~Alisa~

_ I won't diss you, as long as you don't diss me. Period!_
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As I walked down the school's large and rowdy hallways, one thing ran across my mind. And that was: fitting in. I knew some students stopped to stare, and pass comments. They were the least of my problems at the moment.

"Alisa Chime - I mean, Alisa Ekwegh" I said to the teacher, who had been introduced as my Government teacher.

That moment, the moment I hated the most: when a teacher asks that I introduce myself to the class. I swear, I had almost forgotten my own name.

"A little about yourself, please?" She said, and crossed her arms as she leaned on a desk nearby - her gaze: fixed on me.

I inhaled, and exhaled. I kept asking myself the same thing.

A little about myself... A little about myself. What do I know about myself?

I was at loss for words. At that exact moment, it felt like I didn't know a thing about myself. It felt like I'd lost my memory or time had frozen, cause everything became all foggy.

Maybe it was the stares I was getting from everyone, including the Government teacher. Or the overly irritating and annoying side comments being passed by my supposed classmates. Or both!

"We're all waiting for your reply, Miss. Ekwegh" the teacher said, her arms still crossed as her stern gaze seemed to have become sterner.

"I... I'm, uh..." I cleared my throat. "My name is Alisa Ekwegh" I knew I sounded stupid. Yet, I couldn't control the larger part of me that'd instantly switched to mumu mode.

"I'm sure we've all gotten your name. All I'd like you to do, is introduce yourself to the rest of the class. A few words will do" she grinned. It seemed forced to me, yet I didn't let that bother me too much.

"Oh," the rest of the class snickered while I inhaled and exhaled, shutting my eyes.

Nice work, dumbbell. You just embarrassed yourself.

"I'm sixteen years old. And... I'm new here. And I'm looking forward to fully participating in all the academic activities, along with you all" that was my best shot at trying to sound normal for once, since I'd opened my dirty mouth to talk.

"Thank you. Now, please sit" ordered the teacher.

Hurriedly, I reconciled my butt with my chair and sunk into my seat - slowly dying of embarrassment.

Suddenly, I felt someone poke me from behind. I grunted and shut my eyes, muttering a rain of cusses as I turned around to see who it was.

"Jonathan," I mouthed, and smiled. He smirked, and crossed his arms.

"Miss me?" I rolled my eyes at this point. Honestly, I was happy that he was in my class. At least, I'd have someone that I was familiar with.

"I—"

"Alisa, I'm pretty sure you wouldn't want trouble with your teacher on your first day. Please, dear, quit the chit-chat and pay attention. You too, Jonathan" she stressed, as she shot us both with her eyes.

I gulped, and once again; sank into my chair. "I'm really sorry, ma. It won't happen again" I replied, and made sure to avoid eye contact with anyone else.

"Good" she said, her voice: stern, as she returned to the lesson.

* * *

At lunch, Jonathan invited me over, to eat with him and his friends. He had a few friends, and from the looks of things; it seemed to me that he wasn't one of those snobbish guys - like the numerous ones in my current class. Although, I did notice that he was very notorious and a lot of teachers knew him in this school. And not for his good deeds, rather, he was popular for his notorious behaviors.

"She's kinda weird if you ask me" I heard one of his guys whisper to him. I frowned at that statement and loudly cleared my throat.

"And you're kinda rude. What gives? You see me sitting here, don't you?" I said, nonchalantly picking at my lunch, and not sparing him a glance - not once.

I watched the guy through my lashes, and I didn't miss the flustered look on his face. "Uh... I... I wasn't talking about you" he lied.

Coward!

He can't even own up to his own statement. "Yeah, right" I snorted, and put a spoonful of rice and sauce into my mouth.

Dabere, which was the only girl in their group, laughed out loud. "Alisa, don't mind him" she laughed again.

"Mind your business, Dabere!" The first guy - the one who had said I was 'weird' - said.

"Not my fault that you don't have sense" she said, shrugged and raised her hand in the air.

"Ouch!" Jonathan laughed.

Jonathan chuckled and the other guy hissed his teeth and returned to his food. "Way to stand up for me, Jonathan. Don't you think?" The sarcasm laced in his words definitely didn't go unnoticed.

The table fell silent again, and we all continued eating our lunch. Not until I felt a presence behind me.

Two other guys joined us at the table. One of them sat right next to me, and the other sat right next to Jonathan. "My guy, what's up? Wetin dey occur?" The first one - which had sat down beside me - said, and smiled.
["My guy, what's up? What's going on?"].

Jonathan smiled, as he popped a fry into his mouth. "Nothing oh" he muttered, as he munched his lunch.

