(041a - Reliving The Past.)
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This Chapter will probably piss you off so much. Like, y'all will scream and want to break heads💀. But I relish in that feeling 🌚.
So, shall we?😌
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𝐃𝐀𝐖𝐍
(Dawn Damipe Dayo)
I can't believe this is happening again.
Only that this time, it's a lot worse than the last. A lot more... Detrimental.
And to think that I avoided something like this happening again. To think that I deflected from anything that would lead to this kind of moment... again.
But, It was all for nothing.
Everything I have done, every action I have taken and made up until this point has been to stop bringing this kind of attention to myself. But yet, it just won't stop coming, following me around like a curse because that's what this felt like.
A curse.
What did I not do? What step did I not take for this not to happen again?
I stopped wearing fitted clothes as much as I could, loosened all my slim-fitted school uniform skirts to be baggy. I stopped wearing my blazers and started wearing the school sweaters instead because they were big on me. I tried not to show as much skin as I used to. Tried to take less sexy pictures because apparently, all my pictures showed my curves too much.
God knows I did everything in my power to stop everyone from seeing me as just a girl with a killer body. God knows I wanted them to see me as more.
A lot more.
But now all that was an effort in futility.
They will never stop seeing me as just the girl with a killer body, would they?
Because now I was trending all over social media as the Girl with ASSETS.
The most baffling part of all these was the fact that people, especially my classmates seemed to find it funny... or rather exciting for some reason. Some of them even dared to compliment me for trending on social media as the Girl with assets.
It was appalling. I was extremely annoyed.
But there was nothing I could do about it.
Absolutely nothing.
"Girl with the ASSETS!" Someone, a guy obviously, suddenly screamed, jerking me out of my reverie abruptly.
I cringed in disgust when his echoing scream was followed by wild waves of laughter from the two other guys walking with him, then hoots and hypes aimed at me.
They were fucking hyping me for having physical assets.
And to think I came to the school garden to get away from the craziness of class and all the unwarranted and unsolicited attention I have been getting since I got to school.
Now, these ones literally followed me here to taunt me.
I looked in their direction, immediately recognizing them as guys from commercial class. I didn't know the name of the other two guys but I knew the name of the one that had shot off the comment. Kasali Saheed. Never spoken to him or the other two in my life.
I shot them a glare but of course, they found it funny because they just kept laughing, hooting, and making catcalls that made my skin crawl with disgust.
They thought all this was funny.
"Get out, Kasali." I heard Hilary's voice call out before I felt her presence beside me. The boys kept laughing, but walked away, right out of the garden and back to the school area. I let out a deep, exhausted sigh.
I just want today to be over so I can go home and sleep.
"Are you okay?" Hilary asked, her hand on my shoulder as she gave it a gentle, reassuring squeeze. I flashed her a faux grin back, watching as she sat on the chair beside mine.
"Just pitchy," I answered, shrugging.
Hilary, of course, saw through my fake smile and act, giving me a small smile that said she understands. Semeeha was also with us, but the darker girl didn't say anything as she sat down on the bench situated at the other side of the table. She only stared at the screen of her phone with a faraway look in her eyes, one I couldn't read.
I couldn't tell if she was looking at the posts going viral on social media or something entirely different. And I was certainly not in the mood to ask, especially if the answer was the former reason.
"Don't think too much about it, Dawn," Hilary spoke again and I turned to look at her. "You have to ignore all these. It will all blow over eventually, I promise." She sounded so sure, a scoff almost escaped my lips.
If only it were that simple.
"Hilary, this is not just Crestview related," I began, trying to explain to her that all these blowing over will take a while. "This is all over social media. Twitter, Instagram, even Tiktok is carrying this.-
Blogs are blogging about the Girl with Assets. It's hard to ignore it when it's all up in my face. My phone keeps buzzing every second with a new notification. I keep getting tagged on some stupid page, showing a brand new collage comparison between Dabi and me-"
And as if to buttress my point, my phone made a buzzing sound that cut me off, indicating that I had gotten yet another notification. I didn't even have to look to know that I was being tagged... again.
I groaned in frustration, pushing my phone away from me so hard, it almost tipped off the table. Hilary was quick to grab it before it did.
"See what I'm talking about?" I nodded towards the phone. "I'm sure I just got tagged again," I said, hissing in disdain. Hilary sighed, not saying anything more. She unlocked my phone, tapped on some buttons to check if I was indeed being tagged.
"They even used a different picture this time." Hilary mused, showing me the screen. I glanced at it with disinterest. It was another picture alright, still with the same ridiculous caption.
