SPIRITED (The Blended Hearts Series)

CHAPTER TWO

The shrill of the early morning bell resounding across the vast dormitory woke him up. It was probably in the senior two dormitory that was next to theirs on the left. He checked his watch, it was already five in the morning. It was time for preps. He turned over and looked at Daniel across the room. He was still sound asleep and wasn't even fazed by the sound of the bell. It was that annoying. They were not to be in class until seven since they had been excused from preps.

He hauled himself to his back and looked up at the ceiling. He had always hoped senior six would be a smooth ride but man, was he wrong. With the pressure of piling notes and the responsibility of carrying a family secret, he had a lot on his plate. He remembered the day they left for school, he had heard his mum and dad rival for the twentieth time in January. Every time they fought, he could hear new reasons. His mother had gotten new ideas of feminism and since her joining of the Women Empowerment Team, she had been advocating for what she called gender equality in the house. She openly shared her vast array of beliefs and opinions about feminism. She wanted to work and share house chores with everyone and not label chores for example, cooking for women. Men could also participate in cooking. That had not gone so well with their dad.

"Feminism" the word and movement that he believed does not align with his personal beliefs or values. He believed that it will cause men to eventually lose out of power, influence, impact, authority, and control of economic activities. He also feared that it might overturn time-honoured traditions, religious beliefs and established gender roles. To his dad, that felt scary and wrong.

He also remembered one time, his dad beat their mother badly leaving her bruised and scratched. She had hidden in their room for three days. It was only when Nowel burst into her room asking about the shopping list that they discovered this. They had taken her to the hospital and threatened to imprison their dad. He was a respectable Lawyer in the society. He had also kept himself away from the house since then. Their mum had pleaded with them not to report the incident just for status. Their father had come back to the house after one month but things had become more tenuous. There had been more tremendous, dissent and vehement disagreements. The storm that hit their house was horrendous and terrifying. The sweet loving father had become more drastic, aggressive and boisterous. The once lively calming atmosphere was now violated by slamming of doors, exchange of infuriating remarks and mocking. The situation of their family and the continuous hoodwink he had to do for the sake of status was stressing. He always had to pretend that all was well in front of Daniel. He didn't want pity and judgement. He turned and got out of bed and entered their private bathroom to freshen up.

By the time he was out, the sun had begun to rise giving their curtains an orange glow. He crossed the room and pushed them to the side and watched the sun rise filling the sky with shades of orange and pink.

"Up already?" Daniel asked whacking him on the head with a towel.

"Thinking about the future? Okay Conrad! Okay!" Daniel said wriggling his eyebrows with a knowing smile on his face. He then patted him on the back and picked up his clothes.

"Well, good morning to you too Conrad said glaring holes mentally at his best friend's head. Daniel just continued walking without care and disappeared into the bathroom.

Daniel came back from the bathroom later and rushed out of the room before the dormitory was closed.

"I hate math" Conrad said as they checked the timetable.

"You need math" Daniel said pushing him inside the classroom.

"No! I need one point from math" Conrad said with a fake frown.

"Now that's the spirit!" Daniel said as they took their seats on the far desk in the class.

They continued bickering until the math teacher entered class. Conrad groaned as the teacher kept writing math problems on the board. He was not in the mood for thinking. He put his head on the desk and dozed off. On the worst note, Mr. Kasunguyira saw him while taking his early morning strolls to make sure everyone was in class.