SOCIAL NIGHT (Pt. 1)

For days, I hid from him.

From the entire school.

From the whole world.

I buried my head in shame as I walked through the corridors.

I counted my steps, always looking down.

But it did not stop Senior Douglas and his battalion from making my life a living hell.

If they didn’t stick out a leg to trip me down, it was seizing my snacks, and my lunch, and my tuck shop.

Even my class boys joined him to pester my life. Turning me into a punching bag to impress Senior Douglas, to boast about it when they returned to their hostel for siesta.

Then one Saturday evening, Senior Douglas and the senior boys had finished playing a football match when they hung around the field with a few girls from their class. I was on my way back to my hostel from the clinic when I caught Senior Douglas eyes.

He broke out of his little group and came to stand in my way.

I moved to the left and he followed me. I moved to the right and he still blocked my way.

I stared at the ground without looking up at him. My heart pounding more than ever, my pulse nearly exploding, my breath nearly coming to a halt. I clutched my shaky hands in fear of what he would do next.

But... he simply stepped away, letting me pass.

“Thank you, Senior.” I bent my knees without looking up at him.

I quickly took a step forward and next thing I knew, I found the ground shaking. Shaking from my heavy fall.

My hands barely caught me before my mouth slammed against the concrete.

The pain was instant and sharp. I lifted my head slowly and touched my aching mouth. Blood. Before I could scream, something sharp hit my tongue. I spat it out. Blood mixed with a piece of one of my upper side teeth. Oh God.

Senior Douglas and the other seniors’ laughter rang through the field.

My eyes burned with tears. I covered my bleeding mouth and tried to stand up, but I found myself falling back, the seniors’ laughter ringing louder.

I breathed heavily, bursting into tears. God, let me die!

I looked up to stare at Senior Douglas. He stared back at me in laughter.

Soon, his smile slowly faded and his shoulders dropped at the sight of my red eyes and my bleeding mouth.

I quickly looked away and stood up to run. Run away from this place, from this school, from anything that had to do with Senior Douglas! Why did that bastard have to come to this school in the first place. He should fucking go to prison where he belongs!

I didn’t see Senior Douglas after that day.

Not because I tried to hide from him. He was simply nowhere to be found again.

There were no rumours of him being suspended or expelled. He just vanished into thin air.

I thought he had miraculously disappeared from my life. For good.

Until Social Night came.

While students flooded into the multipurpose hall with a loud Lil Kesh song blasting through the speakers, I found myself running inside our old French classroom to hide. The forgotten classroom. The lights never worked, and more than half the desks didn’t have chairs. It was the only class with blackboard and no projector.

I sat at the corner next to the window, struggling to read my E.L James novel from the dim street lights flashing through the window.

I soon began to hear the faint sound of a One Direction song playing in the classroom.

I looked around in confusion. Then my eyes stopped at a head bent over a desk three seats from me with an earphone in their ears and an MP3 player placed on the desk.

Through the dim light, I caught a glimpse of his camouflage trouser.

My body froze. Shit shit shit.

“Baby, you light up my world like nobody else.” Senior Douglas hummed with his head still on the desk, unaware of my presence. “The way that you flip your hair gets me overwhelmed. But when you smile at the ground...”

The agony I felt slowly died down, and I found myself snorting at the interesting music taste for a terrorist.

Despite how amusing this was, I knew I needed to get out of here before he saw me.

I stood up instantly, and the desk scraped on the floor. Shit.

Senior Douglas pulled out one earphone without looking up. I stepped away and the table scrapped again. He looked up and caught my eyes.

“Fucking hell?” He pushed his chair.

“Sorry.” I rushed for the door, but he got to it before I did.

And blocked my way. Again.

“If you dare tell anyone about what you just saw, I’ll deal with you.” He warned. Up close, I could see the terror in his eyes.

I stared back at him, my mouth trembling. Then I burst out in laughter, unable to hold it in anymore.

His face tightened and I instantly swallowed back my laughter. He was serious.

I looked down to avoid his eyes. I stepped forward to get him to leave, but he stood glued to the closed door.

“You’re in my way, Senior.”

“Did I say I’ll let you go?”

I looked up at him, terrified. He wasn’t the tallest boy out there, neither was he the shortest. I was 5”5 but my height level reached above his lips. The same pink lips the SS2 girls had been screaming about, and banned us SS1 girls from ever going close.

“Why are you doing this to me?” I asked in agony. “Is it because I called you a manual labourer?”

He scoffed, and folded his arms. “Who told you about my past?”

I looked at him in questioning.

“I used to plaster bricks when I was 14.”

I put my hands over my mouth. So I was not lying?

He smirked and shook his head. “And you believe me? You’re exactly what they call you.”

He shifted away.

“What’s that?” I watched him walk back to his desk.

“An olodo.” He sat down and looked at me.

My blood rose in anger. But I could not lash out. This was Senior Douglas we were dealing with here.

I did not say anything. I opened the door and slammed it behind me, passing the message across as I returned to my hostel.