Chapter 2 2.Melinda

2. MELINDA

"Melinda, are you ready?" Mum calls out from the living room.

"Almost" I called back.

I am ready ,but I want to make sure. I look at my reflection in the standing mirror and adjust my skirt. I want to make a good impression. I want this new school to be different although I have less than one year left for secondary school. I apply more lip gloss on my pink lips. My lips look too glossy , am I going to a party? I think to myself and wipe the lip gloss away with the back of my right hand. I loosen my braids and then tie it into a ponytail with a blue ribbon that matches my uniform. I sit on the bed, my new bed. Everything in this room is new ,even my tooth-brush . We just moved here to Lagos from Port-Harcourt when mum got this new job in early January. Mum was so glad when she got it. She needed a new scenery , since everywhere in Port- Harcourt reminded her of Dad. I was also glad I finally got to leave Standard secondary school.

"Melinda!" Mum calls," I am almost late ,I want to make a good impression please."

I grab my new white bag and run outside. I close the door and run downstairs.

"What were you doing?" Mum asks mildly although I can tell she is upset.

She adjusts my blazers. Mum is a mild woman ,she rarely shouts or scolds and has never laid her hands, not even her finger on me.

"You look pretty" , Mum says.

" thanks mum " I say and smile then I plant a kiss on her cheek.

We walk out of the living room into the compound. Mum opens the car with the unlock button on her key ,the car silently beeps. Mum hops into the black shiny jeep. She drives out and parks the car. I stalk outside and then lock the gate with the metal padlock. I walk to the car, open the door and then sit shotgun. She turns on the radio to Cool FM just as I shut the door,the news is being read by a familiar female voice.

"Are you nervous?" She asks.

"Not really" I say. I am very nervous, secondary school has not been a good experience for me at all. Back at Standard I was the most unpopular girl, I was a dork. I was the shyest ,I was the quietest ,is that expression correct? I never had any friends except Miss Sandra who was my English teacher. She was always nice to me and I liked to talk to her although I felt nervous around her sometimes. But I always feel nervous around people except Mum and Dad. Now that dad is dead, that leaves only Mum.

When I was in Jss2, I woke up one Tuesday morning to find some ugly rashes swollen with pus all over my face. I was horrified, mum applied an ointment and persuaded me to go to school that day, she promised she was going to take me to the clinic after school. I succumbed after much persuasion. I will forever regret why I went to school that day. Obi, the fat bully in my class and my seatmate who intimidated young students and timid girls in my class like me(although my timidity was the worst of all) saw me and shouted to the whole class that I looked like Merlin's dragon. It didn't even make any sense,nothing Obi said ever made sense. But everyone laughed and the name stuck throughout that day. Everyone called me Merlin's dragon. I told mum about it when I got back home from school. She told me the name calling would stop if the rashes were gone. We both went to the hospital and the young handsome doctor told me that it was an allergy, although we never found out what the trigger was. Ever since mum has been extra careful about what I eat. The next week after the rashes cleared I went back to school and I was still called Merlin's dragon ,they kept on with the name calling and ostracism. The name later went under metamorphosis and became Merlin, just Merlin. And it stuck even when Mr Chike called me Merlin anytime he wanted me to solve a sum or equation or word problem. He was the mischievous teacher of all and had good rapport with all the bad senior boys so I was not surprised.

Mum drives to a stop right in front of a building with, Peace group of companies staff school, painted in huge blue letters on a sign board standing in front of it. Mum alights,and locks the door,the sound of the door shutting sounds louder than normal ,everywhere seems so quiet. I look at my very sweaty palms. I wonder what kind of kids go to this school. Would I cope,would my final exams be okay. This is the second term and switching school sounds dumb and tragic, but only for somone who had lot of friends in her former school. But I am happy I changed schools. It will be a new fresh start for me. Hopefully I will be able to get fair grades in my WAEC exams. This school looks a lot better than Standard.

"Won't you get down,I don't have much time on my hands" Mum calls out to me. She is standing in front of the sign board.

I sigh heavily. I rub my sweaty palms on my plaid skirt. I can do this ,this school will treat me better I say to myself. I unlock the door and step out. The granite road feels hard underneath my black flats. But it doesn't feel as hard as going into the school building right now. Not every fresh start is better. This could be worse. And switching to a new school doesn't mean I will become brilliant or magically get As in my final exams. I swallow hard and then take the first step. The flowers by the side of the pavement stairs look bright and red, almost pink. That's a hibiscus I think. There is a building next to it , I can see it from where I am standing ,it is so close. It is a two storied building ,there is a sign that says ,PGCSS, Primary and Nursery building. The building is painted the same bright deep blue on my skirt,the secondary school right in front of me is also painted the same color. I walk up to mum ,she takes my hand and squeezes it.

"I know you are nervous ,everybody gets nervous on their first days. God knows I am also nervous about work. I never imagined I would work in a company this big and as a general manager. You are going to be alright,Obinna doesn't go here and I hope there are no bullies here. Not every school has a bully."

We walk up the pavement stairs into the hallway. The hallway is neat and quiet. The ash tiles are sparkling. I look up at mum ,she looks confused.

" I really don't know which way to go" Mum says to me,"Maybe I should call the principal to tell her I am here " She reaches into her bag for her phone.

A tall handsome man walks out of the adjoining hallway. He is dressed in a maroon suit, trousers and a white shirt. He looks so tall and handsome.

