"Seems like I'll have to find time to be with you next week before my princess goes back to school."
"You have to, otherwise you won't be able to cope with my absence." I teased my mom with a smirk on my face.
Mom was so dumbfounded and didn't know what to say again. I knew for sure that they were all going to miss me so badly including Fred but my case was on a different level. I had imagined so many scenarios in my head of how it would feel like to be in school without my parents. My heart feels heavy whenever I think of it.
*****************
"I am going to miss you," Katie said to me as she hugged me tightly.
"I'll miss you too," I replied hugging her tightly too.
We stood like that for a while before we both burst into tears. It was at this moment that I wished that we were in the same school.
Katie's parents and siblings were in the sitting room watching our outbursts and they didn't dare to interrupt us.
After a while, we let go of each other and wiped our tears. Katie's dad wanted to take pictures of us. He took pictures of Katie in her uniform and also took pictures of me and Katie before we took a group picture.
I held Katie's hand as we walked to the car. I watched her and her family enter the car and drive off as I kept waving at her. I locked the gate after they had gone and went home.
For the rest of the day, I was very quiet but my mood lightened up when someone sent over the pictures I had taken with Katie in the afternoon. I had something to hold on to and a memory made.
*************
"Elsie, could you please come and help me out in the kitchen?" Mom asked as she entered my room.
I was taking a nap but I wasn't fully asleep yet.
"Mom, what do you need help with?" I asked as I entered the kitchen.
"I need you to help me in stripping these corn cobs that your grandmother sent over."
"Is that all?" I looked at the huge amount of corn cobs scattered on the floor and sighed. I sat down on a low stool with Mom and got to work immediately.
"Mom, why did Grandma send over a lot of corn?"
"A lot! You call these a lot. It won't even be enough for what I intend to use it for."
"Apart from pap, what else are we going to do with all these corn?"
"We will dry some and use it for making popcorn, fry some to eat as a snack, and keep the rest for making beans and corn."
"Waw, that's a lot. These will be barely enough for all this."
I was working very fast so I could go back to my room and continue with my nap. I was happy when Mom excluded me from house chores so I could rest properly before I go back to school on Saturday. This is just Thursday and she had already gone back on her words.
"Mom, is this why you didn't go to work today?"
"No, I swapped places again. I'll be going to the hospital in the evening. Besides, I did it to spend time with you." Mom smiled.
"Spend time with me? Stripping corn?" I asked in utter surprise.
Mom started laughing, "I apologise, we should be spending time at a fun place and not in the kitchen."
I sighed and continued working.
"Elsie, did you read the book I left in my drawer?"
"Dr. Emmanuel's book?
"Yes!"
"You read it!"
"Yeah, every single one of them."
Mom's countenance changed immediately.
"Shouldn't I have read them?" I asked.
"No, I intentionally left them lying around so that you could read them."
"Do you have any questions to ask me?"
"No, I understood it. Besides, you have taught me a lot plus what we were taught in school."
"They now teach sex education in your school."
"Yes, for students in class six."
"Alright, I want you to know that you can confide in me
about anything."
"Yes, mom."
Mom and I went on to talk about a lot of things and I got some weight off my chest. We finally finished stripping the corn and soaked a good quantity of it in water to ferment for three days before we would grind it to make cornstarch paste.
After a tiring day, I got to relax with a bowl of freshly made popcorn while watching a movie.
***************
"Elsie, are you ready?" Dad asked me.
"No, I am not. Why are we even leaving very early?"
I asked as I dragged myself out of bed.
"There's going to be a lot of procedures as this is your first day, you also need to settle down as soon as possible and start getting used to the environment."
"We will leave in the next two hours," Dad said as he shut the door and left my room.
Finally, the long-awaited day is here. I am officially going to become a student of Elite Academy. Thinking about it gave me an adrenaline rush.
"Elite Academy, here I come!"
I dressed up quickly and went to meet Mom in the study where we went through the school prospectus to see if I had every item required for new intakes. After that, we all had breakfast and left home by 9 am.