Little Lucy - S01 E02

Story 3 years ago

Little Lucy - S01 E02

Read Story: SEASON 1 EPISODE 2

Collette stood over me as I changed into my uniforms. When I was done, my muftis were kept with Vee.

Queen’s Academy uniform consisted of a milk white button–down shirt, a sleeveless yellow striped sweater, and a red tie. Then there was the black knee length skirt and black sockings that stopped above my calf.

The skirt intrigued me. I’ve never worn such before so this was new to me. I felt like I was in a Japanese high school. The skirt was short, nearly running up my mid thighs.

” From now henceforth, you must be on school uniforms at all times,” Collette said as we walked away from Vee’s lodge towards the hostel. ” You have your day wear, your sports wear, your class wear and your shoes and socks ready?”

” Yes,” I answered in a gruffy voice, pulling my suitcase along.

I don’t trust this girl. After what she did some minutes ago, I was certain she was going to be trouble.

Collette said nothing more. It was nearly dark when we arrived at the hostel.

Our hostel was huge, like a royal castle. It was built in a way that reminded me of an exclusive hotel. The hostel had three hundred and nine rooms in all with good lighting system and beautiful flower gardens surrounding it.

This school was a bomb. I was loving it every second of the day.

There were two flight of stairs but we didn’t take it.

” Room 205,” Collette said as if to herself. She led me to the elevator and waited while it shot us up to our floor.

Collette took me to my room without talking to me. From time to time, I tried looking her way.

She had her face in the air, her eyes hard and set, her full lips pouting and her movement, calm and graceful.

Room 205 stood before us. She brought out a key and unlocked the door.

I Marvelled at the room. It was small but it had everything. Two beds set apart from each other near the window, floor covered in red carpet, a reading table with two chairs, a large wardrobe, two drawers and a bathroom.

The bathroom caught my attention. It had a shower and a little bathtub.

Gosh, are we really in a hotel or what?!

” Everyone is gone for sports so it’s just you and me in the hostel,” Collette said, stepping into the room. ” You unpack the rest of your uniforms and hang them up neatly in the wardrobe. The school already provided you with a bed so it’s expected of you to always keep it clean and tidy.”

She paused, staring oddly at me then added. ” Do you bed wet, Lucy?”

I frowned at her. ” No I don’t bed wet.”

” Good,” she continued. ” You take your bath in the bathroom. Always make sure you flush the toilet after use. At some point, the shower may not run. There’s always a running tap below the first floor. Once in a while, it’s wise to get a gallon of water, just in case there’s water shortage. Anyways, the reading desk is meant for only studying and ironing of your uniforms. Keep the room cleaned, wash the curtains and fix your bed. We are very fussy about neatness so it’s highly expected of you to abide by it. And also, another thing. No cooking in the hostel. It’s highly prohibited.”

I was getting fed up with this girl. ” You don’t have to bother yourself about that. I can’t cook.”

” I never said you will do it,” she said, her eyes like ice chips. ” But you might be tempted. You’re free to take your provisions but cooking is out. We eat our meals at the cafeteria. That’s the rule.”

I rolled my eyes. ” Yeah, I heard you before. You don’t have to make a big fuss out of it.”

The least I expected of her was to yell at me but she said nothing. She was Soo calm about everything.

My head was spinning. The beauty of the room was Killing me. Then I remembered the two beds in the room.

” Umm…do I get to share the room with someone?”

” The girls would be back soon,” Collette said instead, without looking at me. ” There’s your bed by the right side of the room. When your hostel captain returns, tell her Mom sent you to her. She’d understand.”

And she left me without asking me any questions to see if I was confused.

I watched her go and I noticed she’d increased her pace.

What a snob. It’s official–I hate her.

From afar, I heard the bell banging. Sports time is over. The girls are returning back to the hostel

I Wondered what sort of roommate I was going to get. The idea of sharing a room with a total stranger was exciting as it was scary.

I waited, imaging her in my mind.

Perhaps she’d be a nasty b*tch. That’s alright, I can be nasty as well. Or maybe she’s a kind Angel. She better be else I’d blow my tops. I don’t flow with snobs like Collette. I prayed my roommate should be a great gossiper and a crazy fan of Justin beiber.

I smiled as I arranged my stuffs neatly in the wardrobe. Outside my room, I could hear chatters and laughs. The girls had returned from sports but I wasn’t sure of going out there to get seen.

It’s obvious they’d see me as the new girl. I’m incredibly shy. I’d rather wait indoors and see my roommate first. I’m certain, your roommate is your first friend.

