1 CHAPTER ONE

It's snowing outside this January morning. I wish school could be canceled today but the snow isn't as heavy. School is a nightmare to me because of the rampant bullying. I have asked several times to be transferred to another school but mom and dad say that this is the best high school in London. It's now too late seeing as I will be completing in July this year. To them, Riverview Academy is the best school for me only because it's students end up at the best universities. Everybody would love to take their kids to this school but they can't afford it. It's so expensive. Dad works so hard to take me to this school. He works as a Global Consultant. He usually travels a lot because of his job. Mom crotchets and sells her pieces online.

"Adessa, wake up!" my brother said.

Soren, how many times have I told you to knock before you enter my room?

My younger brother Soren is a star pupil at school and always wants to be there on time. "You made us arrive late yesterday!" he said.

Soren, you know I hate school!

"You've told me this enough times Addie, can we move on from that," he said. I am not leaving your room until you get out of bed, we only have thirty six minutes before school starts.

Get out then, I need to go shower!

Soren didn't want to leave but he knew that I had to get dressed so he left. Soren looked just like me but he didn't really care about the insults. All he cared for was being the best in class and becoming a successful engineer. This is what he always told everyone. Which type of engineer, we were uncertain because he hadn't decided. I got out of bed sluggishly. Another week to receive the mean comments of my school mates. You would think for the years I had been in this school I would have developed thick skin. These kids would come up with mean comments each and every year. It was painful what they told me.

"Addie, breakfast is ready!" Mom yelled.

I got into the bathroom, brushed my teeth and bathed. I didn't want to be late to school because there was a punishment for late comers. If you come late to school, you would remain behind and clean classrooms or toilets in the evening. I have been punished enough times already! Not again this week. I dressed up immediately and packed my things that I needed for the day. I rushed out of the room to the dining room. Soren was eating his breakfast. Today we were eating plantains and tripe for breakfast. Mom and Dad's favorite breakfast. We usually had to strike a balance between African, American and European food at home. Mom and dad were immigrants from West Africa, they had met and married here. We were born in the U.K, our culture was a blend of African and European.

"Adessa, you are going to be punished for coming late again, why not pack the breakfast and you will eat it at school?" mom asked me.

Tripe has a distinct smell, the kids at school will have a fun time mocking me and my weird food from Africa.

Mom, I don't want anyone to make fun of me, let me try to eat it as fast as I can.

"Addie, we only have eighteen minutes to the start of class and you know that's the amount of time we need to get to school on time!" Soren said.

Let me skip breakfast then, we shall have a break at 10:30 a.m., I will eat then.

"No, the breakfast they give at that school is very light," mom said. You will be very hungry by the time it reaches lunchtime.

I knew that mom wasn't going to let me go without breakfast even though it wasn't necessary because I would still have breakfast in a few hours at school. Mom packed my breakfast then she drove us to school. I could drive Soren and I to school but mom and dad insisted that I was not of legal age because in Africa the legal age was eighteen. Almost everyone in my class had a car including my friends. It used to annoy me that they refused to buy me a car and yet they could see my classmates who were as old as me driving. I knew how to drive. I learned from my friend Mae's car. Sometimes I would drive us to the mall. We were the last students to arrive but we reached on time. Mom drove away.

"See ya sis!" Soren said and walked away.

I was back to being scared again. I was now with my tormentors. I walked into the school, everyone was entering their classes so no one noticed me. This morning, my first class was English with Mrs. Claudine Joyce. Luckily for me, she was a latecomer and would come into class fifteen minutes late. I entered the class, everyone was conversing. My friends were the class outcasts, we sat at the back of the class where we felt invisible from everyone else. There was Andrew Finau, a polynesian boy, Mae Lowe, a girl who couldn't see without her glasses and Jensen Bekele, an obese boy.They were happy to see me. We banded together because of the meanness of our classmates who made us feel like we were horrible just because we were different.

"How was your weekend Addie?" Jensen asked.

My weekend was okay, Mae and I went to the mall on Saturday.

"I was telling them that we had lots of fun, Addie," Mae said.

What did you guys do?

"I played video games all weekend, you know that I make some money off my Twitch channel," Andrew said.

Andrew had quite a number of followers on Twitch. He wanted to complete school and thereafter become a professional video game player.

"I spent my weekend at the country club," Jensen said. I played golf with dad and his friends and also gymed. You know I want to look good for you Addie.

Jensen had the hugest crush on me from when I joined the school but I didn't feel the same way. He was a nice guy but I didn't feel the same way for him. Girls at school made fun of him because of his weight but he was alright to me, only insecure.

Look at the loser quartet! They are talking about how they spent the weekend. Ewww, who wants to spend their time with any of you! "Midnight, Glasses, Cupcake and Poly, tell me which malls you hang out so that I don't go there?" the annoying girl asked.

Her friend Liz Cho whispered to her about something.

"Liz here says she saw you at Starlight plaza, who even hangs out in such a place, it's for poor students like you!" she said.

Liz didn't expect it to go that way. She had also been in this downtown mall just like me and Mae. She looked down, clearly ashamed of what she had done. We had seen her at the mall on Saturday but didn't say a word because she wasn't our friend. She was alone. We had wondered where her friends were that day! She didn't talk to us, she acted like we were invisible. Her friend the bully Kemi Barre wouldn't have left us alone if she had been there.People in the class had stopped talking and were now looking at Kemi and us. Kemi picked my back which I had left on the floor, my bag was open. I hadn't closed it after removing my textbook. She removed my food container.

"Stop touching my things Kemi," I said.

It was too late, she had already opened it. The smell of the tripe was so strong in the room.

"What is this disgusting food Adessa?" She asked me. I want to vomit!

