After the Birthday Party

After giving us gifts and giving a closing remark. The party ended and we drove back home.

The drive back home was very quiet as it was already late in the evening and we were all tired. Fred was already sleeping.

"Elsie, why didn't you come out when they asked all the children to come out and dance?" My dad asked me.

I kept quiet because I didn't know what to tell him or how to respond.

"Are you shy or do you have stage fright?" He asked me again.

"No," I replied. My voice was barely audible.

"Darling, Elsie doesn't have stage fright. She does presentations in school almost all the time. Maybe she didn't feel like dancing," My mom chirped in, coming to my rescue.

"I didn't feel like dancing," I finally replied.

"That's okay, but you have to be more expressive and stop being reserved." My dad said.

I leaned into the car seat and tried to sleep. I wondered why my dad asked me that question. It seems he had forgotten that I had once danced at a children's day celebration and won a prize.

Before long, we arrived at home, all showered and retired for the night. My dad had to carry Fred inside because he was already deep asleep after playing so much that day. We didn't eat dinner again because we were all still full from the party.

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I woke up the next day feeling groggy. I played so much yesterday that I overslept. My mom didn't come to wake me up either, I guess she knew I would be extremely tired.

I slept in for a bit and when it was 7: 30 am, my mom came to wake me up.

I didn't scream as I would normally do each time I woke up and discovered that I was running late for school. I was already late, but I wasn't bothered since I had only one exam to write that day, and my school no longer paid attention to the time we arrive at school, during exam periods, except we were told to make sure we weren't late for any of our exams.

After a quick shower and dressing up in my uniform, I made my way downstairs for breakfast, first stopping at Fred's room at the end of the hallway to check on him. He was still sleeping.

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"Good morning, Dad. Good morning, Mom," I greeted my parents as I entered the dining room. They were having breakfast.

"You know you are late for school," My dad said as he gave me a stern look as I took my seat at the table to have my breakfast.

"Yes, I won't be punished for being late," I replied.

"Even still, don't you have an exam to write? Is this how you are going to be late on the day of the entrance exam? " My dad questioned me.

"It is just a religious, moral and etiquette exam. It's no big deal. No one bothers if they are late," My mom chirped in as she noticed the tension that was already building up.

"Eat up so you can leave for school," She added to me.

"Where's Fred?" My dad asked.

As I heard his question, I quickly lifted my cup of hot beverage to my mouth.

"He's sleeping. He's done with his exams," My mom replied.

"So because he's done with his exams, he shouldn't go to school again," My dad said with a little bit of annoyance in his tone as he stood up.

"Just let him be, he played a lot yesterday," My mom retorted.

She gave him his bag and walked him out.

I heaved a sigh of relief as my dad walked out of the door. He's always like this, nitpicking over things and expecting us to do things a hundred percent.

I  quickly finished my meal and was about to leave when my mom called me back.

"Elsie, I'll still be doing the night shift today again."

"Huh oooh," I whined as I heard what my mom said.

"I'll cook before leaving so you can stop whining," My mom cut me short.

"Leave now, before you miss your exam," She said as she cleared the plates away.

"Thanks, Mom!" I shouted and ran off to school.

                         *************************

I was very happy today not just because I will be writing my final exam as a primary schooler but also because we were expecting the result of the FSLC Exam we took in early March this year.

When I got to school and entered my class, almost everyone was already there. Many were conversing in small groups and just a few were actually reading.

As I entered the class, Katie kept on looking at me until I got to my seat. Even when I was already seated, she was still looking at me. I couldn't take it again. I stood up and walked to her seat.

"Missy, why are you looking at me?" I asked her as I stood in front of her.

Her seatmate, Victor, stood up for me and went elsewhere to sit down.

"What's the time? Why are you coming to school now?" Katie asked me.

"It's 8: 45 am. I woke up late because I was exhausted from yesterday's activity," I replied as I sat down beside her.

"I was exhausted from yesterday," Katie said, mimicking me.

"Did you dig for coal yesterday?"

I laughed at her question but she still kept looking at me. She sighed and waved her head.

"What's wrong?" I asked her.

"I wanted to tell you that I will be sitting beside you for this exam. As we both didn't read, let's combine our empty heads to write this exam," Katie said as she acted cute.