French Montana, Post Malone, Cardi B Writing on the Wall.
OoO
Meanwhile back on campus, Myria was still having a serious conversation with Veronica on the patio.
" Solet me get this straight, you're getting married huh?" She leaned on the white wooden barricades and asked.
Veronica had warm tears stinging her eyes as she nodded.
" I can't tell you what to do with your life, but what does he think about your decision?" She whispered in her ever so pleasant voice.
" I'm meeting him tonight so I think he'll talk." She croaked.
" Right." Myria nods, " But you do know you'd be a widow if he goes right?"
" Yeah, I don't mind being one all my life."
" You're still very young Vee and I fear you may regret this decision when you're older." Myria warns, " Have you thought of Veronica in ten years? Who will you want to be by then?"
Veronica paused and thought about it. After over ten minutes of silence, she was very certain.
" I've got to go."
" Does your mother know about this?" Myria asks just when Veronica turned to leave.
Veronica turned and smirked at her before leaving.
" Oh I see!" Myria calls after her and she chuckled.
Conversing with Myria was weirdly therapeutic. You felt this calmness wash over you and you suddenly realize somethings you've never thought of.
OoO
Inside, Kobby realized how large the place actually was. It was impressive and kinda like a carnival because of the photo booth far off, the ferris wheel and several food vans and several sheds with various signs. There was a Balloon pop shed, Fish cup and Soda toss. A stage was being erected at the far end as students walked towards the double glass doors of the ballroom on the ground floor of the building.
People saw familiar faces at the courtyard leading to the building. Kobby and Ciarra walked up the lighted stone path towards a pavilion not meeting anyone remotely familiar.
Ciarra met Fede at the pavilion in a black and white Fendi sweater over hunter green track pants. He looked like he had slept there the other night. As usual, his two best friends were with him. Sly was also casually dressed, only Adam had dressed up. He had an Alexander McQueen
double-breasted dinner cotton jacket over a crisp white shirt with a black bowtie just like most guys with no dates, plus neatly pressed slacks and black high top converse with high white mid-soles. His usually lacquered curly hair was pulled back into a neat ponytail and he looked damn good.
Ashanti should see him tonight. Ciarra thought.
" Hey freshman." Fedes greets immediately he caught sight of Kobby.
" Senior Fede." Kobby regards him with mock distaste.
" You know I know you call me that only as a joke but everytime you say it I just feel really irritated." Fede glares at Kobby and replies.
" That's my aim actually." Kobby goes on.
Fedes rolled his eyes and ignored him, turning his attention to Ciarra he beamed.
" I can't help but say this. Even though you ditched me, I still can't feel hurt no matter how hard I try." Fede says drawing her into a hug, just showing politesse.
" Dude I love your suit. It's so perfect." Sly compliments and Kobby finally believed Ciarra's compliment earlier because the guys rarely complimented each other.
" Say thank you to Carlisle when you get back." Kobby pats him on the back and says.
" Why do Carlisle's stuff look better on you?" Fede wonders.
"They both are of the same size but what Carlisle lacks is the ability to rock it. Kobby does that without even trying. He's the only one who can show up in such expensive clothing and finish it off with a pair off Sebagos." Adam explains to them.
" But on a more serious note Ciarra, you owe me a dance." Fede says with a grin.
" Dude, you're not even dressed up for anything." Sly reminds him and Fede looks down at his white pair of socks in a pair of new balance flip-flops.
" I wasn't planning on dressing up but for you, I will. I'm off guys" He turns and walks towards the third entrance of the building.
" You do realize that her date is standing right here right?" Kobby calls after him, " You need permission from me dude!"
" Get a life Kobby Johnson!" He calls back at him and they all couldn't help laughing.
" Ashanti didn't come, right?" Adam asks Ciarra.
" Yes, she hates crowded places." She explains and he nods in comprehension before letting out a sigh, " Why don't you two go on in, whiles the rest of us without dates stay out here making fun of people's outfits ."
Ciarra finally realized why so many people were out on the large illuminated grassy area, instead of going in for the ball.
They didn't really have dates. Someone squealed from across the ballroom just when they walked into the glowing ballroom with an orchestra playing Lifehouse's You and Me.
It was Olive Payan from Junior High. That was when they suddenly realized the magnitude of the event. People were coming from all schools the country over, both students and fresh alumni so the possibility of seeing familiar faces was going to be high. Olive had been one of Kobby's many admirers back in junior high and still was.