And so I waited.

Suddenly, the door opened and a girl walked in. I was sitting on my bed, admiring how soft it feels when I looked up and saw her.

I wasn’t disappointed. She was incredibly tall and skinny but her face radiated with life. She had on a dark leggings and a white vest soaked with sweats. On her feet were white shoes stained by dust.

” Lucy?” She asked, stepping fully into the room.

I knew instantly she wasn’t my roommate. She looked far too older to be my roommate and I was right.

She was my senior.

” That’s my name,” I said, then added. ” Good evening.”

She pulled out a white towel around her neck and dabbed her face. ” So you’re the new girl, eh? Where are you from?”

” Lagos State,” I answered, realizing she was coming closer to me.

She rose her head out of her towel and grinned. ” Well, what a great twist of fate. I’m also from Lagos.”

This was reassuring enough. ” Really? Which part?”

” Lekki.”

I was wowed, I jumped to my feet. ” Woah, that’s where I live. What a small world.”

She laughed and I noticed she was leaning towards my face. Our nose was barely touching each other.

” I’m Temi,” she extended her hand. ” Hostel captain.”

It all began to make sense. So she was the hostel captain. No wonder she looked older than me. I really wished she’d stay a few feet away from me. She was too close for comfort.

I shooked her hand. ” Nice to meet you.”

She pulled back and whistled as she took in the room. Her lips tightened into a meaningless smile. ” So you’ll be pairing the room with Chi-Chi. How adorable.”

I raised an eyebrow. ” Who’s Chi-Chi?”

” Your roommate,” Temi answered, rubbing her hair with her towel. ” Wait, she didn’t tell you?”

” Tell me?”

” Collette.”

I rolled my eyes and hissed. ” Collette? Nope she didn’t tell me anything. She’s a snob. I don’t think I like her one bit.”

” You don’t want to call her that,” Temi stepped away from me towards my bed and sat down. ” She’s not going to like you calling her by her first name.”

” I don’t want to talk about her, at least not now. So who’s this Chi-Chi. What’s she like?”

Temi sighed. ” Well, I guess you’ll just have to figure it out for yourself tonight. In the meantime, get a shower and prepare for dinner. You don’t want to skip meals. It’s against school rules to skip meals so I’d suggest you get yourself in order and meet up with the girls at the cafeteria. Roll call would be made. I don’t think it’d be nice if you are found absent.”

I liked her already. She was Soo nice and attentive. ” I’ll try.”

Temi stood up and moved up to me. Again, she was closed to my face. ” Say, you don’t happen to have a school mother yet, do you?”

” What’s a school mother?”

” You’re learning,” Temi laughed. ” Well, to put it out to you, she’s like a mother. When you get in trouble with some seniors, she’s always there to save the day. Once you’ve got a school mother, consider yourself protected. Not all the seniors here are nice. Some are terrible bullies they’d hurt you on the slightest impulse. That’s when a school mother step in. Lots of juniors got school mother’s. Trust me, it’s definitely worth it.”

” Alright then,” I smirked at her. ” Why don’t you be my school mother?”

She made a sad face. ” I really wish I could but that’s not how it works here. I already have a school daughter. It’s decided amongst we the seniors not to have more than one school daughter.”

D--n! And I was hoping to make her my school mom.

Temi smiled reassuringly at me. ” Don’t let it bother you that much, Lucy. There are tons of nice seniors around although not many of them are that nice. You can ask Collette. She’d make a great school mom for you. As far as I’ve known her, she doesn’t own a school daughter yet.”

I hated that name Soo much I wished I could erase it off my memory. ” That’s the last person I have in mind.”

Temi hummed. ” Oh come on, she’s not that bad.”

” I appreciate your concern, but thanks.”

Temi regarded me for sometime then shrugged. ” It’s your life. Welcome to QA. I hope you make lots of friends. Wait, what class?”

” SS.1.” I said

She hung her towel around her neck and nodded. ” Welcome once again.”

” Thanks.”

And with that, she left the room. Now I really wished I knew what my roommate looked like. I was excited to meet her.

By now, all my jitters were gone. I’ve even forgotten about mom. I just wanted to explore this new school and get along with the system.

Maybe mom was right. Maybe this was the school for me.

I decided not to take a shower. I was going to dinner tonight and make some new friends.

Dong! Dong! Dong!

Dinner!!!

Settling before the wall mirror, I applied a little make-up on my face. This was going to be great. An experience that’s going to pump me up. I grabbed my cutlery and joined the other girls also in uniforms, exiting down through the stairway.

