Gone 19

Raising her head only slightly, Temi smiled lightly as she said;

"But I would say I was a lil' curious...!" Temi admitted as she brought her fingers up and shower the size of how curious she was at that time.

The old woman nodded her head.

"But at least I said so..!" She said, as if in achievement as she clenched her fists lightly.

Raising her head to look at Temi, she said;

"Go on...!"

"So when as I was still busy with my assignments and going 'bout my work...!"Temi said.

"That was the first time...and I mean the first time, that that girl that I had mentioned earlier called my name and was like; 'Tems, you really need to check this guy out...!' "

"At first, I was like...!" Then Temi made a face as she squinted her eyes and said again.

" 'Girl, you never talk to me and you gon' do so now...? Because of a boy...?' " Making a scoffing sound, Temi eyed nothing in particular as she said;

" 'If you ain't talkin' 'bout how I'm gon' make ma grades, then don't even bother bringing up the topic of any boy...!' "

" 'In fact, 'DO NOT', bring up the topic 'bout anybody near me...!' " Temi narrated.

The old woman raised her eyebrows in surprise.

"You told her that?" The old woman asked.

"Nah, but I was gonna...!" Temi responded.

The old woman raised an eyebrow.

Temi laughed lightly.

"So but, after I had heard the gist, one of our teachers called for me and asked me to get something from the principal's office, which, I did, but I never thought I'd bump into the 'New Boy' there...!"

"But you said, you were never involved in anything that they did, why were you so interested in the talk of this guy all of a sudden...?" The old woman asked cutting Temi off.

Temi was silent for a while as she let out a small laugh.

"Grandma, I wasn't interested in the talk of the guy, but all of a sudden, I was being 'Informed' 'bout the guy...or boy, or, whatever...!" Temi said.

"Being 'Informed'...you know you had the power to tell them you don't want to know 'bout such things, right...?" The old woman said.

Temi nodded.

Lowering her head down a bit, Temi said in a low tone;

"Yeah, I know...!"

Raising her head, Temi met the older woman's eyes, as she added;

"But that time, I was tryna fit in, you know...?"

The older woman looked at her, as if understanding what Temi was trying to say.

"But not like tryna do so in a manner that would be so visible, you know, I was just...!"

Sighing, Temi paused before going in to say;

"I wasn't the type of kid that had a lot of people, that is, to regard as 'Friends' 'round me, and, I don't know, but for no reason apparently, I just didn't want to associate that much so I was never actually really involved in all their activities...!"

"But I really wanted to have friends, but, they were never forthcoming!"

Looking away and then down at her fingers, Temi played with her fingers as she said;

"Upon all that...!" Temi paused as she looked down.

"The 'friends' that I had managed to have, also kinda kept their distance...!"

"What do you mean...?" The old woman asked.

Temi looked at the woman.

"That's another story for another day, that I really don't wanna talk 'bout..." Temi said in a low voice.

The old woman slowly closed her mouth.

Looking away, Temi sighed.

After sometime, Temi began speaking again.

"So, after the gist, the...one of our teachers sent me on an errand...!"

"Were you the Captain of your class during that period...?" The old woman asked.

Temi shook her head in negation as she answered;

"No...!"

"Then why were you being sent?" The old woman asked with a frown.

"It ought to only be the class Captain that should be sent on errands and not just some random student...!" The old woman flared.

Temi just stared at her.

"In my days, I was the class Captain and no matter who the teachers were, you have no right to go on errands, if you don't hold any title position in the school...!" The old woman said in a loud voice.

Temi only stared at her.

"What title did you hold back then, Grandma?" Temi asked.

"I was the Head Girl back in my day!" The old woman said with an air of pride.

Temi only stared at her for some seconds before lowering her head and saying;

"That was back in your days, Grandma, these days, teachers send whoever they wanna send irrespective of their status...!"

Looking out the window, Temi said in a low voice;

"Besides, I was the assistant class Captain!"

When Temi didn't hear the old woman any longer, Temi turned to look at her, to find the old woman glaring at her.

Temi smiled.

"I thought you said you didn't hold any position...!" The old woman said.

Temi's smiled got broader as she looked away and said;

"I was...!"

"You know as the introverted person that I was, my class teacher decided to bring me out of that state by making me the class Captain...!"

As Temi spoke, she watched the expression of the old woman change, causing her to laugh as she said;

"C'mon, Grandma, I was just messing with ya'...!" Temi said as she placed her hand on the old woman's hand.

The old woman tried to hide her smile.

"Next time, don't joke like that when. it comes to something as important as this, hear me...?" The old woman said.

Temi laughed.

"Important...?" She asked as she looked at the old woman with a slight frown on her face.

"What's so important 'bout this stuff...?" Temi asked again.

"It's so ridiculous to be regarded as something so important...!" Temi said.

"Just as you should be careful with what comes outta your mouth, that's how you should also be careful with every aspect of your life...cause you ain't knowing what's happening...!" The old woman said.

Temi's smile froze.

She stared at the woman for a while.

After a moment of silence, Temi slowly removed her hand from atop the old woman's hand as she opened her mouth and said;

"When I was being sent to the principal's office, I joyfully walked with a melodious heart as I sang along the way..."

The old woman looked down at her hand.

"I wasn't expecting to be greeted by anybody other than the principal, but I coincidentally was...!" Temi paused for a bit.

"And it was him...!" Temi said as she stared into the distance for a moment.

"I saw him seated there...on that chair...the exact same chair that I had sat on the very first day that I myself, had visited that school...when I wanted to get enrolled, and...!" Temi hissed as she looked away.

Heaving a very deep hot breath, Temi continued;

"He was seated there...staring at me...like as if...!" Temi hissed again as she lowered her head and played with her fingers.

"Like as if he was gonna eat me up it something...!" Temi said.

That had the old woman all cracked up as she bursted out laughing.

"Oh, Temi dear, you are such a funny little girl...!"

"Little?" Temi asked with a frown on her face with bulged eyes as she turned to look at the old woman beside her.

The old woman stopped laughing all of a sudden as she pursed her lips and stared directly at Temi.

"Uh oh, did I pull the string...?" The old woman asked.

"Yeah, Grandma, you did, cause I ain't little more...!" Temi said.

"Oh really?" The old woman asked.

"Yeah, really ma'am...!" Temi said.

"The little Temi that had been bullied, backbitten, tossed back and forth like a tennis ball, isn't the same as the grown Temi now...!" Temi said.

"When I got to the principal's office, get was just seated there, staring at me...I entered, greeted the parents...greeted the principal, cause I haven't seen him since that day, and, so I told him what I had come for...!"

"When I told him why I was there at the time, he understood why I had come and for what I had come for, so he rummaged his desk for the file, cause it was a file that I had been asked to get for the teacher...!" Temi said.

"So, as he rummaged his desk for the file, I could feel the gaze of the guy on me, as in, it was so intense, it felt like it was burning my skin...I almost couldn't resist the urge to burst out and be like, 'Dude, what's up...? Did I offend you or something...?' "

The old woman still resisted the urge of not laughing as she listened to Temi.