TEMPTATION EPISODE 6:

Then it came to me; ‘I forgot to change before leaving for home; I did remember to wash my face because I was sweating, but I didn’t tie my hair either’… this was going to be horrible…

I stood there, with my legs shaking, then my father, who seemed to have been distracted by the shattered plate, crept in from her back. He also looked at me with shock written all over him; I tried to open my mouth but before I could say anything, a very hot and heavy slap landed on my face;

“How dare you!” I could see his eyes turning blood red, as his now shaky hands landed on my face for the second time.
I stood there, my hands on my face, I couldn’t move, and tears flowed down my eyes;
“I burnt my uniform” I didn’t know where that lie came from, I never even thought of it, but it just came out of my mouth with ease.

“You should have just stayed home then” my mum said, after a long pause and I could hear regret in her tone.
“I had a test” I lied again. God, I was so good at it!

“And your hair?” my mum, who was a bit calm now asked
“I lost my bow” I lied.

My dad wasn’t the type that apologized for whatever, but I could see it in his eyes that he was sorry. “Just go to your room” he said avoiding my gaze.

I went into my room, locked the door, quickly plugged the iron and placed it on my shirt until it got burnt. Then I heard a knock on the door. I quickly put the shirt away and unplugged the iron, putting it far from reach, and then I opened the door; it was my mum. She brought me my spare uniform and asked me to be careful not to burn it this time. I had thought I wouldn’t be going to school the next day, but luckily for me, I had a spare.

The whole of that week, and the one after was awesome, I dressed decently from home, but I always changed to my old uniform in the uncompleted building. My parents never suspected a thing, and I also hanged out with the girls in the balcony. Although, I never smoked or drank, I enjoyed their company a lot, and to top it all up, I and Alex became really close friends…

I had made so much friends, and now hanged out with the most popular students in school. My life was almost perfect except from the fact that I missed Barbra; I didn’t want to admit it, but deep down, I knew I missed her. The only condition I was given to join the popular girls, was to stop talking to her, I quickly agreed, because I felt we weren’t close anyway. Whenever I saw her in the Dining hall, or in class, I just wished I could talk to her, and listen to her dry jokes once more, but Alice and her crew were always keeping an eye on me. She was alone, and I felt sorry for her. However, she wasn’t angry at me, she always waved me whenever Alice wasn’t around and I just smiled back at her.

Another problem I had with them was that we ditched classes a lot; whatever class they didn’t want to attend, I couldn’t attend too, we just stayed in the balcony, and I was asked to consider it as the price to pay. Then, one faithful morning, I went into the washroom to ease myself, and I met Barbra,
“Hi!” I waved at her smiling.

She looked at me quickly, and then turned to wash her hand; “hi”
“Look, I am sorry…” I began to say when she walked out on me, I quickly rushed and blocked the door.
“What do you want?” she asked with a sigh.

“I know I have not been the best of friend lately,…” she interrupted me with a laugh.
“Friends? You are so hilarious, I’ve never had any friend since I was born, and you weren’t one either. You were just a kid I helped, and nothing more” she said looking me straight in the eye.

“See…” I started to say before she interrupted me
“Are you happy?” she asked seriously
“I am not unhappy” I stuttered
“I bet you are not” she said with a false smile
“What exactly is your deal? Isn’t this what you wanted from the start?” I raised my voiced
“What I wanted? I really wanted to help you so that other kids won’t look down on you, I never intended to make you the bitch you are now” she opened the door, and smashed it more than necessary behind her.

I felt bad, but that was the least of my worries, Alice’s party was on Saturday, which was two days from now; it was going to be a night party, and I had no idea how I was going to attend…