MEMORIES, OUCH!

THE SQUAD

Once upon a time was something I never planned on saying since it always ended up in a happily ever after but the story didn't even have an ending. I'm sorry in advance for whatever happens in the story. You might want to sit down and hear my side of the story. At the moment, it's going to be something more like a diary but it will surely be a novel. So here it goes. Where should I even start? Yh, so I entered the school with much swag although I had my buggy trousers on. I still wanted to play the shy type but what's with the pretence? I was actually. Different places, different faces and the only constant was the beautiful faces, obviously except mine. I was even shy to put up a smile. 'Sit next to the girl over there and let the rest follow. Keep your numbers in your head and go accordingly', a certain man said as I moved to my seat, waiting to be called to finish my admission to the school. The queue was very long but my mind was occupied with a beautiful scenery sitting right in front of me. Lo and behold, it was my turn for my things to be checked and then I will be moved to my dormitory. Before I had finished with everything, mom had already made a friend already which automatically became my friend too, Telvin. We went outside the school with him to have our lunch, his parents were a little busy and had to rush to do something so they left as soon as the registration was complete. After eating, my parents also left so Telvin and I came to the school, where we were also directed to the dining hall for lunch. Due to our curiosity, we took our plates and cutleries and followed like we had fasted for a week now. There, we were thought how to use the cutlery. I acted as if I had never touched one before in my life. The funny part was when we were being moved to the dormitories. You could see me walking with a whole lot of thoughts running through my head. 'So are all these people going to be in my dorm?' 'How many will we be in a room?' 'Me, let me hurry before all the down beds get occupied before I get there, I don't want to be falling down at night.' I guessed my thoughts also delayed me because when I reached there, there was only one down bed available and a guy's mom also came to beg me to take the top bed because his son didn't like to be very close to the fan. I even forgot to collect money before allowing him. Oh, he's called Winston. You'll know much about him later. One handsome guy like that. We received many rules from the seniors amidst the fun time we had with them. Some of them also came round just to know our nicknames, which I didn't really have one at that time. When it was twilight, we were asked to move to the dining hall for supper. You should see how innocent I looked dressed like a decent guy you could ever imagine. Everyone thought I was a slow eater by their look at me but they didn't know that, instead of eating, I was busy looking for my lost rib. I have been looking for it since and still couldn't find it by then. I didn't want to take it back though. I just wanted to call her mine forever. So after supper, the talkative part of my roommates came into session making friends whiles I was still playing the shy type, standing by the pillar, very sure of myself that my lost rib wasn't around. I bet for about a couple of weeks, no one in that school had heard my voice before probably except Telvin. He even became very popular that very day we got to the school. I became very emotional that night, thinking about how I'll live for the first time without the people I am usually with. Some tears dropped too. I began to miss people I didn't even really regard them as friends. I guess I missed how they used to worry me here and there. Since I had no friend over there by then, no one realized I was crying but it continued for about four days in a row. Jibril and Herbert, my side buddies were the first friends I made, Jibril was the first. The second day was actually a Saturday and we were asked to clean up places we never been to before since we got there but who was the junior there? It was a very long weekend and a very boring one except for the Sunday church service. Come on, who wouldn't love high school church service? The dance, songs, drama, etc. I really loved it and more when the day was concluded with my favourite meal on the dining table. I had even forgotten we had school the next day. I couldn't sleep very well that night because I couldn't hold myself with the tears and thinking about how my life in class would be. I think Telvin's snoring was also a cause of my sleepless night. I was ready that morning before everyone was awake. I was still not feeling the way I'll be bathing with many people. My working plot too was a simple one so I knew I will never be late for class in my life. I waited for the boys in my dorm to finish dressing and we all moved to pile up in a certain class. I don't know why all of us hated the classes downstairs. Probably the exposure wasn't their thing. I didn't have an excuse myself, I was just shy. Luckily enough for me, the class we settled in was my desired class and desired electives