(The post)
These people really went to source for my photos. Every collage I have seen had different pictures of me and Dabi, only that mine just kept getting more lewd than the last. I quickly looked away. I didn't want to see it, didn't want to get more disgusted than I already was.
But mere glancing at it, the picture has already been ingrained in my mind.
I can't even begin to imagine the kind of nasty, perverted comments under that Instagram post.
I still can't stop thinking about the ones I saw over the weekend, even when Chima told me not to think about them.
If only he were here, sitting right beside me, telling me to calm down. I could really do with his presence, his soothing voice... a hug at the very least.
But he and other sports captains have been in the office of Big Guy all day. Though he has been firing quick texts, assuring me that he'd see me before the end of today, I haven't set my eyes on him.
I need Chima.
No matter how strong I try to act, how immune I try to be to all these, I cannot handle this without him.
"These people actually very insensitive, I can't even begin to imagine how that Dabi babe is feeling with all these degrading." Hilary began again and I sighed.
Dabi was also at the receiving end of this. I just hope her school isn't as nasty and as crude as Crestview.
"Okay, some men are perverted beasts, because what the hell is this!" She muttered harshly to herself, her mouth opened slightly in utmost shock at whatever she was reading.
Immediately, I knew it had something to do with me. I looked up to see her fingers sweeping through the screen of my phone, and I knew for a fact that she was checking through the comments, and I watched as her face contort in deeper irritation and disgust as she kept reading.
Of course, she didn't read them out loud because she knew how triggering they'd be for me. But then, it didn't stop my imagination from playing tricks on me, and everything I was imagining weren't good things either. Not even remotely.
And it irked me. Irked me to the core.
Everything I have done to prevent this from happening and yet, it was like history repeating itself, but only a million times worse.
"I can't believe this is happening again," I spoke, my voice coming out croaked with emotions. I was speaking more to myself, but then I felt Hilary's eyes turning back on me, followed by her soft sigh that indicated she heard me.
"Dawn," She whispered, empathy and condolement evident in her voice. I turned to her, right on the verge of losing my mind.
"Hilary, ever since what happened last session," I took in a labored breath just by talking about it. "It's been hard, trying to get Crestview students to see me for something more than my body," I told her, making sure my voice conveys every bit of emotion I was feeling, nameless or not.
"I have tried everything within my power to make sure they see me as something - someone more, to make them know that I was much more than just a girl with a killer body. And n-now..." I trailed off when my voice quivered, catching how crestfallen Hilary looked as she tried to feel my pain.
But no one can feel this more than I do.
"Now, I have to convince the entire media that I'm not just a girl with physical assets, but also with mental, psychological, emotional, and intellectual capabilities. Capabilities that are so glaring but people fail to see because of my body!" I spat out.
"Dawn, you don't owe anyone anything or any explanation of who you really are," Hilary stated calmly, placing her hand on my shoulder again as she tried to calm me down. "You have nothing to prove to a group of naysayers that have nothing better to do than to compare two teenagers.-
We are your friends, Dawn," She continued, gesturing between an unusually silent Semeeha and herself. "We know you better than anyone. We know who you really are and that's all that should matter. Not some half-assed posts by jobless people on the internet."
"It's easier said than done," I told her and she sighed, keeping quiet. "And I have a lot to prove to them, to everyone. I have so much to prove. I need to prove that I didn't get popular because of my body, but because I have talent because I have something more to offer. I've always had something more to offer why can't they just see that?" I cried desperately.
"Dawn-" Hilary began, obviously trying to pacify me again. But she was cut off abruptly.
"I honestly don't understand why you are making such a big fuss about this situation."
Semeeha finally spoke for the first time since she got there. But then, it wasn't even the fact that she spoke that had me taken aback, but the statement she made. Hilary and I turned to her, watching the darker girl in a moment of silence as she twirled her phone between her finger, that same faraway look in her eyes as she stared ahead.
"What?" I couldn't help but mutter in confusion, needing her to explain exactly what she meant. But God knows, I was already dreading it.
Semeeha stopped staring ahead and turned to me, a rather indifferent expression marred across her face.
"You are making such a big fuss about the situation and you are not even at the receiving end of it," She stated shrewdly, shrugging with nonchalance. My brows furrowed in a slight frown, still confused as to what she was driving at.
Is she saying I have no right to be angry? I had to ask myself.
"Wait, are you saying I have no right to be upset?" I voiced out my thoughts, and she shrugged again. My mouth opened in mortification. "These people are dissecting me like a piece of meat on a slaughter slab and you are saying I have no right to be upset!" I asked incredulously.
