AKELLO

First Term: March
This is not it. This cannot be it. It’s not what is written in all those novels. The Mills and boon and all those other novels with the half-naked couples on them.  Am I not supposed to be tingling all over?  Or as the books say, ‘….in places that she didn’t even know existed…’
The books’ heroines spoke of a release like none they had never felt before, yet all i feel is pain and shame
And I’m sure it’s supposed to last more than just one minute.
This is very disappointing and embarrassing. I should probably get dressed before anyone walks in…..

These thoughts ran through Akello’s head as she looked at her boyfriend who sat on the school desk, his eyes glazed over, a big smile on his face.
“Was it good for you too?” He asked her.
She wanted to wrinkle her nose and say, “not in the least, not at all, it was HORRIBLE!”
But instead she forced a smile and said yes.
She couldn’t confess all that she was feeling to him. He didn’t need to know that he was like a slobbering sweat-soaked monkey. He didn’t need to know that in that moment, she felt like crying. He didn’t need to know that she already regretted having sex. She instinctively knew that he would not understand. He was, after all, a boy. 

He stood up, dressed up and slobered over her mouth in a disgusting action he thought was a kiss.
Even this is disappointing. She thought. Not at all like all those telenovelas on TV. But she forced a smile. She didn’t want to anger and even more so, lose him. So she had to do all she could to keep him. He was the most handsome and most popular boy. And he was a class above. Losing him meant losing her status in school. She was part of the ‘it’ group because of him.

He swaggered out of the classroom. She heard him high-fiving the person who was their lookout. A second later she heard them laughing as they walked away.
Probably laughing at the slut that I am. She thought sadly.
She slowly dressed up and walked out of the classroom.
She had thought that she would feel different, more womanly, alot more desired. But not ashamed, dejected and forlorn.
She regretted the action. Regretted the boyfriend. She had to put her face on though. She had to make the other girls jealous.

Her best friend Nankya spotted her and then came running to her. Her face eager to know what had happened.
Akello smiled and told her exactly what it was she wanted to hear.
“It was romantic, he was romantic,’ she said with a smile.
For just a fleeting second, she considered confiding in her friend, but then she remembered, she couldn’t trust anyone. Not even her best friend. They were all out to get her.
So, as they walked towards the dormitories, Akello proceeded to tell Nankya a fantasy she had created for herself and not the actual truth of the humiliation she still felt.
She actually almost convinced herself that it was true.
Because she had no one really to confide in, no one to talk to. She felt so alone. But still she had to smile and let every one else be jealous of her and her ‘perfect’ life.

Second Term: June (Three months later)
“Spontaneous pregnancy check!” the health prefect shouted, as she walked through the dormitory.
All the girls groaned. No one wanted to be poked and pressed by those old nurses. But it was school policy.
So they went in to the sick bay.
One by one to be checked. The process involved a lot of pressure applied to the stomach by hands that had seen better days.
When it was Akello’s turn the nurse pressed and pressed and pressed some more. She jeered, muttered some words in luganda  and told Akello to wait in the office.
The next few hours were a blur for the girl. She vaguely remembered being told to carry her belongings to the school gate and wait for her parents to show up.
She heard all who purported to be her friends, even her best friend, gossiping loudly about how the mighty have fallen and also about how slutty she was.
Poor clueless Akello, fourteen years old and pregnant.

This is a fictional account but it could be any girl’s story. Let’s End Teenage Pregnancies…