The Good The Bad The Uglies

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:We're not the villains,

But we're not the heroes either.

Life happened,

And left us with scars that never seem to heal.

We walk through these streets,

Filled with anger and frustration.

But when we find release,

We become the bad guys, the source of damnation.

For just a few moments,

We can forget all our pain.

We can revel in our sins,

And feel a moment of happiness once again.

So don't judge us too harshly,

When we give in to the darkness.

For we're just trying to survive,

In a world that's left us heartless.:

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© 2023 Odumosu Morenike. All Rights Reserved. No part of "The Good The Bad The Uglies" may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the copyright holder, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review. All characters and events in this publication, other than those clearly in the public domain, are fictitious and any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

If you're reading this then you're a beautiful person! (: ❤️

A A R I N ' S P O V

"Does anyone know how what the law of diminishing returns states?." Our economics teacher,Mrs Helena demanded

Cue the painful and awkward silence.

"No one?." The woman sighed, shaking her head dissappointedly at us. I mean,I would raise my hand to answer but I wasn't quite sure my class mates would like that. They'd always turn and glare at me and call me an i-too-know everytime I did.And by they I meant Monalisa,the ice witch herself.

"Lisa,would you please state the law of diminishing returns for us?."

"No." Came her instant and need I say, daring response. Literally the whole class turned to stare at her with wide eyes and hung low mouths.

Typical.

She was always finding more and more ways to suprise us,honestly.

"Answer the question Monalisa." The woman must've already been used to her gloomy-ness to be this calm about it.I mean if it was someone like Mr Gori,it would've been a different story.A lot of hurtful,colourful words would be exchanged.

But it wasn't like the man would be able to do anything to her anyways.

No one could.

God forbid the precious princess of DLC would get harmed.The perpetrator would never hear the end of it...from of course her stinky rich father Ephraim Ezeigbo. The man was another case entirely. A walking example of pride and avarice. A very very solipsistic man indeed.

Everyone feared him.

I mean,you'd be completely mad not to.

No one wants an early grave.

"Ask someone else.I'm good." Lisa had a bored look on her face,but her dark eyes shone with mischief.

well then...

"I said answer the question,Lisa."

The sound of a hand hitting the desk hard startled me,and I was pretty sure it startled everyone else too cos something about the atmosphere screamed 'heavy tension'.

"And.I.said.I'm.good." Lisa looked like a literal mami-water right now.The way her dark eyes narrowed slits at Mrs Helena's direction,and the amount of anger it held.My heart was thrashing violently in between my ribcage and my knees, shaking under the table.I clenched and unclenched my fists to stop myself from squirming in my seat,and shut my eyes to block me from the intensity of her gaze that travelled throughout the room.

Mrs Helena sighed.

She actually sighed.Like she just sighed and did nothing or said nothing to her afterwards. She just asked somebody else instead.

"Jessy." The melanin girl slugglishly got up from her seat to answer .

It took her about a minute or two to do so.

"The law of diminishing returns states that as more and more umm...as more and more units of a fixed factor of production is added unto a variable factor,production will errr...production will increase up to a certain point where... decrease in total output wil set in as a result of continuous addition of the variable factor...while the fixed factor remains constant. " She dragged.

"Very Good.Thank you Jessy. " The girl only sent her a tight lipped smile ,then lazily sat back down on her chair,spreading her legs beneath her desk.

...well then.

"Kinfe!". Femmy seemed more bubbly than she did on any other normal day. She had a huge grin on her face as she rushed over to the bemused girl.

"We have a new classmate". Femmy announced excitedly. Kinfe's first guess was that this 'new classmate' was a guy.

"Babe, he's so foineee. Like seriously,you need to see this guy.He looks like a freaking model!". Kinfe rolled her eyes at her friend. Of course it was a guy. Nothing excites Femmy more,than boys. And of course,food.

"And guess what? Mrs Folorunsho assigned him to sit in the seat behind you!. You're basically going to be sitting next to the new boy". Kinfe fought the urge to correct her. The words 'he's going to be sitting behind me,not next to me' were just at the tip of her tongue, tempting her to be realeased. But Femmy wouldn't shut up about the new guy.

"-Maybe you two can become friends and you can help me talk to him". Kinfe stopped her walking and turned to give Femmy a 'you-kidding-me-right?' look. Femmy knew Kinfesioluwa wasn't the type who just befriended anyone. But it was worth the try.

Both girls entered the school's main building together, but separated a few classes to theirs, after being called by one of their teachers. Kinfe walked into SS3 and was welcomed with noise.

Typical.

It wouldn't be considered a normal day if SS3 weren't making a whole lot of noise. That was one thing they all did best.

Kinfe's seat wasn't too far from the front row. She dropped her bag and lunch box on the desk just as the boy behind her spoke to her.

"You loosed your hair." It came out more like a statement,than a question. Kinfe turned to face him, leaning her body on the wooden desk.

She scoffed."Obviously. I don't wanna kneel down under hot sun for three hours again"

He burst into laughter. " I wonder if Mona loosed her braids too"

"I'm a 100% sure she didn't. That one is a goat. Someone that was even enjoying her punishment yesterday."

"On a norms,Mona hates coming to class"

"Actually." The two shared a moment of laughter. Kinfe then noticed they had company. The unfamiliar face was staring back and forth between the two friends.

This must be the new guy Femmy was yapping about.

"Oh!." Mikel Jumbo exclaimed. " Kinfe,meet our new classmate,Andei Da'silva."

"And Andrei,meet the love of my life,Kinfesioluwa Makinde."

She rolled her eyes. " It's like you keep forgetting,you have a girlfriend"

"Nah she's just my side chick. You're my main." He grinned at her.

"Oh-ho!. Wait till she hears this." Mikel's eyes grew wide for a moment as Kinfe turned her attention to the new boy. She delivered a tight lipped smile and offered her hand to him to shake.

"Welcome to Daily Light College.And welcome to SS3,the jungle itself."His brown eyes twinkled with amusement. He was starting to like this girl.

She had this type of vibe....

"May the Lord give you enough strength to withstand our set's madness and craziness." Andrei chuckled, taking her hand and shaking it.

"I like crazy." Kinfe gasped, placing her free hand on her chest, acting surprised. "Oh no, they've already gotten to you.I thought it would take at least a week for them to drag you into their jungle,"

She sighed and continued. "But then again, you're hanging out with the ring leader himself. The king of madness."

"Hey!."

"Shhhh. Take your title with pride."

Okay,he definitely liked this girl!.

Kinfe giggled as Mikel sent her a look of annoyance,Andrei joining in with his soft chuckles. Soon enough,even Mikel himself joined in.

"See you guys larer. I'm going to meet Mr Idris now." He watched her every movement;She sat down as she searched her bag. She pulled out a Notebook then got back up. She sent them both the most beautiful smile,then headed towards the exit.

Mikel couldn't help but notice how Andrei's eyes were glued to the below part of her body.

"Dude!." Mikel slammed his arm to the boy's chest,a pointed look on his face.

"Stop that."

Andrei furrowed his eyebrows, playing innocent. "Stop what?."