"Guys-" Hilary called to both of us, trying to pacify either of us to calm down.
"At least they are not calling you names like that skinny emo chick," Semeeha cut Hilary off, and I couldn't help but cringe at the way she had referred to Dabi. "You should even be thankful that everyone is complimenting you and acknowledging the kind of assets you carry."
What the hell? I stared at her in disbelief.
"Semeeha!" Hilary exclaimed in utmost shock, her eye widened like saucers. "That's a very vile and insensitive thing to say." She chided, but all Semeeha did was look back at her phone like it was the most interesting thing in the universe, with that same indifferent expression on her face.
I swallowed the big, invisible lump in my throat, tried to stop my heart from beating widely against my rib cage, my chest getting heavy with sobs, and my eyes welling up with tears.
"You are saying I should be thankful that they are sexualizing me?" I couldn't hide the shock in my voice, "You are telling me that I should be thankful that some perverted men are entering my DM every second with inappropriate messages?" I couldn't mask the hurt I was feeling from the implication of her words.
And the most painful part was that she didn't even realize it. Or maybe she realized it and don't care. Knowing Semeeha, it was definitely the latter, because all she did was scoff out a humorless laugh aimed at me.
"You are the one that has decided to see it that way," The darker girl chirped, the frankness in her tone irking me. "Something that you should see as an opportunity to even publicize yourself with. I mean, no publicity is bad publicity, right?" She chuckled to herself like she had said the funniest thing ever, while I and Hilary stared at her, completely awestruck at her lethargy.
Wow...
"And truth be told," She continued, rolling her eyes astutely. "You honestly give yourself way too much credit, Dawn. You feel yourself too much, abeg," She waved her hands at me dismissively.
My face contorted into the deepest frown ever, so scrunched up that every part of my face began to hurt. But I couldn't stop frowning at the interpretation her words formed in my mind.
What the hell was she trying to say?
"And what do you mean by that?" I forced myself to ask her, even though I knew the answer.
But I wanted her to say it. I wanted to know if Semeeha was really comfortable spitting out dreadful, soul-crushing words to the one she calls a best friend.
"Dawn, let's leave this place please" Hilary pleaded, knowing just as much as I did that the outcome of all this will bring me nothing but sadness. But this has to be done.
I need to know if Semeeha was so comfortable with hurting her friend.
"No, Hilary," I stopped, shaking my head as I kept my eyes trained on Semeeha, who in turn also had her eyes trained on me. I can't swear, I saw a ghost of a smile...or rather, a smirk playing on her lips. "I want to hear what the fuck Semeeha meant by her statement."
"Do I have to spell it out before you figure it out?" She rolled her eyes again, another scoff-like laugh escaping her lips.
I swallowed again, my chest rising and falling as I started breathing heavily.
"Do you really think you went viral at first because you are a good dancer?" She asked me, her tone making her sound like she was mocking me. "No baby girl," she answered her own question. "It was your body, all of that," she gestured to my body and I hugged myself, feeling cold, unpleasant chills running through my spine. "That got you viral in the first place, nothing more nothing less."
Wow! Beads of tears started dripping down my eyes.
"Semeeha shut up!" Hilary spat out
But, of course, she didn't shut up.
"I mean, I'm only saying the truth," She shrugged, nonchalantly, "I can say for a fact that I know better dancers than you, Dawn, and none of them have as much popularity as you do."
"WOW!" I couldn't stop myself from exclaiming, couldn't stop the humorless laugh that escaped my lips as tears kept cascading down my eyes in torrents.
Tears that did nothing to keep Semeeha from shooting fire and brimstone at me all in the name of telling me the truth.
"Semeeha shut up, right now!" Hilary warned again, venom dripping from her voice.
But again, she didn't.
It's like she knew exactly what she was doing.
"These people will kill to be in your position right now, and you are here, sulking over something you should be thankful for." Semeeha kissed her teeth. "Let me give you a piece of advice. The industry isn't playing anymore. You have to learn to use what you have to your advantage, and right now, your major advantage is that body of yours."
It didn't take a second after she landed before Hilary went full ballistic on her, screaming at her. This was the angriest I've ever seen Hilary. I couldn't even hear everything they were saying to each other, the words they were exchanging because I shut them out.
I shut everything out as I plopped back down to my seat, buried my face in my hands, and cried.
There was nothing else I could do but cry. Not after everything Semeeha had said to me, unapologetically shooting words at me, words that she knew would very well trigger me. Yet, she did it without any remorse.
