As I walked to the garden,the cold breeze that blew against my face made me uneasy about what I was doing. When I got to the garden I sat at the bottom of the tree rather than the open grass and listened to the breeze blow through the leaves of the tree, playing a melody only the tree leaves and branches seemed to understood and they danced to it. It was difficult to see the sky from here but I was still enjoying the feeling of relaxation. I breathed the air in and out as I felt at peace. Once more the garden had helped,"Thank you garden",I said to it .
The sound of rustling leaves hit my ear but I mistook it for the leaves playing with the wind. My eyes were closed so I was oblivious of my surroundings. "Hello again",the voice said .My eyes sprang opened as I heard the familiar voice ,"Please don't leave , I'm not here to hurt you or frighten you",she said. "Hurt me?",I asked myself in disbelief ,"I just want us to be friends",she said," What in the world?",I asked myself taken back,"What kind of ameture is this?",I asked myself. She tired to get familiar with me but I ignored her completely. When I got tired of her endless talk I got up and walked off not looking back,"Hey,hey ,where are you going?",she called after me but I didn't say a word to her.
When I got to my hostel,a thought struck me. "It was dead in the night and I was sure everyone was fast asleep except me. Also,no other students came out at night due to the fear of ghosts except if you were a rebel like me, so who was she?,"I pondered,"Well maybe just another student who found trouble sleeping like me",I said to myself and closed my eyes to sleep. It had been another confusing and scary night.
The following day, Dad was called to the school to the school by the Principal concerning my graded,"I have never seen any student fail so miserably. If she continues like this she would be expelled from this school and I don't want that to happen to her",she explained to Dad. She continued talking but I was too occupied with better things in my head to listen to the garbage she was saying. I stood there beside Dad,hands crossed below my chest staring out the window," Ma ,I really appreciate your concern for my daughter. You see she had been a thorn in our flesh and that's is why we sent her here hoping to see some changes in her because she's getting out of hands",he explained to her.
I just rolled my eyes and continued staring out the window hoping they would be done soon so I could return to class. They continued talking and talking and talking until they arrived at a shocking and unsatisfactory conclusion,I would take extra lessons after school hours and during lunch time with the PRINCIPAL!,she would also ask all the teachers to keep an eye on me during classes and prep." Seriously? This people are out their minds",I said to myself.
As we walked out of the principal office my Dad stopped suddenly bent down to look at me dead in the eye," Do you still remember my promise?",he asked but i didn't reply," You get expelled one more time and you can kiss your schooling bye bye ",he said and walked away from me leaving me rooted to the spot staring at his departing figure. I could feel my heart drop and the urge to cry was high but i quickly gathered my emotions together and walked away trying to keep a straight face.
* * * * * * * * * *
I sat in the Principal's office looking blankly at the book in hand with my eyes half open .The writings on the book looked blue and incomprehensible. I tried staying awake but couldn't. Before I could say "Jack",my eyes had shut and the book nearly fell from my hand. A sudden pain on my head forced me to open my eyes in seconds,"Oww!",I said looking this mean looking woman at the other side of the table with circular lens and a wooden ruler in hand. I frowned at her ,"What was that for?",I asked,"Read the book I gave you",she instructed.
She continued flipping the blank pages of my note book with a disapproving look on her face."Why are your books blank?",she asked but I didn't spare her a glance. I looked at the wall clock by her left and saw I still had an hour and some minutes to spend in this woman's offce away from her and her stupid books whicj was sucking the life out of me.
Soon she asked the question,"What do you understand from what you have been reading?", "Understand what?",I asked,"What have you been reading all this time?",she asked angrily,"Oh,I ...I ...umm...th...the ...",I stuttered while she looked at me waiting for her answer. "So what have you been reading for the past thirty minutes?",she asked but I had no answer to give.
She went on the explain what was I was meant to reading but I wasn't listening to a word she was saying. Her lips were moving but I was couldn't make any sense of what she was saying as I tuned off the minute she started talking,"Do you understand?",she asked out of the blues and I nodded,"What do you understand?",she asked,"Everything",I replied,"I mean explain what you understand",she said ." That question again?",I asked myself but I said nothing.
I walked out of the office immediately she asked me to leave. I felt elevated and free at last the two hours of talks and books was over. Before I closed the door on my way out,she shouted after me,"Ensure all your books are updated before the end of this week", but I closed the door before she was through talking. I was never going back there again,I couldn't stand it,it was suffocating.