CHAPTER 3: MRS GRIM REAPER

CHAPTER 3: MRS GRIM REAPER

“You are late Miss Wale, what happened?” Mrs Henshaw asked Ayo who stood there frozen.

“Erm... ehh”, Ayo couldn't find the words to explain her lateness and she just hope the group would open and swallow her whole, she felt so embarrassed because this is her first time for being late, punctuality has been one of the things she won awards for but her she was in front of the ‘Grim Reaper’ unable to explain why she's late.

She couldn't possibly tell her that she woke up late and she wasted time because it is her birthday.

“Words Miss Wale, use your words!”

Mrs Henshaw said fiercely.

Ayo shivered and raise her head and stared at her school head mistress,

“I... I am sorry Mrs Henshaw, I lost track of time”.

“My office, now!”

***

Mrs Henshaw walked into her office and headed for her desk, she sat on the leather brown chair which had a beautiful dark brown table in front of it,

There was a photo frame which held a picture of her, her husband and a little girl who looks so much like Mrs Henshaw, ‘That's probably her daughter, I guess’, thought Ayo as she looked at the photo frame, the little girl should be around 10 to 11 years old.

Her office smells like sandalwood which Ayo finds pleasing to her nose.

Mrs Henshaw's office was that of a vintage design with plants and flowers in various places, a large bookshelf was at the right hand side of the office, it was filled with books with different genre.

Ayo's eye explored the entire office in less than ten seconds.

“Take a sit, Miss Wale”.

Ayo came back to earth from her her trip to fantasyland, she walked towards the chair opposite the headmistress' and took a sit.

‘What will happen to me', ‘Oh, I'm so dead!’, Ayo smiled as she looked at her headmistress with different thoughts screaming in her head.

“Good morning Mrs Gri-- Henshaw”, Ayo isn't one to stutter but who wouldn't be when it comes to Mrs Henshaw, the Grim Reaper?!

Mrs Henshaw stared at her pretending not to hear what she wanted to say, of course she knew that the students calls her various names, ‘Mrs know-it-all’, ‘Angry bird’, ‘Mrs grumpy two shoes', and the most popular of them all, ‘Mrs Grim Reaper’.

‘Why wouldn't I be strict with these kids?’, Mrs Henshaw thought to herself.

“Good morning Ayo, why are you just coming to school?”

“I'm sorry--”

“‘I am!’”, Mrs Henshaw corrected her, “Do I look like one of those your little friends?!”

Ayo shrink in surprise, she isn't the shy type or one to cower away, just that Mrs Henshaw's voice is too powerful and fierce.

“I am sorry, Mrs Henshaw”

“Go on, explain yourself, why are you late to school on a Tuesday morning? and don't give me one of those your lame excuses” Mrs Henshaw said while staring deep into Ayo's doe like eyes.

“I overslept Mrs Henshaw, so I woke up late”,

“What did I say about lame excuse, Miss Wale?”

“But that is the truth, Mrs Henshaw!” Ayo said trying to defend herself.

“I'll have to call in your parents for a little chat”

“Did I do something wrong, am I in trouble, please please Mrs Henshaw, I beg of you, just this once, it will never happen again, I promise!” Ayo clasps both her hands together as she stood up begging her headmistress. She knows her parents wouldn't show up for the meeting and instead, it'll be same old Nanny Ti or maybe Butler Ade. She does not want to trouble them, they are already getting old and such disturbance isn't need for them.

“Miss Wale, behave yourself and act like a well disciplined student of this fine institute!” Mrs Henshaw reprimanded Ayo.

“Your parents are needed here for the reasons best known to me and they have not been attending the last three PTA meetings”.

‘Ohh’, thought Ayo to herself.

‘They haven't been attending because they're too busy to care about me, they care more about their various work than to worry about their only child’, Ayo so badly wanted to say all that out but Mrs Henshaw wouldn't care less, right?.

“Okay Mrs Henshaw, I will let them know when I get back home today...”,

‘if only they will be at home for my birthday’ Ayo sighed to herself on the inside.

“Okay, that will be preferable. Now back to the main subject, explain your reasons for being late today, as I am well aware, you are one of the most punctual and brilliant student we have here at Hyacinth High School”, Mrs Henshaw said with pride in her words.

“It is my birthday today, Mrs Henshaw and the workers at home had a little surprise for me, I lost track of time, I am sorry Mrs Henshaw”, Ayo hung her head low as she finished explaining herself.

Mrs Henshaw stared at her with a raised eyebrow and an almost invisible smile on her face, no one spoke for close to 10 seconds.

“Happy birthday Ayo”, Mrs Henshaw wished her while staring at Ayo as she noticed her eyes grew bigger by the second in disbelief.

“What, I am not all that evil as you all portray me to be, yunno” Mrs Henshaw answered Ayo's unasked questions.

“Oh no, Mrs Henshaw, I never thou--”

“It is okay Ayo, I understand”, Mrs Henshaw cut in while smiling at Ayo.

Another reason for Ayo's eyes to grow bigger but this time, her mouth was also wide open in disbelief.

‘Did-- did she just smile at me? did the Grim Reaper just flash me a smile, a very beautiful one at that? oh wow. Did I die and go to heaven?’ There were multiple thoughts running in her head.

She shyly smiled back at the headmistress, too scared that it might be a trap to lure her into the lion's den or in this case, The Grim Reaper's den.

“It's okay, you can go back to class now”, Mrs Henshaw said.

“Really? thank you so much Mrs Henshaw, thank you thank you” Ayo replied as she stood up, took a deep bow and smiled brightly at the headmistress and exited the office.

Mrs Henshaw smiled to herself as she shakes her head.

In the hallway, Ayo was in total disbelief.

“What just happened in there? oh Lord, that was instance, phew” she thought out loud. She hurried to class even though she knows she's miss the biology class.