My Hero.

Ever tried to impress your crush in high school before?

Reminiscing on a particular day in high school got me smiling sheepishly.

One Tuesday morning, Mr. Henry, a corper (student teacher), walked into the class accompanied by our vice principal.

"Class stand and greet," the class captain ordered everyone in the class as we stood up to greet. "Good morning, sirs," the class chorused, and then, with a smile, our vice principal introduced the new fine, young-looking teacher as our new biology teacher. "This is Mr Henry, the new biology teacher, a student teacher actually; make sure you respect him as you would do to the rest of your teachers."

"Yes sir," We all chorused and took our seats. In less than five minutes, Mr. Gideon, the vice principal, left the class, leaving us with the new teacher.

He began to ask each of us our names to get acquainted with us before he officially commenced class.

Before he got to a quarter of the class, he was already making a mockery of some students, maybe because their native names sounded funny and we weren't having it anymore.

The girl adjacent to me quickly altered her name from Gift to Gifto, just to get him pissed. She was the naughtiest student in our class, so it wasn't a surprise for us.

As soon as he reached where she was, he asked her what her name was. " Gifto!" She said, sternly looking him right in the eyes, "Gifto? I have never heard of such a name before; do you mean Gift?" He asked again just to be sure of what he just heard.

"Gifto!! That's my name, not Gift!" She replied in a snap. "Is that her name?" Mr Henry turned to her seat partner to confirm what he had been told: "Yes, sir, her name is Gifto!" Modupe said she was trying to hold on to her mischievous smile.

"Class, what's her name for the last time, Gift or Gifto?" Mr. Henry turned to the whole class to ask, and as we know, in every twelve, there's always a Judas. Tosin and her twin sister, Seyi, came out. "Excuse me, sir, her name is Gift; I don't want to receive any strokes of cane this morning," they both chorused as they stood beside Mr. Henry.

We knew we were all in trouble now that Mr. Henry knew her name was Gift and not Gifto.

"Really? So you all were taking me for a fool, right? Everyone, come outside and kneel." He walked out angrily, and before we knew it, he came back with a very fat cane.

I was almost teary, but because I had some guys in the class admiring me, I decided to be a man in this situation. Deep down, I wish I could have averted the strokes, as each sound of the strokes made me tremble.

Mr Henry began to flog from the front while I was still behind when Mr Gideon came out looking very angry. "I thought I warned you all never to disrespect him? Hand me the cane, Mr. Henry.". We need not be told that day was truly our judgment day, as Mr. Gideon's lashes of cane were worse than the strike of thunder.

"Ha!! I'm dead, oo!" I exclaimed in fear, and I was just looking for an escape route. I watched Mr. Gideon flog as many students as he could until it was almost my turn.

"Stretch out your hands." Mr. Gideon's angry face said it all. It was the culprit's turn to be beaten, Gifto of all gifts. She began to jerk like a jellyfish and was speaking in tongues for all I knew; he flogged her twice as much as others for initiating the misdemeanour.

Just right after Gift had been beaten, Mr. Gideon was right in front of me. "Stretch out your hands." I was hoping the ground would open and swallow me up, but I had to dance to the music. It took me a couple of minutes to stretch out my hands, and just one stroke of the cane sent me to the ground. My eyes were filled with water, but I kept blinking consistently to stop it from falling. Little did I know that Joshua, my classmate, was watching out for me.

He came in between me and Mr. Gideon and said, "Sir, can I take the cane for her? She's not feeling fine." My heart leapt for joy as soon as I heard that, but I wasn't sure if Mr.Gideon would agree to that. "Excuse me?" He replied in surprise to see a fellow student stand up for me. "Oh, you are her lover, boy, right? Do you want to impress her? Okay, then, stretch out your hands."

I quickly cleaned my eyes. "No sir, no, we aren't lovers, too," I responded in defence, but deep down, I never wanted Joshua to change his mind. "Joshua, don't worry, I'll take my cane." These were just words on my lips to prove that I and Joshua had nothing.

"No, don't worry, I will take it for you." Joshua stretched out his hands, and the whole class was in awe. Some began to murmur, others began to laugh, but I kept a straight face.

Mr. Gideon flogged him twice as hard as he would to me, and I watched how the cane was like water off the duck's back. Joshua stood still and received the cane like it had nothing on him.

That particular act became the whole talk of the school for the rest of the week, and somehow it drew me and Joshua closer; funnily, he never told me why he received the cane for me until the day we graduated.

He's been crushing on me, and according to him, he would never let me get hurt under his watch, and that was such a sweet thing to hear. Did we end up as an item after high school? Well, no!

He moved out of the country after high school to further his education, and somehow I lost contact with him, but whenever I remember that day, I can't help but smile at how far people go for the ones they love.