Dangerous Elysium

Chapter One

My name is Angela Brown. I am sixteen years old. I had come to realize that since I heard it on the radio. Life is so short-many people say that, then why don't they give you a chance? My parents were constantly on the move. One city to another, for work so I thought it unnecessary to have friends. The most I've had to do is to write their contact info in a book. You can call it an address book- for acquaintances that is. Either way, I did it secretly, so I didn't get in trouble. They had once said I was focusing more on friends than my education, so I had to delete all contacts, as of then, from my phone.

My parents moving everywhere was all I had ever known. Saying it that way sounds wrong because I hadn't been 'everywhere' in the country. Every time we moved, and I had to go to a new school, and that always felt awkward- strange. The last time that happened, it was Abuja. My parents promised that we were there to stay- they always said that. One thing with my parents was that no matter the place we go, we had to attend the best schools. There was also pressure. We had to be the best in our academics. My brother and I always tried our best and luckily, it was enough. We do live our life for our parents, don't we? We stayed at a hotel while our house was being furnished (mother didn't like the decor), which I thought was too extravagant. Again, a girl like me going to school every weekday from a hotel would think so.

I attended the Crest Academy, which was one of the best (according to my parents). It was supposed to be another one of those schools- there for some time, then gone- but I had liked to believe I was there to stay- as always. I had rules I followed religiously. The first was to not get attached. To a house, school, hobby, or person. One I failed to keep. I had no special secondary school moments that I can share but I knew I could make one there- I hoped I could make one there. I was in my sophomore year of high school, and I was resuming the second term. The school was homey. It was small so I guessed the number of students was controlled. I was shown the way to the staff room. The form teacher took me to the class I was supposed to be. As I entered with the teacher, I felt all eyes on me- typical. It made me want to go back through those glass doors and run to God knows where, but I held back from rolling my eyes.

"Good morning, ma'am" they said in harmonious unison.

"Good morning. This is Ms. Brown. She is your new classmate. No jokes or bullying." Bullying? Okay. The class stared at me.

She addressed me "Take a seat next to Mr. Johnson."

"Yes please." I said politely and sat where she had pointed out.

As soon as she left the class, I felt an unfriendly tap on my shoulder. I turned around to see who it was. It was a girl with an ugly scowl. I searched her face for an answer, which I got quickly: "My seat?"

I was confused. "But the teacher marked this out." I said calmly.

She sneered at me. "I don't care what the teacher did. All I want is you off my chair!"

I was not surprised at all. It happened sometimes in my previous schools. "Fine. I'll leave." I said and stood up. Another girl waved her hand signaling a vacant seat next to her. When I sat down, I turned to look at her again. I had shivers down my spine when I met her cold stare. I looked away. This was obviously not a good way to start a new school and the irony was that I could have been there a long time. The next thing I knew, someone was tugging hard at my shirt collar as if to rip it off. Guess what? It was the same girl. That had been it. I pushed her hand from my collar and adjusted it. My parents always said I should check myself because I had a fiery temper, well they said that when they were calm and not correcting. What did I do to this girl anyway? I tried to ignore her but she became persistent. She seemed the type that always got what she wanted but that is foolish and wishful thinking if she holds to that belief.

I kept my calm until she blurted: "You think you can just come in here and get what you want? Your parents might have paid your way here but you won't last long. Your type never does."

I was very annoyed with this statement. What had I done to her? I had not spoken to anybody, nor had I written any tests. I stood up from the chair and turned to look into her eyes.

"Are you going to report to the teacher, Ms. Brown?" she smirked. That had been it. I had said it before, but everyone needed some reassurance. She tugged the loose thread that held me back.

"Oh please! I've had enough of your unwarranted ego; this is just the first day and you already irk me. Sorry to burst your bubbles, my parents did not pay to get me in this school. I worked hard; I always do. I can bet I would get higher grades than all of you put together. Are you trying to work me up because you are scared? Pathetic." As I said that, the whole class murmured. A particular boy who was reading a book before, not caring about our argument, looked up too. Maybe I had gone a little too far. The girl had wanted to continue with insults, but she was stopped.

"Beatrice, that's enough." It was the boy from earlier. I had never she would listen to anyone but herself, especially a fellow student.

"You think you're that good, huh?" He asked me.

I smiled, "I don't think I'm smart, I know it."

He nodded." You are then welcome to join our study group, that is if you can cope anyway."

He shrugged and continued reading. I sat down. The girl that gestured to me earlier said "Hi, my name is Joanna". She said smiling. She seemed nice.

"Glad to meet you. I'm Angela." I returned her smile. The bell rang which signified the beginning of the lunch hour. Joanna led me to the cafeteria. We went to her favorite spot. It was a secluded area of the cafeteria. We ate our lunch in silence. Till she broke it- that is.

"You are really lucky" Joanna mumbled.

"What?" I asked quite unsure of what she said.

"I said you are lucky."

"Why would you say that?" I asked.

"Well, it isn't that easy to get into the study group and you got the attention of Andrew. I mean he even invited you himself. That's great."

It all made sense then. So, the boy- Andrew was someone with high authority.

"Is she always like that?" I said, referring to Beatrice.

"Yeah, she scared the living daylights out of me on my first day."

"Beatrice is so naïve to think I was there to steal her boyfriend or whatever. I came for more important things, not to fight over a boy who doesn't even acknowledge her." I chuckled because it was the first time something of this sort happened.

"Oh no." She said with a little wave of her hand. "They aren't dating." I smiled. Maybe I should play a game. No! Don't do that it may land you in trouble- a little voice told me.I thought to myself that if I were staying I had better make it worthwhile.