Hiya! Episode 10 was my favourite episode. Once again, Gagert killed it! 🙌🏾🙌🏾 I think she is slowly becoming everyone’s favourite girl. And for those of you who have crushes on K Beck, I am sorry to say that he only exists in my mind. But take heart, there are boys just as amazing (and even more amazing) than he is! This week’s episode is actually dedicated to someone who is so amazing that it has become the prefix to his name.  Now, on to this week’s episode! 

‘I saw you that day’

Curtis had such a cocky smile on his face. It was difficult to ignore him especially with that leering look he had on.

‘Where?’

‘Allow me to refresh your memory. After your boyfriend got me internally suspended, he gave you a peck in front of the Liberty House downs. Does that sound familiar?’

Akpene instantly felt sick in her stomach. She could immediately see where he was taking this.

‘I am sure you are wondering what I plan to do with that information. That really depends on you. You see, I don’t get why this boy likes you as much as he does, but then again that makes you his weakest point. Clearly, he would get suspended for you without a second thought, but I know you don’t want that. I need you to hurt him. Avoid him. Talk to other boys. Kiss some other dude. I don’t care. Just hurt him. It is either that or I will go and report both of you for trespassing and kissing. Oh, I could even say you were having sex. It is really your word against mine. Both of you will get dismissed from the school and we both know that this is the only shot that you’ve got. So what is it going to be?’

Palms sweaty, knees unsteady, Akpene swallowed hard. All sorts of thoughts were running through her mind. When she finally spoke, her voice was void of emotion.

‘Go right ahead’

‘I believe you understand the consequences of what you are choosing.’

‘Do you need me to spell it out for you? Do your worst, Curtis. If you honestly think that your only shot at happiness is making K Beck miserable, then you are a really sad person. Like you said, it will be your word against mine. Do you honestly think Gagert will listen to you, after everything that has happened in the last two weeks? Do your worst.’

‘This blind devotion to K Beck will backfire, I can assure you. This Cinderella meets her Prince thing you have going on right now will only last for a season. Have you thought of what will happen when we vacate? You come from different worlds, different socializations. You will realize that this thing can only work within the walls of Capital High. Call me prophet of doom, if you want to. Truth is the truth mehn!’

He shrugged and walked off. His plan had not fallen into place like he was hoping it would, but the look in Akpene’s eyes when he mentioned their Cinderella situation gave him a little joy. She was also afraid that their worlds will pull them apart once they left the confines of Capital High. He could work with that for now.

---

Akpene had been worrying about this, especially because Mid-terms were around the corner. She had not fully recovered from the ‘Baby Girl’ episode. She pushed the thoughts back as she briskly walked back to her class. The new teachers were still adjusting to the Capital High rhythm and she didn’t want to be in the bad books of any of them.

Especially Polar Bear.

He was-like his name suggested- as big as a polar bear. He had hair growing out of his ears and when he frowned, his eyes became mere slits on his face. Every morning, he insisted on having surprise tests on random topics in Elective Maths and every mistake came with three strokes of his cane. It was as thick as one of his fingers- and his fingers were very thick! All the boys feared his cane and those who had not tasted it had heard of it. Polar Bear never hit the same place twice and you could never tell where he would hit next. It was smarter to just stand there, completely at his mercy. Anyone who received lashes from Polar Bear had a hard time sitting down afterwards.  It was rumored that he soaked his cane in a pepper solution every evening for an hour and left it to dry overnight. That would explain why the lashes seemed to burn you.

The boys had of course named the cane Ogya*. After three days, they had come up with a plan to steal the cane, spearheaded by the notorious Form 2 boys who were often at the receiving end of Polar Bear’s lashes. They stole it and broke it into several pieces. The next day, he walked into the dining hall with an even thicker cane- Ogya 2.0. It sent a message to everyone- Ogya is untouchable.

‘Surprise test. Take a sheet of paper.’

‘Oh sir!’

‘Sir, we beg’

‘Who said that?’

Then there would be stony silence.

There was also Ms. Avoka, the Social Studies teacher. This was another Mr Quarshie. She also had the r and l problem. As if that was not enough, she inserted an ‘H’ in front of every single word beginning with a vowel, like a Ga would- and yet she could not speak any Ghanaian language.

‘Citizenship his an himportant part hof hour syllabus’

‘Madam, please repeat that.’

‘Hask your friends.’

---

That afternoon, after lunch, Akpene noticed a Land Cruiser parked in front of the Administration block. It had a chop box and a mattress beside it, and she wondered why whoever it was had waited this long to come to school. She didn’t have to wait too long to find out.

‘My name is Brianna Naa Awula Adamafio, but everyone calls me Awula.’

It was hard not to like her. She had full cheeks and a toothpaste advert- worthy smile. She was a little shorter than Akpene and she had a dimple smack in the middle of her chin. She looked well brought up but her eyes twinkled with mischief, implying that she had a sense of humour. Her hair was dark and curly, and her eyebrows looked like they needed to be tamed. Her toenails were perfect and her sandals looked expensive.

Mr Quarshie asked her to sit behind K Beck and continued his class on sources of energy. During the class, Akpene turned to take a ruler from the girl behind and saw K Beck handing over his notebook to Awula so that she could see how much they had done. Awula smiled and mouthed a thank you. It was a simple gesture but it filled Akpene’s heart with an emotion she had now become accustomed to ever since K Beck became a part of her life- jealousy or as K Beck preferred to call it, perimeter breach.

‘Ei madam. Anytime you feel that someone has breached your perimeter, an alarm goes off in your head, doesn’t it?’ He had still not stopped teasing her about the Baby Girl episode.

And now this..

Awula was a lot like her, physique-wise. The fact that she came from a rich home did not even show. She was down to earth, funny and mischevious. She also had a healthy appetite. Ordinarily, Akpene would have been excited to have found a kindred spirit but her conversation with Curtis kept ringing in her head.

Even though K Beck still made time for her, she could tell that it was more natural for him to connect with Awula. Take for instance, the day they were talking about toasters. That was something that she could not relate to. The closest she had come to a toaster was seeing it in a magazine, so she could only keep quiet as they chattered about how to get the bread to be golden brown. They went on for about 10 minutes while Akpene just looked at her feet. If it wasn’t toasters, then it was the struggle of having a pompous househelp or what events to attend during the Christmas holidays or a witty banter about something she had no idea about.

When they went on the Mid-term break, Akpene knew that it would be a difficult 5 days because she did not have any means of communicating with K Beck. He offered to come by and visit her but she didn’t think it was a good idea. The truth was that she was embarrassed to show him where she lived. She lost herself in the routine of helping her mother, occasionally pausing to wonder what K Beck was up to.

When the break was over, she was eager to go back to school and see him. She bumped into Awula at the entrance to their house.

‘Akpene! We missed you during the break.’

‘We?’

‘Yes. K Beck and I.’

‘You saw each other during the break?’

‘Yes, almost everyday. It was a lot of fun.’

‘I see. Good for you.’

Akpene cleared her throat as if to blame the tremble in her voice on phylegms. She mumbled an excuse and left Awula behind.

It is already starting. It is only a matter of time before he chooses Awula. It is easier for him.

She walked past everyone who was jubilating or groaning about being back in school  and went to sit in their classroom. It was only when the door shut behind her that she allowed the tears to fall.

Note: I have some sad news. Capital High is going on a break. We will be back on 27th February. Don’t miss me too much 😁. Happy Val’s Day in advance! Save me some chocolate! 😉