The air was filled with laughter and wild talks. It’d be difficult to talk to someone in this crowd. I decided to wait till dinner.

Geez I’ve never seen such numbers of girls in my life.

The cafeteria was something out of a presidential bouquet Hall. Each table was crammed with girls. Dinner was jollof rice and beef. I was also given a can of Pepsi to go along with it.

Now to find a spot to eat. But everywhere was occupied and no one seemed ready to let me a seat. I stared around until I caught a girl waving at me.

She was all alone by a corner table for only two people. I had no idea what pushed me over to her but I went all the same.

” Saw you Standing,” she grinned. ” You don’t have a seat do you.”

I shooked my head. ” The entire hall is packed.”

She laughed. ” That’s alright, hey you can have the free seat. This is my favorite spot so no one usually comes seat here except me.”

” Thanks, you’re a lifesaver,” I breath in relief, settling down infront of her.

” I’m Sharon,” she stared interestingly at me. ” You are?”

” Lucy.”

” New student, huh,” she smiled knowingly.

” Yeah it’s obvious isn’t it,” I opened my can of Pepsi and took a sip. ” Let me guess, you’re a senior.”

She laughed. ” Not exactly. I passed my promotion exam last term and made it to senior class. I’m to begin SS.1 tomorrow.”

” Talk about coincidence,” I laughed as well. ” What do you know, we’re in the same class.”

” Awesome,” Sharon took a forkful of rice and scooped it into her mouth. ” Luckily for me, I began schooling here since Junior class so I know all the norms and stuff that goes around this establishment. Hey, let’s be friends. What’s your room number, maybe I’d come visit.”

My instinct told me to trust her. ” 205 and yours?”

” 105,” she answered, s------g her face. ” 205? That’s Chi-Chi’s room.”

” Who is this Chi-Chi?”

Sharon was about answering me when some group of girls barged into the Hall. Everyone became silent including the seniors around.

I studied these girls with interest.

They were Seven in number, smartly dressed with their uniforms ironed to perfection. They had some sort of special golden batch on their breastpocket and clipboards on their left hand.

I recognized two of these girls. One was Temi, hostel captain and the other was…..

Collette.

” Who are those girls,” I whispered to Sharon cause everywhere was as silent as a graveyard. ” Why is everyone quiet?”

Sharon looked behind her to see if anyone was coming their way. ” That’s the student’s council. You can call them senior prefects if you like but over here, they’re well known as student’s council.”

I returned my stare back at the girls. They moved around each table, ticking off something on their clipboards with pencils.

” They look cool, don’t they?” Sharon said, dreamily.

” Sort of,” I returned my attention back to her. ” But why’s everyone quiet all of a sudden?”

Sharon looked behind her back again then whispered. ” Duh, don’t you know it’s bad manners to eat with your mouth open. Besides, the student’s council are very strict and feared. They’re like the stronghold pillars of this school. They do lots of jobs, I even heard they assist Mrs Cooker when she’s absent.”

” Who’s Mrs Cooker?”

” She owns the school,” Sharon whispered.

” You there!” Someone said in a loud voice.

Sharon and I stiffened. Slowly turning our head, we saw Collette approaching us with her clipboard and pencil.

She moved calmly and unhurried but her shoes were making loud sounds as they marched towards us. In four strides, she was standing over us.

Sharon and I stared at her without saying anything.

” Why were you two talking while eating?” She asked.

Sharon seemed frightened of her but she tried to keep cool. ” Um…well you see, she was asking if she could get a glass of water from the counter. I’m sorry, senior. I shouldn’t have spoken.”

Collette grunted and turned to me. Her eyes were as cold as ice. ” Can I see your cutleries?”

I didn’t want to show her the cutleries. I hated this girl but I knew better than to cause a scene. So I drew out my fork and knife and showed her.

Collette regarded the cutleries with that deadpan expression of hers. ” So why do you use only the fork?”

” I thought it doesn’t matter what we use to eat so long as we eat our meals. I don’t see how using only my fork is an offense here,” I said, angrily.

Sharon gaped at me as if I had just gone mad.

Collette returned her eyes back to her clipboard and wrote something down. ” I’ll advise you eat with your complete set of Cutleries now.”

I didn’t reply her. Instead of obeying her instructions, I took my can of Pepsi and drank slowly from it.

By now everyone in the cafeteria was staring at me.

Now Where I came from, seniors and juniors get along pretty well. I’m not going to be intimated by this girl or whatsoever she was.

