𝔼𝕂𝕀𝕃𝔸

8

"You only become a loser when you consent to it."

The words followed her long after she left the counsellor's office; long after she slammed the metal door in an attempt to shut out the words with the loud bang of the door.

It was frustrating and a bit comical how it wouldn't let her go even after she'd run past several blocks and was just mere inches away from her class.

She'd done everything she could to shut up the wretched voice. Screamed, pulled at her hair, stopped in the middle of the hallway and rammed her leg into the nearest wall-not at all bothered by the number of students who stopped to watch, all the while wondering if she was alright.

Even then the voice wouldn't leave. She couldn't help the unsolicited anger she felt towards the short woman with her oversized cheeks and dumb glasses which the woman probably thought would symbolise the wisdom she definitely lacked.

Of course the school was dumb enough to think a psycho seated behind a desk with a plate tag and a seemingly perfect life was what she needed to fix her apparently fucked up life.

Her thoughts ended abruptly when she collided with yet another one of the idiots who had the misfortune of being in her path. She was rewarded with a loud yell and string of profanities which she ignored as she moved on, barely even looking at the person.

She let out a groan when another figure appeared in front of her. She was just about cussing out the person when she looked up to find Justin staring down at her.

She rolled her eyes, sidestepping him. She stopped again when she saw Chikaima coming out of her class.

She looked back at Justin who still stood where she left him, staring at her with his dark eyes. She looked away, uncomfortable by the intensity of his gaze before throwing a glare at Chikaima and walking into the class.

She barely took note of some other students from the C.O. class as she made her way to her seat. She could feel three pairs of eyes following her movements but paid little attention to them.

Once on her seat, the questions began to flow.

"What happened?"

"Where were you?"

"Are you okay?"

She ignored Amelia and Kamsi but the last question caught her attention. She looked at Chidiogo. Her face bore an emotion she couldn't place. Concern? She scoffed, resisting the urge to roll her eyes. Sure, it was concern.

She got distracted for a moment by how perfect Chidiogo's hair was and wondered how hers looked after her brief period of madness.

She could hear Amelia and Kamsi saying something about how she hadn't given them an answer but Chidiogo's voice again caught her attention.

"Are you okay?"

She repeated the same question and it rang in Mmachi's head for a while. Are you okay?

She could feel the anger which had begun to wane threatening to resurge as she kept staring at Chidiogo's face.

An image of her pushing a knife through Chidiogo's face flashed through her head causing her to look away. She nodded, managing to choke out a 'yes'.

Amelia and Kamsi's questions didn't cease and she was about looking for an excuse to leave when she saw the the Government teacher walking into the class.

She had never been happier to hear the words 'CLASS COMPLIMENT'.

She grabbed her Chemistry note, grateful for the distraction. She was out of the class even before the greeting was over.