Obi walked into her classroom with a thankful heart and a cramp free stomach. Her cramps must have noticed her distress earlier and decided to let her suffer one at a time. On top of the entrance to her class was written J. S. S. 3 B and the noise that emanated from the classroom assured her that she was at the right place.

Some of her old classmates had been moved to the same class she found herself and she could clearly see that the witches she needed to avoid were still present. There were the shy ones which was the group she had automatically found herself in since the day she began secondary school.

The high and mighty who were the likes of Cynthia, the principal's daughter and some over privileged rich students. The notorious back seaters who were mostly boys. They lacked interest in education and were only present in class because their parents wanted them to be. All other groups were present but she paid no attention to any of them till she got to her wooden locker and stool.

Obi never brought lunch to school because she feared being humiliated for eating eba(garri) and soup in class. The funny thing was that all the other children ate the food at home but for some reason it was shameful to bring it to school.

Obi sat on her wooden stool and started offloading her neatly wrapped books from her school bag. Her father had taught her to wrap her books with newspaper so that the surface won't be so rough and also to protect it from tears. Her siblings would also make use of the same books.
She was at her third book before Cynthia and her goons approached her.

"The village tomboy decided to join us today". Obi only looked at her and continued to do her bidding. Cynthia must have been very irritated with the response she got and decided to push harder.

"I don't know why clowns are now being admitted in schools, the suitable place for you should be a nunnery, you dress like them" this earned a fit of laughter from a lot of her classmates but Obi still ignored her.

There were some who didn't support Cynthia's actions but they knew better than to oppose her. They all feared her because her father was the principal and didn't want to serve punishments.

Obi knew very well that Cynthia wasn't bright and could bet that she wouldn't be able to spell the word "clown" correctly. Cynthia was a very dumb student who made no effort to learn. Her father's position had been keeping her from repeating class each year she failed but it was doing her no good.

The thought of how she could not spell the word correctly brought solace  to Obi and a huge grin appeared on her face.

"what is this dumb goat smiling about?" Cynthia barked

Obi pretended not to hear her Cynthia but continued to watch her while she fumed.

Cynthia raised her hand to hit Obi but the hand did not reach Obi's face. The years of farming had earned Obi a strong grip and a strength that surpassed Cynthia's. The mouths of so many students fell open and some tried to suppress their amusement. Cynthia struggled to get free from the grip but it was to no avail

Obi finally released Cynthia's hand and sat back on her seat. Embarrassed, Cynthia sought for another means of retaliation. She walked back to her own locker in search of something to deal Obi with. Obi returned to her initial task oblivious of the evil brewing in Cynthia's mind.

Cynthia finally picked up a piece of wood from a broken locker that lay beside her and hurled it at Obi. The other students didn't see it on time and feared the injury it would cause Obi. But then something strange happened, the piece of  wood went above obi because someone had pulled her away,but landed on miss Akachukwu's tummy who gave a loud shriek.

The woman rubbed her tummy furiously and after the pain subsided she walked straight to Cynthia and dragged her by the ear to the front of the class. Obi turned from where she was pulled to and was surprised to see her Guardian angel face to face.

Miss Akachukwu introduced the angel as Chioma Cecilia ifedioha Ukaegbu then quickly dragged Cynthia out of the class. Everyone knew that not even Cynthia's father could save her from miss Akachukwu's fury.

Few minutes later the girl's belongings were brought into class and she surprisingly kept them beside Obi. Obi smiled warmly at the beautiful girl and could tell that many were jealous because of her new seat mate.

"you don't talk much, do you? Kee afa gị?" What is your name? "

Obi contemplated on her answer and decided to just say her name. She could take the tease from the girl who had saved her multiple times.
But when she told Chioma her name she smiled at her and told her that she had a very lovely name. That was the first time she had been complimented like that by her age mate.

" I do hope you have a big heart" she said

"thank you" Obi spoke softly

"for what exactly? The compliment or the number of times I saved you" she teased giving obi a gentle push on the shoulder

"All of the above" she replied smiling.

"I remembered you the moment I saw you from the car, you didn't change much. But I'm glad you have your clothes on this time"

Obi covered her face with her hands while they laughed.

For the first time in years Obi truly enjoyed herself in school beside her new friend. She was so happy that she didn't sleep as usual in Business studies class.

The day ended on a good note but after she bid Chioma farewell and walked away she was drawn back with a call.

"wait!"

Chioma called out as she walked to Obi and whispered something in her ears that made obi turn red out of embarrassment. Obi followed Chioma and Sandra who was just too curious to find out more about Chioma.

When they got to Chioma's house they were blown away by the beauty. It was nothing like the houses they were used to, even dee ogbo's house couldn't match this one. The well trimmed flowers, grasses, the beautiful trees around. There were so many things that caught Obi's fancy. While she strayed into the garden, chioma went to get her what she had promised inside the big house. She had invited the girls in but they decided to wander around the house.

Obi had barely made it into the garden before a giant dog started barking at her. Clueless and afraid she ran towards the direction she felt she would find safety a small house that was open.

The plants tore through her skirt as she ran while the dog snarled and barked at her. The dog was almost at her heel and the thought of being bitten made her lose focus. She missed her step and landed on the ground. She closed her eyes and prayed for deliverance.

A voice called out to the dog and it stopped. Then the voice barked commands at the dog before it whimpered and ran away.

She opened her eyes to see a very tall boy with a beautiful face. She eyed him from head to toe and noted quietly the resemblance he bore to Chioma.

"What is your name? " he enquired with a staid expression. Obi's eyes roamed around still trying to ascertain the safety of their current surrounding. Her lips were still quivering out of shock and her breathing distorted. "Obiukwu" she finally let out still battling with unsteady breathing. He adjusted the cuff of his pristine white shirt and helped her up.

"For a girl with a boy's name you certainly do not think like one. Usually when a female dog comes after you, you don't run towards her young puppies, you run far away from them".

She adjusted her pleated skirts which had been torn while she ran frantically from the enraged beast. This boy's words were rather insulting but she swallowed any form of insult that would have ensued especially from his reminder of the stereotype that had been carved out from her name . A simple act of gratitude, for he had been her savior. Was he not a dunce for thinking that way? She knew a lot of moronic boys and her cousin Chukwudi was the ideal example.

The dog had run at the sound of his command. She walked away from him slowly hoping to see Sandra somewhere close.

"Hey!" He called out

"You owe me a thank you and something else"She ignored him and kept walking.

She hated dogs and arrogant rich boys!

"My name is Obiefune!"

She stopped for a brief moment and yelled back at him "thank you! ".

It was not until she walked a certain distance that she realized that he had probably seen her torn blood stained skirt. Embarrassment dwelled in her mind and her pace increased rapidly.

There was something familiar about the boy, maybe she had seen him somewhere before.

************************************
Author's note:

Hey everyone!

It's a long chapter, I know but I just couldn't wait to introduce obiefune.

Hope you enjoyed it, don't forget to comment, share and vote. ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️