Double-edged Sword - Episode 5

 

The sound of raindrops slamming upon the ceiling of the classroom was enough to spoil my peace at the moment. That is not counting the excess buzzing of my classmates discussing topics i did not care about.The teacher was yet to arrive anyway.Bianca was also absent. She missed the assembly too. The guys were talking(more like yelling) about the champions league match semi final between barcelonaand inter milan yesternight.

 "Guy,abeg no reason that thing. Inter no play anything.How you go just come field carry eight men put for box eighteen then park bus throughout?" One yelled.

 "Why them no go park bus? You no see wetin that useless ref do? Him go give thiago motta red card early in the match?Motta no even deserve that red . God catch

 una. Una think say that ojoro wey you do against Chelsea last year go work again. For where? Una don forget say mourinho be

 minister of defence. Make una just focus on una La liga and copa del rey because na the only thing wey una deserve. As for this champions league, na inter milan get am.

 Them go even carry treble self. Dey there" Another countered.

 "Siddown there dey dream" A third guy said."you think say parking of bus go work

 against bayern for final. Bayern go beat inter black and blue just like their jersey." he

 finished with a laugh and the others joined in, even the guy supporting inter

All episodes of this story can be found here >> https://www.ebonystory.com/story/double-edged-sword

. I had to

 resist laughing along. That last statement was just too hilarious.

Tina and her crew however....

 "Im telling you.Katie perry is the best singer to grace music industry" Tina gushed.

 "In which life? When Beyonce and Rihanna are still living and breathing." Sade,one of her crew countered.Sade was quite short

 and dark but had a mouth that flowed like the lake victoria. She never stopped talking.

 "Abeg, what do you know?" Tina snapped."those two will fade away in time. Katty perry is here to stay"

 "Why?" Sade countered. "Because she released one hit? If its by that, Sasha P would have become the hottest musician right now after singing "Adara" but we all

 know how that turned out. Since that song,where is she now? To be called the best you have to be consistent. Im not saying Katty is

 bad o. But she still has a long way to go.Right now, she cant even lace Beyonce and Rihanna's boots. To me, the best ever still remains Aaliyah."

 "AALIYAH?!!!" Tina burst out in laughter,some of her girls following suit.Sade frowned.

 "Abeg Sade dont kill me with laugh. Its too early o. You dont know music at all"

"Na you sabi"Sade pouted, folding her arms. "But thats my opinion"

 "Like it matters" Tina hissed.

 I could see Sade's hands clenched and a dark fire in her eyes.If there was going to be a civil war in that crew,i didnt want to witness it.So i did the logical thing by putting my head on the table and folding my arms around it intending to go for a temporary nap until our teacher showed up.

For a while i waited for any screaming and sounds of fists colliding but it didnt happen.

 What happened however was a strange scent invading my nostrils. Startled, i raised my head just in time to see Bianca's grinning face a few inches away from mine.

Bianca!!" I nearly screamed as i reared my head back, nearly colliding with the wall.

"Yes, thats my name" she replied casually with her signature grin.This girl was something.

"When did you get here?" i said,the shock still not leaving my face.

"Just now" she replied.

"And the first thing to do was invade my personal space?" i frowned.

"Was i?" she tilted her head sideways and stared at me intently with that owl-like eyes of hers,her smile vanishing again.

"Yes, you..you.. were close. Too close" I stuttered, my confidence seemed to vanish at that moment. 

"Was i?" she repeated,shifting close to me and peering into my face. What is wrong with this girl for goodness sake?!! She hasnt been in this school for more than a week now.

"Yes you were." i replied. "Bianca, is everything alright?"

She didnt reply as she kept on staring at me. 

This was getting seriously uncomfortable. I spared a glance and i could see most of our classmates staring at us. Tina had a sneer on her face and the guys had mischievious looks. I glanced back at bianca and she still had the same look on her face. I could feel the heat in the class even though the windows were open to allow ventilation. 

All of a sudden, she burst out giggling surprising me even more.

"Sorry, the look on your face was priceless" she said as she inched away from my face, much to my relief.

"Relax, J" she smiled" i was just studying you."

"Couldnt you have done that another way without making it look like you're trying to look into my soul? " I blinked in confusion.

"No" She deadpanned.

"And what kind of a name is J?" i raised my eyebrow.

"Its a nickname, silly." she giggled."You dont like it?" she added pouting.

"No its not that" i shrugged."Its alright, i guess. Its just that im not sure we've gotten that close to be given each other nicknames."

"Is that so?" she raised her eyebrows in mock surprise. "who says we aren't close? Besides we are alike." Leaning towards me for probably the hundredth time today, i felt her warm breath tickle my ear as she added. "Very alike...You and I"

Leaning back she stared forwards at the class entrance as her face shifted back to that eerie blank expression. I was so confused right now. One moment,this girl was all giggly and giddy. The next, she acted like she was absentminded. I could feel the invisible question marks floating above my head.

