When tables turn, kingdoms fall

As a high school senior, I used to think that being feared was being respected. It was funny how I learned the difference in the most unexpected way, ever. I attended a boarding school and like in most boarding schools, seniors had the right to do whatever they wanted, which included bullying the junior ones. In my case, I was the school's senior prefect and that meant trouble for anyone that crossed my path. My name was said in whispers as no one wanted to get on my bad side. I was the king of the school until the kingdom crumbled on me and I couldn't even save myself.

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"If I get to the gate before you girls, you'll wish you never saw this day " I said harshly to some students who had remained after I had chased everyone out for classes.

"Senior Jenny, please, Emelda is very ill and we need to help her get dressed for school." One of the girls said to me.

"So? Why are you telling me this?" I snapped at her.

"I was wondering if you could spare us some time to finish up before we leave for classes." The girl calmly replied.

I looked past her to the sick girl who was lying on the bed, as her friends tried to get her to eat breakfast.
"Is she handicapped?" I asked the girl who was pleading on their behalf.

"No, but she's seriously sick." The girl responded.

"Since she's not handicapped and she hasn't fainted till now, let it be known to you that you'll face my wrath if I should get to that gate before you girls." I threatened and walked away.

They must've felt that I wasn't serious with the threats or perhaps, I would have compassion on them, so they stayed back and tended to their sick friend and I felt insulted by their actions. I waited at the hostel gate till they came out and I didn't spare any of them. I whipped them with my long cane and when they cried, I increased my cane strokes.

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One day, after my usual tyranny in the name of discipline, one of the teachers called me to her office.
"Good morning, Ma." I greeted as I walked into the office.

"Jenny, how are you doing?" She held a tight smile as she welcomed me into her office.

"I'm good." I gave a short response.
I wasn't comfortable with her summoning. I wondered if I had done something wrong and the most scary and uneasy part was the tight smile she had on her face as she spoke to me. It felt weird.

"You're the senior prefect, right?" She asked me.

"Yes ma'am, I am." I replied.

"Have a seat. We're going to have a long conversation." She said again and I widened my eyes in confusion.

"Ma, it's there a problem?" I asked her and I slowly sat on the chair in front of her desk.

"Not at all. I just needed to talk to you about something important. Ermm, how do you feel when the mention of your name instills fear in people?" She asked me.

I pursed my lips, thinking of a suitable response to give to the question she had asked.
"I don't think I understand you, Ma." I said in denial.

"I think you do. You're the senior prefect of this school and this means that you're the sole guardian of the students. You're like a portal that connects the students to the school administration but yet, the students aren't even accessible to you. How can the school function when it's that way?" She suddenly had a serious look on her face and I became uneasy.

"Ma, I'm very accessible and I'm doing my best as the school's president." I responded in my defense.

"Is that the lie you tell yourself?" She asked me.

"I'm sorry Ma, but I think there has been some kind of mix-up somewhere. Did someone report me to you?" I asked her.
The whole conversation felt like I was being interrogated and it made me uncomfortable. I hated the fact that I was in a tight spot and I fought back the rude words that were surging to spill from my guts.

"Are you asking so you'd punish them afterward?" She asked me and before I could respond, she continued. "I've watched you turn from a sweet girl to a terror in this school. Yes, you're the brightest in your class and that's probably why you won the position of the school's president in the first place, but in the end, you're just a bully who likes to torment those below her." She said and gulped down the water that had been on the table.

I swallowed my response and stared at her. I couldn't quite understand why she was yelling at me.

"Look Jenny, I'm going to be brutally honest with you. Being a bully doesn't earn you respect, you'll only be feared and hated. You had better change now because when the tables turn, you might end up suffering more than you can ever imagine." She finally stopped talking and I simply nodded and exited her office.

As I walked back to my classroom, the teacher's words haunted me and it pissed me so badly.

'Someone must've said something to her.' I thought to myself but I couldn't figure out who it was, that had taken the bold step of talking to a teacher about me without the fear of what might become of them.

By nightfall, my mood turned from bad to worse as I hadn't found who had ratted me out to the teacher. My friends suggested that it must've been the girls I had flogged for staying back with their sick friend and the memories came flooding, back to me.
I bolted from my bed and walked fiercely to their hostel. As I walked in, students cowered in fear and for some crazy reason, I enjoyed seeing them that way. I dragged the girls out including the sick Emelda and despite their denial, I made them kneel by my bedside till dawn. That had been their punishment for supposedly snitching on me.

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Soon, my reign as the school's senior prefect was over as we were about to write our final exams and the baton was passed to the next set. Emelda, the sick girl I had flogged, was chosen to be the next president of the school.
Back to me, I had played a dirty trick on my parents as a student. While they thought I was into sciences, I studied arts and hid it from them and when my dad found out, he was furious and I paid dearly for that.

"Jenny, you're going to repeat your classes. This your results, despite how good and tempting they might be, it is null and void to me." My dad had declared in anger.

"Dad please, any other punishment but not this. I beg of you." I pleaded with him, but my pleas fell on deaf ears.

"You lied that you were into sciences and now, you're going to study it for real and you'll remain in this school so that others can learn from your mistakes." My dad said to me and my heart tore apart.

I knelt and held his legs with tears streaming down from my eyes.
"Dad, please, I can't be in the same class with my juniors. Let me attend another school instead." I kept pleading.

"You should've thought of that before you decided to deceive me and your mother." He responded and walked away.

At that moment, my world fell apart and I realized that I was in deep waters. Being in the same class with people I had bullied wasn't something that has ever crossed my mind. When the students found out, it felt like they were all planning some kind of mysterious welcome party for me. It was then that I wished that I had been nicer to them.

I never thought that I'd be the one cowering in fear but Karma has a way of turning tables, and mine turned in the most drastic way ever.

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Thanks for reading.