She even had the audacity to tell me I wasn't that good of a dancer, attributing all my hard work, all my successes, every accolade I have received as a dancer to it just being about my body.
The same girl that once told me that I was a Dance Prodigy, told me that she was proud to be friends with someone as talented as I am.
Now, she's basically invalidating all of my feelings, objectifying me with the rest of the world, and telling me that I should grateful for it because it's seemingly the only good thing about me.
I was supposed to be shocked, but honestly, I wasn't. I should have known better than to believe when she claimed she was changing. Or maybe I did know better, but I was trying to give her a benefit of the doubt. The saying was true, a leopard can never wash away the spots on its skin.
I have never felt this downgraded and humiliated since SS2.
Semeeha Malik was no better than Tekena Tamuno.
I turned everything back on, catching their back and forth halfway.
"... and there is nothing wrong in what I said if it's the truth!" Semeeha was snapping back at Hilary who still looked livid.
"She's crying, Semeeha!" She snapped back. "Don't you have any idea how hurtful your words were!?"
"Well, truth is bitter." The darker girl adamantly maintained, and that simple, unrepentant response almost made Hilary blow a fuse. I quickly held her hand, stopping her from indulging Semeeha any further.
She wasn't worth it.
She has never been worth it.
"It's fine," I told Hilary, giving her a small smile through my tears. The anger on her face dissolved, replaced with a look of pity aimed at me.
"Dawn," She whispered, but I shook my head to stop her from going any further.
I turned to look at Semeeha who looked indifferent, an air of haughtiness and superbity around her. It made me chuckle lightly. She didn't feel sorry for everything she said. To her, she didn't say anything wrong and I should take it like that.
But I was done taking it like that. I've had it.
"You know what," I began, my voice quivering as tears kept dropping from my eyes in beads, "I am actually grateful, really grateful that I finally had this conversation with you, Semeeha," keeping my teary eyes pinned on her, making sure she sees every bit of emotion that flashes across them. "I am grateful, that you have finally shown me the kind of friend you really are."
"I was only doing the right thing and trying to help," She still opened her mouth to say.
It was so funny to me, her method of helping, that I couldn't stop myself from laughing even through my tears, hurt, and pain.
This was the final straw.
"Of course you were," I whispered back, taking a deep breath that did nothing to calm me down. Then, I slowly stood up, picked up my phone and my bag from the round table, and turned to walk away.
Hilary quickly stood up to follow me, causing me to stop abruptly.
"Please, don't follow me," I begged her and she sighed, pleading with her eyes for me to allow her to come with me. But I didn't want anyone with me. I just couldn't deal.
Without waiting for her response I resumed walking towards the school building to find myself in a quiet place to just cry myself to oblivion.
God knows, right now I just want to disappear.
I walked briskly through the hallway of the SS1, trying to ignore everyone the best way I could. I didn't spade anyone a glance, not even the people that called to me. All that was going on in my mind was getting away from everyone and being on my own for the rest of the day, even though I wasn't paying attention to where I was going.
It wasn't until I felt the sudden silence that I realized I had walked into the adjacent building beside the senior's block, the building where the indoor sports rooms, all the clubs' meeting rooms, as well as the dance studio were located.
I exhaled deeply, bringing my hands to my face to wipe the tears from under it.
Students hardly came to this side of the school, especially with this week being test week, and the loud echoing of my foot on the tiled floor through the hallway told me that the rooms were empty, or the entire building itself. I knew for a fact that the dance studio was empty at least, I had the key. And with that thought, I began to walk down the wide hallway
Finally a safe space.
Or so I thought.
He walked right out of a room so suddenly, turning towards my direction deftly like he knew I was the one walking down the path. The suddenness of it all made me stop walking abruptly, my breath catching in my throat sharply.
And no, it wasn't a good thing.
His eyes met mine immediately, and even from the distance between us, I could see his lips tugging in a sardonic smile that I knew all too well. A smile that made my skin crawl like I had ants all over my body. A smile that made me want to throw up thousand times over again in my mouth. A smile that disgusted me to the core.
I should walk away, I told myself. I should turn around this minute and walk out of this building.
But for some reason, I just couldn't move. I stayed rooted in my spot. Even when he started walking toward me, I stayed rooted in my spot.
Dawn, turn around and walk away right now. The exhausted part of me tried to reason.
But I didn't want to turn around. I want to go to the dance studio and I wasn't going to turn around for anyone. Especially him.
So, I took a deep breath and started walking, started moving... gradually closing the distance between me and Tekena Tamuno.
