After dinner, Ulmea glanced at the clock hanging in the corner of the room. It was 8:30 pm. She had school tomorrow, so she started to move back towards her room — which was upstairs.
Later, she went inside her room and turned on the lights. Her room was simple. Upon entering, there stood a bed at the center of the room, there were two side tables on its sides. The room was neither too large nor small. There was a dressing table along one wall, while directly opposite it stood a study table.
After washing up, she turned on a dim light and moved towards her bed to lay down. She lay on her bed and closed her eyes. Time passed, but she couldn't fall asleep—her mind was too full. After a while, she finally drifted off.
Next day, she was woken up early by her mother as she had to go to school. She went to freshen up, wore her uniform. She tied her hair in a ponytail; she wore a black watch.
After that, she went downstairs for breakfast. Everyone was sitting in the dining room. She could hear their chit-chat, the plates clanking and the sound of water being poured. Her little siblings, flossy and Alex were still half asleep. They were sitting in their school uniforms.
Ulmea came to sit beside Liora. Before sitting down, "Good morning, everyone!" she greeted. Everyone greeted her in response.
After breakfast, she stood by the main gate with her siblings, waiting for the school bus. The morning air was cool. Flossy yawned, rubbing her eyes, while Alex leaned slightly against the gate, his bag slipping from his shoulder.
Soon the bus arrived, its familiar horn breaking the silence. They boarded the bus and greeted the bus driver " Morning, Uncle!" He greeted them in reply with a slight nod. Then they proceeded to sit in the 3-row seat. Alex sat by the window, Flossy in the middle, and Ulmea on the aisle. As the bus started to move forward, Alex rested his head on the window. The city looked beautiful and green. The school was 6 kms away from their house. Ulmea was lost in thought while Flossy was revising her test.
After a while, the bus stopped. A few students boarded the bus. They were walking towards their seats. One of them bumped into Ulmea who was deep in thought. Only after that hit did she come back to her senses. The girl walked past her without even apologizing.
Later, the bus didn't stop for anyone else. It moved straight towards the school.
The school was the city's most famous — best and expensive school. It was a huge school with five playgrounds and three different wings: junior, senior girls', and senior boys. The main office was in the boys' wing. Each wing had their own head.
Soon, the bus arrived in the school, it stopped in the school's parking area which was straight ahead after entering from the main gate The students began getting off the bus.
Ulmea and her siblings also got off the bus and started to move out of the parking area. After the parking area, there was a canteen on the left side and straight ahead was the junior wing. On the right side of the junior wing was the boys wing while on its left side was the girl's wing. All wings had a huge distance between them.
Ulmea started to move towards the senior girls' wing while both of them towards the junior wing.
Lining the path to the girls' wing were flowers and plants. As Ulmea walked closer to the wing, she felt a hand tap on her right shoulder. She hadn't sensed anyone approach. She quickly turned to see the person.
She heard " Hey!!"
She saw a familiar face, it was her friend, Lora Watson.
" Hi, Lora!" replied Ulmea.
"You didn't even notice me coming... Did I scare you? hahaha" said Lora
" Mm... yeah, you scared me"
" Let's go quickly, before the class starts" said her friend
They then entered the wing and walked straight upstairs to their class — which was on the front side, upstairs. They went to the classroom, put down their school bags on the front seats. Lora checked the time and saw they still had time before class, so they went out to roam around the hallways.
As they walked, Lora spoke first — breaking silence " Ulmea, gurl!! do you know the school is arranging a food's day?"
" Huh...? The school is arranging a food's day?" she asked
Lora said, " Yup, it will be arranged on this Thursday — two days from now"
" Oh, tell me more about it"
" The school will be arranging it in the biggest ground; there will be so many food stalls. The students can also bring their own lunch"
" We can wear whatever we want, and it will be a bag-free day." said Lora
"That's good" said Ulmea
They then heard the bell ring and moved back to their class. They greeted other fellows and sat down. Ten minutes passed but the teacher didn't arrive. The class asked Ulmea to go and check on her.
Ulmea got out of the room, turned towards right to go downstairs. She came downstairs and moved straight after turning around. She went straight in the hallway. Then, she walked into the staff room, which was on the left side. She scanned the staff room for their class in charge but couldn't see her there.
So, she asked another teacher, " Excuse me Ma'am, Is Miss. Lena present today?"
" Which teacher, Lena, kid?" the teacher asked.
" Ma'am, the in charge of class 6A1..."
"Oh, her! she's absent today" the teacher replied
"Ok, thank you so much"
After that she saw the replacement page on the table. There was no teacher as replacement for their class. The page displayed " Self-study session". Ulmea then moved back towards her class.
She went inside the classroom and announced " ATTENTION Everyone! There will be no class in the first period, our class in charge, Miss. Lena is absent today. So, we will have a self-study session."
With that, she went back to her seat.