EMPIRE HIGH SCHOOL - Episode 4

?Katherine’s POV (cont)?

Cullen raised his hands on the table and ti-ght£ñed his muscles.

I smiled at him. Damn it! I don’t need a protector or a b©dyguard! That might sound too harsh if I say that to him.

“So.. Who.. Is.. That.. Guy?”

I stuttered

Online shopping for buyers and sellers in Ghana famirac.com is the answer.
Cullen lifted his brows

“You mean Jeffrey Adams?”

I don’t know his name but I gave him a short nod.

“That guy..”

He did the tsk tsk sound

I suddenly bec@m£ desperate to know Jeffrey Adams. There was something strange about him.

His expression was distant and he looked unhappy.

“He h@rdly ever spoke to anyb©dy. He walked up and down with his nose in the air and sour expression on his face. So students gave him a nickname.. GHOST. Actually, Jeffrey was never

interested in being friends with anyb©dy” Cullen said

I glanced back at him, he was still staring out throu-gh the window.

“Some students said that he attends the school on welfare while some got to thinking that he was from an orphanage home. But I think Jeffrey is hiding like that.. So people won’t question him

about his financial background” He added

Well I don’t think that expression on his face was pertaining to those ideas. There was more to it.

And I wondered why he had such expression on his face.

The door opened and a young woman entered the cl@ss. She was on blue jeans and black t©p.

She must be the literature teacher.

Cullen stood up

“Attention,Greet the teacher” he said

“Good Morning Ma” They greeted

“How are you all doing?”

“Fine ma” they chorused

“plea-se sit down Cullen” she said

“Life of a captain” he whispered

Oh! Cullen was the captain of the cl@ss.

“I can see we have a new student” she said as she moved closer to my desk

“What’s your name?” She st©pped two desks to mine.

I stood up to answer

“Katherine Adebowale”

It wasn’t h@rd to say my name this time.

“Can.. I call you Kate for short?”

“Yes Ma”

“Nice.. and i like your shoes”

She said and walked back to the Rostrum in front of the cl@ss. Everyone stretched their n£¢ks to take a look. And I almost laughed at the sight of long n£¢ks. I know my shoe was beautiful. Banjo brou-ght it from Italy. He brou-ght so many stuffs… Some of which my other brothers s£nt throu-gh him to deliver to me.

“I’m Miss Shola, the literature teacher”

She wrote literature on the white marker board.

“Sit down Kate” she said

And I settled back in my chair

“She’s fond of complimenting students outfits.. Mostly shoes. I think she’s crazy about them”

Cullen jolted down in a piece of paper.

Miss Shola wrote “POETRY” on the board. It was one of my favorite Genre of literature. I’m more familiar with poetry than other genres.

“So what is poetry?”

She asked

I w€t myl-ips, looking down at the ti-ps of my f!ngers. I pondered if I should raise my hands to answer the question. First day at a new school.. They might think I’m showing off.

No one answered the question. I bit the inside of my cheeks hoping someone would just answer the question. But none, then I heard my name.

“Kate.. Can you help us out?” Miss Shola said

My heartbeat accelerated

Why did she call me?

Oh my God! How do I answer it without stammering?!

Everyone was silent

?Angella’s POV?

I hated this aspect in literature. I was more familiar with Prose and Drama. I just have few ideas concerning Poetry. I knew Miss Shola was going to call the new girl. Its her way to testing new

students to see if she’s worth to be in the cl@ss. Katherine would have to answer many questions from serval teachers. It’s Kate testing period 1, she would be taken to the lower cl@ss if she doesn’t

p@ss the Test 2 which is written.

I wonder why she was in Cl@ss 3.. Usually they don’t admit student into Ss 3. And I got to thinking that Kate’s Parents must be rich.

She stood up to answer Miss Shola’s question. Now let’s see what you’ve gat Katherine. I hope she fails.

“Poetry..” she st©pped

Oh! There she goes stammering like Father Moses. She’s probably his descendant. Or was she trying to put up an act?

“Poetry has no universal definition like some other fields of learning. Nevertheless, it can be defined as an imaginative rendition that gives powerful expression to experiences, ideas and

feelings in a metaphoric language”

She st©pped

Miss Shola smile at her

“That was amusing” she said

What was so amusing? Mtchew.

“Now Kate..tell me how Williams Wordsworth defined Poetry” she said

Wow! She won’t get that! Only a Genius would remember Wordsworth definition of poetry.

Kate was silent

Kindly give up and sit down with shame.

“Williams Wordsworth defined poetry as the spontaneous overflow or outbur-st of powerful feelings recollected In tranquility”

I opened my old note

Unbelievable! She got it right!

“W. H Aiden?”

“He defined poetry as a memorable speech”

“W. B Yeats?”

“Emphasized the emotional aspect of poetry when he declared it as truth seen with p@ssion”

“Thomas h@rdy?”