I was just going to walk past him. God knows I was just going to keep my eyes straight ahead, at my destination, and walk past him like he wasn't even there. But deep down, I knew for a fact that Tekena Tamuno won't just let me bypass him like that. Especially after what's going viral on social media.
And now it was too late to turn around. I was just feet away from him.
I should have turned around when I had the chance.
Oh shit!
He jumped right to my front, stopping me from walking any further. I exhaled, looking up to meet his eyes that were staring down at me, that sardonic smile now stretched further into a cynical grin.
I watched quietly, watched his eyes run down my body in a slow and calculative once-over, watched the way his tongue darted out from between his lips and swept over his bottom lips swiftly, his eyes coming up to meet my eyes again.
Even with how hard I tried to hold his gaze and act strong, I couldn't stop myself from gulping inaudibly, feeling a wave of unease wash over me.
I should have turned around. I thought regrettably.
"Hi, Damipe," He whispered, his deep voice coming out in a croaked sound. I caught the whiff of a foul stench in his breath like he had been smoking and tried my best not to scrunch my nose.
"Get out of my way, Tekena," I said, holding his gaze dead on.
He chuckled. He flipping chuckled like I had said something funny.
"Calm down," He smiled like we were being friendly and I fought the urge to scoff. "You don't have to be so hostile every time we meet like this," He smiled transcended into a smirk and I cringed.
His eyes swept over my frame again, letting out a deep breath that sounded like it came from a place of awe.
"God," He whispered again, his voice huskier than the last, raspy and breathless to be exact. "You definitely got sexier." He mused, more to himself than to me as he met my eyes again, a longing expression needed across his face.
Fuck this. I hissed, attempting to bypass him, but he didn't let me, stepping in front again.
Oh, for God's sake.
"Not so fast, baby girl," His attempt to coo at me almost made me slap him with my feet. "You don't have to be in such a hurry."
"Tekena, get out of my way!" I snapped, my voice echoing through the empty hallway. I was so close to losing the last shred of patience I had left.
"Let's talk first," He said as if he was trying to reason with me.
"I don't want to talk to you!"
"Well, I want to talk to you," He countered.
"Well I don't want to hear what you have to say, so would you please GET THE FUCK OUT OF MY WAY!" I screamed, hoping he'd just let me be!
But the idiot moaned, so loud that it echoed through the halls and made my skin crawl even more. I felt the utmost irritation creep up my spine and my mouth nearly filled up with vomit.
"You being so riled up is such a huge turn-on for me," He groaned, and I almost threw up right there and then. "Gosh, you have no idea how much I burn for you, Damipe." He sounded just as in pain as he looked,
And God knows, it creeped me out. It creeped me out so much.
I need to get out of here.
"Fine, have the hallway to yourself then," I spurned around and started walking away, wanting to get as far away from Tekena Tamuno as possible.
Only for me to be jerked so harshly by my hand and slammed against the wall, hard!
"Ughh," I groaned, wincing in pain.
I looked up to see Tekena Tamuno towering over me in his 6ft 4 inches frame, all signs of smiles and wanton gone from his features and replaced with a hard look and piercing gaze that drilled holes right into me. His lips were now formed into a grim line, his face contorted into a very dirty look, but I could see hints of anger and malice hitched at the corners.
A chill ran down my spine as fear washed over me like a hurricane.
Jesus Christ...
"Tekena..." I said in a warning tone, trying not to sound as scared as I felt.
"You really think yourself to be all that right?" His voice was dangerously calm, but I could also smell the venom from his words. I gulped, my chest rising and falling so rapidly as I was breathing fast.
He chuckled humorlessly, shaking his head slowly as he closed the distance between the both of us till he was pressing his body against mine, trapping my hands between us. I shuddered, trying to sink further into the wall to put as much space between him and me, but to no avail.
God, what have I gotten myself into?
No one was around this building. It was just the two of us and just the single thought of that scared me to bits.
I knew Tekena Tamuno. And I certainly knew the things he was capable of doing.
"You really think you are something special just because that low-life, Sochima Johnson is seemingly smitten!-" He punched the wall beside my head suddenly when he said that word, punching so hard that I couldn't stop the whimper from escaping my lips as I quivered.
"Stop," I whispered, feeling tears well up in my eyes.
"-by you? Is that it?" He continued like he had not stopped, crouching his face lower so that they were inches away from mine, his disgusting cigarette-coated breath fanning my face.
I attempted to look away from him, tried to actually. But he grabbed my face aggressively and jerked it back to its original position, forcefully making me look him in the eye.
"Look at me when I'm talking to you!" He growled in my face, and I cowered, tears beginning to drop from my eyes in beads.
