Chapter Two

When I got home around 4pm I could already perceive the aroma of my favorite food, potato porridge.

I went into the kitchen to greet her and of course I'm living with my grandma . I started living with grandma Nevis after my parents divorce and well that's a story for another day.

She looked up from the veggies she was slicing and asked “where did you get that from?

No welcome back, no kisses or hugs just “where did you get that from.”

Hmmph

"A girl lent it to me," I answered.

The girl doesn't have a name and why did she have to? Grandma replied.

I spilled lunch on myself so a girl named Ivy lent me her hoodie I said as I narrated the day's ordeal to her.

Okay just be careful, she said. I hugged her and excused myself from the kitchen to go do a wee so I grabbed my bag and went upstairs to my room.

When I got to the bathroom and was about to pee, that's when I noticed a small stain on my underwear. I was on my period , maybe that explains why I lashed out on that Zayne boy in the cafeteria today, I let my hormones get the hold of me.

I cleaned myself up and changed out of my clothes as I sat on the bathroom floor reminiscing about my actions .

The next morning I woke up with cramps. I usually have those during my period.

I went downstairs to take my painkillers and have my breakfast as I had already had my bath.

I met my grandma downstairs cleaning the table.

Good morning ma, I said as I went to hug her.

Morning my love she replied as she hugged me back. You look pale, are you okay?

"I'm fine, I answered.

"I prepared noodles. It's on the dining table and make sure you eat well “ . I ate my breakfast as I took my school bag

Are you okay, Leya? My grandma asked again .

Leya is the pet name my grandma always call me , it's from my name Daleyza

Yes I'm just on my period I replied. Okay, take the ibuprofen in the drawer, I don't want you complaining of cramps , you know I can't bear seeing you in pain.

I already took some, I told her as I grabbed my bag to head out .

Daleyza, my grandma called . “ Be a good girl and anytime you feel tense or tired take your drugs and say your spiritual affirmation . Come here”. she said as she stretched out her hand for a hug , I went to her as she gave me a deep hug and kissed my forehead.

“Goodbye Leya.”

“Good bye, granny.” I waved at her as I headed out.

School is the last place I want to be but I don't have a choice, do I ? I kept my head down as I walked down the hallway to my classroom. Some people were casting their gaze on me. I noticed some faces from the cafeteria. I didn't let that bother me as I continued walking

We were having an English lesson that morning. I got to my seat and sat down. Not long after I sat down did I notice the presence of someone beside me and when I looked up, it was him, Zayne . The guy from the cafeteria.

He didn't say anything to me, just pretended as if he didn't see me. I pulled out my English note and pretended to be busy.

The teacher walked in a few minutes later and started talking about pragmatics and some other things I couldn't understand ‘cause I wasn't paying attention .

Just then at that moment I felt a wet feeling underneath.

No, no ,no this can't be happening. Oh God don't let it be what I'm thinking , please don't let me be stained, I said in my mind.

I looked down under my jeans but I couldn't find anything and yet I'm still feeling that wet feeling.

"Hey” I looked at him as he leaned closer to me

"What?" I whispered.

He hesitated as he looked at my seat before looking back at me

"You're… um…" He stopped mid sentence rubbing the back of his neck. "You might want to check…"

My palms suddenly became sweaty as my ears became hot

"What are you talking about?" I said.

"I think you're stained," he said quietly. "Like… your jeans…. your jeans are stained"

Uhn .. I said as I stared at him wide-eyed.

He looked uncomfortable. It was as if he didn't want to say that but he had no choice.

"Well, well … I just thought you should know before you stand up," he said.

I turned my face away from him as my cheeks were now burning .

"Mind your business," I said.

His eyes widened in surprise “but I was just trying to help……"

"I said mind your business, this time around my voice was louder.

Immediately I said that the entire class became silent and turned to look at us .

Even the teacher wasn't left out as she turned to look at me .

"Is there a problem, Miss Bennett?" she asked.

I couldn't say anything at first. The whole class was still staring at the both of us.

No…. no problem , I finally managed to say.

The teacher looked at me for the last time before continuing her teaching. Yet the class was still watching, I could feel their eyes on me.

I grabbed my jacket from my bag wrapping the jacket around my waist as I stood up with my bag .

"I need to use the bathroom," I said.

The teacher nodded as I ran out of the classroom .

I locked myself in the bathroom and sat down on the toilet seat. My head was throbbing. I had been harsh, there was a huge stain on my jeans in which if I had stood up in class everyone would notice, he tried to tell me but all I did was yell at him in front of everyone .

I put my head in my hands.

Oh God, what is wrong with me?

Chapter Three.

