“Add more fuel to the fire!” Mark shouted. He had to scream at the top of his voice amidst the music and merriment going on at the bonfire. Like any other youth gathering, the hangout was made up of teenagers and youths, all Mark’s age.
They were all having fun as the DJ played several hits that resonated with their kind. All attendees were strictly by invitation; even the location wasn’t disclosed to anyone who wasn’t meant to attend the party.
Like a leader to his subjects, Mark had earlier sent a warning message to the WhatsApp group he created for the event that no one should come without their boyfriends or girlfriends to avoid snatching of lovers, which may lead to fights and eventually scatter the event.
Just like at prom, everyone came with their dates, and all was going smoothly until something funny happened.
“How dumb can you be?” Mark angrily yelled at Collins upon seeing his parents. He knew they couldn’t have come without Collins input. Although he got the memo about the discreteness of the event, he thought his parents could participate and have some fun with his friends.
“Hey guys, we thought it wise to have some fun with you and also provide some supervision as adults,” Collins mom called out. “We had other things to do but decided to find some time to spend with you since Collins told us you guys would be here,” Collins dad added.
Mark was confused, as he wasn’t expecting the gatecrashers, and even though anyone was showing up, he never thought it would be the parents of any of his colleagues.
“What will I do now?” Mark asked himself. Like a competent engineer proffering a solution to a technical glitch, Mark’s friend, Drake, whispered in Mark’s ear, “We’ll fake a closure.”
As soon as Mark got the idea shared by Drake, he sent a secret message to all his peers to pretend to leave. “We will continue the fun as soon as Collins parents are gone,” his message read.
Like an ugly, unwanted scene deleted from a movie, the whole gathering was uncomfortable with the presence of Collins’ parents and were so happy after confirming their absence, including that of their child, Collins.
“Now let’s party!” Mark cheered his colleagues as they resumed the fun. He had sworn never to inform Collins about such outings again. Mark and Collins attend the same high school, as do some attendees at the event.
The next morning, right at the assembly, Mark was shocked to hear his name called, and shockingly enough, he heard some cheers from someone who sounded like Collins.
“Nice party. Go Mark!” The person cheered. Mark’s suspicion was correct; it was Collins who made the cheerful statement. “I am definitely in trouble now.” Again, Mark’s fear was confirmed when he heard the English teacher, Mr. Adam, call him out.
“Where were you yesterday night, Mark John? If you tell any lie, we have evidence, and this will increase your punishment.” Like a needle piercing the flesh, Mark felt the words of Mr. Adam getting to the depths of his soul, and he was so afraid.
“How could he be so confident, and what could have happened? How did the teacher discover about their little secret party?” Like a sudden change of scene in a movie, his fear gradually turned to anger. “Who could have informed his teacher about all these?”
Although he knew he would be punished, he began to boil over with anger. “It was such an interesting party, I had to tell the teacher about it all.” The culprit finally spoke.
The statement was like adding fuel to fire; it ignited Mark’s anger even more. As he turned to locate the offender, it was Collins, just as he expected.
“How did I meet this guy? Who even recommended him as a friend?” Like a man tapped out of his dreams, Mr. Adam shouted at Mark, “Get on your knees! At least you know you can’t deny it now.”
As Mark went low to oblige, he was surprised at what the teacher said next. “Collins, call out the rest of the attendees.” Mr. Adam said. Mark wished the ground would swallow him at the moment; he couldn’t believe the whole situation would get as bad as it did.
Collins was about to point fingers at the attendees when a big ambulance entered the school compound with siren and about three other trucks followed. The assembly had to be closed as the teachers needed to attend to the visitors.
“We’ll continue this later,” Mr. Adam said. Mark couldn’t thank his stars enough as he stood up and ran to his class. He knew he may have to skip classes for the whole week, and although that would get him in trouble, he preferred that to the public disgrace at the assembly.
