Growing up too fast : The things I did not understand

I wished to be liberated from this cage. I was tired of being in the junior class because i had tried and failed to understand many things. I had expected to be treated with more respect because i felt i was almost grown up. In the hostel, we were punished a lot and never given time to ourselves except at night. As if their status wasnt glaring enough, the seniors on my table at the refectory always tried to make me feel small. I felt often, that they saw a bodacious trait in me because I wasn't scared to share a table with them, on the contrary, I was but I had been assigned that table by a member of staff, who was I to heed: my teacher or my seniors? While everyone was eating, I would be sent to get drinking water for them like they only realized then that they would need water, and this earned me slaps from the refectory prefects since it was a rule that no one stands up during dining. I didnt understand why they needed to frustrate me in order to ascertain their authority. To stop them from imposing themselves on me, I started taking my food to seat with my mates but it was a discomfort to some of them, there was no sitting space for me since twelve people were allotted to each table so I stopped coming to the refectory altogether. As soon as the closing prayers were said in the mornings, I hurried to the refectory to see if my share of the bread loaves had been left for me, other times, i never bothered to go until a new session ommenced and we were assigned new eating tables.
On Saturdays, we were given chores and tasks which all amounted to keeping the hostels and surroundings clean. On this particular Saturday, I had been given a chore that needed the use of a bucket, there were no buckets lying around so I rushed in to get mine. It wasn't there, I asked my friends and they told me a senior student had taken my bucket. Actually, she was in the junior class too but we were made to call anyone, as long as they were above us in class, "seniors", this same student had deprived me of my bucket thrice now, I was going to give her a piece of my mind. I confronted her and warned her to desist from taking my bucket. She reported me to the house captain, I was called a rude junior student and punished. I didn't understand, why would I be punished because I queried someone who took my bucket, I was fighting for my rights.
One early morning, senior Tinuke asked me to get her a cup of water so she could have her brush. I was about to start my morning duty then so I decided to wait till it was my turn to fetch water for her. When it got to my turn, I forgot that senior Tinuke sent me on an errand , I fetched water and started my chores. I was almost done when I looked up and saw her watching me. The next thing I heard was " Warka, come up". I ran with the cup to plead with her. I forgot, I tried to explain but all I got were slaps. I was asked to kneel down, it was almost time for classes but Tinuke didn't care, after all she was an Ss2 student. I didn't understand why she wouldn't listen to my pleas, it was just an error of omission.
That same week, I entered Tinuke's trap again. I bought a lip gloss during the holidays. It could change from colorless to pink. I thought it was cool until I got to the chapel and she was there with her friends. "Lipstick" that's what she called me, followed by a slap and one fat JSS2 student burst into laughter mimicking the lipstick nickname Tinuke called me and she was slapped too. I didn't understand why Tinuke had to slap people to emphasize her point, she could have explained to me that I shouldn't apply colored gloss, I didn't understand why she had to slap the fat girl too.
During night prep, some Ss3 students read in our classes, there were no extra seats for them so they displaced some classmates of mine. And whenever, anyone was caught sleeping, they were sent to the fore of the class to frog jump. I didn't understand why students should be punished for sleeping when the senior students often slept during the night prep. Besides, it wasn't during classes, so if we were fatigued and couldn't read anymore, why were we not allowed to sleep?
Senior Jye  was the senior student I admired the most. An intelligent and very mature student, she was given the post of refectory prefect. She was kind too. Of course, there were some things she did that I didn't understand too, like the day she asked me to sneak her potion of food out of the refectory for her and then, when she became prefect, punished a student for sneaking out food for her fellow class mate. Still, I liked her so I talked to her about all these things and she laughed and explained some to me.
What I discovered from Jye's explanation was that what I termed wickedness or bullying was not necessarily that all the time. In the world, there are rules that govern how we live and act and when we break some of these rules, there is an unbalanced situation. I had come to a new world, the boarding school. There were rules that made me know my position and my limits, just like the most senior students had teachers to remind them of their position and limits. I was treated in some ways because I was considered grown up and I was expected to understand the way the world of the boarding school worked. I couldn't be totally free but each new step I took lessened my constraints and limits. All I needed was endurance, keeness, tolerance and reverence to adapt and enjoy the ride. And then everything came into perspective, and when it did,  things turned out better. I tried to make the most of my time in that world. Even the punishments turned to fun.
Eventually, I had to change schools after junior class and I wasnt happy leaving but I wasn't worried either because i  had learnt the rules to adapt in every "world" I found myself. I finally understood.