"Good morning ma." He says to mum. Mum looks up and smiles, "Good morning. My daughter is new here. I have not really been here before, and I don't know which way to go. Although I spoke to the principal this morning"

Mum paid everything online, on the school's website,even the uniform was delivered at the house and my books. Mum was in a rush and since she didn't know anywhere in Lagos. She decided to enroll me in the staff's ward's school her boss told her about.

"Oh,I will take you there " ,he says with a friendly pert smile.

"Thank you so much," Mum says.

She tosses her phone into her bag. And then we follow the handsome teacher through the corridors. We walk past classes,doors, an area that looks like a cafeteria. We take a new bend and we walk past doors labeled, counsellor, PTA secretary (for school), administrative officer, school board meeting room /PTA meeting room,staff office and then finally Principal's office.

The handsome teacher pushes the door open and then we walk in after him.

"Mr Donald '' ,a deep female voice cries cheerily. The owner of the voice is seated behind a table with stacks of books , a mug with steam rising from it and a framed picture of three happy looking smiling children and a desktop computer. Two tall girls and a little boy with dreads. She looks sort of tiny and pretty. Her permed hair is packed into a bun. She has round reading glasses on. She is dressed in a green button up shirt and black flare skirt. I can smell a faint coffee smell. It must be coming from the cup.

"Good morning, Mrs Ekene ,I found them in the hallway. Her daughter is new here"

Mrs Ekene looks up at us. She beckons to mum to sit and then at me too. I sit and start twisting my fingers.

"Mr Donald, wait, so you can usher her to her class. If I remember correctly you're currently supposed to be teaching maths to Sss3."

She knows the school lesson schedule off hand? Weird.

"Yes ma" Mr Donald says. He takes a seat a little far away from us.

Mrs Ekene focuses on us.

"Good morning ma'am" Mum says.

"Good morning ma" I say quietly. I don't like the way she is staring at me.

"Four new students were enrolled recently, and I can recall from the files that you are, Melinda Nze."

She types into her computer.

" You have done the necessary things. That's good."

"Your daughter is good to go. And congrats on your new job Madam. I just saw your position here. " ,she says to my mum and grins at her weirdly.

"Thank you umm Mrs Ekene." Mum says.

"I hope you have a nice experience here" she says to me with a smile.

I hope so too.

We rise and walk out with Mr Donald right behind us. When we are in the hallway,Mum gives me a peck and then she squeezes a thousand naira note into my hand. She is spending too much on me these days ,I think she thinks it will lessen the hurt from dad's death. When we are out of the office hallways. I wave to mum with a smile,even though my heart is beating so fast now. Mum waves too. She takes the left and I and Mr Donald take the right. I can't believe my first class here will be maths. Mr Donald looks handsome, I was starting to like him but he teaches maths.

Ugh.

I follow Mr Donald's teacher through the hallways ,as my heart skips non stop. Finally we get to my class,there is a blue plastic tag on the wide open door, with blue letters, Sss 3. We step in,

"Good morning" ,Mr Donald" the class choruses. I can't make out what their mood is like , I can hear sad voices and happy voices and frustrated voices all at the same time.

"You have a new classmate, guys",Mr Donald says to the class. He says it like it is some important good news to the students.

"Introduce yourself to your new classmates" ,Mr Donald says to me with a smile.Twenty dark eyes are suddenly fixed on me. I feel nervous and shaky and I really don't know what to say. I know I am supposed to just say my name and age. But talking seems so difficult. My introduction will be my first impression too. Thank God, I am well dressed and my braids are new. I take a deep breath and speak.

"Hi my name is Merlin-" I pause ,no I am not going to be Merlin here ,"da Nze '' my voice sounds low and tiny.

Mr Donald points out an empty seat,

"you can seat there"

I walk over to it. I take off my bag and take my seat. I take out my note and pen.

Mr Donald starts writing on the white board. I look around ,and a girl is sitting next to me. There are three columns. I am sitting on the first seat. She looks so pretty , caramel brown skin and full pink glossy lips,she gives me a stink eye and I look down into my book. I wonder what I did wrong. I just knew this school would be worse. I look up at the other girl besides the stink eye girl on the right ,she is writing quietly in her note. She looks cute although she has tiny pimples all over her forehead. The dark boy at the end of the column in front me with broad shoulders waves to me. A plump dark girl with her natural dark long hair in a bun,right in front of me looks back at me and smiles. I smile back ,at least I have my first friendly smile. This school won't be too bad. I start to write in my book.

FACTORISATION.

****

After three periods that seemed very long. A tall thin girl walks up to me with a light skinned tiny girl behind her.

"Hi, my name is Prisca and I am the hallway perfect,this is Jessica besides me,my assistant and best friend. I was told to give you the keys to your locker and I have to show you your locker too"

"Oh, thanks " ,I say great fully and sigh. My thighs are already aching from the weight of my bag. I followed her to the hallway to my new locker. There is nothing distinct about it,it is blue like the rest of the lockers. I open up my new locker.Prisca walks away with tiny Jessica. Everyone walks in twos here ,even the stink eye girl has a partner, the shorter girl,with thin arms and lots of pimples on her forehead sitting beside her. I throw my bag into my locker. It doesn't look too new but it is neat and the deep blue color is slightly faded. A stylish italic scribble with red marker is on the right side of the door.

Priscilla is Queen ,it says. I make a mental note to bring my frozen stickers tomorrow to cover it up. It is my locker now, not"Queen Priscilla". It's funny how there are lockers here like the high schools in movies I watch. I take out my note for the next lesson before lunch and walk back into class.