21 Her first class

Patricia rested on the door to her daughter's room, she was worried and when she heard her scream, she glanced at her husband who looked firm. "Honey. . ." She whispered with a worried and scared expression.

"Betty Patricia Sanchez," the man sighed. "That girl needs to learn to stand on her own and prepare to face her problems herself, she needs to be independent." He cleared it out for her but she grumbled about it.

"She was never like that you know, she was sleeping on her own in her room until that night, the night we arrived here. She kept telling us things we never witnessed, you know that. What if it's true?" Patricia pouted at him.

"It's not true, change of environment was what caused that trauma. What about times she sleeps on her own forgetfully? Did she die? Did she get eaten by a witch?" He asked.

Patricia realized that he had a point but she was worried, the child was alone. She was. . . "Can I just check on her? I can't hear her voice anymore, I just want to see her. I want to see our daughter." She pleaded, lachrymose expressed on her face.

After grunting, he went forward to the door and unlocked it, he flew the door open to see their daughter sleeping on the couch. "See, I told you, she'd be fine." The man stared exasperatedly and walked out of the room. The girl was always coming between him and his wife all night, seizing their privacy wasn't satisfying. And he wanted to put an end to it.

Patricia stared at her daughter for a while and stroked her cheek warmly before uttering, "I know that your fear is true but your father is right. We can't always be there for you, I'm sorry." Her throat burned from holding back her tears, Mona had gone through a lot. She stood up finally when she heard her husband call out to her. She closed the door and headed for her room.

Mona gasped out of her sleep to see the daybreak, with that she heaved a deep sigh that felt like it had been stuck in her throat since last night. She was glad it was morning and the day she was going to perform her part of the deal with her mathematics teacher.

Mona prepared herself for school, she imagined how the day would go as she was having her bath.

After getting her bag ready and putting the hairclip her mother got for her on the hair she had fixed yesterday before her parents arrived home, she closed the door to her room, and headed to the dining room to have breakfast but the moment she saw her parents, a frown settled on her face. She looked in the direction of the door and walked ahead. There was no breakfast for her then.

"I'll be leaving," she announced but it was a mutter to herself, she directed her legs to the living room that would lead to the main door.

"Mona darling. . ." She heard her mummy call but she ignored it.

"I have classes mummy, I'm not hungry." Mona had halted and after her mummy called her, she glanced at her parents with a fake smile before going out the door.

Patricia stared at her husband, blaming him through her facial expression. The man just eyed her and continued with his meal.

Mona met Ben outside the house. He was just resuming work and she was glad he arrived sooner, he drove her to school with a light conversation about her activity for the day. Mona was exceedingly excited about teaching, not exactly the teaching but the gift Mr Ken had for her. She couldn't wait for his present.

Mona was also glad that she'd skipped classes that day to avoid Gina and her endless trouble. It was Thursday so after that day would be Friday, and the school would resume on Monday, next week. She would have recovered by then.

Mona took herself to the bathroom when she got to school, she sighed and sighed. Took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Her heart was hammering hard feeling like it would jump out of her throat so she kept swallowing the lumps that were assumed to be her heart.

She stared at her reflection in the mirror after washing her hand for the nth time thinking it would ease her anxiousness for a while but she didn't want to ease her angst.

Eventually, she spoke to herself that she could do it, she convinced herself that she'd receive a gift from Mr Ken, her prince charming if she fulfilled her mission.

Mona walked out of the bathroom and went straight to her locker, she opened it and planted her bag in before going to Mr Ken's office to get the curriculum for class 2A department.

She got the textbook and elegantly took her legs to the class up the stairs. When she entered, the class was surprised to see that it was a fellow student like them that would teach them, they burst into laughter but Mona climbed to the board and dropped the textbook on the counter. "Good morning everyone!" She greeted, she knew why they were laughing at her.

One of them replied. "Good morning stinky pants!" With that, they continued to mock her.

What came to Mona's mind was to run out of the class and to the bathroom to cry but she swallowed her shaky guts and stared sternly at all of them.

This was hard and she had lost her confidence but she faced them all by starting with a smile but they didn't cease to mock her for smiling.

"She isn't even embarrassed, she's smiling. What a shameless girl." A girl announced.

Mona grinned ear to ear at her but with a killer glare, she left the front and went to their midst. With her ear burning and her heart racing that could cause her to stammer, she began. "Yeah, I know that most of you saw what happened yesterday and I'm very much a-aware." She stopped and focused her gaze on the banner at the end of the class.

To act mature and capable, she jerked her gaze. Some of them were still mocking her while some were waiting for her mistakes so they could upgrade their mockery against her. But luck was on Mona's side.

She swallowed and continued, "Yesterday was. . .I don't know. . .I think. . . I-I should say that most of you were aware that I was being bullied." With her body quaking, she said and shut the mouths of those that were laughing at her.

"Why?" She asked and narrowed her gaze at the whole class, she was still shaking but she clasped her hands together to get unnoticed. "Why did you stop laughing?" She asked.

"All you all do is condemn people even when!" She took a breath in, "Even when you don't know the whole story, you don't know the cause, you don't even consider the way I'd have felt to see that I was being bullied yesterday and here, I was asked to come teach your class because the teacher isn't around." Mona let her hands down and looked behind her.

"If you are all better than me, why weren't one of you chosen to tutor the class for a day, even the class president. . .why?" She almost yelled but she kept her cool. "I'd gladly accept you all apologies because you all thought it was right to make fun of me and I don't blame you for that but you are my fellow student, you should make me feel better and encourage me, not to add to my depression." Mona stared at them all to see that she did well, should she stop there because she had so much to express.