"S-Stop, p-please," I begged. "You are hurting me." I whimpered. His grip on my face was a hard and painful one and I couldn't move.
But Tekena seemed not to care. If anything, it seemed like my discomfort gave him boundless joy because he just started grinning all of a sudden. bringing his face even closer to mine.
God, please...
He removed his hand from my face, and just when I thought he wouldn't touch me again, he grabbed both of my hands and pinned them both on either side of my head, right on the wall with his. I winced at the death grip he had on my wrist, knowing that it would surely leave a mark.
"If you actually believe he wants you for something other than your body, then you are certainly kidding yourself." He whispered to me, looking at me right in my tear-filled eyes as he said words that messed with my mind.
God, let someone come and rescue me from this!
"L-Let me g-go," I choked out in between sobs. "Please, just let me go," I pleaded. But he laughed maniacally, enjoying the position he had me in.
He had me right where he wanted me.
"Not so much of a boss lady now, are you?" He cocked his head to the side, his eyebrows quirked in a mocking gaze.
Oh, God... I sobbed.
"I mean," He continued, chuckling again. "See the kind of *wahala* you are causing for every hot-blooded male in the entire country, the entire world even." He let out a burst of loud, sickening laughter while I kept sobbing quietly, waiting for someone, anyone to come and get me out of this.
"You remember, I once told you your body will shake the world one day, I just didn't think that day would come so soon," He smirked, his eyes trained squarely on me like he wanted to see the reaction of his words across my face.
I closed my eyes, making way for more tears that kept pouring down, trying not to think about the past. But it was no use anymore.
I was reliving it.
Every single moment of that ugly day.
"I mean, see the way you are causing so much commotion all over social media with this magnificent, sexy body of yours," He growled, pressing his body further into mine. I cried out, trying to push him away but he was stronger than me.
"Trust me, I'm so certain some guys are having a good time just by staring at your pictures. I know I did... Five times throughout this weekend, to be exact. Maybe more when I get home." He winked suggestively at me as my face morphed into repulsion.
Oh my God!
I have never felt so violated in my life.
"You are Disgusting," I spat in his face, struggling against him.
His sinister smile stretched even further as he leaned in, bringing his face to the side of mine till I started feeling his breath tickle the skin of my ear. I twisted uncomfortably at the close contact, trying my best to get him to stay away from him, but with his hands pinning mine down, I couldn't push him away.
I could only whimper.
"You used to love it when I get dirty," He whispered, blowing air against my ear. I shuddered, more in disgust than in fear, my face soaked with tears.
"I hate you," I whispered, my voice quivering so much with sobs, I wasn't sure he heard me. But his light chuckle proved otherwise.
He heard me, and all he did was chuckle in response. Only that this time, it was a less sardonic and sinister one but it didn't still stop my skin from crawling with disgust.
All of sudden, he loosened his grip on my hands completely and buried his face in the hollow of my neck. I sank, trying to get him away from me. Then, I started feeling his nose on my bare skin, sniffing deliriously and frantically, inhaling at intervals and sighing it was seemed like satisfaction, muttering continuously about how good I smelled.
I tried my best to stay still, taking on several shaky breaths as I tried to calm myself, praying for this to be over quickly.
I just want to go home.
"I've missed you, Damipe," He suddenly whispered like someone in a daze, his voice coming out in a drawl with a drone-like undertone. I felt the bile coming up my throat in utmost disgust.
He missed me, yet he was doing this to me.
*This boy is sick.*
"I want you back," He continued, moving his hands to wrap around my waist.
That did it for me.
That sentence was what did it for me.
It seemed to be the spark I wanted, the boost I needed to feel angry again. And the fact that he was gradually losing his guard was all I needed to break free from his grip.
So, I hoisted my leg up and kneed him right where the sun doesn't shine. Hard.
He jumped away from me immediately and fell to the floor, strings of agonizing groans escaping his lips as he crouched into a ball, cupping the space between his legs.
"Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!" He cussed, his eyes shut in agony.
I quickly pushed myself off the wall and ran to pick up my bag from where it had fallen on the floor, cleaning the tears that kept falling from my eyes with the back of my hand repeatedly even though it didn't stop them from flowing.
"Fuck you, Tekena Tamuno!" I screamed at his figure still crouched on the floor in pain.
"I hope you burn in hell!" I shrieked, and with blurry eyes, I turned on my heels and ran as fast as my legs could carry me.
I didn't know where I was going, but I just kept running, wanting nothing more but to get away from any close vicinity with Tekena Tamuno. I screamed, still having the lingering sense of his body pressed to mine, his skin touching my skin, his nose buried in my neck. My wrists still stung from where he had held me.