"Bianca" i finally found my voice"There's something i need to know. Something i need you to tell me."

"Shoot" She replied, leaning back into her seat and facing the ceiling.

"How did you....." I began.

"Alright everybody settle down!!" Our Economics teacher barged in with a pile of papers under his arm. I frowned. This demon incarnate of a teacher was the most despised on my list. The man would do anything to make me miserable. From doing anything to embarass me in class to giving me silly marks on his assignment. Tina always scored the highest mark in all his assignment, tests and exams adding more to my misery.

"Alright.This is the result of last week test. Majority of you failed woefully which makes me wonder what you always do at home. Is it that i dont teach you well?" He shook his head glaring at the whole class and i rolled my eyes. 

He sighed and placed the pile of papers on the table.

"i'm going to call out you names and your scores for you to know how you performed. So we can know the unserious ones." he grinned evilly.

I groaned and slammed my head on the table.

This will definetly not be good and the day hasnt even started.

As he kept on calling the names of the students and their scores, I could see disappointments on their faces when their scores were announced. Those who had yet to hear theirs kept their fingers crossed with looks of hope on their faces. Bianca who just joined after the test was written looked on with interest. Sandra was emitting an aura of fear which i could feel. As for Tina, she had a smug grin on her face.

"Sandra Nwosu." He announced and Sandra perked up. "10/20"

I saw Sandra breathe a sigh of relief.

"Better than failing" she shrugged.

"John Azubike" He called out,staring intently at me. "11/20"

I raised my eyebrows in surprise, clenching my fists so hard i nearly drew blood. No way!! NO FREAKING WAY!!! I studied hard for that test and i knew i deserved at least an 18. I had found the test very easy and it was safe to say it was difficult to fail. But with my score, it meant i barely passed the average mark. This was total balderdash and i wasnt going to take it!!!

"Tina Balogun" He said as he looked at her with a grin. "20/20. Keep it up."

I couldnt beleive my ears as i saw Tina squealing with joy,her crew congratulating her.

"Take it easy on her. You look like you want to roast her alive" A giggle came from my left. I sighed as i turned to see Bianca smiling.

"Is that what you think?" i replied.

Hmm" she shrugged.

"Thats all on that" Our teacher continued. "i beleive those that passed should keep it up. As for those who failed, i believe this is the avenue to sit up.Exams are near so i suggest you work harder in order to pass and boost your C.A. I have tried as your teacher. The rest is up to you."

"Yeah right" I rolled my eyes at his statement.

Classes commenced but not before our test sheets were distributed to us and no further incident occured besides him asking Tina questions on the topic and complementing her rather unneccessarily when she answered the question. Class finished and our teacher took his leave. Glaring at his retreating form, i took hold of my test script and stood up to follow him but was stopped by Bianca's soft grip on my wrist.

"What do you think you're doing?" she said as her blank expression appeared.

"Going to sort it out" I replied, yanking my wrist away from her grip before storming out of the class. I entered the staff room and saw him marking some notes. I noticed Miss Kemi at the adjacent side of the room talking to a junior student. Our eyes met and she raised her eyebrows inquisitively. I nodded at her and proceeded to the demon's table. Seeing my shadow blocking the notes he was marking, he looked up at me and frowned.

"Yes,John. What can i do for you?"  he asked nonchalantly.

"Sorry to bother you, "sir" " I replied making extra sure to place emphasis on the sir. "But i think there was a mistake in my test score."

"Is that why you barged in here without an ounce of courtsey like you own this school?!!" He suddenly yelled catching the attention of everyone in the staffroom. I could feel every eyes on me and i was beginning to get furious.

"Sir, I didnt barge in" I replied calmly, though i was boiling inside.This man wanted to make a minefield out of nothing. "The door was wide open"

"So i'm a fool abi?" He asked folding his arms.

"I never said that" I replied.

"So what are you insinuating?" he asked.

"With all due respect, sir. I dont want us to diverge from this topic. I just want to show you this." i said,calmly placing my script on his table.

"Ehen what is this?" he stared at the script before shifting his gaze to me.

"Its my script"i replied. "i got 11"

"So?"

"So, i think its a mistake. I reviewed it and the answers i put in mostly came from what you thought. If you would like, ill would bring my notebook and we can crosscheck......" i began.

"WILL YOU GET OUT OF HERE!!" He roared,squeezing and throwing the paper at my face. "So you want to teach me my own job,abi? Get out!!"

"Jide..." Miss kemi had walked up to us.

"No,kemi"He held his hand up"Can you imagine this little boy has the guts to indirectly tell me how to do my job?!"

He faced me.

"Its not your fault. The next time you try this again,ill make your life hell in this school" he snarled.

"John.Please go to your class" Miss kemi pleaded.

I gently picked up my squeezed paper and walked away. Reaching the exit, i turned to look at Mr Jide and our eyes met.Things just got personal