The Prey

⚠️ Trigger Warning: This post contains sensitive content that may be distressing to some readers. Proceed with caution.

I knew these people wouldn't matter in the next five years. I knew and believed in my heart that I wouldn't care five years from now, but in this moment, it hurt.

Bullying strikes something in you. At first, it's like rubbing two stones together that eventually spark and turn into a flame. Then you add some wood and pour petrol all over it, and now it's a gigantic, threatening fire, but all you do is just stare at it. Bullying feels like that—like all you can do is stand with your feet stuck to the ground, watching yourself burn.

I'm Adaukwu Chinenye Obi, an SS2 student in one of those really good schools where you have to write more than two common entrance exams to even secure a spot. I transferred in SS1, and being the new girl had all cons and zero pros. It was like I'd transferred into a jungle, and all the predators and prey turned their eyes on me.

Ironically, the prey attacked first. Maybe they wanted to feel powerful, or they just wanted to throw the spotlight on me—let the predators turn their eyes on me and leave them alone. But it was always something small, minuscule, and almost ignorable until SS1 second term, when a predator—Senior Akachukwu, our labor prefect—struck my face with his palm because my classmate Tochi—prey—lied that I'd forgotten to bring something of his upstairs. I didn’t know the full story; I only saw him walk into my class and head to my seat. I stood up out of fear because of the known senior-junior/predator-prey dynamic, and suddenly, he slapped me. He stood there for five minutes, yelling at me for having the audacity to leave his "package" in the hostel and demanded I go with Tochi immediately to retrieve it. I found out his "package" was actually cocaine when Tochi stuffed whitish substances into a black leather nylon, then another, then another before stuffing it into her bag.

Walking up to Akachukwu's classroom began the beginning of the end for me—all thanks to Tochi, who, for whatever reason, decided I was the easiest target who wouldn't dare to explain to hormone-raging, hard-drug-using, power-obsessed Senior Akachukwu. I deserved to be slapped more than she—who had whatever dangerous business going on with Senior Akachukwu—did. 

My blood spills on the floor, all thanks to Tochi.

Once I stepped in with Tochi, it was like everything the prey had been doing the past term had culminated into one big success—the spotlight was immediately on me. A senior groped my butt and smirked at me the literal second I walked in.

"Who's this one?" a female senior sneered at me.

"She no bad oh, how come I never see this ikele for area?"

"Guy!? Be like she dey hide oh, come here jor," two male seniors hollered.

I felt disgusted. No one permitted me a second to feel how invaded I’d felt about a man squeezing my butt like I was bread on display. They all just moved to consume, sneering and smirking, even licking their lips as I walked further into their classroom.

Tochi stopped in front of Akachukwu, then began digging into her bag as she acted like a deaf person who couldn't hear the objectifying statements being made about me.

Akachukwu looked around his classroom, then laughed suddenly like he'd done himself good discovering the next "gold mine"—like he hadn't just slapped me less than 30 minutes ago.

"Na one imbecile wey forget my stuffs for their hostel," he announced, and I wondered if the administration knew their star student, who won awards, was a junkie. But of course, how could they know? Or so I thought.

"Ah! So she know about am?" A senior I recognized as Senior Tolu questioned, singing the 'am' like the inside secret that it was, and I almost dropped to my knees and begged that I didn't know whatever the 'am' was. I almost cried out that I didn't even want to know. But Tochi stared at me, and her eyes told me that if I spoke right now, they could all just decide to start hitting me. So I stayed silent and let the assumption stick, allowing the beginning of my end.

Senior Akachukwu smirked, then nodded. "Why she no go know? I'm not careless man. Principal Amaka don warn me already make I keep my things on the down low, or else problem go dey."

Principal Amaka? So the administration knew, of course. They cheered on star students' audacity, allowing them weeks off class attendance to represent the school in international competitions, giving them good sections of the cafeteria and free access to the auditorium anytime they wanted. Of course, the administration knew a star student was a drug addict. And of course, they did nothing about it.

"Na true you talk, guy. Them don dey become strict oh, naso that bastard Mr. Sam sa—" Senior Tolu was cut off by someone I didn't even know was listening to the conversation.

When I’d walked in, he had his headphones—which were contraband—on his ears, glaring me down as I walked towards Senior Akachukwu.

"—Deliver mine to the main computer lab. 8 p.m. tonight."

Our senior prefect finally spoke, and I looked at him, wondering what the "mine" could scarily be before realizing he had just demanded I come meet him with something clearly illegal when I should be studying during night prep.

I almost said something. I almost screamed. But if Senior Akachukwu was demonic, Abraham Sawyer—our senior prefect—was Satan himself. So I looked down and gulped.

Senior Akachukwu let out a hiss after Senior Abraham spoke but then masked it by clearing his throat.

But Senior Abraham didn't let it slide. "Do you have a problem with that?" He smiled at Senior Akachukwu, but his eyes threw daggers instead.

"None at all, my boss," Senior Akachukwu responded before turning to look at Tochi and me. "Get out of my sight, dirty oloshos."

With a quick glance, I stole a look at Senior Abraham and saw him already glaring at me.

"8 p.m. sharp," he said slowly, as if he were aware he was sealing my fate in some way—acknowledging he'd taken my autonomy away, and I didn't even have a choice.

I've heard whispers about how Senior Abraham was possessed. I've heard about the exorcism his parents—who were internationally renowned bishops—had done on him. It was even rumored he'd killed a person before. But the most complicated whisper I'd heard was about the silent hatred between Senior Abraham and Senior Akachukwu—who was meant to be our senior prefect because the last prefect declared him the next—but then the school administration suddenly enforced a new method of choosing our senior prefects to emphasize the academic standard of the school. 'Assistants' were crossed out, and a tough examination that lasted two weeks was introduced, in which the prefect positions were decided by the exam ranking. Senior Abraham scored a perfect 100%, and Senior Akachukwu scored 99% and so the animosity began. 

Although I joined when the fire had died down because all these happened two terms ago, I knew a lot of students were earlier divided between knowing who to really submit to, as the last king of the school directly passed his mantle to Senior Akachukwu. But then the school declared Senior Abraham senior prefect. Eventually, everyone submitted to Senior Abraham, so there was tough beef between Senior Akachukwu and Senior Abraham—which, unfortunately, Tochi had just placed me in the middle of.

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