Pearls Of Different Colours Episode 4

“Hey you , take these brooms and head to the headmistresses office. Tidy the place up and get back here as soon as you are done. No checking stuffs you aren’t allowed access to,get it ? ” . We heard miss Frances tell Alicia and Carin; two of our colleagues from the Arts class while we walked down the hallway ; on our way to clean up our previous classes and dorms.

( Four of us walking, each with a broom )

Kendra : ” that sounded more like a threat not a warning or caution” ,don’t you agree Rachel ? . Kendra joked at the way Miss Francess spoke to Alicia and Carin.

Rachel : ” Hahaha yeah , a very compassionate threat . Miss Francess won’t kill us before we finally graduate from this school ” , I added quickly .

Nicole :” Hey you guys shush ( putting a finger on her lips to tell us to keep quiet) . She’s coming this way, just behind us “. She kept saying.

Lisa : ” Who is coming this way Nic? Lisa asked prompting us all to look back.

Lo and behold , Miss Francess was right behind us , almost catching up with us. Then we all went mute and began smiling like we had seen the queen of England. We retreated our steps so She’ll meet us.

Miss Francess : “Hello girls. She smiled at us. I hope you are all working hard “?

All four of us : ” Hello Miss Francess .(we smiled back). Yes we are m’am.( we chorused again )

“You’re looking great ma” , Lisa said .

“Yes ma , very great ” , I added.

Miss Francess : ” Oh thank you girls ; you are looking great yourselves ” . She told us as she hurried ahead of us. ( we all waved at her still smiling ).

Immediately she passed us by and was ahead , we stopped and took good looks at ourselves and the clothes we were in. We had been working from dawn ,it was obvious our house attires were almost dirty and Miss Francess had the courage to tell us we weren’t looking bad ourselves. There and then, we knew she had insulted us indirectly.

We laughed and laughed and continued to laugh even when we got to the dorm and continued with the cleaning. Kendra couldn’t stop telling us how beautiful and great we looked ( in a laughing voice ) .

It got more interesting , joking and dancing whilst we packed our books and clothes. Few minutes later , we heard the bell ring and thought it was for lunch ; only to be told we were to assemble in the Melbourne Hall .By this time , almost everyone was done with cleaning of the dormitories as well as packing and was making their way to the hall.

We got to the hall and there Miss Francess was , up and about ready to share our new dorms to us. And where would have our last memories before finally leaving Melbourn High. For me, and am sure for the rest of my friends , it looked impossible for us to share the same dorms again as long as Miss Francess was concerned. She knew us too well. From first year, through to second year and now final year ? ,

we doubted.

” Nic Nic , Kendra called Nicole, do you think we’d be together “? .

” I doubt Kenn , I really doubt ” , Nicole replied.

The whole place was quiet . Everyone was either holding something or carrying something on her head. From luggage’s, bags , boxes , hungers ,shoes and slippers. And not forgetting our usual dorm attires which we wore looking like hostages.

I was busily concentrating on Miss Francess who had her eyes fixed on a book I guessed contained the list of dorm mates when Lisa called me.

Lisa : ” Rachel , see Genny’s haircut, and Freda’s too ” Lisa giggled so hard that it echoed.

I quickly checked the haircuts out and believe me , I couldn’t help but laugh. I told Nicole who also informed Kendra and that was it. We laughed so hard that we realised we were the only ones making noise. It was so funny that , it was hard resisting to laugh too.

” So these girls went in for these haircuts only because the school authorities had warned us not to come back to school with bushy hairs ” ? Kendra spoke in a low tone. She giggled so hard that her giggling had us all doing same.

Just when we were enjoying the drama , Miss Francess spotted me .

” Hey Rachel , get to Miss Lydia’s office and tell her to come and help me out here ” she told me.

My heart skipped a beat because I thought I had been caught and would be asked to kneel down ; which was her usual punishment. I heaved a sigh of relief and headed towards Miss Lydia’s office.

Miss Lydia was one of the youngest female teachers in the school. She taught very well I heard , and could teach multiple subjects still having you understand each and everyone of it.

Although she hadn’t taught our class before, we looked forward to having her join us in our final year.

I usually met her when I went to the staff room and she’ll ask how I was doing but then we had never really had a talk before.

Miss Lydia’s office wasn’t far from the hall so I got there in no time. Upon getting to her office door , I knocked and heard her ask me to enter which I did. I met a middle aged man and a young boy whom i believed was his son and if i wasn’t’ mistaken would be a year or two older than me . After i greeted all of them , I informed Miss Lydia she was needed by Mrs Francess. She asked me to sit on a chair few steps away from her desk and wait for her while she attended to the man and the young boy .

After few minutes of sitting there, i saw the man and the young boy stand up to take their leave. The man looked at me and smiled at me on their way out , I smiled back. I believed it was a way of showing courtesy as mum always told us.

I waited for Miss Lydia as she packed some documents from her table whilst she and I had a little conversation.

As we headed towards the hall, I saw the man and his son drive away from the campus. Although I smiled back at the middle aged man , which i thought was courteous ,his smile made me a little curious…