so some had to leave us in search of their classes. I followed them too, thinking I could find a class without some of my electives. I preferred music to geography but there was not even a single class that offered music so I came back to my class, noticing that most of the boys were still there. Some with the excuse that they will manage the electives like that. Some also with the books of other electives sold them and sat in my class because they claimed their class would be very boring. My class too had other elective choices to choose from so it was fine by them. I remember the first people to be known in the class were Fredrick and Richard. They spoke to almost all the girls within half an hour and trust me, they disturbed a lot. People thought they knew each other before entering the school but it wasn't as such. There I was, unnoticed in the classroom. Even my sitting partner, Esther, didn't know my name for about two weeks. If she hadn't been a little extroverted, she wouldn't have known for the rest of the three years ahead of us. There was this girl too, Francesca, she approached me first. She was the first person to know I was into poetry and I'm also sure she the first to know I had a nice voice. She used to disturb me a little. That was how she got to see all my mash-up songs and poems. 'I've been searching for this beautiful girl. I've been looking for this wonderful girl. Should I shout or should I yell your name on high to everyone...' I remember that was my first poem followed by, 'From every literature, had thousand devices to describe. From each perspective, had thousand views to express how I feel for you...' Oh, I've lost a lot of poems. Mash-up songs? I was all about Bruno mars and Akwaboah coming to the local side. Francesca liked Bruno Mars too so I sorted her ears with some soothing melody of 'When I see your face...' We started schooling when Christmas time was due so even before we got to the school, we had the mind-set of how we were going to celebrate the Christmas. The second, third week and I was part of the house officially. They knew my name. I was also with the boys. During one church service, I was sitting by a guy who bared my name, Jack. This is when the interesting moments begun in my high school. He tapped me and pointed two ladies, "Which one is the most beautiful?" he asked. "I'd prefer the dark one", I answered with a smile. I guess everyone preferred their type of angel. We debated a little on that and continued the service. On Monday, the class wasn't full and the whole school was boring because most of the students left for the inter school games. There was no teacher so we did everything we wanted to do. People were in groups, chit chatting and I was also in one, in front of the class with some of my house boys. I wasn't talking though, just listening to them as they talk about the things they do with their phone. They wondered why I wasn't talking and I decided to join the conversation now. 'I deleted settings from my phone.' I said. 'Herh' they exclaimed. They all denied that it was true and I also denied their thoughts and it worked, most of them believed it was true and the conversation continued. I disclosed to them later in the day that I was lying and they went to the dorm, telling people how I had lied to them. Jibril, the guy sleeping by me begun to call me Settings. I felt it was ok because it would distinguish between the other Jack and me. He also had nicknames, funny ones to be exact but they weren't known by then so he was still called Jack. On Wednesday, I got to know that the girl I declared beautiful than the other was in Telvin's class. Both girls were but I saw only the dark one. I gathered all the courage and spoke to her. I can't avoid all girls because I wasn't seeing anyone with my rib. Her name was Michelle. She had beautiful white eyes amidst her dark complexion and her smile, oh my God, she never stopped. We were already late for worship so I had to cut everything short and leave with Telvin. She wasn't really well so she had to stay in the class. I could feel her pain within me but come on, she wasn't my lost rib, and I could deeply feel that. We had about a day to go home and I felt a deep regret in me for not collecting Michelle's number. I searched for her everywhere I went but even when I found her, I couldn't gather the courage to go talk to her. Already, I was being teased by Jack and the rest of my dorm mates that I loved Michelle. No one over there wanted to believe that it was just an admiration and the rumour began to hit the whole corners of the school before we could leave for the Christmas break. Another funny rumour that was going viral in the school was..... It's even funny to say. People said I was also crushing on Rahmatu. I don't know, they teased everyone with Rahmatu, but, when it got to my turn, it was never sent to the other person. It's not like I was the last person in the room either. Anyways, it was all part of the fun in the school and I enjoyed it in some way. Which girl was I friends with? One or probably none. Esther was my sitting partner so it was obvious we would