Melisa's Diary

HOW I DIED (CH1)

*** CHAPTER ONE ***

11th January
Dear Diary.......

I had it all calculated, until it went so wrong. A nightmare I cannot fathom. Was I really a criminal? I have no idea where to start, my family an inch away yet so far off ...maybe this is how dying feels like, to call and not be heard, to be there and not be seen. Afraid of my own shadow, to fear night but shiver in terror at the break of dawn. I could hear her crying... "Please don't cry..I am here..." was I lying? Allow me to take you back to the day I actually died and how it all began....

It was a rainy, cold, boring day. With the power cut, my buttery was dead earlier than I had planned. Later I decided to writing and eliminate awkward blankness of my mind, maybe it was what I really needed. But who was Melisa? ... Well Melisa was a simple girl with large ideas...lol .. Her names were Melisa Likando Banda...I know what you might be thinking, how come? Funny names right? Well, if you are so traditional yeah.. Most people in my country think some tribes cannot unit with others, but hey my parents decided to get married and they wanted me to have both their identities. Melz( short of Melisa ) grew up in Lusaka city's Kabulonga town ship.. a place filled with achievers and well to do families. She had almost everything she could ask for; I would say God was looking out for her every step of the way. when she was sixteen and completed her high school education, she had a party with friends.. They came over to her house and had fun and her parents didn't really mind. Along the way, she had to go to college, she didn't want to wait and so she picked Evelyn Hone college in Lusaka. The excitement was overwhelming , college to her was a life away from her loving parents. Mr and Mrs Banda were an example of the caring parents, although both were hardly at home, they made sure their little girl was around people that treated her like a princess. They probably wanted an expensive college for their daughter but at the end of the day what ever made her happy was what mattered to them...... okay to be honest I mostly chose Evelyn Hone because of Bupe Mulenga and Misozi Ngandu, two of my closest friends from back in high school. Together we were the trial, inseparable and Notorious. We came a long way and they would do anything for me and me for them.

Bupe was the crazy girl of the circle; she had tried everything and been everywhere. She had both beautiful and... ahm, well mostly beauty.. she was talkative, tall and quite a catch...Misozi on the other hand was different, she was beautiful but she never really believed in herself, she was smart though, she wore a pair of adorable glasses and talked less. Some people wondered how she could plant herself in the middle of bad girls, they hardly knew that we were not bad... just spoiled, I guess we kind of made her look bad when seen with us. Misozi and Bupe were not as close as I was with both of them, you could say I brought us together as friends. I kept us from separating or breaking up; As soon as power was restored, my phone was charging and exploding with text messages. It was a temptation, staying away from my phone for an hour was bad enough. I made myself comfortable next to my charging phone and wondered what each text might have had install. My messenger applications were shocking, within the last twenty minutes my phone was on I had at least twenty unopened chats... I therefore started from the top.

JACKSON? oh My God what does he want?? Told him I was not interested. I thought to my self.
MARK?... " hey I just wanted to check up on you..." I read his message, it had been a while a "hi" won't hurt. More over his picture was to die for....
KONDWANI: "hey you, I am in a dilemma.. would you mind helping a brother choose something for Miranda?" Why on earth did he have to be dating? All the cute ones are taken aren't they?
MISOZI....... Oh my, she is getting a makeover? (I thought to myself) I can't wait to see this...
It went on for hours. Facebook, instagram and more. Social media were like a full time job, I could be lost for hours and completely lose track of time. It left me wanting more. However the fifth message stole my attention, it was an mesterious number with a black profile picture. I was not sure if that was due to the absence of a picture or an intentional act to drive people away. "It is time you know the truth...as the countdown starts you might want to consider hiding from the fireworks...." It read, what a weirdo I thought to myself. "Brreep.." "brrrrreeeep" the ringing of my phone interrupted my thinking suddenly, Bupe was calling.... I quickly responded and spoke into the mouth piece. She sounded excited, " Melz.. guess what?" she said, I was not good at the guessing game.. "Misozi is getting a makeover?"I asked "wait she is? Yeah she better do that.." Bupe was usually mean to her, "Bupe come on.." "what? I was just saying.. so we have been invited for a party in new Kasama, remember Mike?" I was blank for sometime then it came to me. Mike was a guy we met when we were in high school, he was a freshman at the University of Zambia, he drove a Toyota Runx and he always had something to spend his money on. "Ooh yeah, I remember him" "he has invited us to his birthday party, and he wants us to see the fireworks that he has prepared for the same night..." my heart stopped, whatever Bupe said after that didn't make it to my head. She left me still processing the word "fireworks" the word was covered with a sense of de-ja-vu. To cut the call short and allow myself to think I agreed to everything she said..... What made me feel so uneasy?

The party was amazing, funny thing was that it was at night and I had no idea how my parents could have allowed me to go out. It was best not to think about it, I was already at the party. The guy was great at throwing a party; it was like all the colleges had come along. The food melted in your mouth as you ate, D.js on standby to play any song the people wanted, games like spine the battle were played, there was alcohol, juice and soda to go round and the boys were indescribable. I actually noticed one boy staring at me, I watched him as he walked towards me. the girls and I held hands to prevent us screaming out loud. Although I was against the idea Misozi and Bupe left me alone to talk to him, it was embarrassing and I swore I would kill them ...I mean who does that? "hey.." I heard his voice. "hey.." I smiled, his name was Jonathan. Tall, light and very smart, he was dreamy. We became friends immediately after the introduction. He even found a perfect spot where we could watch the fireworks together. The sky was then lit up by the bright colours of red , green, blue and the rainbow I can mention, I had never seen anyone hire such a grand fireworks show for his birthday....wait it's not common, at least I had never gone to any that had such a show. I turned around to ask Jonathan. I figured he might have had an idea why a party was supposed to have fireworks, I problem was me.. the mention of crackers scared me due to the message I had received. His face was covered with an expression of terror, "what's wrong?" I asked "There is blood on your chest." Was all that managed to jump out of his mouth. My white dress was getting bloody by the minute; the pain only kicked in later. I couldn't scream but getting weak, people began to gather around me, "what happened? Who is she?" I could hear them. Soon the sound of panic around me begun to fade away, the cold ground received me with less gentle hands. Then there was a lonely silence....

A song kept on repeating itself in my head, as it became louder it also became familiar. Louder, louder and louder until I jerk back to consciousness. It was my phone, my ring tone. Someone was calling me, I pulled my hand from inside the sheets, and everything around me seemed familiar. My dressing table, my teddy bears, my pillows and everything else in my room. Quickly I searched my chest and nothing... no wound and no pain. I picked up my bedside clock and the time was 3 A.m. in the morning. It seemed I didn't go to the party. My mobile phone was still ringing, Bupe was my caller. She would probably scold me for not going to the party and worse for not telling her, I picked up my phone and spoke into the mouth piece.... .. "hey Bupe" I waited for a furious response " see what I told you? the party will be fun.....hope you enjoyed yourself, but why did you leave so early?" blood drained from my face, what was going on???