CHAPTER THIRTY TWO
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
CRESCENT VALLEY HIGH**
MARIANNA’S CLASSROOM**
**MARIANNA**
“Genes are hereditary units or basic units of inheritance. They are located in chromosomes and are responsible for the transmission of characters from parents to offsprings…” Our biology teacher, Mr. Edward read out of the biology textbook. I was already getting sleepy because the class was very boring and Mr. Edward was not even doing anything to make the class lively and entertaining. All he was did was just reading out of the textbook.
I rested my head on my hands and dozed off for some time before Mr. Edward’s booming voice woke me up.
“Marianna Jackson, are you sleeping in my class?” He asked coldly.
“No sir, I wasn’t sleeping.” I lied through my teeth.
“What were you doing then?” He asked again.
“I was just resting my head for some seconds.” I responded and the students began laughing.
“Silence!” He yelled and the class got silent immediately. “Okay, if you were not sleeping, what was the last thing I said?” He questioned and that was when my mind went blank.
“Err… you said that… hmm.” I uttered dumbly and Mr. Edward face-palmed himself.
“So you mean to tell me that I’ve been wasting my energy all this while and nothing is entering your head? I wonder how you’re one of the best students in this school.” He said frustratingly and I giggled a little.
“You can have your seat, I’m sure you’ll still go back to the topic and study it.” He stated and I sat down.
“Thank you sir.” I appreciated.
“You always seem to get away from trouble, teachers pet.” Vanessa commented with feigned jealousy and I chuckled.
“As if you’re not also a teacher’s pet.” I responded and we laughed shortly before facing the teacher again.
“So, as I was saying earlier, a zygote is a single cell formed as a result of the union of a male gamete with a female gamete. They…..” Mr. Edward was saying before a voice coming from the loud speaker cut him off.
“All the students should report to the hall immediately. We would be announcing the students that passed the scholarship examinations now.” The principal announced and upon hearing that, all the students including Vanessa and I rushed out of the classroom leaving Mr. Edward gaping at our backs.
“You guys should wait! The biology class is not over yet!” He shouted after us.
“We know the class is not over yet but there’s an announcement and we can’t miss it. Moreover, the class was so boring and we’re taking a break from it.” A random student shouted and we all bursted into a very loud laughter.
We arrived at the hall and everyone went their separate ways to find somewhere to sit. I looked around for empty seats and saw Julia (one of my friends) waving her hand for me to come over. I called Vanessa and we went to meet Julia. Turns out there were two empty seats and our other friends were also there so we took our seats.
“Hey guys!” Vanessa and I greeted in a chorus.
“Hey Vanessa, hey Marie!” They also greeted simultaneously.
“They are gonna announce the lucky students now. I’m kinda nervous to find out.” Damien, the second male in our squad, said while rubbing his hands together nervously.
“Chillax bro, you don’t have to be nervous. Just have faith.” Anthony said to Damien and he calmed down slightly.
“I have faith but I can’t help being nervous. It would be awesome if we’re among those students.” He exhaled deeply.This content © Nôv/elDr(a)m/a.Org.
“Calm down Damien, we’ll find out….” I said to Damien while trying to tell him to relax when the principal’s loud voice stopped me.
“Good day students, as you all know, the students that passed the examinations will be announced now.” The principal stopped then continued, “So we have compiled the results of all the students that wrote the examinations and we now have have the names of the lucky students. Their names are…..” The principal trailed off and someone switched on the 146-inch television and the names appeared on the screen.
I peered at the screen closely and saw series of names and their scores that were not of any concern to me before I started seeing my friends names and their scores and the scores were very impressive. My face fell when I didn’t see my name after looking at close to fifteen names and I almost felt like crying. But when I got to the last name, my whole life lightened up. Guess what the name was? It’s my name and a very loud squeal escaped my mouth. I didn’t know when I jumped from my seat and hugged my friends. There was a sudden uproar from the students who saw their names on the TV screen.
“Ok students, calm down! I can tell that y’all are excited about this. But let me remind all of you that you’re going to a school far better and bigger than this one even though I hate to admit it so you have to be in your best behaviours till you graduate or else you’ll be expelled and you won’t be accepted in any other school again, they will make sure you’re not accepted in other schools again. So I’ll advice you to behave well and not cause any unnecessary ruckus over there.” The principal said and we all nodded.