have spoken. The way other people saw me? Did they even know I was in the school? My nights were very boring because whiles people were busily talking to friends, I volunteered to clean the tables after supper. That was the only way I could keep myself company. It was a little fun when Jibril told me all the things that happened at campus. All the love scenes, he even told me his and that placed a smile on my face whenever I was going to bed at night. Night scenes at my house was a very funny one. Whiles people were buying their drink and bread and hiding them, others too were going round to look for them and drink. I remember several times when I forgot I had bought one and woke up to see that it had rotten. You cannot tell anyone because they will claim you are very stingy. We never had orientation so the school's anthem was even a hard task for us. I bet a lot of people still can't sing it now. The chorus was very interesting so we all knew that part. ' Sempe Mirabilis O Ghanata! Eagle flighted we discerning...' The night before we were to leave, we were also advised that we were not supposed to sleep before the night. I can't tell you what happens to you when you do but trust me, you wouldn't want to close your eyes that night. We got ourselves occupied collecting numbers from our friends. I had about six, four boys, and the rest, girls. Even with the girls, I didn't take it from them. Someone had a sheet with them on it. It was two Michelle so I had to write all the two and try my luck when I get home. I packed after that and walked around till it was morn. We were asked to go for closing assembly. That was when people with bushy hairs were punished and other scenes occurred. I just couldn't think of anything but home. I was going home with Telvin so we had to wait for her mom. She came during noon and took us to a chop bar to have lunch. That was my first time eating in a chop bar. I'm not really the type who eats local foods outside but I didn't want to give any excuse then. We went home after that it was a home sweet home feeling for me. I didn't know that much for the others. I went for my phone from my grand mom's drawer and tried to check if I had received any messages. Yh, there was one, from Isabel, the one person I missed chatting with. It was a message she sent before leaving so I replied with a 'hey' waiting for her reply. I didn't know if she was home yet or not. There was no one to chat with again so I remembered that I had some six numbers in my bag that I had to text. I decided to chat with all the two girls to know the one I was really looking for. A little risk wouldn't cause any great harm. So one was Michelle and the other was also saved Michellee with a double 'e'. The Michellee replied first and upon some small questions, I realized she wasn't the one but I had started a conversation already and I can't just block her or something. The first one also replied and I jumped with joy to reply her message. I had to introduce myself again since she didn't remember who I was. We had a little chat and she even introduced me to Julia Michaels and made me love her favorite song. There was a program at community two, a community right next to my community and since I was feeling I was all grown now, I decided to go. It was then I got to realize that Fredrick was also living around my area. He introduced me to his family when we met at the program and I was feeling his sister's beauty already. No big deal though, I just love disturbing him with his sister but on the real note, she was beautiful. It was just a short break and we had exams right when we got to school so I had to learn a little. We were asked to report to school on the 7th of the January so I had to prepare very quickly. I didn't get all what I wanted but I left for school like that. Luckily for me, I had the bed I was sleeping on at first and the same room. The only change was where my class was located. All the tracks, both gold and green track were there so we were moved to another block, a very hot classroom too. The only advantage was that it was close to the dining hall so we were always the first to be there if we wanted to but it was always otherwise. We would gather at the front of the class, doing absolutely nothing. We were also given new desks by the government. Very funny how everyone protected theirs because we were threatened by the senior house master that we would be punished if we misplaced ours. We had games before our exams so our new house master insisted we all went for dawn trotting. That was how I got to know Marie. A short, sorry. A cute girl with spectacles. I swear I could identify her coming no matter how far she was from me. I admired her a lot. Maybe she started it. I didn't ask her to trot with me. I was busy enjoying my loneliness but she the nice type so no big deal. Another shyness story because I'm sure she didn't even know my name. She still doesn't, I'm sure of that. It was time for us to write our exams and I felt I was prepared enough so I wasn't really worried. Our class prefect then, Ernest, was also in my dorm so I used to take the key from him and get