Chapter Two

Leaving his house, he ran to his classmate and friend's house - Brian. His house and Brian's are just some few minutes away from each other, and they have been going to school together ever since Alex and his family relocated from the States.

He halted from running to catch up his breath on getting to the front of Brian's house because he ran out of breath from running in haste. 

Luckily, he met Brian's mum - Mrs Smith, who was about to enter her freshly washed red Venza car which was parked on their driveway. She was surprised to see him that way. 

"Good morning ma." He greeted her, realising Mrs Smith's weird look. 

"Good morning, Alex. Hope everything is okay with you?" She replied. 

"Yes, I am." He answered, still knee bent trying to catch up his breath. 

"Is Brian still at home?" He asked her. 

"No, he left already. I thought something was odd between you two because you did not pick up his calls when he called you earlier to remind you that he was still waiting for you. I hope everything is okay between you two?" She asked cautiously. 

"He really called me?!" He asked surprisingly because he did not see notifications of missing his calls when he checked his phone after he woke up earlier nor did his phone rang when he called. 

"Yes. He wanted to come to your house, but I told him to leave for school instead, thinking you have left without him. By the way, why are you so late today, it is very unusual of you." She asked. 

"I... I woke up late" He stuttered while trying to leave for school because he was really late, and he was not in the mood to reply to her silly questions. 

Noticing that he was about to walk away from her, she offered him a ride. 

"I'm on my way already, hop in so I could drive you to school" She asked him quickly before he ran away from her sight. 

He wanted to reject her offer because he was not in the mood for her silly talks and questions. However, he agreed to accept because he was really late for school at that moment and running to school will be exhausting and time-wasting. 

"Okay", he said, and walked towards the car. 

He wanted to seat at the back but she gestured to him to seat on the passenger's front seat. 

While they were on the way to school, he took his phone from his backpack which was rested on his lap to verify if what Mr Smith said earlier was true. Lo and behold! As he tapped his phone's screen to check, he saw the notifications of missed calls from Brian, who called him five times. 

"Did he call me when I was having my breakfast?!" He thought and unlocked his phone to check the time that Brian called him. 

Surprisingly, Brian called him before he woke up, which made him wonder why he did not see it when he picked his phone to check the time he woke up. He concluded that he did not see it because he was still half-asleep when his mother woke him up. 

"You know, it is really bad for the head boy of the best college in the country to still be on his way to school by this time" Mrs Smith said unexpectedly, as though she was expecting him to reply. 

"This is the reason why I did not want to accept her offer for God's sake!" He furiously thought. He nodded his head in affirmation instead of replying. 

He would not have gone to school today, if he did not have a test. Even if he decided not to go and missed a test, it would not be a Mathematics test because he was not excellent at it. He always scored low marks in it compared to other subjects. 

He had determined to score higher than Charlotte this time around at mathematics, because ever since he became a student of the school, it was the only subject that Charlotte popularly called 'the school's star' beat him at. 

They got to the school after some few minutes. Alex opened the door immediately she parked and said his goodbye while running towards the gate and wondered how people would react to his lateness especially some teachers who did not like him and also if he - the head boy of the best school in the country would get punished for coming to school late. 

"Ah! Why is our head boy late today?" The gatekeeper asked him as he ran towards the school. He ignored him because the question irked him.

He instantly knew that it was the time for the national anthem's recitation as he heard the drumbeat that accompanied it. 

He stood firm as he got closer to the assembly ground as a sign of respect towards the national anthem. His heart beat rapidly as he kept on standing in the position. 

He was really anxious of what would happen if he joined the assembly ground. 

While others were busy reciting the national anthem, he was captivated by the gigantic buildings of the best college in the country -Greater Heights College;and its serene environment like he was in the compound for the first time. 

In his front are three two-storey buildings painted in green and cream colour same as the whole school, just like the colour of the school's uniform. 

One of the storey buildings was allotted to the junior secondary block, where it contained their classrooms and other facilities such as the chemistry lab, physics lab, etc.

The second of the storey buildings which was situated at the middle of the two other buildings is the staff quarters where all staff's room were. 

The last of the story buildings is the senior secondary block, which contained classrooms and facilities just like the junior secondary's.

One of the things that added to the beauty of the school apart from the gigantic buildings was the serene environment of the school which was surrounded by different flowers. 

Immediately the recitation of the national anthem and pledge ended, he muttered, "here we go." and walked towards there. 

He felt all eyes were on him, as he took his steps. 

He joined his classmate boy's queue and stood at the back because he was the tallest of all boys in his class. 

The principal who was standing at one corner of the assembly ground approached the assembly and stood between the head girl and the assistant head boy. 

Alex would have been in that position where his assistant was if he had come early. 

"Good morning, everyone" The principal greeted the students. 

"Good morning, sir" Everyone echoed except Alex. 

"As we all know, the end of the session's exam is in two weeks time. So, anyone that has not paid his or her school fees fully should endeavour to complete their payment to avoid missing their exams. Am I clear?" He asked them.

"Yes sir." The students all answered. 

Mr Akeem, the mathematics teacher, came close to him to whisper something to him, before he could continue his speech. 

Brian looked back, grinned and thumped at him as Alex wondered what Mr Akeem and the principal were discussing. 

"Stupid boy." He muttered. 

Brian was an average student in the class and was very poor at mathematics, but did not attempt to be good in it. He was obviously happy that Alex came because Alex helped him in exams, especially at mathematics. 

"I don't read mathematics, what the hell is there to read on in that subject ?" He once told Alex when they were having a conversation. 

"Which is why you always score higher in it than all of us in class." He said sarcastically. 

"Fuck you bro!" He replied as he jokingly tapped Alex's head. 

He smiled while remembering this because Brian was really lively to be with. Not only that, he also made him to quickly adapt and liked his new environment, which he was initially worried about when his parents told him that they were relocating to their country. 

Brian looked back again to tell Alex something, unknowing that Mr Akeem and the principal had finished their conversation. 

Alex signalled to him on realising his ignorance, which made him to adjust to his normal position, but Mr Akeem caught him and looked at him intensely to warn him. 

The principal cleared his throat and said, "that will be all for today."

Alex muttered "Thank God" as the principal said that, thinking that his lateness would be overlooked. 

The students marched to their various classes after the principal's speech according to their classes.

As it got to the finalist to march in to their class, Alex became happy, thinking that he had escaped punishment.

"Alex!" Mr Akeem called him as he was about to take his first step.

He almost broke into tears as he heard Mr Akeem calling him.

"What does this man wants from me? I hope it's not about my lateness. Oh God, help me." He wondered as he turned to walk towards him.