She and her friends made vomiting movements. Mae picked the container of food and poured it on her. Kemi was in shock! Mae poured the rest of the food on Kemi's friends. "This food is nice Kemi, I have eaten it several times at Addie's home," she said. It's one of the best dishes you can eat.

Kemi had recovered from what had just happened to her. The smell of the tripe on her clothes was so strong. She wanted to beat Mae. Mae wanted to fight back. Kemi's boyfriend Tendai Moyo Dube came to help. He had been watching what Kemi was doing earlier on just like everyone else. He held Kemi to prevent her from beating Mae. Andrew and Jensen held back Mae. I stood in the middle of both parties.

Kemi you attacked us, what did you expect!

"Tendai, tell Midnight here to shut her mouth," Kemi said. I am going to report her and her friends to the administration. They will be expelled by the end of today.

"Kemi, you can't do anything to me, remember my dad is the mayor of this city!" Jensen remarked.

Kemi knew this already. "Well, I am going to report this to the Headmaster!" she said.

"I recorded everything that happened," Andrew said.

Andrew had acted swiftly, as soon as Kemi came he had turned on his smart watch to record us. Kemi was startled.

"Poly, If you report me, I will make it ten times harder than it is for you now!" she said. "Kemi, what do we do, we smell bad?" Liz asked.

"I don't know about you but I have a change of clothes in my bag for emergencies," Kemi said. She strolled off.

Liz and another friend of theirs named Raven Darby were left looking like fools. Tendai looked at me for a few seconds before walking back to his friends. A classmate named Grayson Knight-Campbell began making monkey like gestures. Grayson's friends Noah and Elijah were laughing.

They are calling us monkeys.

"Addie, ignore them," Jensen said. For now, we need to clean the class or else we shall get detention.

Mae went to clean her hands while I got some saviets and scooped the food that had poured on the floor and put it in the dustbin. People had already opened the windows so there was no need to tell them to do so. I took the dustbin out. I found Mrs. Claudine entering the class as I returned from disposing of the food.

"Class, what is that smell?" she asked.

Everyone turned to look at me. "My food spilled," I lied. 

"Your food has a distinct smell what was it?" she asked. It was plantain and tripe, a dish from Africa. "Take a seat Adessa," she said. Kemi walked into class with Liz and Raven. Kemi had changed into a fresh pair of clothes while Liz and Raven were in their original clothes which had food marks on them. They looked like they wanted to cry.

"Why are you late?" Mrs. Claudine asked them.

Kemi looked at me for a brief second before she replied. I have been feeling sick and I vomited. Liz and Raven escorted me out to clean myself.

"I am so sorry, do you feel better?" she asked.

"Not as bad as I did earlier!" Kemi lied.

Mrs. Claudine let them take their seats. Grayson's friends held their noses as Liz and Raven passed by them. The two girls were clearly uncomfortable! Serves them right. During break, I didn't bother to go to the cafeteria because I was still feeling embarrassed after what happened earlier so I stayed behind in class. Jensen brought for me an apple from his breakfast which he had kept for me. He was so thoughtful. After break, we broke off for our elective courses. Andrew studied Chinese because he wanted to communicate with his followers from China, Mae did art while me and Jensen did design and technology. Mr. Phillip Ngonzi was already waiting for us in class.

Now that the Christmas holidays are over, I need to group you into pairs so that you can prepare your final project that will be submitted to the examination board," he said. I need you to develop something new or solve an existing problem. So, consider this class free. I hope to see your inventions at the end of the year. Don't disappoint me! I want you to work in pairs. I find that when you work together it's easier for you than when you work alone. I have pinned the names on the notice board. Please be aware, I am not changing partners so you're stuck with each other for the rest of the year. Jensen was hoping to be paired with me.

"Mr. Ngonzi knows that we are friends so I know he will put us together," he said.

We checked on the notice board, Jensen had been paired with a boy called James King Fitzroy while I had been paired with Tendai.

"You're with Tendai!" Jensen exclaimed.

We were both startled. This was a mistake, Kemi was going to murder me for being stuck with her boyfriend. I need to tell Mr. Ngonzi that he has made a mistake. I left Jensen looking at the list. Tendai hadn't yet seen the list. Me and Jensen had been the first ones. I found Mr. Ngonzi in his office.

Sir, there has been a mistake. You've not put me with Jensen instead it's with Tendai! "Adessa, it's not a mistake," he said. I know that Jensen and you are good friends but in order to come up with new ideas, you need to be with someone you rarely interact with. "Please give me someone else sir," I cried.

"Why are you afraid Adessa, is Tendai a bad person?" he asked.

I couldn't tell him my true reason.

"He's not bad," I said.

"Then like I told the class, I am not changing the list," he said.

I left his office feeling disappointed. Jensen was talking to King, his new partner about the assignment. Tendai was seated alone. Everyone else had teamed up with their new partners. Kemi was not in this class, she was in art and design. She told everyone that she wanted to be a fashion designer. Tendai must have seen the list because he looked at me expecting me to come to him. I walked up to him.

"Hi!" he said.

I looked at him, I was afraid to talk to him. How was I going to partner with him? His girlfriend terrorized me on a daily basis. She and her friends called me all kinds of names because I was of darker skin. What always hurt me was Kemi was a black person like me, only lighter. She treated me like I was inferior to her. Standing in front of him made me remember what I have been through. Tendai noticed that I hadn't responded so he continued talking. Adessa, I know that I haven't been the nicest person to you but we need to work together if we are to pass. I didn't want him to notice my pain so I put on the fakest smile I could master.

Tendai, all that matters is the work, nothing else. What do you want to do?

"I was thinking about something in the line of food," he said. Like innovative food. How about you?

I am not sure as yet, maybe we can brainstorm about some ideas. I know I want my project to be something that solves existing problems.

"That is a good start then," he said.