to class early before everyone did. I remember the first time I was caned in that school. That was also the last. A teacher claimed we were sitting on teachers' bench and asked us to kneel. He gave me some strokes at my back and I nearly cried. It had been a while since I was ever caned. People were laughing at us so I had to laugh with them too. Oh, I left one part out, Michelle. She didn't come to school early and when she did, she passed in front of my class. You should see how all the boys shouted my name. She even felt shy and angry why she was being teased by someone she barely knew. That was how I became shy of her also, much more than the first. Anytime I was brought in front of her, shyness drooled all over my face and I couldn't say a word. I remember this dawn when it was just Michelle and me. The courage I gathered to talk to her was not even enough to last a couple minutes with her. I really sounded very weird over there. So back to the examination part, that was the end of our first semester. Within those moments were times when I'd move to the home economics class to confirm from a girl who she is to a friend. That was very awkward of me, I admit. We were supposed to go on a month break and come back for the second semester. I decided to go for vacation classes just like I did before the first semester. I knew I wasn't going to meet Isabel because she told me she had changed her track so she would be in school while I'm home. I went anyways and I met my mates from junior high there also. I used to roll and learn with them so everything seemed ok for me. Studies was going on smoothly for three weeks until a virus struck the whole country. We were asked to quarantine ourselves in our houses. My family and I travelled to our hometown because there was free movement there. Over there, I felt very bored whenever I touched my phone because I couldn't reach Isabel anymore and I had nothing to do with it. I remembered there was this beautiful girl back in classes I really wanted to talk to before the pandemic started. I didn't know her name but I knew that of her friend, Catherine. I quickly went to look up for Catherine on the class' WhatsApp group and texted her. She was online by then and we had a very intriguing conversation. I was really loving it honestly. I even forgot to ask for her friend's contact. She was a fair beauty with bright eyes and a very interesting perspective. Lo and behold, the quarantine was over and I thought we would be going to school soon but it wasn't so. I was supposed to go back to the classes again and even that was about two months from then. Two months of boredom? Come on! I decided to start learning my programming languages. I also learnt many card skills, origami and other things. I had enough time to learn ahead of everything we were doing back in school which was more like revising what we were learning during the vacation classes before we came home. I was quite prepared before we started the classes, and trust me, everything was fun over there, just that I wasn't seeing Catherine too. I saw Isabel a couple of times and then she vanished. Anyways, I was still enjoying life and I didn't know why. It was just fun not thinking about anything. I was with my former classmates and we enjoyed being in class together again. That made me miss classes every weekend I wasn't seeing them. I remember I went to a wedding during one weekend. I felt bored over there so I took my phone and went to facebook to text random people. I saw a message from facebook that a user I had followed just followed me back so I texted her. Wendy was her name. It turned out I knew her already but she couldn't remember. She was a best friend of one buddies. The one I created a weird scene, asking if they were dating. We had fun online and it got to some time, she was the only person I was texting on whatsapp both day and night. We had this husband and wife vibe and I was happy for having such a friend. I can't continue this story without adding some talents some of my friends had. Wendy had one of the best voice I have ever heard. I had a playlist of her voice notes that I used to listen to everyday. Isabel on the other hand was a multi-talented being. She could sing, rap, dance, act and I'm pretty sure there were others that she was hiding from me. Catherine didn't even want to record an audio for me. She was just like me, the texting only type. So back to the story, the year was ending and we hadn't been in school so I was starting to miss a lot of people so I created a whatsapp group with my room boys being the members and it was really fun. Because of almighty covid, there was no street praise that year. We had information that we were to report to school on January, 2021. I don't really remember the exact date. It was just out second year seniors and us and it was a very stressful time. I still remember this teacher though, Madam Christine. The only teacher who knew me by then. She was an intern so she left immediately when her term was over. Form two was a very short journey for us, with the mid-terms and everything. Clarissa and Richard are still owing