Chapter 59: 59

"Have a good day at school babe."Hunter teased leaning over the center console to kiss my cheek.

"Do I have to go?!"I whined like a petulant child refusing leave the car.

"Yes and its only for two hours. You'll have a great time believe me and it will be over in three weeks."Hunter consoled.

"Why did I let you talk me into this?"I lamented.

"Because you know it's the right thing to do. Now as politely as I can ask, please go to class. I have a meeting to get to."He requested politely.

"Or I can skip class and come to the meeting with you."I enticed.

"No baby you're going to class. Call me after and I will see you later this evening."Hunter replied undoing my seatbelt.

He leaned over to open the door for me before turning to look at me expectantly. There was no talking him out of it so I sighed in defeat, pecked him and got out of the car closing the door behind me.

I looked up at the tall six floor building and refused to feel intimidated. It was just one class for two hours then I would be free to do whatever I wanted. I turned to Hunter who still hadn't left yet and waved. He waved back winking at me before driving off forcing me to walk in. The elevator was out of order, not that I would have taken it anyway so I used the stairs to get to the third floor. My boots echoed against the tiled floor as I went up passing by multiple businesses. It was a chilly morning so I was wearing an all black outfit consisting of jeans, a t-shirt and a trench coat. My small shoulder bag had all my essentials in it swinging by my side as I walked.

I finally made it to the third floor and walked in passing by a waiting area going directly to the secretary. She was young, beautiful, light skinned with brown eyes and a welcoming smile.

"Good morning, I'm here for my first class."I informed her since I didn't know where to go.

"Good morning and welcome. Have you been here before?"She asked me.

"No my boyfriend paid for the classes last week and I was asked to start today."I replied.

"Oh yes I remember, Nala right?"She asked with a smile.

Looks like Hunter had made an impact.

"Yes."I nodded.

"I'll give you a rundown of what you need to know before you attend your first class. Your boyfriend paid for everything so you're fully covered. You have a total or thirty five lessons divided equally between practical and theory classes. You'll be taught how to drive both a manual and an automatic car. Classes are offered from Monday to Saturday at eight am, two am and five pm. Your boyfriend said eight am works best for you so that's when you'll be coming in but if you change your mind feel free to come at either of the other two times. You'll have to sign in before each class so we can keep track of how many lessons you've taken and if you feel you're ready after twenty one lessons you can take your exam. If not you can continue till you complete all thirty five or until you feel ready. I think that's all. Any questions?"She asked me.

"No I think I'm good."I replied.

It was quite a lot but I had understood most of it and if I forgot I could always ask later.

"Well then welcome to AA Kenya, here's a guide book. Please sign here and you're good to go for the first class."She said showing me where to sign.

I quickly scribbled my signature before giving back the file.

"Nala before I forget here is your pdl, provisional driving license. You'll be using it anytime you attend your practical lessons."She said handing me a single sheet of paper with some details on it.

"Thank you."I smiled taking it and sticking it between the manual guidebook she had given me.

"Class is through that hallway, only door on your right."She informed me showing me the way.

I nodded and turned away following the directions she had showed me. There were quite a few people in the class, less than ten talking amongst themselves or just seated alone. I took a seat close to the door and assessed my surroundings. There was huge table thing with markings and tiny cars at the center of the room that I assumed was used for teaching. On one wall there was a white board and next to it a board with all road signs drawn on it. The other walls were made of half concrete and half blacked out windows.

More people walked in and at exactly ten minutes past eight, the person who I guessed to be the teacher entered. He was short about five feet tall with dark skin, a small pot belly but a friendly face. He looked as if he was in his late forties or early fifties.

"Good morning."He greeted to which we all echoed.

"Before I start, do we have any newcomers?"He asked.

Two people raised their hands a gentleman and a lady. I remembered I was new too so I raised my hand.

"Please introduce yourselves."He requested.

I didn't feel like it but I also didn't want to be rude so I had to.

"I'm Nala Kawira Mugo."I introduced when it was my turn.

"Nice to meet you all. I'm Mr Nyaga, you're teacher and hopefully your friend too. You're here to learn and also meet new people so make sure that as much as you focus on your studies you mingle too. Now let's get started today, we're starting with the model town board."Mr Nyaga declared pointing at the table in the middle of the room.

Oh so that's what it was called.

Class was actually fun and the next two hours flew by. Mr Nyaga was both witty and strict the perfect balance for a teacher. With his personality one was forced to pay attention to class while having fun at the same time. It was only the first day but I learnt so much.

Class took longer than intended ending at ten thirty but I had nowhere to go so I didn't have an issue with it. As soon as class ended everyone started dispersing after planning the following days class. It would be a practical and I would get to drive a car for the first time in my life. At least it would be under the supervision of a trained professional so I would be okay.

As I descended the stairs I thought about where to go next and felt lost. I texted Hunter to let him know that I was done with class but he didn't reply so I assumed he was in a meeting.

"Nala wait up."Someone called out surprising me.

I stopped on my tracks and turned around to find Aisha, the other new girl taking the stairs two at a time to get to me.

"Did I forget something?"I asked her wondering why she was calling me.

"No I just wanted to get to know you better, you know, new girl to new girl."She replied with a smile.

"Oh okay."I said with an awkward smile.