He touched me! He was so close to me!
I felt so violated... so defiled. More than I ever felt in my life.
I just wanted to crawl up in a hold and stay there for the rest of my life.
"Dawn," I heard someone call, followed by footsteps behind me.
The hairs on the back of my neck stood up in alert and panic, my mind already making me believe that Tekena was coming after me. I doubled up, increasing my speed to try and get away from him as fast as possible.
But the footsteps were still following, getting louder and closing in on me.
I couldn't outrun him.
"Dawn," He called again, this time closer to me.
As soon as I felt strong hands grab mine from behind, trying to stop me from running any further, I went wild on him. I began to throw my hands at him, hitting him everywhere I could and as hard as I could.
"Get your hands off me! Don't touch me! Leave me alone!" I cried frantically as I kept hitting him. He groaned, wincing because of my hits but didn't let me go, trying to keep my hands from inflicting more pain on his body.
"Dawn, Stop,"
Even with my mind mess and my eyes blurry with tears... even with the way I still struggled against him, struggling to free myself from his hold, I was still able to slightly detect the tone of his voice. Soothing, calm, and gentle. Nothing like Tekena Tamuno's
He wasn't Tekena.
But I still wanted to getaway.
"Leave me alone!" I snapped, shoving whoever it was away from me.
But in one swift move, he grabbed both of my hands in one of his and pinned them behind me, causing our bodies to flush against each other in just the twinkling of an eye. I couldn't stop the soft gasp that escaped my lips as the whiff of a familiar cologne filled my nostrils.
No. This definitely wasn't Tekena.
Tekena doesn't smell this good.
"Hey," He whispered, his voice now more familiar to my hearing. "It's me, Dawn." He added.
I blinked down the tears that clouded my eyes, my vision a lot clearer now. My eyes began to adjust to my surrounding, noticing that I was now in the Sports complex, far away from the academic building. Then I looked back at the person that was holding me, a gasp of relief escaping my lips when my eyes met his soft gaze.
"Chima..."
I breathed out, watching his lips turn into a small, yet captivating smile. He dropped my hands from his grasp, drawing that hand up the small of my back while bringing the other to rest against my face, his thumb brushing the streams of tears away.
"Hey, baby."
He whispered, his voice deep and husky, causing so many feelings to vibrate through my body. I sighed again, my fluttering close as I brought my hands to rest on his chest, leaning into his touch.
My Safe Haven.
"I've been looking everywhere for you," He said, and I opened my eyes to look at him, meeting his gaze that held so much concern and worries. "Hilary called me, she was worried about you," He continued and I exhaled, remembering what had happened in the garden, everything that Semeeha said coming back to mind.
"Are you okay?" He asked, peering right at me. I didn't even give it much thought before I shook my head.
"I'm not," I answered, unconsciously taking one of my hands away from his chest and wrapping it around my shoulder.
Chima's eyes followed the movement, and I expected him to look back at me in just a matter of seconds. But, he didn't. Instead, his eyes were fixated on a particular spot, his brows furrowing as a frown slowly appeared on his face.
Before I could ask him what was going on, he removed his hand that was resting on my face and took my hand, peering right at it with the frown on his face deepening by the second. I followed his gaze, wanting to see what he was looking at. And I did see it.
Scabs of bruises right on the skin of my wrist.
Tekena had bruised me.
Oh shit.
"Who did this?" Chima asked, looking away from my wrist and up to me, his expression a lot harder.
Averting my gaze from his, I shook my head trying not to relive the awful moment I had just run away from. I can't begin to imagine how Chima will take it if I told him what happened, but I had a good idea.
And it's the last thing I wanted from him.
"It's not..." I began, trying to pull my hands away but he didn't let me. Of course, he didn't let me. He held unto my hand, not giving me any room to pull away, his eyes trained intently on mine, a gaze that brought me close to tears again.
Everything suddenly felt so overwhelming. I couldn't stop the thousandth wave of tears that started dropping from my eyes again, couldn't stop my lips from quivering as I tried to stop the sobs from escaping my lips.
"Tell me," He demanded, but his tone was also pleading. "Please, Dawn," he begged, the desperation and persuasion in his tone. "Tell me who did this to you." He pleaded.
There was no use holding back.
"T-Tekena," I choked out.
Chima looked taken aback by my response, his brows quirking up as a slight look of shock with hints of confusion morphed on his face.
"What?"
"H-He cornered me," I said, watching the expression on Chima's face switch in seconds. "He was the one I was running from," I told him, using the back of my free hand to clean the never-ending tears on my face.