me though. We made a deal that if I could remember that if I could remember that they were owing me, then they'd did. I remembered them the first day in form three. I think I left some parts out of the form aspect. Obviously, that was when we became seniors. The form ones came and I had a school daughter, Brandy. If not that Google didn't know her, you would have seen her picture when you searched for the word 'cute'. She was very cute, there's no lie about that. Who else did I meet? Yvonne, who later became Ernest's school daughter. He claimed he wanted a sensible school daughter so I told him to go for her. She was very cool to be with. We knew these people when they started mixing us up during dinning. We got to know a new set of people when our table was shuffled again and Ernest was still on my table. We got to know Kekklin (Fredrick's school daughter), some other girls and then this fair girl who caught my eye. June was her name. I gathered courage at least to talk to her. We became friend then. During the last night of the stay in school that year, which was also the last time of our form two academic year, we were surprised by the school. A meal we had never expected from them was served to us with drinks too. We called it the 'Christmas gift from headie himself'. I managed to collect June's number during that time and I couldn't wait to text her. I was just glad she became my friend. There's one secret no one knew. There was this girl I really admired... I will never mention her name. Maybe my friends will know. She was very very beautiful. Matter of fact, they were two, one was fair and the other was dark. Let's just end this topic here. It's not as if I'm going to mention their names. Yh, so we went home the next and the usual Christmas routine again. That was in 2021 though. Buckle up, this is where the story gets interesting. This was when I actually became settings. The depression, broken heart, disappointment, almost everything happened to me during 2022. A year I will surely never forget not only because of the things that happened to me but also because of the great people I met that year. I know I will never lose them. January it was. I need a calendar for this. Maybe I don't January was just a normal month. Everything started in February. That was when our house was shuffled and I had the house I hated the most. That was when I got depressed for the first time. That was the last time too. For a week, I never slept at night. I was always tired in class. I couldn't cry though but everyone could see how stressed I was. While I was busy trying to change my house which became successful eventually, Ernest went to tell June I wanted to date her because I was mostly talking about her in the dorm. It was on valentine when she came to me to ask if it was true. I said yes and she told me I would get my answer the next day. I thought I was just confirming that I liked her not knowing it was more like a proposal so since it wasn't a bad idea, I humbly waited for my response. It was a yes for me so let's just say I was dating June. Funny and sad news was, our relationship didn't last long. The vibe wasn't there, her school mom didn't seem to like and other things I didn't really know. It was during the last days of our relationship that I met this other girl too, Stephanie. She was a friend of my friends but I was always distant from her. She approached me that day during the sports practise at the school park. We became very close and it seemed I was losing the connection I had with my school daughter. Anyways, I wanted her to socialize too so it was good at least, it's not like we were had fought or anything bad. She was the first person I had late night calls with, which was when we vacated and were in the house. So funny how we lost that connection right when we got back to school. She was the one who gave a new name to me and my friends, THE SQUAD. It was 4pf at first, four pockets full. That was how we were known before it was changed. Herbert was part, the only person I loved disturbing. I used to call him daddy. Even though I knew he will beat me, I always wanted to cause it. We all loved how his eyes were. He had the nickname of 'sexy eyes' the first day he came to the school. One smart being I could never forget. Fredrick, the spectacled guy. Another great friend. If every group had a personal matron, he would have been the one. He was damn good at his management and food. He was a prefect too. Herbert also became a prefect. Fredrick with his pink lips enlightened the room every time he was around. His laugh, oh dear, very bulky. Speaking of laughter, let's talk about Richard. That guy could laugh at his jokes even before it ends. We always laughed not because of the joke but because of his laugh. Richard changed his nicknames about ten times including the ones that were given to him that he never liked. Even within the squad, Richard and I became very close. And speaking of close, let's move on to Christian, known as darkness. He was very very dark despite the fact that he'd get missing when the lights are turned off. I also had that natural talent too. He always brought my favourite food stuff to school and I was always begging him to give it to me. One of our funny moments together was when we decided sell sachet water in the dormitory. I cleared everything in my box and we filled it with water. 