ALL FOR NOTHING….
Episode six…
Toyin and I met from time to time after classes studying for third term exams and also for the science competition. For the first time in years I had someone to be my partner for the competition and I knew Mrs Olabisi had something to do with it. She had come to love Toyin so much that I had to ask myself if she had known her before coming to the school.
The D-Day for the competition finally came and I felt so nervous.i knew that the chances of my school winning the competition was very high because of Toyin who was now my team mate and everyone knew she was a force to reckon with. However, on a second thought, I knew my chances of coming out first on individual basis was very slim. I had learned to listen to mama and for that reason I believed that if it was my destiny to come out best then I would definitely.
The more time I spent with Toyin the more I began to see how beautiful she was. She had that smile that could melt one’s heart. Her eyes glowed like the mid day sun. Her perfume was enough to drive scary demons away. Without an iota of doubt, Toyin was the most beautiful in my class. She was a model to me.
The day before the competition, Toyin and I did alot of brainstorming together. She answered all the questions that were in the material given to us to study. I was certain that we were going to come home with the trophy. After studying to our heart content, we decided to take a stroll along the drive way. It was a cool evening and the security officers were around.
“I’m nervous” Toyin said as we walked together.
“Why are you nervous?” I asked.
“What if I mess up tomorrow?”
“You won’t mess up Toyin. I trust in you. Together we will bring the trophy to our school.” I said.
She took my hand and I felt different. She waved them smiling and looking at me. I stared at her and I could feel my pulses increasing steadily. I was new to such feeling and I couldn’t understand what it was.
I had to take my hands off when I saw a beautiful and pretended to be pointing at it….
“Let’s welcome Akintunde Ayomide and Tijesuni Oluwatoyin from Achievers high school” The quiz master announced ushering us into the stage to take our respective seats.
I could hear my heart beating fast but I had to let go of every fear if I was to succeed. I caught a glimpse of Toyin and I smiled her to tell her it would be alright. I understood Toyin very well and could tell why she was really nervous. It was her first time to participate in the competition and she didn’t want to spoil things.
Looking to my right, I saw Olumide from pillars of Knowledge demonstration school. He was my runner up when I won the trophy as a junior student and I knew he was prepared to win the trophy this time around. He too was a genius and rumour has it that he was the best at pillars of Knowledge demonstration school.
The competition started and it was a tough one. It appeared everyone was prepared to go home with the trophy. All the contestants were up and ready.
At the end of the first round, only three schools were left out of the eight schools that came for the competition. They were Pillars of knowledge demonstration school, Comprehensive high school and my very own school Achievers high school. The battle for the trophy was a very tough one that the three boys from each school had compete among themselves like wise the three girls from each school. I knew it wouldn’t be easy but I had to give it my all. Toyin looked at me and o could see through her. She was really nervous and I was afraid it might affect her performance negatively. I noticed principal Ogunsola and Mrs Olabisi staring at us. I knew they were expecting us to win the competition and prove once again that Achievers high School was still the best school in the whole of Utti district.
None of us was ready to fail any of the questions given to us and I could tell that even the quiz organisers were getting fed up. They asked us to rest and then relax our brains for the final round. The final round was tagged the “advanced round” This was the first time the competition progressed into the advanced stage since it’s inception if I wasn’t mistaken.
“Ayo, I’m scared.” Toyin said and looking into her eyes it was obvious she was really scared. I told her to gain her self confidence as that was the only tool we needed to really win the competition.
“Ladies and gentle men, from the look of things it appears the remaining three schools are not ready to miss any question but we can’t end the quiz without a winner. We would be asking each school to come with a representative from it’s two contestants to represent them in the advanced stage. They have just two minutes to do that.” The quiz master announced.
There was a sudden confusion as all of us were not sure whom to represent his school.
“Ayo why don’t you go. You have done this before. You stand a better chance to win compared to me who is just participating for the first time.”
“No you go instead. I think you’ll be able to do it better.” I said.
She appeared to be stubborn and not to prolong issues. I took the bold step of faith. I could hear my fellow classmates and other students from my school cheering me up. Olumide came out for Pillars of knowledge while Dara came out for Comprehensive. It was as if all the girls stepped down for the boys and as I turned to face Toyin I saw her smiling.
It was as if she was telling me that I could do it and I believed I could.
We answered all our first questions and it was clear that the quiz might end without a winner.
“Alright, we’ll be taking questions from Biology instead. Maybe we could get a winner from there.” The quiz master announced. I almost lost my pulses because I hadn’t really prepared for Biology. The questions were to revolve around Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics. I became afraid because I hadn’t studied Biology and I might end up failing my school.
I picked the first question and it killed my morale after hearing the quiz master read it out.
“Recite verbatim as found in our recommended Biology text book the mechanism for hearing.” The quiz master read out loud. I knew it but not as it was in the text book. I wished Toyin was the one in my place because I was 100% sure she could say it exactly the way it was in our text book.
I took a deep breath and gave it a try but it wasn’t accepted. I felt bad and I knew it was the end for me. It was given as a bonus to Olumide whom I was certain would know it but he too missed it and it was left for Dara to answer it and claim the trophy but surprisingly, he too missed it.
I couldn’t believe what happened. How can the three of us miss thesame question. It was given out as a bonus to our partners and the one who answers it claims the trophy for his school.
It appeared no one was prepared for Biology after all because even the other two girls missed it leaving Toyin as the last person whose answer might end the quiz or make it continue. I knew Toyin could do it. She once told me that Biology was her favorite subject and for that reason she should be able to answer the question.
Toyin gave a deep breath and started. There was an unusual silence in the auditorium as all the judges had their eyes fixed on the textbook to pick out any error the moment she makes one. Surprisingly, Toyin gave the correct answer word for word as it was in the Biology text book.
“How on Earth did she do it?” I asked myself with a feeling of joy enveloping me.
“Correct! Bravo! Excellent!” All three judges exclaimed. There was a greater cheer from the audience especially students of Achievers high school because once again, we have been able to prove that Achievers high School was still the best in the whole of Utti district.
The trophy was presented to us as the winners and I was given the award for the ambassador of modern day science as I had always dreamt of. Honestly the award should have gone to Toyin but since it was her first time at the competition, she wasn’t qualified for it anymore. I was happy to get the award making me equal with Kunle the genius again but I knew I owed it all to Toyin because if not for her, I may not have gotten the award.
“You are truly a genius.” I said shaking her hand.
“That’s what you get from always being with Ayo. You are programmed to be a genius yourself.” She replied teasingly.
That day, I became 100% that Toyin was indeed a genius of her own. I finally met the student who humbled me and on whose shoulder I achieved something remarkable.
“Thank you so much Ayo.” She said. I didn’t know why she was thanking me but all the same I accepted it.”
Principal Ogunsola and Mrs were really happy and when we got to school the following day which was the day of vacation, she stressed on the importance of teamwork using me and Toyin as good examples.
My joy was made complete when I saw my result and realized I came first position. I was very close to achieving all that Kunle had ever achieved.
Timi came third place that term and he was very glad because he would finally get the cell phone of his dreams. His father had promised to buy him the latest Android phone if he was found among the top three in the class. As for me, o knew owning a cell phone was a dream that wouldn’t come true anytime soon.
I however looked forward to the day when I will be able to achieve all my dreams and to be able to make mama enjoy the sweetness of life. I couldn’t wait to get to the top and to prove to uncle Kayode that even without his help I still achieved my goals…
Vicky’s stories….
Touching lives….
Changing people…
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