C2 Chapter 2

We attend a solemn ceremony of re-entry during which the principal makes a long speech on the assiduity the school excellence... And everything that rhymes with it. Just after we find ourselves in the corridors which leads to our classroom.

Marcelle opens her locker and offers me a present.

-Here is what I kept for you during the vacations

- (other people would say things like ohh but no you shouldn't have but not me)

I'm so happy you can't imagine how much thanks to you Marcelle

Oh sorry I couldn't...

-don't worry I don't expect anything in return let's go you're going to explain me how was your vacations

We walk to our classroom and choose seats side by side.

- so how can I say the vacations were peaceful I went to the country and helped my daddy to build a building everything was quiet you know?

-oh really?

Technically what I was saying was true even if I was embellishing things the countryside I was talking about is my actual home and the building is an external kitchen Hahaha what do you think I was going to tell him that I spent my time digging potatoes in the field with my father, that I was looking for a paid internship to help me improve my living condition and that I couldn't find one because my parents don't have any relations with the city elites. No, not that. Not that I don't trust him but in any relationship you have to have reservations

- Yeah, well, what about you?

- Well, I went to the Ivory Coast to visit my dad, then to Angola for some reason, and then I came back.

-ohh it must be so great to travel so much

-you bet I hated it but I didn't have much choice

Another one who doesn't appreciate what she has

Camille, the principal's daughter, comes to interrupt us so that we can greet each other and chat a little. She is a little pretentious but as she is friends with Marcelle I am "obliged" to force a "friendship" with her.

A few moments later, the French teacher came in and started to introduce himself and to give the details of his course. I was stunned. I am a very disciplined student and I know that school is the only thing that can give me a chance to succeed in this life, so I try to do it. All of a sudden a young man enters the classroom without even knocking on the door to be polite.

- Where do you think you're going, Mr.? Said the French teacher

- In my place," he said curtly.

The French teacher didn't want to insist and let the young man settle down.

_M.? Yes, you, why do you choose that seat at the back? There are seats in front of you, so please come forward and introduce yourself.

The young man moved forward and came to sit next to me

WTF he is so very very handsome. I even lose the adjective that could qualify him.

For the record, he's been my crush since tenth grade, only Marcelle knows about it and not even him since we don't really talk. I'm not the kind of person who likes to hit on boys, even if some girls do, but I haven't yet integrated the idea. And then what kind of relationship can there be between the son of the governor of the region and me? Well I'm not ready for total humiliation

Calm down Smith! Calm down, this is not the time for description!

- Are you new or old? If you're new, tell us where you're from and what brought you here, says the teacher

- My name is Daniel Monthé. I am new to the room and old to the school. What brought me here is personal.

- Okay, Mr. Monthé, we understand. We'll continue with the presentations now.

- I'll stand up. My name is Merveille Smith Ekanga, I am a senior in the school and new to the class.

- Next

- Marcelle kadji new

I didn't dare stop looking at him, he was so cute. Black hair, black eyes, brown complexion, with sideburns. He gave off a sublime perfume. In short, description is not my forte. Just he is destabilizingly charismatic and hot. He gives off an aura that distinguishes him from others.

When he answered my gaze my heart did a somersault and I quickly looked away.

After the introductions, the class ended. And we went on with the ECM and so on and so forth and that's how the day ended.

When I arrived at my house, there was no one there, neither dad, nor glinda nor mom. There was also nothing to cook. Dad was in the field but where was everyone else?I was very, very hungry but I'm used to it, after 30 minutes I won't feel anything anymore. So I decided to clean the house while waiting for them, I swept the yard, then I went to fetch water to wash the dishes. Imagine that in the 21st century there are still countries where the untimely cuts of water and electricity are with the appointment. When I finish my work, it's exactly 6pm and nobody has arrived yet. So I lie down on a sofa and wait very wisely.

A few minutes later, my parents arrived.

-Hello daddy mommy where have you been I was very afraid

-Hello my darling says my father

My mother was shedding tears.

- Why are you crying mom dry your tears and where is glinda?

She continued to cry without answering I then approached my father and returned the question to him

- Your sister had a breakdown in class. Now she is being taken to a healer because we can't afford to hospitalize her.

- The tears also started to flow down my cheeks. I had a lump in my throat but I couldn't cry out so I was brave.