C1 The New School

Casey alighted from the BMW that belonged to his sister. He looked at the school gate and exhaled. He looked back to his sister.

“Casey, don’t tell me you feel confused”. Clara said, shifting her gaze from the steering wheel to her younger brother.

“I do. Moving to a new school makes me feel a part of me is gone.” He complained with a shrug.

“Just trust me okay. Mill High School is just what you need.”

“I don’t know. I am not sure”. He said. He turned back and took a step forward.

“Wait”. She called out. He stopped but he didn’t turn back.

“Remember, you are a champion. Show them what you’ve got”. She said and drove off.

He heaved a sigh. He entered the premises of the school. He was just new in the school. Initially, he didn’t know why his father and his sister had to change his school. He was in the ninth grade and was getting good grades. He was doing fine.

Now he was promoted to the tenth grade and changing his school wasn’t ideal. He presumed. He felt like he was lost. He entered his new class and settled on one of the seats in the front row. He placed his bag beside him and buried his head under the desk.

He was recalling all the good moments he had at St. Mark’s High School. It was an Anglican school and he was just beginning to enjoy the school when he had his school changed. He remembered how he argued with his sister and dad when they told him about the decision.

“No dad, I love St. Mark’s.” He had complained bitterly.

“But you said you despised it”. Clara said, rolling her eyeballs.

“Big sis, I really like it now. Changing it’s going to be hard for me.” He had protested, heaving repeatedly.

“You might want to know something.” Clara said nervously.

“Sweetie, we’ve registered you at Mill High School already. We’ve also paid the tuition fees in advance.” His father said, folding his arms.

“I’m not sweetie. I am nor a girl. Please Clara can you do something about this?”

“Okay”. She said with indifference.

“You said ‘okay’ but the way you said it leaves me to think it’s not okay at all”. He said, looking at her with doubt.

“Guys, I have to go to bed. Tomorrow’s schedule is tight”. Mr. ‘Manuel stood up with a yawn and left for his room.

“Bye. I also have to go”. Clara said and also stood up.

“No Clara, you can’t also walk out on me”

“Yes I can”. She said and walked away.

He raised his head up and came back into reality. He saw three boys in front of his desk.

“New student, eh; so what brings you here?” One of them said with a tough voice and a loud bang on his desk.

“Yeah, what’s your former high school, Lame High School?” Another said and they burst into a round of laughter.

“These boys are not cool”. He thought to himself.

“Yeah, he’s not answering. It’s got to be Lame High School. You were right”. The one that appeared to be the ring leader said.

“Well, let’s walk away”. One of them said and they left already.

Casey frowned a bit. The day wasn’t getting better but worse. This was just the first day and things were turning out like that. The school wasn’t better than St. Mark’s like Clara said. Rather, it was the other way round.

He later got to find out that the three boys that taunted him were the biggest bullies in the school. Their names were Carl, Jeff and Harry. They tried to show everyone in school that they were the most powerful and anyone that had crossed their lines had themselves to blame.

...

It was the close of school activities for the day. Many students took their bags and left for home but Casey stood behind. He wanted to figure something out. The school was way different from St. Mark’s.

At St. Mark’s High School, everyone loved one another. It neither was nor was an expensive schools but there no infrastructural differences. Everyone respected one another. Mill High School was expensive, everyone was classy and unfriendly. That was so easy to detect. The hostile treatment those boys gave him earlier served as an eye opener. Besides, no one deemed it fit to welcome him as a new student.

The students looked happy, rich and contented. He was almost sure they all had moms. He would be happier if his mother was still alive. He remembered how he found out.

He had just learnt about a family tree in Social Studies in the second grade. He asked his friends if they had moms and they all answered in the affirmative. He began to nurse suspicious feelings. If all his friends had moms, why didn’t he?

As he walked towards the zebra crossing that was in front of the school, he made a firm resolve. He was going to question Clara about it when he got home.

He walked in without knocking. He saw his sister inside the living room. She was still in her school uniform and it was obvious she also just came back from school. She was in High School and she was classy. Clara was beautiful. She was tall and slim. Her eyes and long hairs added to her alluring beauty. He recalled she was also just fifteen and he was seven.

“Clara, I want to ask you something”. He said, dropping his backpack on the sofa.

“Okay, you can ask me anything. You never stop asking questions. It’s you”. She said with a smile and sat on the couch.

“Where’s mom?” He dropped the bombshell.

Clara’s smile dried up immediately. She sat up to listen to more of what he was about to say.

“What do you mean? Stop it if it’s a joke”. She said, folding her arms with a slight frown. She thought her trick would wok magic as usual but she was wrong.

“I mean the woman that held us in her womb for nine months. Where is she?” He said, tapping his foot on the ground with a frown.

“Okay. Don’t come crying to me when it’s too much to bear.” She said, deciding to finally tell the truth.

She exhaled deeply.

" I'm all ears." He said without batting an eyelid.

" I am sorry to tell you this but mom is long dead. She died in an airplane crash fifteen years ago. Then you were just nine months old and I was nine years. I couldn't bear it then." She said, bursting into uncontrollable tears.

Casey went berserk immediately. He couldn't believe his ears.

"What!" He said and lay on the ground in tears.

"I am so sorry. I should have told you about this earlier but dad made me swear not to." She said pulling him up to the sofa with her.

They embraced each other and they slept off on the couch embracing each other that afternoon.