then looked at him. I saw him smile in relief.

"Thank you", l said looking into his eyes.

"You are welcome", he said with a smile looking into my eyes trying to capture a moment. This was not some romance movie so l quickly looked away.

Keisty tugged my arm signaling us to go and l followed her outside. This was the only way l could refresh from all the drama that was happening inside.

Before we went far, the siren rang from the main hall. This signaled the resuming of classes. I was somewhat grateful for the break to something serious.