She forgot something as she threw in some crumbs of bread into her room. She raced up the stairs to retrieve her school bag.
"Take it easy Chrys." Coral Marble cried for the umpteenth time. She was far too worried that Chrysolite might hurt herself.
"Granny, the shooschool is waiting!" Chrysolite shouted.
And in response to what Chrysolite said, the school bus horned again.
"Ok love, I've put in your lunch box by the table." O,yx called out to Chrysolite.
"Ok mum, Thank you." Chrysolite came racing down the stairs. Her school bag was slung on her left shoulder while she struggled with her shirt buttons. Then, she took her lunch box with the other hand.
"Mum! Corral Marble, goodbye!" She yelled out as soon as she was out of the door.
Onyx didn't like the way Chrysolite called her granny by her name but Corral Marble always seemed fine with everything. Corral Marble still looked way too young that one who saw her wouldn't believe that she was Chrysolite's Granny.
"Have you given Chrys some extra money?" Corral Marble asked her daughter.
"What does she need it for? She's way too young. She already has lunch."
"Well, don't worry about that."
Onyx stopped to think. "Mum, what have you done?"
"I knew you wouldn't give her some extra penny, so I put some in her school bag. She would be grateful for that."
"Mum, you're spoiling her."
"Yes, she needs to be spoilt, why is she your child for crying out loud?"
"She's still a child mother.", O Nyx explained.
"But she's nine. She needs money too."
Corral Marble began to hum a song ignoring any more complaints from Onyx.
*********
Chrysolite ran into the bus and sat at her fafavoritepot, the third seat on the right side where the window was exactly. She looked around, Sardius wasn't on the bus yet. He must have gone over to his father's work the previous day where he passed the night. She looked around for some recognized faces yet she recognized no one. The bus drove on, other kids were talking excitedly to their friends about where they had gone for the weekend. Chrysolite ignored this and she waited for her friend to come on board.
The bus stopped again at a junction, three pupils climbed into the bus. Chrysolite thought one of them was her friend as she anticipated the thought of her friend. One of them was Sardius. The other was a fat boy in class, and lastly was Mary, her friend. She smiled when she saw Mary.
Sardius saw Chrysolite and made way to sit beside her but he was elbowed out of the way by Mary as she raced to her favourite spot.
"What's wrong with him?" Mary said angrily as she sat by Chrysolite. "I have news Chrysolite, your ears are going to explode." Mary's mood changed at once. She began to tell Chrysolite about her exciting weekend.
Sardius glanced over at them with a pained look as he passed them, John in the next seat pulled him down to sit with him. John had always been his secretary on the school bus. Other times if he wasn't there, Sardius sat alone. Sardi wasn't looking, ing but he was considered one of the dumbest kids ever, most of the time timelines acted that way.
"Why do you always want to sit with her?" John asked Sardius.
"She's my friend." Sardius shrugged.
"Ok. But are you her friend?" John asked then turned to look away when Sadius gave him no reply.
Mary on the other hand didn't give Chrysolite any breathing space. She went on rambling about the places she went with her parents. She was slightly fat, with high chcheekboneslousy and provoking in her speech.
Why would such a person be Chrysolite's friend? Mary was the exact opposite of Mary in every way. Yet, Chrysolite found her interesting, Mary kept her company even though Mary was mostly boring in the sense of intelligence. What Chrysolite never knew was that Mary never considered Chrysolite as her friend. They got off the school bus and Mary was still ranting on. Sardius ignored them until he went on to meet his friend, Michael.
Michael had fine features, and fair skin, and was considered one of the finest in form He was taller than most boys in class and he was called the brains of the class. Michael and Sardius had been friends from form one.
"Hey Sardius.", Michael called.
Sardius replied as they walked on towards the classroom. Sardius was short in a kind of way, he had untidy hair that was ruffled, and his skin was chocolate yet most girls wondered why he was looking like a homeless kid. His school uniform made him a little smart, their school was one of the ElitschoolsBoth Sardius's parents and Chrysolite's parents made sure that their children attended one of the best schools in town. Marcus owned one of the best Fashion houses in the state and he was also a director in an oil company which made it almost impossible for him to be home except on vacations. Chrysolite sometimes wishes to spend more time with her father than most of her peers would boast of. Her father was always busy.
Her mother was a floriculturist, this annoyed Chrysolite. She needed her parents but they bonded to their businesses more than they did her. Chrysolite was still lucky, her mum came home at dusk and shared whatever was left for the day with her daughter. Corral Marble was the only one left to cater to Chrysolite's mental, financial,l, and social needs.
Beryl worked as a florist, the work excited Beryl. Beryl's mother once owned a shop. When Sardius and Chrysolite were younger, Sadius's mother who was still alive would come to pick them up to school instead of going with the school bus.
Sardius's dad was an accountant. Marcus had asked him to come work under him but Daniel had declined the offer. He worked in an organization away from home which kept him out of town most times.
"Did you meet the Governor?" Chrysolite asked.
"Of course, you should have seen his house. Our house is far more luxurious than his." Mary said.
Chrysolite knew she had started with her lies again. She walked alongside Mary until a group of three friends came and Mary joined them. The three friends were no different from Mary. They all shared the same attributes. They were Mary-Jane, Janet, and Janice. Mary-Jane was fatter than Mary, plump in a way. Janet was frail, thin, with bulging eyes while Janice was short with big lips. They all had parents in official levels who were way richer than Mary's parents of which Mary was classified as middle class yet Mary acted like her parents were royalty.
She brought goodies to school and Mary had no idea where those objects came from. At one time, Mary brought to school an expensive shoe that had multiple colors.
"Guess where my dad bought this?" She had said to Chrysolite, showing off the shoes.
"I don't know."
"Turkey. They make stuff like this all the time."
Chrysolite had smiled at the obvious lie.
Later, during school hours, her mum came to the school to retrieve the shoes from her. Then, she gave Mary her pair of shoes. Her mother told the class teacher that Mary "took" it from the shopping mall. As if they were her property.
"She said "took it" as if Mary didn't "steal it"." Chrysolite had heard Mary-Jane say to the rest of her friends.
When Mary wore another set of multi-colored shoes, she was asked if she didn't steal them. "No, my mum bought it for me." Mary had replied.