The one beside me, looked me over and snorted. "This girl flat die. Jesu!" Unlike the cowardly idiot from the first time, this one had the guts to openly make that comment. I instantly lost my appetite at that, and was willing to get out of there. First day, and yet I'm being picked on.
["This girl is so flat. Jesu!"].

"Guy naw! What's your problem?" Jonathan said, a look of distaste on his face.

"Na true na" the other guy replied, and looked me over - with a disgusted look on his face.
["It's true"].

Did he seriously think I'd sit here and let him insult me like this?

"Watch your tongue. I suppose your incredibly ugly features and manner of reasoning, are the reasons why you're like this," I eyed him. "Short and unintelligent. Just like your brain is" I eyed him once again.

I was aware of how rude I sounded, yet I didn't seem to mind. He picked on me first, and now I was ready to show him that I wasn't like some girls in this school - who'd probably keep quiet and go cry. I attended a quack school before I came here, and I've got thick skin too.

Everyone on the table erupted with laughter, and he visibly gritted his teeth at me and eyed me - with so much distaste. "Mumu like you. Front you no get, back: you no con get... I'm sure you don't even have sense. You look really dumb to me"
["Dummy like you. Front: you don't have, back: you don't also have... I'm sure you don't even have sense. You look really dumb to me"].

"If I look dumb to you, then I'm pretty sure you look dumber. You look like you don't even own a brain. To me, you're as dumb as a board. Your thinking faculty must have a lot of malfunctions. Dumbass!" I snorted, and hissed my teeth at him. "Who can tell if a person is smart or not, just by looking at them? Oshey, wise one! Fortune teller ni" everyone - once again - laughed at him. And he abruptly got up and slammed his hand on the table, causing my food to fly up in the air, and come crashing on my head. Grains of rice and delicious chicken sauce came topping on my head. Completely ruining my uniform.
["Who can tell if a person is smart, just by looking at them? Wow! Wise one. Fortune teller"].

"B**ches like you don't know sh*t!" He yelled.

"Dumbasses like you never go far. Butthead!" I shot back.

"Fool!" He bit at his lower lip, clenched his fists and glared at me.

"Imbecile!" I shot back, and hurriedly got up. My uniform was in a huge mess.

I gave him the finger and hissed at him. "That's why you don't have height. You lack the wit, bastard!" And with that, I left in anger.

"Alisa! Alisa, wait!" I heard Jonathan yell after me. But I didn't stop cause I wanted to clean myself up. My hair had chicken sauce dripping from it, and my shirt had stains all over it. Grains of rice must've also been in my hair too, cause with every step I took; they'd fall off.

The minute I got into the bathroom, I walked up to a mirror and let out a frustrated sigh. My uniform was all stained and smudged with sticky chicken sauce. And don't even get me started on my hair. The poorly woven chunks were all dripping with chicken sauce and had grains of rice on them. I honestly didn't know where to begin to get this all out of my hair, and I began to grunt as I tried using a paper towel to wipe off a few stains on my shirt.

Someone opened the toilet door and walked in. I didn't bother to know who it was - cause I was already pissed - and I continued trying so hard to dab the stains off with the paper towel, but it only got worse!

"Hey," I heard Dabere's small, slightly squeaky voice say. With a grunt, I took in a deep breath and turned towards her, just so I don't take out my anger on her.

"What do you want?" I sounded harsh, but in my defense; I was - in fact - really angry. And I did try my bed to keep my anger at bay.

"Uh... I... I..." Before she said anything else, I shut my eyes and heaved a sigh.

"I'm sorry about... My tone. I'm just really, really mad at that fool for ruining my uniform! I mean, this is just my first day here and my uniform is already ruined. I just... Ugh!" And I resulted in using water from the tap to wipe off the stains on my skirt.

"Yeah. I understand how you feel. My first day in the school, made me hate Yewande too. He's so full of himself and so irritatingly proud!" She said and I grunt in agreement.

"That's his stupid name, huh?" I asked and she nodded her head in reply.

"Here. I brought a spare uniform. Don't ask why, it's embarrassing" she said and handed over the neatly folded uniform. I smiled thankfully at her and thanked her.

"But now that you've mentioned 'embarrassing', I've gotta ask why. So... Why?" I asked and she shook her head, no.

"It's best you don't ask. Please" she said and I couldn't help but feel a little suspicious, but I decided to let it go.

"Sure. Thanks again" I replied and she smiled warmly at me, and walked away.

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Hey guys!
I'm so sorry for the late update. This ENDSARS protest really got me so down, and I had a bit of writer's block.

I hope this chapter was good enough. If it wasn't, then I'm really sorry about that. And I hope you'll enjoy the next one.

Please; Vote, comment and share. Thank you!❤️
Love you guys!❤️❤️❤️