Lost

I felt depressed and lost as I strolled absentmindedly. My boyfriend had just broken up with me in the most embarrassing way possible. I didn't even know what to be mad about – was it the fact that he had been dating my best friend while we were still in a relationship, which everyone knew about except me, or the fact that he publicly embarrassed me on the school bus during our excursion to Jebu's park?

As I continued walking, I realized I was in a garden unlike any at my school. I started to panic, knowing I was alone while everyone else was at Jebu's Park because I had left the bus angrily due to what Roy and Jessica had done. To figure out where I was, I calmed down and explored the garden, filled with flowers I'd never seen before. Among them, I could only identify the roses. Seeing butterflies, a rare sight for me, brought a smile to my face, making me feel like a princess, and I began to jump around until a voice startled me, prompting panic once more.

As I spun around nervously to see who had spoken and maybe ask for help, I was totally surprised to find this dude wearing the same outfit as me, but his looked more expensive and had a different school badge. Being a girl who has a thing for fashion, I noticed every little detail, like the tiny differences in our uniforms. Seeing I was standing there confused, he says, "Are you shocked by my handsomeness?" How arrogant? I thought. Anyways, I used the chance to satisfy my curiosity and asked, "What's the name of your school?" And he said, "Caramel's College." At first, it didn't ring a bell, but suddenly, bam! It hit me – I was in Caramel's College, like The Caramel's College. It's the super fancy school everyone talks about. It is the exact opposite of my school, and the buildings are directly opposite each other.

The history of these two schools is like a total drama! There were two sisters, Precious and Caramel, who wanted to make a school together at first, but then they had, like, totally different ideas. Precious wanted a school that supported equality and a place for both the rich and poor, while Caramel on the other hand wanted a more fancy school. Precious' school started off great because it was really cheap and easy to get in, but when Caramel married one of the richest and most influential man in the country at the time, her school got all famous and stuff.

So, like, our uniforms were kinda similar because, well, the sisters came up with the original design. But here's the thing – Caramel's College kept it all high-quality and deluxe, while Precious was all about making it affordable, so she made it more like a once in a while thing for special occasions like our excursion. For our day-to-day wear, we had to rock these super cheap uniforms that Precious herself designed to save some cash.

And here I am, a kid from Precious' side, accidentally wandering into the land of the rich and famous. It was like stepping into a whole new world of glitz and glam! This moment, like, totally made me realize how different their visions were for education, and it was, like, mind-blowing to be caught in the middle of it all.

I was totally lost in my thoughts, not even noticing that I'd been standing there for like a whole minute. Then this guy, out of nowhere, snapped his fingers at me, jolting me back to reality. "Oops, sorry," I mumbled, realizing I'd been totally zoning out. He gave me this once-over, and for a sec, I freaked, thinking he was gonna clock that I didn't belong there, that I was from the "less fancy" side of the tracks. But then he dropped this bombshell: "You're beautiful, and I've been searching for my muse. Can I draw you?" Shocked didn't even begin to cover it. Me? Beautiful? Where? I'd just been dumped by my boyfriend, and everyone had been clowning me, but now I was being asked to be someone's muse, from Caramel's College, no less?

I couldn't bring myself to say yes, though. Like, what if he was just messing with me, you know? But he was persistent, asking if I was shy or something. Me, shy? Nah, I'd been called lots of things, but shy ain't one of 'em. So I shut that down real quick, saying "no I'm not." Then he dropped this bomb about how nobody knew me, he said "I don't know you, so you're unpopular and basically a nobody." Um, excuse me? I wasn't nobody; I just didn't go there, honey. I retorted, "excuse me, I am not a nobody, the only reason why you don't know me is because I don't go here."

Then he looked at me deeply and said, "you obviously don't go here." I got scared that he might be getting on that I am a student of Precious Academy. Before things got too awkward, I tried to change the subject, asking if I should still be his muse. Why did I even say that?

He was cool with it, but warned me not to get caught, 'cause students from other schools weren't exactly welcome. We headed towards this door on the left, and bam, we were in an art studio. It was huge, way fancier than anything we had at my school. I was checking out the portraits when I realized I never got his name. As I reached out to tap him, he turned too, and bam, collision course. I ended up on the floor, and he was just staring at me. I mean, seriously, rude much?

I brushed myself off, but there was no dust, 'cause of course, rich school equaled super clean surroundings. Then he asked my name. "Kibi," I said. "Tayo," he replied, holding out his hand for a shake. I wasn't really feeling it, so I ignored it and started checking out the studio. He headed over to this canvas, and I figured he must've been painting before, 'cause everything was set up. He asked how I wanted to be drawn, and I was like, "You pick." He seemed to have other plans, though. He laughed and said I could sit however I wanted.

I took a seat in the middle of the studio, legs crossed, chin resting on my hand. But I kept fidgeting 'cause, let's be real, this was hella awkward. Then he suggested taking pictures instead, and I was all for it. We headed to this other room labeled "Photo Studio" in big bold letters, and that's when things started to get interesting.