When I got to the bathroom I pulled out clean jeans from my bag and a new pad . I usually keep extra clothes in my bags during my periods because I usually have heavy flow and grandma Nevis once said, “Always be prepared, Leya. Your body might not always give warning “ . And I am grateful that I listened to her instructions. If not I'd have been stranded.

I packed the stained jeans into a plastic bag and kept it in my bag . Then I washed my face in the sink as my reflection stared back at me.

At that point I looked tired and very exhausted.

I took a tissue from the sink counter, dried my face with it , took a deep breath and then I left the bathroom.

Walking down the hallway I met Ivy. She was scrolling through her phone with her pink backpack as she rested on the wall of the hallway. She looked up when I called her.

Hey, Ivy I said.

"Oh thank God," she replied. "I saw you run out of class so I excused myself from the classroom. Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," I said.

“ Are you sure? You look pale," she muttered.

Oh God, she's the second person telling me I look pale, do I really look pale??

"Yes Ivy, I'm fine ok” I replied .

She stopped resting on the wall as she stood close to me , she asked, so why do you run out of the classroom like that?

I didn't answer at first. Then I said, my jeans got stained so I had to change.

Oh my goodness, sorry , was it that bad? I mean the stain… she asked.

Yeah but can we not talk about it?"

"Okay, yeah , sorry.

We continued walking in silence, the hallway was now empty as everybody was in their classroom.

I reached out to my bag and pulled out her hoodie, the one she lent me.

Take, thanks for yesterday, I said. Wait .. what you returned it and you even washed it, you know you don't have to do that, Ivy said as she gave me a warm smile

She folded the hoodie under her arm as she came closer to me and gave me a hug. I like you, Daleyza and I wish to be your friend.

I didn't know what to say to that so I just gave her a warm smile.

"Come on," Ivy said, nudging my arm. "Let's go back before she marks us absent. I actually want to understand what she was saying about pragmatics."

"You understood that?"

" I don't really think so, but I understood some of it to some extent .

Oh okay, you'd teach me the ones you understand, I said.

Yeah, she said as she held my hand and we walked back to class together.

When we entered the classroom some people were casting a weird look at us , but do I give a care? No . I just walked to my seat and didn't bother about them . At that time the English teacher had already left our class. And don't ask me her name ‘cause I don't know.

When I got to my seat I noticed zayne was not sitting alone . There was a blonde girl beside him, she had a pretty and attractive face and was resting her head on his shoulder and laughing at something he said to her.

I just ignored them and sat on an empty chair, ivy then came and sat down beside me.

"That girl beside him is Sloane,” she whispered.

Okay I answered.

“That's his ex.”

“I didn't ask”

“ Yeah , I know you didn't, just wanted to tell you. She usually acts like that most of the time to make people think they're still together even when they're not.”

“Ivy ”

“Yeah ”

“I really don't care, ” I said as I brought out my book pretending to jot down something.

“Oh okay, then I shouldn't bother you then. “

Fifteen minutes before the next period a girl came inside our class. I haven't seen her before in our class or maybe she was and I wasn't paying attention . She was plump and had big hoop earrings on her ear.

"Mrs. Aldridge said I could steal five minutes,” “Collating the senior poll results ”

Immediately she said that the whole class felt alive as some people whistled, and clapped . A girl even brought out her phone to record .

"Okay so we're doing the "Least Likely" poll today. You know the rules, I read the category, you vote with your hands."

"Let's go," someone from the back shouted

"Least likely to survive without their phone."

Half of the class erupted into laughter as they pointed at the boy sitting in the third row. He buried his head on the table after being pointed at.

"Least likely to stop talking in class."

Everyone pointed at a girl near the window who immediately started protesting loudly, which only made everyone laugh harder.

It went on like that.

Least likely to graduate without detention. Least likely to actually obey school rules. Least likely to pick up a fight.

I watched from my seat,I didn't join in the game neither did I point at anyone but Ivy, she was just cackling beside me

Then the girl with the hoop earrings looked down at her phone then she gave a slight smile.

"Okay last one," she said. "Least likely to ever get along."

The room went quiet for a second, then heads started turning as I felt their eyes on me

One, two , three, four and more hands were pointing in my direction.

I looked around the classroom and found Zayne looking at me with an unreadable expression.

Apart from ivy, Sloane was the only one not pointing at me , she just sat down with folded arms and a smug grin on her face.

"Zayne Viscount and the new girl," the poll girl announced, checking her phone. "Daleyza Bennett. Class of this year's least likely to ever get along."

Someone started clapping then more people joined in.

Ivy moved closer to me and whispered, Dale , don't react okay?

I wasn't going to, I just looked straight ahead, picked up my pen and wrote the date on my notebook page.

Even though I could still feel his eyes on me, I didn't look back.