"This was definitely not part of the plan," I whispered, holding the mop like a sword. "Something just growled at me from the toilet; I'm sure of that."
It all began on a perfectly boring Friday morning at Community Grammar School, Femi Ayantuga Crescent—an establishment so ancient that our science laboratory still had chalk outlines of frogs from 1995.
Our class, JSS3B, was in the middle of Literature in English when our teacher, Mr. Sanni, suddenly paused mid-sentence and sniffed the air like a suspicious goat.
"Something smells... roasted." he said, still sniffing the air.
In Community Grammar School, when something smells roasted, it is not just a mere comment. It's definitely a warning, a prophecy, a foreshadowing. It's absolutely a head's—up for a quick run.
Seconds later, the fire alarm went off. Not the sleek kind that beeps discreetly. No, no. Ours screamed like a pregnant woman already in labor pain.
Everyone panicked. Student ran like cartoon characters—legs spinning, directionless. I personally knocked over three desks and a classmate named Joy, who had not even stood up yet.
We ended up outside on the assembly ground, sweating under the sun, only to discover it was not a fire at all.
It was senior Bolu's fried rice and beans. The combination was crazy.
Apparently, the school permitted only seniors to cook in the Home Economics Laboratory once every school term. Bolu—self declared "kitchen god of the school," so to speak—decided to infuse a smoky flavor by literally setting his sauce on fire.
The principal was infuriated. The laboratory was absolutely covered in smoke and dust, and all classes were dismissed until further notice.
However, we refused to go home.
My friends, Ada, Ekaete, Onome, Elizabeth, the new girl, Ella, and I had plans.
"Let's play the game of terror" Ada leaned in and whispered to me.
Unfortunately, all the girls heard the whisper and immediately agreed to it.
I should have just ran away or simply change the subject, but then, I followed through.
The game of terror was a challenge invented by Ada, who had once watched three horror movies in one straight night and came to school convinced she could actually out-scare ghosts. The rules were basically simple:
Firstly: Enter the old, unused bathroom on the third floor (rumored to be haunted).
Secondly: Stay inside, keep the lights off, and shut the door for 10 minutes.
Lastly: Do not scream.
"Easy peasy, right?" Ada chuckled while staring at all of us.
"Yeah, easy peasy!" we all echoed in excitement.
"Except the bathroom was actually cursed." Ada added.
"Was it?" I asked in curiosity.
"Legend has it that a student once found a lizard and a Biology examination paper from 1987 stuck together in the toilet. The plumbing gurgled like it was possessed. And the scariest part was that no one actually knew where the door led to if it were actually locked from the inside." Ada said, as she take turns whispering into our ears, excitedly.
"I'm not doing it, Iets play another game; there are actually other ways we can play games and have real fun." I said firmly and slightly frightened, clutching my bag like a prayer book.
But peer pressure is a demon in uniform.
Ten minutes later, I was standing in front of a dusty, rust-colored door with Ada, Ekaete, Elizabeth, and Onome accompanied by Ella, a newly transfered student, who had no clue what was really going on, however, grinned nervously like someone who definitely pressed the "accept" button labeled "Terms and Conditions applied." without actually reading through it.
The game of terror begins, "We will be fine," Ekaete said, literally dragging everyone inside, and immediately the door creaked shut.
The first three minutes were uneventful, apart from the distinct smell of Dettol and trauma. We huddled together, phones off, breathing as if we were in a horror movie, Heart racing like we just saw a ghost.
Suddenly, the gurgling started.
"Plumbing," I whispered to the girls, trying to comfort myself in the process.
"Sure thing," Ada whispered back. "Normal toilet growl, obviously."
Next, we heard footsteps inside the bathroom, but we were the only ones there.
"Who's that?" Onome asked, hissing.
No one answered.
Suddenly, the stall door creaked open slowly; fear filled our heart as we intensified our grip on ourselves. "I swear on every meat pie I have ever eaten, I definitely saw a shadow of something move inside." Ekaete said, shivering.
Ada screamed. Ekaete screamed. Onome screamed, Ella screamed. and I tried to whisper a scream like a villian, but instead I ended up choking.
Then, someone banged against the main door.
It was locked.
At that moment, we realized that we had all been trapped.
"This is not a game anymore!" I yelled, looking around scared.
Then the mop moved.
It wasn't even being touched. It just fell over on its own. That was it for me.
"Help! help! help!" we all banged on the door and screamed very loudly.
"What are you all doing in here, this is a forbidden room," the cleaner said while opening the door. "Is this how you spend your free time?" she asked, staring at us over her glasses. "Haunting bathrooms?! while I try to keep the school from collapsing." The cleaner rebuked us, but politely.
we were assigned two weeks of toilet duty as punishment from the principal.
While cleaning the haunted bathroom, Ada and Onome found a hidden opening behind the mirror—an old broken radio, and a speaker.
"Turns out seniors have been pranking juniors for years by playing sounds through the speaker and locking the door remotely for added terror. Which has actually been working until now." I reasoned with the girls as we all cleaned the toilet.
The haunted bathroom was then declared officially under renovation... forever. However, as for the speaker, we kept it—as a trophy.
Therefore, the next time you see something growling from behind a toilet door, just remember:
At Community Grammar School, it's always fun and games...
... until the mop moves.