She embraced Kobby as if Ciarra wasn't just there.
" I've missed you so much, I knew I'd meet you here." She smiles excitedly.
So technically, she only came to this event to meet Kobby, though she knew Ciarra and him were together back in Junior high and had both ended up in the same boarding school.
" Hey." She acknowledged Ciarra reluctantly just so Kobby doesn't be feel offended, " You two came together?... I thought you weren't with her anymore."
Ciarra gasps internally at her guts. Was she just saying that infront of her? Kobby noticed what was soon going to happen if he didn't do something about this right now. Did she honestly think nothing will happen when the two of them just conveniently had to end up in the same school?
" Olive, Ciarra and I are back together and I still love her." He told her pointedly and he could see her deflate, " Which school did you get into anyway?"
" Keta Girls'. And trust me, it's irritating to be in class with girls alone, as if having them in the house isn't enough. So much drama, " She whines, " We still have so much to catch up on. I'll look for you during the concert so we can talk, ok?"
" Sure." Kobby agrees and she smiles before reaching for a glass of champagne from a waiter. She gave Ciarra a sly look before leaving.
" Some people haven't changed." Kobby shoves both hands into his slacks and concludes.
" Because some people are still too charming!" Ciarra chuckles, throwing a hand on his shoulders as they walked onto the dancefloor.
Kweiba lost Jerry right after their first dance. The dome shaped ballroom was insanely large with so many people and even though she had managed to not take any of the champagnes going round, she couldn't help it anymore. She could smell alcohol everywhere and it was driving her crazy so she had to create a silly excuse to get outside for some air.
She had to control herself because if she took one glass, it will soon turn to fifteen and she'll be so plastered, she'd do something she will later regret. Faye was the only one who really knew about it but she was nowhere to be found. Heather saw her sitting on one of the benches next to the pavilion so she called Nesrina with her and they walked over to check up on her.
" What's up?" Heather asks.
" Just stuffy inside."
" I know right, I was thinking it was because I didn't have a boy date." Nesrina agrees.
" Mae is a terrible dancer, she keeps stepping on my feet, pretty soon I won't have enough toes to dance." Heather jokes and they all laugh.
" Where is she anyway?" Kweiba asks
" I left her with Healenore. She didn't bring her glasses so she's practically as blind as a bat." Heather laughs.
" Hey, I wish Ashanti had showed up." Nesrina sighs, " I saw her friend Zaron. He's at the pool table upstairs and he's not even playing. He's just sitting down looking around him."
Heather realized that if Zaron showed up, then Lejandro was likely going to be around because they had a performance.
" Heather!" She heard someone call from afar. They all turned to Flynn in a beautiful formal red barbie dress.
" Sister Joyce wants us in the gym upstairs to change and rehearse one last time. The concert starts in ten minutes." She says when she drew closer.
" Alright, I'll be right there."
" Looking good Kweiba!" Flynn teases smacking Kweiba upside the head playfully.
" Why doesn't anyone respect me in Manhattan?!" Kweiba yells and Flynn continues to laugh as she walked away towards the third entrance.
" Your mother! Okay?!!" Kweiba called after her and Flynn turns to gesture the same insult back at her getting the others to laugh.
" I've gotta go." Heather says before taking her leave.
" I'm going to get myself a drink, want any?" Nesrina asks and Kweiba shook her head fervently and replies, "Water."
" Got it." She agrees and got up to leave she didn't get far when she was swamped once again by guys she had never seen before. This had been her issue since she got there so she went with the same excuse she had been giving all boys since she got there, her boyfriend was waiting for her so she had to go.
It was ten minutes for the dance to be over and when she walked in, everyone had made the center of the huge ballroom vacant and five students from the Akuapem Senior High School were performing a ballet version of Katie Perry's Unconditional. As usual, it told a story. It was about a peasant in love with a princess betrothed to a handsome Earl. But the peasant ends up with her in the end. Everyone applauded and begun to exit the room.
After an hour of watching his game on the phone, Faye pauses to check the time. She didn't want to miss Heather's performance. Ladi was asleep in her lap. He had slept the entire hour. She bent over and kissed him on the temple. His eyes slowly fluttered open.
" We've gotta go." She whispered.
" Can you drive?" He moaned.
" Yes, if you want this car going down the hill, then yes, I can drive." She replied and now he was awake.
