Franca walked into the class and made her way to her desk like she always did, no hi, no hello to a single classmate. She had a headwarmer almost covering her eyes, her uniform well ironed, her shoes well polished, her school bag and lunch box neatly packed. She never said more than 5 words in a day, hardly smiled or laughed at the jokes told by other classmates or even teachers. It was more like she just stuck to business and had no time for other activities that did not have to do with school or academic work.
"Here she comes, miss forming what she is not," Rachel whispered, touching Katherine's shoulder, but she was loud enough, and I am sure Franca heard, and she must have been hearing all that other classmates had been saying as well.
"Leave her alone, you don't have to be like that every day," Katherine responded, removing Rachel's hand from her shoulder.
Franca, despite hearing what was said, did not say a word. She just sat down and kept a straight face. Later that morning, the mathematics teacher stepped into the class.
"Good morning, class," our mathematics teacher greeted.
"Good morning, sir," the entire class echoed back.
"Your continuous assessment for this term is for you to work on exercise 31 to 33," our mathematics teacher said.
"Ahhhhh," the whole class cried out. "But sir, some exercises we don't know how to solve, as they are not similar to the examples we have been taught," Miracle, a classmate, added.
"Yes, I am aware of that, which is why I paired all of you so you can brainstorm together and get me answers to be submitted tomorrow by 8 a.m.," our mathematics teacher said as he picked up a paper.
"This is why I can never like mathematics," some of my classmates murmured.
Our mathematics teacher started calling names in pairs, and everybody was happy with their pair except me.
"Kachi and Franca," he said, and the whole class erupted with noise.
"Ahhhhh," some shouted.
"Kachi, sorry oo," some said.
"They have paired you with someone who will not let you shine," some added.
"But sir, why me?" I asked.
The mathematics teacher snubbed me as he picked up his book and walked towards the door. "She needs a pair too," he said as he stepped out of the class.
I knew Franca was never going to come to my desk, so I had to go to hers so we could start early and be able to meet up with the submission deadline.
"So how do we go about it?" I asked.
"We start solving the ones we can solve and later brainstorm on the ones we could not solve at first," Franca said in a calm voice, as if trying not to be rude.
"You can at least sound and be friendly for the time being," I said as I skipped through the pages of my mathematics textbook.
For about 30 minutes, every other student pair in the class was engaging each other and really enjoying their pairs, while Franca and I worked in silence, not a word from her and not a word from me but I decided to break the silence.
"Have you always been like this?" I asked.
"Like how?" she asked, raising her eyebrows.
"Quiet and acting like you don't need anybody? You actually act like you are above everybody's level in this class," I said.
"You judge people from miles away before you get to know them?" she asked as she picked up her calculator.
"That is called the stranger's view until you prove otherwise, and that is exactly what everyone sees," I responded.
"Everyone?" she asked as she scoffed and did not say a word again.
We did all we could to finish all the exercises, as I could not wait for my journey with Franca to come to an end, but it was impossible to finish everything. We discussed where to meet up, but Franca kept insisting we meet at her house, as she does not go out unless it is very important.
"Does that mean your mathematics continuous assessment is not important?" I asked her.
"That is not what I said, but please understand," Franca pleaded as she gave me directions to her house.
At that point, a lot of things started running through my mind. Was it that she wanted me to come and see her big house, or why exactly wouldn't she meet up with me somewhere else if not her house? I got curious about why she insisted our meeting point be her house.
Later that evening, I made my way to Franca's house following the directions she had given me. I got to the house number, and it was not what I expected at all. It was just a regular house, not a mansion, and not a place for someone who had her level of pride. I knocked on the door with doubt in my heart that I was in the right place, but the door opened, and I saw Franca, and my doubt cleared.
"You came?" Franca asked, but this time more friendly, and it felt like she was a different person.
She opened the door and stepped aside, indicating I should come inside. There was a woman lying on a mat on the far end of the sitting room.
"Good evening, ma," I greeted.
"Franca, who is he?" the woman asked with a faint voice as Franca helped her sit up.
"He is my classmate, Mom. We have an assignment to do. You should sit up a little, as you have been lying down for too long," Franca answered.
"You are welcome," the woman said with a struggling breath.
After taking care of her mother, Franca came to the table where I was sitting to join me.
"I am sorry for wasting your time," Franca said, and that came as a shock.
I was at first speechless.
"Is she okay?" I asked after a moment of silence.
Franca hesitated at first but started talking. "For now, yes. She has been sick for almost a year now," she said.
"So you take care of her all by yourself?" I asked.
"Yes, before I come to school and after school. She is the reason I don't leave the house," Franca responded.
"Are you not too young for all of that?" I asked, raising my eyebrow.
"Who will do it if I don't?" Franca asked with a teary face. "I am the only child. Dad is late. Her siblings just manage to send money but don't really care how she is being taken care of," Franca said, holding back the tears.
"So is that why..." I wanted to ask more questions but held back.
"Why I don't talk, why I don't associate with others?" she asked, looking me straight in the eye.
I could not bring myself to say a word, so I just nodded in agreement.
"I already have a lot going on. I really don't have the energy for extra drama," she said as she leaned backward.
"Everyone thinks you are just proud and so full of yourself," I responded.
"Yeah, I get that a lot," she said with a smile.
After all my conversations with Franca, I realized that she was nothing like what we thought she was. Her silent battles had forced her to be a grown-up despite being just a child.
The next day, everyone was eager to hear my complaint or my report to the mathematics teacher. The moment I stepped into school, about half of the class rushed towards me.
"What was it like working with Miss I-am-better-than-everybody?" Rachel asked on behalf of everyone.
"She is not like that. You don't know her story; you don't even know her," I responded with a tone.
Rachel and a group of others frowned. "She has influenced you overnight?" Rachel asked as they walked behind me.
"She did not influence me. Maybe I started seeing her differently overnight," I said as I brought our conversation to an end.
