"Oh, finally am done with high school" I murmured to myself as the goodbye song from our juniors echoed in my ears. The hall was just colourful with our blue gowns on a silver, a red, a yellow or a black shoe. Whatever color that suits you was a match with its accessories.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
On my left were my friends, 5 of them. Although our plans of wearing the same thing didn't work out again, we all looked great. Everyone was chattering, some like me feeling the emotional scenario and atmosphere, wishing it never had to end but it just have to, to prepare me for a better life ahead. That was my console as I flashed my eyes to where my bunkmate was sitting. She'd cried her eyes out yesterday night, wincing over letting go. Not even my warm embraces could keep her from crying, not the gifts I'd spent #10,000 to buy for her from my savings, not the last moments we had. Well I just have to go,to make way for her to come up. I shot her a smile which she returned slightly. "Mary, let's go take some shots." Chioma said to me interruptiong my thoughts. To be frank with you, I was a little bit ashamed of myself. My friends all had big phones from good companies. Some of them were gifts from their boyfriends, some from their side boos, some from their parents while I had none. I had borrowed my brother's Nokia E62 at least not to be clouded with lame thoughts. The phone wasn't even a help, the battery wasn't good anymore so it's problems of tripping off in the middle of a song or movie came up and I dropped it in my silver purse,having had enough of its disgrace since yesterday night. I looked at Gloria's Iphone and wondered who said it was bad to have a boyfriend. I waved the thought off immediately as I remembered I was a Christian and am not allowed to keep boyfriends. Although deep inside me, I yearned for more palatable reasons to make me not to feel like having boyfriends. I knew it was bad, yeah, from the way my family, neighborhood, almost everyone around me, (the older ones actually) talks about it since I was little, I knew it was bad but why? I just couldn't come up with a reasonable answer to satisfy my curiosity. I mean, am a girl full of morals, being brought up in a Christian home, my parents were missionaries. I knew all about life morals but am growing, not just growing but growing into a beautiful girl. Well, am dark in complexion, of average height, a chubby body,
don't know but at least am no more the same girl I was 5years ago. Yeah I'll be 16 by August. I noticed am thinking differently, am reacting to issues differently and my teachers, parents and elder ones called it the teen age. I agreed, since they must have gone through it too. My sensitivity was growing rapidly too and the one place it can't help but always channel me to is the matters of the opposite sex. I had five brothers but they weren't enough for me. I yearned for more relationship with boys to get an explanation to their way of life but am being restricted by my mind and instincts which always reminds me of how bad boys were. I wasn't convinced actually because my brothers weren't bad, although on one occasion at the village when I was 13, a boy had tried to........ Should I call it rape? It was a mild experience but it wasn't a good one, I managed to scamper away. Apart from that which I never bothered to tell anyone, not even my mum, I haven't had any experience on that assumed sentence "boys are bad!" I took Gloria's phone as we left the hall to the cashew tree to take some snapshots, just then her phone rang, it was Michael, her boyfriend. She quickly took the phone, adjusted herself, picked the call and turned the loudspeaker on; that's what they do whenever they get a call from their boyfriends, I don't know why, maybe so we can all get jealous, or to flaunt their boyfriends, how cool they are, how sweet their voices are or to save the stress of asking what he said. Whatever the reason is, I never cared to know since I've got none for myself. You must have been wondering how I got hooked up with these girls since I got nothing to offer. well, I am or rather was (cause this is our graduation out from high school) the house captain of my house and am a funny type. Also have this grace of commanding respect both from my mates and juniors, so that did the magic, I wasn't looking for friends, they just fly around and I have to choose. Also academically I wasn't a dunce, I've always scaled through my exams without malpractice, maybe cause I was a Christian, don't know. After the call, Gloria's face turned gloomy, I tried to recall what she discussed with him but I can't because I was lost in thoughts but from the look on her face and from the "calm down's" and "you are still gonna see him when you get home's" I was hearing I knew Michael wasn't coming anymore. I tried cheering her up with the fact that her family's gonna be here any moment from now while am not sure if anybody was coming for me. My mum travelled to Houston Texas on Thursday and my dad travelled to Cameroon the same day. I was left with my brothers at home before I left for school on Friday against Saturday and Sunday for the price giving day and valedictory ceremony. I didn't care or bother to ask them if they were gonna come because I was so angry at my parents for missing my graduation. It just didn't make sense to them. They were busy missionaries fulfilling their purposes while am just a result of obedience to God's word "be fruitful, go and multiply." Anyway, I don't want to talk about my family now, it hurts. "So Mary, you mean no one's coming for you?" Charlotte asked "Nay, I told you guys what's on board already" "
Your brother's nko?" "I don't know, Charlotte, just let me be" Well, they did come but it wasn't fun for me and I'd rather preferred their absence to their presence that day because they just ruined my day. Favour requested for his phone and I handed it over to him. "thanks to the phone, I couldn't place a call, watch any video or take any snapshot" I said while handing it over to him. He just smiled. We took a group photo, I took three more with my friends and i paid for all that. I wasn't so happy, one because, I wasn't expecting them while they came dressed casually like they didn't know it was my graduation. Two; no food or snacks , just them, I mean what am I gonna do with them? Gosh! Thirdly, I was stuck with them, they'd come and I can't just walk out on them. I just sat there looking at their various faces while they were all browsing with their phones. Gosh! Whoa, whoa, let me get this straight, "did you guys actually come here for me or for yourselves?" I asked hands up in the air. Damn, I was ignored. The first tear drop escaped from my left eye while the other was still forming. I slowly brought down my hands. I just couldn't hold it anymore, i burst out crying, not caring a hoot about soiling my makeup. I let the tears flow. Maybe it will help, help soothe my pains, help turn their attention to me. I knew I did wrong to them. I left with out letting them know, I had said hurtful words to then, blaming them for my parents actions and I was not sorry for that because they all deserved it. If they cared enough, they would have changed my parent's mind on booking a flight that clashed with my graduation. To me, none of them cares. I don't even know why they had come, I was surprised when I saw them, but I just kept calm waiting for their actions and they'd just exhibited one and its not helping matters but making it worse. Right now, all I needed was their care, their laugh, their jokes, their teases, their love but they just wouldn't yield in and I was too dumb to realise I had to apologize first, I had to care enough first, I had to love first and show some concern over their lives first if I needed their love so badly. Graduation was over. We left for home without uttering a word to each other, I just hated them that period and I guess they hated me too. What was keeping us was the fact that we were blood and that was all!