"He touched you."
Chima wasn't asking, he was saying and I didn't need to respond before he knew my response. I was rather stupified on the spot, hearing the amount of raging anger that sipped from his tone in influxes, shocking me right to my wits. And with this overwhelming wave of furiosity spilling from his voice, he still managed to look completely calm.
Too calm to be a good thing.
"Chima, " I called softly, pleadingly.
"Wait here," was all he said before turning around, walking towards the entrance of the sports complex. My eyes widened as the sense of what he was going to do knocked into me.
"Chima!" I ran after him with all my might, catching up to him in a matter of seconds. I ran to his front, blocking his way to stop him from going any further. "Chima, please. Please stop." I desperately begged him.
"Dawn, please move." His voice was equally calm. Dangerously Calm.
But I knew better, I knew better than to let him walk through the gates of the sports complex because then I won't be able to stop him. I didn't know how bad Chima's anger was, but I have spent an awful amount of time with Kizito to underestimate an angry guy.
"You can't do anything," I cried, fisting his shirt on my hands with desperation. "You can't fight Tekena. Your scholarship would be revoked and you are going to get expelled if you get into a fight." I reminded him, pleaded with him.
"I don't give a damn, Dawn!" Chima thundered, causing me to flinch in shock at the intensity of his voice, the boisterous anger, and raving that spilled from his tone like poison. "He touched you, and he's going to pay for it!"
He sounded determined like he didn't care, and maybe in that fit of undiluted rage he was feeling, he actually didn't care. But then was definitely no way I was going to let him do something he'd regret later.
That was the last thing I wanted for Chima. Him getting expelled because of me... or for any reason at all.
"Please," I whispered, choking out between sobs, desperately begging him with everything within me. I wasn't strong enough to stop him from moving. He can easily push me off and continue on his way, but I knew he wouldn't do that.
He wasn't going to do that.
"Please, Chima," I buried my face in his chest, feeling my tears wet his white school uniform shirt as soon as my face touched it. I could feel his erratic heartbeat against the palm of my hands. "Please, just stay with me."
I sobbed quietly, waiting for him to say something or do something. I held my breath, counting down the seconds of his silence, waiting patiently.
Please don't leave.
Please don't leave.
Please don't...
A sigh in resignation escaped his lips, cutting my thoughts off. Then I felt his hands wrap around me, pulling my body into his. I exhaled in relief, feeling like a burden had been lifted off my shoulder. He wasn't going to leave.
He won't leave.
"I'm here,"
He whispered, unknowingly confirming my thoughts. One of his hands was cradling my face into his chest, his fingers weaving through my hair and combing through the curls softly, the tips of his fingers massaging my scalp ever so tenderly while his other hand ran down my back repeatedly in soothing caresses.
Soft touches like that were enough to turn my insides into a puddle.
"I'm not leaving you," He promised, pressing a soft kiss to the top of my head, a soft kiss that had all my walls crumbling down, all the tears I was holding back pouring out of my eyes like a torrent.
I was so tired, physically and emotionally. So tired that I started crying again, pressing my face further into Chima's chest as I wrapped my hands tightly around his middle. He sighed again, holding me tighter, pressing kisses repeatedly on the crown of my head that did nothing to stop me from crying, but did a lot to soothe me... to calm me gradually.
Exhausted and weak to my knees that I couldn't keep holding myself up, I crumbled to the floor and Chima fell with me, not letting his hands go.
And so, we say right there in the mode of the empty sports complex, with me crying my eyes out and Chima holding me against him, whispering sweet nothings to my ears.
He didn't leave, staying with me like he had promised and held me all the way,
Till I was finally calm.
𝐀/𝐍
Heuww 😫💔.
I honestly wish Dawn didn't have to stop Chima from beating the crap out of TK because WTF! Writing that part of this book legit made me so repulsed. Tekena is such a repulsive, irritating, and disgusting human being! Like, who does these things, who says these things!
Dawn shouldn't have stopped Chima from splitting his head into two! But all in due time. TK is having his fun now. Chima's time will still come, I assure you 🙂.
This is just the height for Semeeha. Dawn has certainly cut all ties with her. And don't let me even hear that crap about how she's going through a lot and her friends should understand. Nothing will ever justify everything she said to Dawn. Nothing.
I had to divide this chapter, again. Expect a full revelation of what happened between Dawn and TK in the past in the next chapter. And let's just everything that happened in this chapter didn't completely damage Dawn's self-esteem.
Till the next update, you know the drill. Kisses 😘.