" I'll take that as a no." He stated as he got up and popped the door open.
She also got out and joined him.
" Hey, wanna check out the concert from up the ferris wheel?" He turned and asked her when he started the car.
" I'm kinda afraid of heights." She confesses.
" I'm gonna be there with you." He tries to convince her, " We'll be together."
" I hear you. Maybe I'll try. But prepare yourself if I barf."
" Trust me, it won't be on us, it's going to be on the people in the booth right beneath ours, and we will pretend we have no idea where all that puke came from." He told her as they drove out of the place.
" I didn't know you could possibly lie so easily." She laughed and he shrugged, bemused.
Heather decided to get a glass of water after changing so she exited the classy gym unto the the large lounge with a pool table and people hanging out.
As she walked towards the despenser, she caught sight of Lejandro approaching and as soon as he saw her, he turned the opposite way. Heather couldn't take it anymore, she liked Lejandro a lot, not in a romantic way but he was a great friend. The only guy in class who she could totally be herself with. She even missed their constant bickering and arguments. She had to talk to him at least, so he'd understand. But how exactly without letting him know about everything?
She bolted across the room towards him, he was descending the stairs and she quickly pursued him, " Lejandro, wait!" She called after him and he stopped without turning.
" Can we talk?" She asked.
" It's okay, Heather. " He replies monotonously.
" I'm sorry."
" I understand."
" No you don't Lejandro. And I'm sorry for making you feel so like you need to but...I want to explain. So you'd really understand why. I'm up in thirty minutes, can we talk at least?" He didn't feel like it was needed but he kind of wanted things to go back to normal between them.
" Fine." He agrees and Heather walks up the stairs back into the lounge and to the balcony. He followed. The room buzzed with light music and petty conversations.
" I didn't mean what happened that day during prep but it just happened...it's not as if it suddenly happens but it does when I am alone with any boy my age and over. " She tries to explain.
" But why, Heather?"
" I haven't really gotten a professional opinion but it's spontaneous and really embarrassing." She tries to explain but realized he still didn't get why and she didn't want to elaborate. She realized if she had to keep him as a friend she'll have to at least tell him why, he was a great person and deserved to know.
She looked up into the dark night sky with the stars scattering their lights at intervals.
" Well you see... when I was little something happened to my sister. She was abused and I know you'll be wondering how it has affected me so I'll tell you....I was only six at the time and he threatened me so she gave herself and it kind of happened right infront of my eyes because I was tied up and gagged."
Narrating it made it feel like it happened just yesterday and she was about to explode but a brief glance around her at the people in the couches of the lounge laughing or playing pool or basically conversing calmed her down. She wanted to just say it all without withholding anything.
The look in his eyes brought tears to her. He looked as if he was in pain and angry at the same time but he didn't want to say anything yet, he just realized she had held back too much so he didn't want to interrupt her. She had to let it all out or else it will keep eating her up.
" It kind of affected me but I got over it in a few years. Then I had to go live with my Dad, my parents were separated. But my Dad traveled a lot. When I was nine, my stepmother trafficked me to some sort of dealer. I didn't know about it until
I met up with the other kids about to be trafficked. She told me I was to meet my Dad there, all the way in Eritrea, then she abruptly left me with a guy she called my caretaker, turns out he was the mastermind. We were going to be used on ranches and large fields in Spain and we had to cross the Mediterranean in a tub boat. An older girl amongst us told us about the danger and that we will die before getting there. Which was true because the first batch of children trafficked by my caretaker drowned.
We escaped one night... five girls and two boys. Seven kids wandering on the streets attempting to find ways to get back to the various countries we came from. We crossed several countries on foot doing any form of decent jobs available, selling newspaper, washing people's windscreens and sometimes even resorting to begging. But who knew the streets would be that dangerous. We thought the sea would kill us but the streets were something else.
One of the boys died from severe hunger in Sudan, leaving six of us, sunset was always a nightmare because anyone around could just grab you and do whatever they wanted with you. Sudan was our longest journey because of the desert but we made it. We found a closed arcade in Chad where we slept but some perverts still found us and abused two of the girls right in front of our eyes, we tried to scream and fight them but we were no match and soon they were trying to turn on the rest of us so we had to run.
