Levi Harris: A Guide to Middle School

Episode 15: New Beginnings

EPISODE 15: New Beginnings

    August 17th 2009, Another year in school

    The summer break changed me a lot. I hadn’t noticed but I had grown taller and lost a little weight! I woke up in the morning of August seventeenth tired. I could barely open my eyes until my maid shook me as hard as she could. I stood up and looked around my room, it was barely recognizable from the beginning of the summer. My vision was a bit blurred for a moment or two but my vision became clearer as my mind got more aware. I walked to my bathroom, looking like a drunken hobo walking down the beach towards the sunset. I had matured mentally as well. No more swearing like an idiot, no more hitting Corey for no reason. I reached my bathroom and looked at the mirror. Edging my face close to the mirror, which was taller than me! And I was five-foot two! I looked at the piece of skin above my upper lip, searching for a sign of facial hair. All I could see was a darker, thin line of skin. I sighed before entering the shower, turning the tap and having a warm shower to celebrate the start of a new year. After brushing my teeth, wearing my new school uniform, I sat in the sitting room, thinking of ways I could tell Angelina what I saw, thinking of ways to tell her that I knew her big secret, I didn’t want this secret to break Angelina and I up, I just wanted Angelina to come clean. I was sort of pissed at her but I still loved her. My feelings for her before we started dating came back to haunt me, like a ghost. I picked up my iPod and started to listen to songs trying to get the thoughts out of my head. My driver arrived and I quickly entered the car and waited for my little sister.

    I arrived at school and Angelina was waiting at the school foyer for me. I saw her and emotions rushed through my body. She started waving at me and I waved back and pulled off a fake smile. I went over to her and she gave me a hug and when she tried to kiss me, I turned to the side, only letting her kiss my cheek. She looked at me with surprise written all over her face. She smiled once more before putting her arm inside mine and walking off with me into our classroom. We were officially year eight students. The classroom was quite small but not as small as the year seven classroom. In front of me was a desk where Mr. Wandiba, our new homeroom tutor, was busily writing down something, to my right was an old dusty computer. The computer was stained in a creamy yellow colour. The class was full of desks and at the back right, another section of the room began, a room that had tiny cheap wooden lockers. Angelina had a quick look around the class before pointing at the back of the class, to the left. We sat down and started chatting about our summer holidays…

“Well, I went to Mbeya with my family,” Angelina said. I looked at her and tried to show her a sign that I was listening but it was sort of obvious that I hadn’t.

“How ‘bout you?” she asked. I inhaled deeply.

“Erm… I went out with my fam’ most of the time. Nothing much. How was Mbeya?” I asked her, trying to get her to talk. She didn’t know that I saw her at the cinemas on Saturday; she didn’t know that I saw what she did. She was blinded and she probably thought I was blinded as well. I bet she thought that I still thought she was an innocent girl. I knew what she done and it tore me apart.

“It was good, I had a lot of fruits!” she said, teasing me about my vitamin problem, I hated anything sweet. Except juice. I flinched for a second before smiling.

“’Ave you been out recently?” I asked her. Her face frowned for a moment as if she was confused.

“Nah, not in Dar es Salaam. Why you asking?” she asked.

“Nah, just wondering,” I said. I couldn’t confront her about what I saw. ‘At least not now,’ I told my self. The first lesson, English, was annoying. Mrs. Bibiton said how happy she was to see us again and when I tried cracking a joke with Corey at the back of the class she said: “If you’re not gonna pay attention in school you might as well not come,” I snarled and went back to talking with Corey. This year I wouldn’t bother with Bibiton, she already hated me and I didn’t fancy her much either. The day went on boring but that’s how first days are. They’re not supposed to be full of excitement, all the excitement is saved for the last day, I had to keep that out of my mind, it was at least nine months away.

    It was nine thirty and I was tired, I couldn’t text Angie anymore. I rested my head on my pillow waiting for her reply while my mind raced with thoughts. ‘Tell her what you saw!’ my brain hissed, ‘No! You love her’ my heart hissed back. I felt a huge whole where my heart was supposed to be. I was torn apart. These thoughts thumped my mind and heart before I dosed off…

    I was making my way in the mall, hundreds of people where around me. I kept on walking forward until I saw the face of a familiar friend, it was the cinemas, I knew what was going to happen. I walked forward a few more metres before I saw them. Angelina and Mustafa. Right in front of me. ‘Maybe they’re just going out as friends my mind quizzed. It was obvious they weren’t. They were searching for movies to watch and they picked one before rushing into the cinema room. I ran up and asked for the same movie as them before paying and rushing in the same direction they ran. I saw them sit down at the middle and my heart was pumping madly. I sat at the back. Waiting for them to flirt. After some giggling, my heart rose back to where it was, they weren’t flirting I assured myself. Then the unexpected happened. They looked into each other’s eyes and for a second I couldn’t breathe. They moved closer in before their lips touched. They kissed for several moments more, or at least that’s what it felt like to me, before pulling away from the kiss and staring at each other for five seconds. She quickly snapped her head around and pretended to watch the movie. I was angry, a tear flowed on my face and I wiped it. Several more came down before I realized I was making a wheezing sound. I ran out of the cinema not looking back. Hand after hand kept wiping my face but it was hopeless. I was crying like a newborn baby. I bumped into someone and they fell into the ground but I didn’t care. I didn’t care about anything anymore…

    I woke up and when I checked my phone the time was one A.m. the dream was real, that’s what I saw on that Saturday. I needed to tell Angelina, we needed to see where our relationship was. Did she even love me anymore? I asked myself. I reached a crossroad when I asked myself: ‘Do I even love her anymore?’