Rachael wasn't sure if she was ready to start the day when her alarm woke her up. That was because she had never thought that she would be starting a new school session without her mum being around at home. But of course, her mum's usual absence at home is something she was gradually getting used to. Looking at the bright side of things, she was excited that she would be seeing her friends again after the long holiday.

She lazily turned the alarm off as the sound was becoming unbearable. Now seated on her large bed that could contain up to three persons comfortably, she looked around to take in her environment. At a corner of the room, stood a white reading table with books neatly stacked on it and a fancy table clock settling on it. Her guitar, rested on the wall of the right hand corner of the room. She had started taking music classes when she was in her first year of junior secondary school.

She finally finds the will to stand up and walk into her bathroom and in a couple of minutes, she was done with having her bath. Rachael's physical beauty went beyond her shiny, chocolate skin. She had a very pretty face and well defined feminine features.

Walking majestically to her drawer, she opened it up to reveal her school uniform and a number of designer clothes, most of which her mum who travels a lot had gotten her.

After getting into her school uniform, she focused on applying coconut and olive oil to her long, dark, kinky hair which was twisted to perfection just some few days ago. Satisfied with the shine her hair now had after oiling it, she went ahead to put on some brown powder on her face and applied a little amount of lip gloss to her lips.

Picking up her iPhone and schoolbag from the bed, she finally left her room to go downstairs for breakfast.

She walked into the kitchen to see the maid, Mrs. Jones just transferring the last set of scrambled egg from the frying pan into a flat plate that was next to her on the kitchen counter.

Mrs. Jones has been working for the family for over ten years now and during those years, she had been more like a mother figure to Rachael. She lived with them during the weekdays and went home to her family during weekends. She was happily married and had a son who was in a boarding school.

"Good morning, ma," Rachael greeted her with a beautiful smile, showing off her set of perfect dentition.

"Good morning my dear. How was your night?" Mrs. Jones replied cheerfully.

"It was good, thank you. Hope you had a good night too?" Rachael replied.

"Yes dear, I did, " Mrs. Jones spoke as she started carrying the tray of breakfast towards the dining table. She had prepared toasted bread along with scrambled egg and tea for Rachael and her dad.

Rachael picked up her phone when she heard it vibrate. Looking at the sender of the new message, a smile crossed her face when she discovered that it was from her best friend, Rita.

Rita: I  can't wait to see you in school today.               We have so much to talk about.

Rachael smiled at Rita's message and went ahead to reply it;

Can't wait too, missed you so much.

"Darling, you need to drop that phone and eat your food. You don't want to go late to school, considering the fact that you're a prefect now and you need to show good examples to others." Mr. Davidson, Rachael's dad said as he took a seat opposite her. He was dark in complexion and good looking with a pair of charming eyes which Rachael had inherited from him. You could easily tell she was his daughter just by seeing the both of them stand next to each other.

Raising her head up and away from her phone's screen, Rachael saw her dad already seated.

"Good morning dad," she said to him with a charming smile.

"Good morning darling," Davidson replied before taking a quick bite into his bread.

"Hope you slept very well?" he asked.

"Yes I did," Rachael replied.

"Same with me."

"Are you riding with me today?" Rachael asked her dad.

"No dear, Ebuka would drive you to school. I would take myself to work with the other car." Her dad answered.

"Alright dad," she said before drinking up the remaining tea in her cup.

"I should be going now dad," Rachael announced before standing up and taking her now empty tray back to the kitchen, after which, she walked out of the house, towards the garage where the driver was already waiting for her in the car.

"Small madam. How are you?" Ebuka asked immediately he saw her.

"You would never stop calling me that, would you? I'm fine." Rachael complained before answering his question and getting into the car. Ebuka kept referring to her as small madam, which she wasn't comfortable with.

"But that is what you are na," Ebuka said as he turned on the ignition.

"Let's just go, I don't want to get late. You know how Lagos traffic can get too." Rachael said as she gently rested her head on the back seat.

She fixed her earphone on her ear and listened to music from her phone as the driver drove out through the gate. It was the very first day of school and she knew what she was about to meet in school; Rich kids bragging about all the places they went to during the holidays and the new stuff their rich parents got them and all. She had it all too but she just wasn't the type to brag about what she had.

She looked out of the car window as they drove past her friend, Rita's home and wondered if her friend had already left home.  
Rachael and Rita became close friends when
they were in their second year in junior secondary school. At that time, Rita had just moved into the estate with her family.

After about twenty minutes of driving, the car finally got to the big black gate that had the words: PEARL INTERNATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL  on it. The security guard came over to quickly search the car before opening the gate for them.

The school gate was opened to reveal a beauty to behold. Pearl International High school was not a school for any regular child. Only the rich and influential could afford to take their kids there. Every single physical structure in the school screamed money. The school had a standardized football and basket ball pitch and also a volleyball court. The cafeteria where the students got their drinks, snacks and also cooked meals was just after the volleyball court.

Ebuka finally found a place to park the car after driving for some few minutes. Opening the car door with her right hand, while the other hand supported her school bag that rested on her shoulder, Rachael got out of the car and waved Ebuka goodbye.

"I would see you by 3:00 pm," she said to him.

"Yes, small madam," he replied before driving away.

"I guess I would just have to get used to the name," Rachael made a mental note to herself.

Straightening out her skirt with her hands, she started walking towards the School's multipurpose hall since it was already time for assembly.

She had not taken more than five steps forward when she felt a pair of hands over her eyes. The person at her back was trying to hold back the giggles that came out from her mouth and instantly she knew that it was definitely her friend.

"Rita, I know it's you," she said while smiling victoriously.

"Gosh! Are you a witch or what? I made sure to sneak carefully behind you." Rita said as she removed her hands from Rachael's eyes with the look of defeat in her eyes, before going ahead to hug her friend.

"Your perfume gave you away," Rachael said, rolling her eyes at her friend as she hugged her back.

"You know I'm very good at registering scents in my brain," Rachael added.

"We both know its not just scents but also all those formulas in Maths, Physics and Chemistry that you effortlessly spit out like you're a descendant of Albert Einstein," Rita said and it got Rachael already laughing out loud.

"I'm not surprised why you were given the post of the library prefect, it fits you perfectly," Rita remarked before there little girl moment was interrupted by a deep voice from there back.

"Hey pretty ladies." A deep voice spoke and they both turned around to meet a pair of big brown eyes that was owned by a boy.

The figure before them was tall and dark with broad shoulders and had a really handsome face which held a beautiful, room lightening smile as he stared at them.

"Vincent!" Rachael and Rita both called out in unison.

                             ~•~