UNshackled

 " Woah woah woah, could you calm down bro. I didn't know you were this hot-tempered. "Alright, alright!, take a chill pill, I will talk now " Samuel exclaimed, flabbergasted at James' intense reaction. 

 " A faculty is a combination of careers which requires similar courses and experience " he began his explanation.

 " I, as a Med Lab student, can be considered to be a medical practitioner, and so I fall under the medical faculty " with an illustration, he concluded his explanation. 

 " So that's what's meant by the faculty. "How about sign in? " James asked.

 A frown immediately etched into Samuel's face. He felt James was a bit dumb. ' Can't he reason a little ' he thought.

 Outwardly, he explained after letting out a sigh. " You should have been able to deduce its meaning through its name. Buckle up bro, this is campus. Since it's called sign in, then it means officially registering your name and details on the school's register. "

 " Ohhhh " James thought, now that he looked at it, it was indeed something he could easily deduce from its name with some effort. But, he still couldn't put up with Samuel's annoying behavior. ' What's wrong with him, can't you help out without the insults? ' James thought.

 " Do you know where the engineering faculty is? " James asked, hoping to get an answer and quickly depart before he lost his temper.

 " Yes, I happen to know the location of that faculty " Samuel said leisurely, his words positively influencing James's emotions. Retrace your steps slowly back to the route we passed by. Look for the first turn after the campus gate and take it. Tag along with other students you see there since they should be headed to the same place. "

 " Thanks " suppressing his annoyance, James took note of his words and thanked him, after which he ran back in haste.

 " What a weirdo " Samuel muttered while watching James run off. " He couldn't even give a proper farewell, " he spoke. " Humph, truly campus, so many weird characters everywhere, never expected to meet one so soon ". 

 A few minutes later, James stood before a signboard with the words " Faculty Of Engineering " imprinted on it. It was clearly an introduction signboard.

 " I guess this is the Faculty Of Engineering block " James muttered. He had paid heed to Samuel's words earlier, and it indeed led him here.

 Looking around, various other students were around him walking in different directions. But there was a particular direction the majority walked in, and this majority happened to have bulk luggage with them. 

 ' They should also be freshers ' thought James.

 " I had better tag along " he muttered. Quickly, he merged with the crowd, becoming like every normal fresher within. The crowd walked for a few kilometers before they started slowing down. As they slowed down, a commotion also broke out.

 " I think that should be where the sign in event is taking place. " 

 " Are you sure? Let it not be our seniors probably doing some important project over there. If so, we might get into trouble if we distract them. " 

 " How can it be our seniors? Don't you see the big boxes and bags with them? Why will so many seniors gather together with their loads? 

Do you think the campus is about to shut down or what? " 

 " Ohhhh, now that I look at it, that's right " 

 " Enough with the talk, let's quickly join them before others overtake us. Since we are this much, it is likely to be "first come, first served" ( an illustration indicating the first to come will be the first person to be served).

 " That's true, quickly walk fast. I don't want to be here till midnight. "

 " Hey, calm down, stop pushing me " 

 " Then walk fast " 

 " I am walking fast already "

 " Then walk faster. Don't delay me and those behind. "

 " Fine, just pass " 

 " Better " 

 Watching the commotion, James couldn't help but let out a chuckle. This chuckle wasn't based on the guy being bullied, but because of the reaction the guy gave. He literally behaved like he couldn't be bothered by the bully and so he gave in, making the bully feel a bit embarrassed. 

 Moving his attention away, he shifted his gaze to the direction the students had spoken about earlier. 

 It was a building surrounded by lots of students with loads. 

 He walked forward without hesitation, swiftly breezing through the crowd, and in no time he got to the building.

 Within the building premises, there were lots of students, as he noticed earlier. But a few were actually lined up before the entry door of the building. The rest either sat or stood in some spot with other students, getting familiar with each other through conversations. 

 James looked around, and his eyes fell on a group of three students seated in a basement at a corner. Summoning courage, he walked up to them.

 " Hi guys " James greeted as soon as he got close enough. 

 The three replied, though with different emotions.