“Okay ma’am. Thanks for the advice.” We all chorused.
“Yeah, so before I forget, you are all expected to resume next week Monday and if you don’t know before, the school fees, uniform and textbooks will be taken care of so you don’t need to worry about those.” She said.
“Okay ma’am.” We chorused again.
“Alright students, that will be all. You can all go back to your classes. Have a nice day.” The principal stated and left.
After she left, the students started leaving the hall in groups. I also left with my friends and we started talking.
“I can’t believe this! We all the passed the examinations!!!” Vanessa shrieked.
“Yeah we did! We’ll soon be students of ROYAL GATE HIGH SCHOOL.” Julia shouted excitedly.
“Yes baby! We are the soon to be students of ROYAL GATE HIGH SCHOOL. They should look out for us.” Katherine said happily.
“This really calls for celebration guys, we did it! Those studying in the night were totally worth it.” I said grinning widely.
“We should really celebrate this. You guys should come to my house after school for celebration. I’m sure my mom wouldn’t mind and we can even drink some of the alcoholic drinks in the basement.” Vanessa suggested and we all nodded.
“That’d be cool, I can’t say no to a little alcohol. Expect us at your house.” Damien said cheerfully.
“Yeah, we would be at your house by evening. I can’t miss drinking a little.” Anthony also said.
“I can’t wait to get home and tell my mom and Brianna about this, they’d be really excited. Brianna will even be relieved of the burden of paying my school fees till I graduate high school.” I stated happily.
“That’s right. All of our parents will be very proud of us. I mean who wouldn’t?” Julia said smilingly.
“I would suggest that we stop this jubilation now and return to our classes before our teachers decide not to allow us not to enter the classes.” Anthony said as the most responsible one among us and we all groaned in response.
“Vanessa, let’s go back to the most interesting class in the whole world!” I said sarcastically and Vanessa rolled her eyes.
“Yeah, yeah! The most interesting class indeed.” She replied and we splited into three groups (Damien and Anthony, Julia and Katherine, Vanessa and I) to go to our different classes.
FEW HOURS LATER**
The bell for closing time rang and everybody wasted no second in carrying their bags and ran out of the classroom. I walked out of the classroom and exited the school and waited outside for my friends. They arrived outside in no time and we began walking to our houses. We chatted during the walk to make it more lively.
We got to the junction where we’ll go to our different ways and bade ourselves goodbye before separating. I continued walking and got home in no time.
I strolled into the house and met mom picking beans. She raised her head when I entered and smiled upon seeing it was me.
“Hey mom!” I greeted and slumped down on the couch.
“Hey sweetie, how was school?” She asked with a smile.
“School was interesting. I have something to tell you mom.” I stated.
“What is it?” She asked curiously and stopped picking the beans.
“You remember the scholarship exams I told you about?” I questioned.
“Yeah, what about it?” She asked again.
“The names of the students that passed the examinations were announced today.” I said.
“Yes? Were you among them?” She quizzed.
“Uhm….”
“Don’t put me in suspense Marie, were you among them?” She quizzed again.
“Yes mom. I was among them and all of my friends too. We’ll be resuming on Monday!” I squealed.
“Wow! That’s so amazing!! I’m so proud of you darling. We need to celebrate it.” Mom shrieked.
“Yeah mom, we’ll totally celebrate it. I’ll tell Brianna about it when she comes home. She would be glad to hear it.” I stated.
“Yes she will. She’ll be relieved of the burden of paying your school fees till you graduate high school and get a better job.” Mom said.
“I’m feeling so sorry for making you and Brianna pass through all these. If it weren’t for my health status, we’ll probably be better than this and your sister would not be struggling like this.” Mom stated sadly.
“Don’t think like that mom. Cheer up. We are definitely getting better than we used to be some years back.” I said soothingly and she brightened up a little.
“I’ll order pizza tonight to celebrate mom. Bills on me.” I said and stood up.
“Where will you get the money?” She asked.
Don’t worry about that. I’ll take it out of my savings.” I stated.
“Alright then.” She responded.
“I wanna go freshen up. I’ll soon go to Vanessa’s house now. I’m meeting with my friends there.” I uttered.
“That’s fine. Sends my regards to her mom.” She said.
“I’ll do that.” I replied before walking up the stairs.
TBC