Miss Shola asked again

“Uhm.. He pictured it as emotion put into measures”

Then it ended

“Wow! Very..very.. Good” She said

“Honestly I didn’t expect -”

She was interrupted by a cl@p. It was Cullen who started cl@pping and other joined in except me.

My girls cl@pped too

“Wow! She’s a genius” Caroline whispered and win-ked at Me.

Fury crashed over me and I clenched my fists.

How come she knew all those definitions?

“Kate take your seat” Miss Shola said

And she sat back in her chair

Now what was she feeling Like?

“plea-se what’s the name of your previous school?” she asked

Are we to discuss about Kate in today’s cl@ss? Rubbish!

“Linda Girls College”

“So I guess you were a straight A student?.. plea-se be honest”

Miss Shola studied her

Well it easy to lie about stuffs like this since there are no evidences backing it up.

“Yes.. Straight A student. I scored A in all other subjects but I never scored higher than B in mathematics” Kate answered

“I like you Kate. You’re honest. Well Mr Joel showed me your report card from your previous school. And I saw B in mathematics. Keep that record up in our school too”

Now Miss Shola thinks she’s some kind of Book Goddess ‘Efiko’. Kate was just a pompous show off.

My records are not so bad. I am a Straight B student but I never scored higher than D in mathematics. I hate Mathematics. And I was never friends with it.

Everything about Kate gives me concern. Her beauty, intelligence and composure. I hope Joseph doesn’t fall for her. Silly Cullen was alre-ady ma-king friends with Kate. Its none of my business if she decided to be friends with everyone but not with Joseph James. He’s my b©yfri£nd! And I can’t stand him looking at another girl.

Two things I won’t let Kate take away from me, Joseph and my recognition as the most popular girl and prettiest in s£nior Cl@ss. I would deal with her ruthlessly if she takes them from me.

“From the definitions Kate gave one can sum poetry up as P@ssions, emotions, feelings, speeches, truths, thoughtfully articulated and conveyed in a condensed language. We’ve treated this t©pic but I’m surprised none of you can give me atleast one definition. Anyways let’s continue.

Types of Poetry”

She wrote down on the board.

After cl@ss that day, some girls went to Kate and demanded for more explanation about poetry and other Genres of literature. I listened to her as she explained to them until other students c@m£ in with the next teacher. Kate seems shy at first but when she started into work all of a sudden she was entirely different and confident.

And on several occasions in English Cl@ss, I caught Joseph staring at her.

It shouldn’t be what am thinking!

••••••••••••••••••

?Katherine’s POV?

My parent weren’t home when I c@m£ back from school around 5:00pm. Nanny Patricia said mommy went to see a friend who was celebr@ting her birthday today. I didn’t need anyone to tell me Dad was still at work attending business meetings. I ate dinner with Pat and told her everything that happened at school. Actually, she warned me to stay away from Angella and her friends to

avoid trouble. Exactly! I don’t want Daddy yelling at me again for being a bad girl. And i keep praying over and over again that Angella won’t be like Cynthia.

I sat writing on my be-d. I really like my room. Fresh pink and white sheet on the be-d, framed ph0togra-phs on the dressing table on and pink painted walls. Its my little sanctuary and I take

comfort in it whenever mom was away from home during my holidays. I sat writing in my diary

Brother (Okunola) in Manche-ster s£nt it to me as a gift on my 16th birthday. And it been a while I’ve written in it.

“I am glad to be in Empire High School but nothing can be compared to Linda Girls College. I can believe how much I missed everything and everyone.. Especially s£nior Faith. I s£nt an apology

letter to Principal Joy during holiday but I hope that someday they will get to know the truth. Dear Diary, only you, mom and pat believed that I was innocent. Dad doesn’t and I feel he hates me

now. He seized my cellphone thinking I stayed up chatting with Charles and s£nior Faith. What do

I do to make him trust and believe me again? It Sad. I’ll try to be happy in my new school. Well, I met some nice people today,Elena, Cullen, Jamal and others. I think someone in my cl@ss wants

to be like Cynthia.. She didn’t st©p staring at me like I had $h!t on my b©dy. I’ll do my best to avoid her. And there’s Jeffrey.. He looked Sad and unhappy. I think there’s something bothering him. It

none of my business but I feel sorry for him.. and I don’t know why..”

I fli-pped pages in my diary. My eyes caught a page where I wrote my purpose of attending ?Empire High School?

“To re-ad my books, mind my business and p@ss my SSCE”

I turned to the back page of my diary and I saw my favorite poem which I had written in it.

“Ulysses By Lord Alfred Tennyson” And i had picked a motto from a line in the poem.

“To Strive, To Seek, To Find and not to Yield”

I can do this! I have to prove to my dad that I am a good girl. Then i kept my diary in place and went on my kneels and prayed to God to softened my dad’s heart towards me. And take away every hindrances in my way.