Aisha was tall, dark and beautiful with big brown eyes, full pink lips and dressed like a stud. She was also young probably about my age or younger.

"You're not used to this are you?"She asked with a chuckle referring to awkward encounters with strangers.

"Definitely not."I replied with a shrug.

"Well then it's your lucky day. Where are you going?"She asked me.

"I don't really know. I have the day off."I informed her.

"Prefect than you have time. You can come with me and we'll get to know each other."Aisha replied.

"You're asking me to trust a stranger."I reasoned.

"Yeah because you have to take chances every once in a while. You know what here."She declared taking my phone from me.

She used my face to unlock it and took a selfie.

"Send that photo with my number to someone you trust with the caption, if I go missing look for Aisha Faith Kingi."Aisha grinned at me.

"What?"I asked laughing.

"Do it or I'll do it for you."She demanded when she saw me hesitating.

"Fine."I replied doing exactly what she had asked and texted Brian.

"Okay now where are we going?"I asked her putting my phone in my pocket.

"Somewhere fun."Aisha declared taking my hand and pulling me away.

Looks like I'd just made a new friend who was about to lead me on quite a journey.

I was trusting a stranger for once but my sense of adventure had also been ticked so I was going with the flow. We made it to the bus stop while still holding hands. There were different matatus headed to different spots in the city but Aisha had a specific one in mind.

"Have got ever been to village market, girigiri?"She asked me.

"No but I've always wanted to go."I replied.

"Today is your lucky day."She smiled pulling me towards a mini bus.

We boarded and found a pair of free seats so we wouldn't be separated. The bus was half full so we didn't have to wait long before it disembarked. I was excited by our destination knowing it was a nice way to spend my day. Making a new friend while still exploring the city.

My gaze was trained outside as we coursed through the city as I enjoyed the sights. Nairobi was beautiful no doubt, it just had too many people and the theft rate was pretty high. Besides that it was a great place to visit if you knew exactly where you were going. My phone rang ten minutes into the trip and I checked to see that it was Hunter calling me.

"Bear."I chirped when I picked up.

"What's this I hear about you going off with some stranger?"Hunter scolded foregoing pleasantries.

Brian that snitch.

I'd texted him instead of Hunter knowing my over protective boyfriend wouldn't like what I was doing.

"You didn't say I couldn't go anywhere."I defended.

"You're right but why go out with some random person and why did you tell Brian and not me?"He asked.

"Aisha is not a random person, she's my classmate and I told Brian because he's police and you're not. I knew you would react this way if I told you."I grunted.

Aisha looked at me with a questioning look but I just smiled at her reassuringly.

"Act how?"Hunter challenged.

"All protective and dominant."I retorted.

"Of course I'll react that way because I care and I want you to be safe."Hunter replied.

"Bear I am a big girl and I'm safe. It's also the middle of the day in broad day right. I'll be fine."I assured him.

I heard Hunter sigh and I smiled when I realized that meant I'd won him over.

"Well okay then baby girl, take care of yourself and have fun. I'll see you later but call me in case of anything and make sure you update me about your day."Hunter demanded.

"Yes sir, I will. Bye bear."I grinned happy to get my way.

"Later doll."He replied with a chuckle.

I hang up putting my phone back in my bag and turned to Aisha who was looking at me expectantly waiting for an explanation.

"Over protective boyfriend."I replied summing it up.

"They are rare so he is perfect."Aisha replied.

"You're right, he is great."I beamed.

"How long have you been dating? If that's okay for you to tell me."Aisha asked.

"Yeah it's okay, we've known each other since January but have only been dating about a month. I was skeptical about dating him but he can be very convincing."I explained with a grin.

"We'll you're a catch so he's lucky to have you."Aisha replied making me smile.

"Thank you. What about you? Anyone special?"I asked her.

"Not really but I don't really date much. I'm still in school and wanted to focus on graduating first."She replied.

"Wow, tell me more."I enticed hoping to keep the conversation going.

"I'm taking a bachelor's degree in Engineering at the University of Nairobi. I'm in my third year and so far it's great. Hard as hell but I like a challenge."Aisha answered.

"I'm in awe of you because that's no easy course to take. I graduated in December with a bachelor's degree in music."I informed her.

"Really? So you can sing and play instruments?"She asked me.

"And write music too but I prefer to play the violin. It's my favorite instrument even though I can play others."I explained.

"Now I'm in awe of you, a virtuouso, nice."Aisha praised making me beam.

I didn't like talking about me much so I changed the conversation back to her. I found out that she was twenty one, family of four with three boys and she was the last born which explained her tomboy persona. Her dad was an engineer and her inspiration to take up her current degree. Aisha was pretty amazing and I was glad that I'd taken time off my day to hang out with her. It was also nice making a friend outside of Hunter's circle.

"So why aren't you in school?"I asked her when I realized she should be in session at the moment.

"It's cultural week so not much is going on academically. I'm also not a fan of group organized activities so I chose to hang out with you instead."She said smiling at me.

"Well the pleasure is all mine."I replied smiling back.

We talked about our campus experiences for the rest of the journey.

Finally our stop came and Aisha and I alighted the mini bus. I had no idea where I was going so Aisha took my hand and lead the way. I was older than her but I still felt like a child being guided by their mother.

Village market was a five minute walk from the stop we alighted at. As soon as it came into view I was in awe. It was huge spanning out far and wide.