'Water for sale', hehehe. It was fun though, you know, a little business. He was also good at disturbing me and together, we were undefeatable in any argument. Hehehe? Well I learnt that from Eve. I'll get to her turn soon. Now let's talk about Ernest. I loved this guy's dance. Although everyone had their own weird type of dancing, Ernest's crooked leg dance was on a different level. We still don't know where he learnt that dance from. He was cool to be with and it was it was quite funny the way he talked. The next person would be Ken. He was known in the school to have the brightest smile ever. I'm not sure that guy had an enemy in the school. He was always smiling. He was the real lover boy alongside Tello. His eyebrows were even a turn on for the girls. Many people did we meet asking if Tello could be their friend. The twins were also on the list. You couldn't leave one out of the equation. Frank and Franklin were their names. They looked very identical and I guess that was part of their popularity too. They were very caring, same values on both ends. The squad was an open thing that we didn't know who was in and who wasn't. It was basically everyone in our room, the first room we got into. Some girls were also regarded as one of ours. They gave us the name. Stephanie, first on the list, pink lips, nice accent and always optimistic. Probably the person that got me heartbroken in school with her lovely question. Now, I recall all those moments and whisper to myself that I have a story to tell indeed. We became very close, we weren't anymore and then we became best friends at the end. The vibe we had started our friendship with was dead and gone and I didn't even know where I had buried it. Next person on the list would Kafui. She wasn't having an English name though. Kafui was very optimistic and always happy per what I saw so far. I always loved her company and I took her as a sister very quick. She was a shy type though and I loved tearing her nose mask. My school daughter, Brandy was also one of them. I think I have described her already, very respectful. She had a very nice voice too. Then we get to Patience, another beautiful lady. Almost all the girls had the same qualities including Eve, the last person I met. I recall when we first met, or when we first decided to talk. 'I heard you sing', she said. 'I heard you can dance', I replied with a smile and the conversation continued in the dining hall while we were waiting for the Ghana match to start so we would all go and watch. She eventually heard my voice though but I never got to see her dance. She still owes me a dance though. I even forgot to teach her the salsa. We became very close and it was sad I had met her at the end of our stay in school. If I had known this was how we would this close, I would have befriended her early. They left for vacation when it was time for us to write our final examination. Sickness was also dealing with quite enough but I managed to write all my papers in one piece. Sad moments when everyone started leaving gradually and we all knew it was the end of our senior high life. And everyone had a nice story to tell. The school itself had its own tales. I on the other hand had many cast in my story, Bridget, a friend I met at the last days, who knew where I stayed so we became pretty close too. Jack was like a twin brother to me. How I loved kicking his bed when he was trying to sleep. Our gossip his hit different when we were just a bed away. I couldn't talk about my high school life without adding Dynamic to the story, oh that guy loved disturbing me. Although I was very young, I loved disturbing the elderly. My classmates were also part of who I am today. Believe me if I tell you my class was the most worrisome class on campus. I am never going to forget when a teacher had to chase us with chair because a student commented on his head. The duo of my sitting partner and I was something. The back benchers were the question answerers and those in front were the note writers. Quite a formation we played over there. 'Sir please he is not feeling' was what everyone was going to say if a teacher asked why a guy's head was on the table and never come to our class to cause a commotion because we wouldn't accept that. Welcome to our class, the home of comedy, intelligence and everything you would like to know. Life in high school was a very interesting one. As my days in school came to an end, I began reminiscing on my first day in school, how everything started, even the night before that. How I woke up about eight times and it still wasn't morn yet. How I had mixed feelings, thinking about how the school would be and many others. That was a great feeling but the end wasn't very interesting because I was feeling and I puked a number of times. But I hurt some people too and I'll forever be sorry for doing that to them, emotionally most especially.