PRICELESS ONE
Priceless One - Episode 19
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The bell chimed for break time, interrupting the student’s almost completed experimental procedure in the dissection of a rabbit in the Biology lab. The biology teacher rounded up briefly and announced.
“We will continue from where we stopped in our next class.”
The SS2 science students filed out one after the other in their lab coats.
“ What do we do now Sandra!!..... Harriet has a video that can nail us down, and if this gets out to the public, we are doomed.” Osasuyi asked Sandra out of fëār.
Right from the moment she heard Harriet declared that she had video recorded them, Osasuyi had become really afra1d of Harriet.
“ I think Harriet is bluffing.” Sandra replied.
“ Don’t be too sure and confident over this Sandra….. we all know Harriet is very bold and confident and she’s not one to make thrëâts if she wouldn’t carry them out.” Chioma added as they went to the cafeteria.
“ I will think of a plan or something to knock Harriet off.” Sandra said, her face showed worry as she knew quite well that Harriet was not to be underestimated.
“ Please you need to come up with the plan quick and fast and we need to stay away from Shalewa as quickly as possible, because that girl seems like one that will put us into tr0uble….. we have bμll!ed many students severally, and we never got into tr0uble until it became Shalewa’s turn….. I think that girl is a w1tch and we should stay away from her.” Chioma imputed and the others agreed.
They ordered their food and lifted their gaze to see Chima and Habib in their usual spot.
“ I think we should involve Chima in what is going on…… so we can all come up with a plan to curtail the situation with Harriet.” Jennifer suggested.
They all walked up to meet Chima and Habib, taking their seats beside them.
“ Chima….. there is tr0uble!....” Sandra announced quietly, interrupting Chima’s conversation with Habib on the matter of sports.
Chima and Habib, turned their gaze to Sandra and her friends.
“ What do you mean by tr0uble?”
The girls wore a worried expression.
“ Harriet walked in on us while we were dealing with Shalewa….. she took videos and thréåtened to send it to the school authorities.” Sandra said.
Chima shot Sandra a look that seemed like she was out of her mind.
Habib chuckled.
“So you Sandra, is trying to tell Chima and I that while you were busy bμllying Shalewa, Harriet walks in on you and you watched her take video of you and scare you all off with thrëâts?” Asked Habib.
The girls exhaled.
“ No that’s not how it happened….. we were so busy pun1shing Shalewa that we didn’t know that anyone was videoing us from a corner…… we don’t even know if Harriet truly recorded us as she thréåtened….. but she looked really serious so we had to back off.” Chioma explained.
“ And why didn’t you grab her phone and béåt her up too….. is that not what you do to people who challenges you?” Chima asked her.
Sandra was quiet for a while.
“ Harriet claimed that she had skills in physical combat and if we came any step closer, she was a button away from sending the video…. So we backed off.” She explained further.
Chima nodded.
“ Hmmm!.... So what do you want Habib and I to do now?” He asked her in seriousness.
“ I don’t know….. but I was thinking we can come up with a plan to béåt her up and seize her phone or probably you guys can come up with a better idea.” Sandra said quietly, gesticulating with her hands.
Chima chuckled again.
“ I’m sorry Sandra but you and your friends are alone on this one…..”
He scoffed.
“...I remembered vividly that I warned you all to leave that girl alone but you all stubbornly refused so you all should fix it yourselves.” Chima replied bluntly and Habib nodded in agreement.
The girls all looked at him pleadingly.
“ Chima please….. you need to help us out of this situation….. please.” They pleaded.
Chima hissed.
“ When I advised you yesterday, you said I should mind my business….. now you want me in your business….. see Sandra….this is a girl stuff….. so you girls should fix it your way.”
Sandra looked at him in astonishment.
“ Do you like Harriet?..... because I do feel that it’s because you like Harriet, that’s why you are refusing to help!!”
Chima scoffed.
“ You are so spontaneous and delusional Sandra…… you think everything is all about you and your nonsense squad?..... I also have my own issues to fix….so fix yours while I fix mine.” Chima fired back.
Sandra became furious.
“ I can’t believe I ever thought you to be my friend!!!” She voiced angrily.
Chima calmed down a little.
“ Fine!!!.... I’ll see what I can do.” He said reluctantly.
Sandra sighed and let out a smile.
“ I know that I can count on you.” She said coyly.
****************
Shalewa sat all alone in her classroom during break time. Staying alone was the best way to avoid tr0uble with anyone, especially the dynamite squad. It seemed to her that Sandra and her crew had already began to avoid her.
She sighed softly.
“ Let’s go get some snacks in the cafeteria.” A voice startled her from behind.
It was Harriet.
She didn’t even know when Harriet entered the class.
“...Oh I’m sorry…… I didn’t mean to startle you.” Harriet apologized.
“ it’s ok….. I was just absent minded.” Shalewa replied faintly.
“...Thanks once again for saving me from Sandra and her friends….. I still cannot imagine what would have happened to me if you had not intervened.” Shalewa thanked Harriet.
“It’s nothing….. those girls are really mean….. it’s hightime they are dealt with…… and to even think that they can do this to you who is one of them? It’s unfathomable..."
