Chapter 10 ~ A New Friend ~

The next morning arrived, Ariana hadn't slept at all and she was regretting it, with much effort she dragged herself out of her bed, she took her bath , dressed up and swallowed her breakfast. She wasn't herself at all, she just moved around in a robotic mode, she wasn't fine, the way her heart thumped hard in her chest, her head was spinning, and mouth felt dry and bitter, her eyes felt like they would bulge out any moment from too much tears that was shed, her throat was dry. As she walked to school, she dragged her feet along the pavement, cars sped by, the noise was overwhelming that day, and she felt like turning around and going back home, she could lie, tell her mother she was not well, it was partly true, but she urged herself to move forward, she didn't even bother to greet the security man, and the man looked at her as she dragged her feet into school, slightly worried.

She felt even more sick as she approached her class, it was noisy, too noisy for her to stand.

Standing in front of the class, she took a deep breath before entering, heads turned towards her, but no one acknowledged her, it was something she was used to, but today it hurt her, she wished she had a friend, she missed Ida so much, if Ida was here, it would have been better.

She slumped into her seat dropping her bag on the floor, she felt really exhausted from the lack of sleep, her head soon was on her locker and she felt herself drifting into sleep, until she felt a tap on her shoulder, she sighed, she felt like crying so much.

She looked up to see Jessica, who beamed down at her, she supported her head with her palm as the girl sat by her.

" Hey. Are you okay?" Concern laced Jessica's voice, it surprised Ariana, for Jessica was never her friend, they hardly talked. She just nodded avoiding the girl's gaze on her. She was afraid if she spoke it might come out as a sob.

"No you are not, your eyes are so puffy and red. It's obvious you've been crying" Jessica pressed on, surprisingly, Ariana was not at the slightest irritated, instead, she felt more vulnerable, she felt she could cry on Jessica's shoulder, she felt she could tell her how sad and broken she was, how she felt lost and weak, how she needed Perry so much, she couldn't afford to loose him , not at all. She stood up abruptly, Jessica stood too, she almost fell and Jessica had to hold her.

" Please take me to the washroom" She managed to say as her throat constricted, Jessica nodded helping her out of the class and to the washroom, there, in the washroom, she cried, she cried so hard and worried she wouldn't stop, all along, Jessica rubbed her back soothingly saying nothing, Ariana felt embarrassed, she barely knew the girl.

"Are you okay now?" She asked softly still rubbing her back.

" No, but I will be" She felt she could talk to Jessica, even trust her, though she knew it was an impossible task, the only person she trusted was the cause of her tears.

" You really don't have to tell me anything, I just want you to be okay" She assured her, thinking of it, Jessica was generally nice, loved by most teachers and students, she was the "queen bee"

of the school because of her exotic beauty, and she was brilliant, she came from a wealthy family too, her family's wealth was well known in the country, making her the richest kid in the school, she mostly was by herself too, the only difference between her and Ariana was that,she was outgoing and Ariana was not.

" Thank you" Ariana said looking at Jessica, the girl smiled embracing her.

" So, can we be friends? " Jessica asked, she seemed a bit nervous asking, Ariana was happy and that was unusual, but she knew deep down in her heart that she needed a friend. A small smile crept on her lips as she nodded.

"Of course, I'd love for us to be friends" she said, Jessica's face lit up so much, she hugged Ariana again.

"I think we should go back to class" She said, they walked out of the washroom, Ariana felt a lot better, she turned to look at Jessica as a question popped in her head.

" So have you chosen your schools yet?"

"Yes, the headmaster has already begun piling up information, he'll start demanding for our school choices today." Jessica said.

"So what schools did you choose?" Ariana asked.

" I chose Ghana National school, that was the only school I chose, my mum said there's no use choosing other schools because I'm going to get admitted there anyway" Jessica said, this made Ariana elated.

"Oh I chose Ghana National too. I'm so happy.

I hope I'm able to pass well" She said.

" Come on.. you are very brilliant, you are definitely going to get admitted in that school" Jessica said to Ariana, the latter smiled at her thankfully, they entered the class rushing to their seats,the headmaster stood in front of their class as he spoke to them.

"Good afternoon candidates" He addressed them, it sent a jolt of excitement through them , hearing the headmaster call them candidates, they greeted him in chorus, excitement evident in their voices, silence soon lapsed as they waited for the headmaster to speak, clearing his throat, he begun his speech.

"You will be completing Junior high soon to go to various senior high schools across the country, I'm sure some of will be studying abroad too, I'm here to inform you about your school choices, I hope you all chose your schools sensibly and with the help of your parents, the deadline for submitting the forms containing your information is Friday, the Ghana Education Service as we all have made some few amendment in their system.

Please choose wisely, and study hard so you can finish hard. " He left the class seconds after, and the class erupted into noise, everyone was excited about senior high, the school had given each Jhs 3 class a book containing all the list of the schools in the country, ranked in their different class. Some students gathered around the class prefect as they looked through the book again , out of excitement.

"Ariana, come with me, I'm going to Jhs 3B" Jessica said , Ariana nodded walking out of the class with her.

" What are you going to do there?" Ariana asked her, she hardly went to the other classes, the Jhs 3 class had three categories, A, B and C.

The same applied to other classes, they were grouped that way because of the number of students in the school, one class mostly had a maximum of twenty students.

"I need to take my book from a girl, then we can go home together" Jessica explained.

"Home?... oh... yes we are closing early today" Ariana said, standing at the entrance of the class, the day was a sport day for the school, it was optional for final year students, she mostly went home right after the bell rung, she smiled as she saw Jessica step out of the class.

They walked together talking about themselves, Ariana didn't know she could talk that much, laugh so hard or even crack funny jokes.

Jessica was really fun and in a way, reminded her of sister.....