 The first guy replied " Hi " plainly, the second " How far " ( At Nigeria, whenever you are told Hi or Hello, you are expected to respond with * How far * on standard occasions ). The last person, who was a girl, greeted formally. " Good Afternoon " she said. 

 James could already read a bit of their character from their greetings. 

 The first boy, though spoke plainly, spoke in a loud and quite funny tone, indicating he was actually the loud type who loves making jokes frequently. He was probably in this state because someone offended him. 

 The second boy spoke in a neither too loud nor too low tone, indicating he was a bit reserved. 

 As for the girl, though she greeted formally, her voice, sitting posture and restlessness displayed her boyish girl tendency and carefree attitude. She was definitely the kind of girl that acted like boys frequently.

 " Yeah, Good day " James replied. Taking another look at the surrounding situation, James spoke " Ummm, I just wanted to ask about the process of the sign in. "Please do you guys have any ideas ? " he asked, a bit awkwardly. 

 The first boy was the fastest to react, further confirming James' deduction about his character.

 " An idea keh! How can we possibly have any ideas when we all just got here? Besides, what ideas could they be? Isn't it just to go in and put your name and details on their register? " The boy spoke harshly, but from the boy's tone and expression, James could tell he meant no harm and was only speaking his mind. ( Keh is an ironic exclamation in Nigeria )

 ' That's a bit too blunt bro ' James thought inwardly. 

 The boy also seemed to have noticed he had crossed the line a bit, so he spoke again in a slightly meeker tone. 

 " What I mean is that we too just got here, so we don't have any idea. Besides, I don't think there are any additional ideas needed. From my observation of the people coming out, it is indeed as simple as going in, putting in your details and collecting your identity card. "Maybe I am right, and maybe wrong " he said. 

 " Coming out from where ? " James asked.

 " Didn't you see the queue at the front? " This time, it was the girl who spoke. 

 " Ohhhh, yes I did. I noticed it earlier " James replied.

 " But why aren't you guys on it " he asked again. 

 The one who replied this time was the second boy, not wanting to be left out of the conversation. " The number of students here is too much. If they let everyone join the queue, it would disorganize the occasion. It had already happened previously, and the only way the staff could save the event was to suspend the sign-in until we were willing to cooperate maturely. They also left a threat that anyone who quarrels or fights would be given either a suspension penalty, or direct expulsion. "The rule now is to wait for a queue to finish before forming a new one peacefully ". 

 James took his words in and processed carefully. ' Well that's for the best, if not this place would be in array by now ' he thought. 

 " Okay guys, thanks. Please can you tell me your names " James asked.

 " Be the first, that's how they do it ", the girl said to James.

 " Ohhhhh, my bad. "I am James Gideon " he introduced. The rest followed suit.

 " Favour " The loud guy spoke blatantly. 

 ' Favour ? 'Isn't that a feminine name? ' James thought.

 As if hearing his thoughts, Favour and the rest threw him different looks, Favour throwing a vexed glare and the rest, one filled with ridicule. 

 The last two also introduced themselves. " I am Aquila ", " Bethel ". 

 Favour still kept his vexed gaze on James, like a lion ready to plunge upon its prey, and it didn't go unnoticed by James and the rest. 

 Seeing his behavior, Aquila shook his head and explained to James, " Just ignore him. He's like this because he got shouted at and kicked out of the queue by one of the staff members. "

 ' So that's the case, I am just a scape goat. Never mind, I will be the better person this time ' James thought, and " Sorry " he apologized.

 To his awe, the thanks or cooperation he expected never came. Instead, what came was a harsher tone, " Don't apologize to me, you didn't offend me ", Favour made a sarcastic remark. 

 Seeing his unwillingness to back down, James made more moves. " Okay sir, okay sir " he said in a jovial tone, trying to crack a joke to brighten up Favour mood.

 Alas, it fell on deaf ears as all he got was a snort and then ignorance.

 " Let him be, he will get over it. I think he is just a bit embarrassed " Bethel said.

 Her words earned her an intense glare from Favour, but being her defiant self, she refused to back down, returning the glare more intensely, tit-for-tat. It became an eye stare competition.

 " Okay, okay, okay. It's enough, you guys should snap out of it. " Said James, who could already feel the blazing aura emitting from the two people.