I always feel like a coward for running, but maybe that was why I was the only one who never got abused. I was constantly running after that, because I realized there was no one to protect me if I didn't find a way to get to my family. That's probably the reason why I am so great at track and field. Maybe it's because I realized that if I couldn't find home with a vehicle, I had to reach it with my feet. Each day I and my new friends would run, we run for hours ...for miles. Then at sunset, we no longer slept on lower ground. We always find lorries or trucks parked somewhere and we slept on top of them. The last boy decided he liked Niger because he got a job as a helper to a motorcycle mechanic.
One time in Niger, it rained heavily and the consumption got us. Two of the girls died. One good Samaritan got the rest of us some medication. After a while we were better but we were still running. Three of us this time, one of us was from Nigeria so when we got to the border, she sneaked in. The other girl was from Burkina Faso and really knew her way around her country and because she could speak french they allowed her some privileges and helped her reach her parents. They gave me money for a journey by bus and that's how I got home. We had been running for two years. "
" Did you get any help after all that?" Lejandro finally asked.
" No, I didn't want to bother my mom with my mental health, she had enough to think about, I couldn't add that to it and honestly, I didn't notice the effect it had on me until I got back to school and had to sign my admission papers with the principal in his office."
" So you're androphobic." He concludes.
" Not exactly, this only happens when I am alone with any guy my age or older. Right now, people are here so it's fine. That is why I am okay with you back in class, so please don't ever sneak up on me when I'm alone."
" You know, I'll be the last person to hurt you. I'm a feminist and because of what my sister did for me, I vowed never to treat any woman badly."
" It's not you, it's just a sudden alertness my body as assumed." Heather assures him, " Wait, you have a sister?"
" Yes, Alejandra Jills, we used to be best friends though she was several years older. We had a car accident and she exchanged her life for mine by engulfing me from the impact. I only hurt my back but she cracked her skull. So I am the last person you should ever be afraid of, when I saw you freeze like that that night, I became afraid of my own self because I felt as if I had failed her." He recalled the look of intense trepidation in Heather's eyes that night, that look pierced deep into his heart and he felt weak in the knees.
" Trust me, it wasn't you." Heather says and he nods before smiling and opening up his hands.
" Can I?" He asked and she embraced him, " Of course Lejandro."
" Does Ashanti know about this?" He asks knowing they were best friends.
" No, but I'll tell her...soon."
" Break a leg." He says when they broke apart referring to her outfit.
She was in blue wash jeans shorts with a pink hoodie Kraysdar got them all plus white Yeezys and white knee-highs.
" You too." She chuckles before leaving for the despenser. It felt so exhilarating to finally tell someone and he actually listened, without judging her or interrupting her and suddenly she realized what a burden it had been, carrying this all these years.
The erected stage was buzzing with music from JoStager as the crew put the final touches together and fixed the lights and smoke machines.
People bought new clothes for the party from the shops downstairs. Fede had been serious about the dance, he got into the school's blazer and slacks just to have a dance with her. He bought her party clothes after that since Kobby was nowhere to be found. He had been dragged away by some girls Ciarra could just not identify so Fede seemed more like her date. To think of the fact that she had rejected his invite. How ironic!
Ladi had stopped at a boutique on the drive back, informing Faye that they changed clothes for the party except for people who had other agendas on their mind. He said this with a sinister smile which got Faye poking him to talk, he was such a touchy kid, cause he giggled when Faye tickled him, the store clerk even watched them in interest. Faye decided they needed formal photographs together in their clothes before changing and got the store clerk taking hundred pictures.
After, they changed into the clothes they bought and got back into the car.
When they got to the venue, they could hear French Montana's Writing on the Wall playing loudly. They got out and got verified by the bouncers before walking in. The place was crowded with people and they found their way through the dancing and drinking people straight to the ferris wheel where they got some popcorn and a ticket for a booth. Before they could get on they hear someone call from behind in surprise,
" Maaaagma!"
The person was with a girl and another guy. Ladi recognized him and hails him too, " FireMan!!"
They slapped hands and did that bro hug thing, " Dude where you been at?"
The other boy asked.
" School of course." He responds.
" Still the hottest guy I know." FireMan compliments and Ladi playfully touches the guy's cheeks and winces, "You're too hot bro." They all burst out in laughter at that.
" Why does seeing you do that today make it seem so childish, I mean we did that as our thing back in junior high." The second guy laughs.
" Yeah, cause we grew up." Ladi tells him, " Hey, this is my girlfriend, Fayanna."
The alarm in her head just went off and she suddenly felt weak in the knees.
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