I continued my meal with my fork not minding she’d instructed me to use my knife as well. Sharon was giving me that look as if she wanted me to use the knife but I was too stubborn to listen to her or read her signs.

Collette stood over me, watching me closely as I ate. Then she did something dramatic.

She leaned forward and grabbed my plate. Before I knew it, she turned it over and my rice dropped to the ground.

That does it. I jumped to my feet and yelled at her. ” You dirty mean old b*tch! How dare you–”

Before I could complete my words, she turned around and slapped me hard on the cheeks.

SMACK!!!

I gasped in shock, holding my cheeks with feverish hands. That was the first time I’ve ever been slapped in my life.

Slowly raising my head, I glared at Collette. She was walking away from me with that deadpan calm expression on her face.

” After meals,” she said aloud so everyone could hear, looking at me from the corner of her eyes. ” Clean that mess on the floor up.”

My eyes became Misty and I felt tears rolled off my cheeks dripping to the floor.

Everyone in the cafeteria was watching me as I stood rooted at the spot, glaring dangerously at Collette.

Before everyone’s eyes, I ran out of the cafeteria.

I ran to Vee’s Lodge. I can’t take this anymore. I’m calling my mom. What sort of school is this? How…how dare she slapped me? Just who does she think she is?

As I ran, I cried. I’ve never been Soo humiliated in my entire life. If I’m going to be treated this way, then I’m not going to stay in this school. I’d rather return back home.

To my uttermost dismay, Vee wasn’t home. I cried more. What do I do now? She’s the only one I know in this strange crazy school. She’d fix that vixen called Collette. I’d make sure of that even if I have to wait forever.

Finding a likely spot near her lodge, I sat waiting for Vee’s return. I’d wait until Vee returns and when she does, I’d give her a piece of my mind. I don’t care if Collette is part of the student’s council. She has no right to slap anybody.

She has no right to slap me.

My hands gently went to my face as I felt my cheeks. My cheeks was burning with the slap I received earlier. I remembered the slap, I remembered her cold stare, her deadpan expression and calm movement.

I hate her. I hate her soo much!

” What are you doing here?” Someone said out of the darkness.

I started out of my skin and stood up. ” Who’s there?!”

I heard footsteps emerging out of the shadows. When the moonlight up ahead came to her face, I received another shock quickly followed by anger.

It was Colette.

For the next few minutes, we stared at each other in silence. Then her lips moved. ” I hate repeating myself, Lucy. What are you doing here? Your classmate are in class observing night prep.”

My anger formed a lump in my throat, I blasted it out at her. ” I’m here to report you to miss Vee. She’d fix you for laying your hands on me. I’d call my mom. She’d make you pay, you fcking btch.”

She listened to me but didn’t say anything.

I was still ranting, my face dripping off tears. ” What sort of senior are you, anyway? Slapping your juniors? My former school, seniors and juniors get along pretty well. You dare not lay a finger on us. We’d tear you apart. Oh wait, is it because this is a boarding school? I don’t care. Everyone might be afraid of you but you don’t scare me. I’d fix you. I’d call my mom. It’s either you hear it from me or I leave.”

Her eyes glimmered under the moonlight and her lips stayed still in a simple smile. She was as silent as a dumb beggar.

” No wonder miss Vee hates you around,” I continued, noticing she was moving towards me. I sniffed. ” Go ahead, do whatever you want with me. Hit me again, beat me up, flung me to the ground and punch the life out of me. When miss Vee returns, I’d show her what type of treatment I—”

Collette grabbed my wrists and pushed me against the wall, pinning me firmly so I couldn’t move.

” Stop!” I struggled, yelling at her. ” Let go off me. What are you—”

Her face came out of the darkness and I saw her lips opened down to my face. Before I knew it, her lips closed around my mouth.

I stiffened, my eyes tearing out of their sockets. I gaped at Collette.

Her eyes were closed lovingly as she kissed me, her tongue roaming inside my mouth.

With all the strength mustered in me, I struggled to pull out of her hold but she was too strong. I even tried screaming but her mouth was covered against mine.

I kept struggling and struggling until I gave up and relaxed.

For the next sixty seconds, we stayed like that without moving. Then Collette slowly pulled away from me, breaking her kiss.

I was back against the wall, gasping for air, the back of my hand against my mouth as I stared at her shadowy figure in the darkness.

” Mom wouldn’t be back till tomorrow,” she said, calmly. ” It’s getting late and cold. Go to class and join your classmates for night prep.”