Harriet replied in seriousness.
Shalewa sighed.
“ I’m no more one of them…… they found out I lied about my parents being wealthy……. That was my offense.” Shalewa explained calmly.
“ Even if you lied…… that still doesn’t give them the right to treat you that way…… I mean, no human being deserves to be treated like that….. that is really inhμmane Shalewa…… I saw what they did to you…… how can they tie you to a tree and want to whip you!!!” Harriet voiced concernedly.
Shalewa choked back the tears that gathered in her eyes.
“ it’s all my fault…. I should have stayed in my lane and not join them in the first place.”
She broke down in tears.
“...They did a lot of humiliating things to me.”
Harriet felt her pain and wrapped her in her arms.
“ You should have told your parents about it.”
Shalewa nodded tearfully.
“ I know.” She whispered.
“...but I have disappointed my parents in so many ways and I don’t want to cause them further embárrâssment…. And besides, these girls are from wealthy background and their parents have strong influence in the school….. telling my parents will only compound the problem.” Shalewa explained.
“ It’s ok Shalewa…. Do not worry….. I promise you that no more will those girls hμrt you or anyone else in this school again.” Harriet assured her.
Shalewa nodded.
“ Thanks.” She whispered faintly.
“ I had forgotten my math set in my locker and I was heading to the class, when I saw you following them to the field…… I could sense you were afraid so I got curious and followed behind from a distance, that was when I understood what they were about to do to you……” She said and sighed.
“...You suddenly started looking all gloomy and moody in the class ever since you resumed from suspension….. at first, I thought it was as a result of the suspension you were given…… but when it persisted, I sensed something was wrong but I never imagined that you were being bμllied……”
“...What Sandra and her friends are doing is wickedness and it’s high time they are brought to book, if not for anything, but for the sake of those who are victims of their bμllies….. I have a video recording of what they did to you last night, and I intend to send it to the school management so they can be pun1shed…….”
Shalewa shook her head in disapproval.
“ No please don’t send it to the management!!”
Harriet stared at her in surprise.
“ Why?”
“ Because I have suffered so much already and I don’t want to be stigmatized or be a victim of ríd1cule and humiliation…… I’ll just manage to finish this term…. And by next term, my parents have already said they are taking me to another school.” She said softly.
Harriet sighed.
“ I understand how you feel about this Shalewa….. but keeping quiet about this is a form of giving them more power….. even if they stopped bμllying you, what about the others who will still fall victims in the future?….. You must be bold to speak out when you are being bμllied…… there is absolutely nothing to be ashamed of Shalewa…… if not for anything, those girls needs to be pun1shed for what they did to you!!”
Shalewa nodded subtly.
“ I’m not psychologically ready for this….. I need some time to recover my self esteem and heal from the tr@uma I feel right now.” Shalewa said tearfully.
Harriet patted Shalewa softly on the back.
“ I’ll wait for you to recover….. I also promise not to send it until you permit me….. and don’t worry….. I’m here by your side ok…..if there’s anything you want to talk about…..you can talk to me …..I am always ready to listen ok…” Harriet assured her.
She nodded.
“ Ok…. Thanks Harriet….. you are really strong and courageous….. I wish I was like you.” Shalewa said.
“ You are also wonderful in your way Shalewa…… come on, let’s go grab some snacks at the cafeteria.” Harriet urged her.
Shalewa smiled faintly.
“ Thanks Harriet….. the only money left with me is my transport back home.” Shalewa replied.
“ It’s ok Shalewa…..all bills on me….. I really want you to loosen up, be happy and cheerful…. That’s the best way to get out of your moodiness….. Come on let’s go…..” Harriet dragged her by the hand and they went to the school cafeteria.
Harriet bought some snacks and drinks for them and they sat at a corner and continued their conversation.
Chioma sighted them first and tapped Sandra.
“ That girl is hanging out with Harriet now.” She said fastening her eyes on Shalewa.
The girls looked at them.
“ Yes…… like I said, we need to lay low and stay away from them for now.” Sandra said.
The girls nodded.
After breaktime was over, they had series of lessons, but towards the last period, the students went to their different social clubs and remained till closing time.
Shalewa dragged on her bag tiredly out of the Choral club, and walked out of the school gate.
The sun scorched on her skin, as she slowly advanced towards the bus stop which was a long distance from her school, where she would take a bus home.
She gave a loud yawn and wiped out beads of sweats from her forehead. The sun beat into her skin and made her uncomfortable, but she trudged on. At least her day in school was bearable today and she was grateful for it.
Suddenly, a car pulled up in front of her and wined down the window glass.
“ Come on in…. We will drop you home!!” Harriet called her in.
Shalewa saw Harriet and brightened up.
“ Thanks Harriet but our routes are not the same, I am heading the opposite direction.” She said.
Evelyn smiled and looked on at Shalewa. She seemed really stressed.
“ It’s ok dear…. Come in….we will drop you home.” Evelyn said.
Shalewa smiled broadly and entered.
“ Thanks so much ma.” She expressed her innermost gratitude.
“ You are welcomed dear.”
(Do not take credit or Plagiarize AMAH'S HEART stories)
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