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TAMMY:
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I sat on a seat in Mandel's class and rested my head on my arms I placed on the desk as Mandel kept telling me about her favorite TikToker, a Nigerian high school student who made dance videos with her friends, or sometimes costume imitations of characters in movies or film series.
According to Mandel, she goes by the name, Elia and she has up to a million followers. She was that famous.
Personally, I didn't believe any of what Mandel said. Although I had come to the conclusion that if she was right, Elia's one million followers had wasted useful time watching a teenage girl and her friends dance and play dress up, because to me...
It was plain stupid!
"....And she flipped her hair and smiled. She looked so cute with her dimple honestly, and with the way she styled her hair into a ponytail, she looked like a darker version of Arianna Grande. That girl's gonna go places." Mandel said, smiling proudly and I couldn't help but roll my eyes.
Just as I was about to say something, Mandel beat me to it.
"She had worn Descendants- inspired clothing in one of her videos and she made such a pretty Evie." She gushed.
I looked down at my watch and sighed.
Just few five more minutes until assembly, then this talk about 'Elia' could come to an end.
It wasn't like I found her talk boring, I just felt it was rather annoying to talk so much about a total stranger, someone you've never met but have only seen on your phone or television as if you both are best of friends meanwhile that stranger has no knowledge about your existence.
"Mandel, you're wasting your time talking about this girl. Let's talk about something else, shall w—"
"What do you mean I'm wasting my time?" Mandel said, cutting me off as she narrowed her brows.
I shrugged. "Well, yeah. While you're here busying yourself by gushing over someone you saw on TikTok, that person doesn't even know you exist. She's living her life in another part of the world."
"She lives right here in Lagos." She said.
"It doesn't change the fact that she doesn't know you even though you know her. So talking about her is a waste of your time." I said, standing up to stretch.
Her mouth dropped slightly open as if I had said something bigger than what I said. "You know, if I was a celebrity like her, she would know me."
"But you're not, are you?" I replied.
"I could be."
My out stretched arms stopped moving and I darted my gaze to her. "You wanna be a celebrity? How? And because of who, Elia?"
"I could create videos on TikTok, with time I'd get popular and I would be able to fangirl over her in peace without some busybodies telling me I can't do so. You know why? Because she'd know me by then."
I let out a short laugh and shook my head. "I'm a busy body now for telling you the truth. Good luck with your plan anyway. I've got nothing against that."
I turned around, deciding to head back to my class before we would all be called to the assembly hall when the door was pushed open and in came...
A short gasp was let out behind me and I needed no soothe sayer to know it was Mandel.
The girl that had stepped in had straightened and shimmered her suprisingly long afro hair and styled it into a french braid, with a 'Glam' bedazzled hair pin holding up the long shiny strands of hair she parted at the front that were almost touching her honey eyes.
As simple but yet as beautiful as the hairstyle looked, the hair's length also wasn't the only thing that caught I and Mandel's attention.
It was the fact that she had shortened her dark blue pleated skirt way past her knee.
The rest of the female students in Diamond High were found to wear really short skirts and knee socks, so it wasn't meant to be a big of a deal as it was to Mandel and I but it was because it was Amorette, The quiet yet mean girl that always seemed to play the innocent card and had the most modest dressing style amongst the senior female students in Diamond High so far.
My gaze followed her with my lips slightly parted open as she walked past me non-chalantly, and then, I spotted the earrings on her ear.
She had gone for an ear piercing?
The girl wore a small smile with her glossy lips glimmering as soon as she had gotten to Mandel, and Mandel? She instantly wore a smile as she stared at Amorette's hairstyle, ear piercing, and short skirt while the girl stared back at her as if waiting for some sort of approval.
"I knew what I was saying when I said you would look great in this look but I never thought you would look this good. The ear ring is really pretty, it makes it look like you got an ear piercing." Amorette broke into a wide grin at Mandel's comment as she fiddled with her fingers.
"Thanks." She said lowly.
Wait, so she didn't get an earpiercing.
Amorette suddenly turned to me with the huge grin on her face as she grabbed my hand and pulled me towards her and Mandel in excitement.
"What do you think? How's the new look?" She asked.
I took a step back as I stared at her skeptically.
The last time she spoke to me, she was trying to come up with a comeback and here she was asking me about her 'new look'.
I trailed my gaze to Mandel who smiled back at me with a wink and I stared back in confusion.
"C'mon." Amorette said, shaking me a bit.
"You look great." I said with a small smile.
"Really? Thank you." She said and began to do mini jugs around me.
This was wierd.
"You could loose the french braids though, I think you'd look much finer if you let your hair down."
Amorette's smile dropped and she suddenly had a huge frown on her face as she turned to Mandel. "I-I could l-loose it now. I didn't come up with hairstyle idea, my sister did. I wanted the hair down." She said as she moved her hands frantically on her hair in an attempt to loose it.
She turned to me and I could see the slight panic in her expression. "Tammy, c'mon. There's a comb in my bag, you can help me loose the braid in the girl's bathroom."
She grabbed her school bag and reached for my hand, then began walking towards the class door with a very confused Tammy unwillingly tagging behind.
~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~
I was already starting to regret joining the music club. I had already made up my mind that I was going to give up music despite my love for it because it could ruin everything.
It could make all my hard work to be in vain.
It would bring back the bad memories I had already pushed away.
And the walls I had been able to build before me could crumble before my eyes.
Because of my love for music.
I sat at the end of the empty music studio with my body hugging my legs and my chin resting on my knee, and watched the guy seated on the stool at the other end of the room as he wordlessly strummed and pulled the guitar strings leading to the slow melodious tune I couldn't help but tap my feet to.
I felt like playing.
I trailed my gaze to a lyre placed on a table amongst other instruments and I couldn't help but wonder why I had decided to learn to play that out of all other instruments.
"Don't you like music?" The question snapped me out of the trance I seemed to have been in, causing me to look up to the person that had uttered those words.
"Huh?" I asked, confused.
Why wouldn't I like music? I had to be it's biggest lover.
"Whenever you come to the music studio, you just sit at a place and stare at anything and everything and instead of looking happy and excited, you always look rather sad." He said.
I didn't say anything after that, I brought my gaze to the floor instead. "What inspired you to go into music, or something like that?" I asked looking up to him again.
He looked a bit startled, as if he wasn't expecting a question like that for some reason and he looked torn between answering the question or not.
"Your brother came to me today. He wanted me to delete the photo." My eyes widened and I could feel my face lit up, letting a small gasp at his words.
"Really?" I asked, and Aidan began to chuckle.
"He actually just walked up to me and demanded I delete the photo. He said he never ever wanted me to use that as a tool to tease or mock you again." He laughed.
"So you told your big brother on me?".
A small smirk crept it's way to my lips and I rolled my eyes. "We're twins, and I didn't tell on you."
"He must've felt bad for taking it." He smiled.
"Or maybe he just wants me to kiss his ass at home." I muttered under my breath, then looked up at Aidan with pleading eyes.
"Just please get rid of the photo. It's really embarrassing." I said. He placed his fingers on his chin and looked up at the ceiling in thought while I continued to stare at him with pleading eyes.
"I would...."
I sighed in relief. "Thank y—"
"If you meet me right here in the music studio again on Monday before assembly starts." He said, and I frowned.
"Why?" I asked.
"You'll find out on Monday." He said, causing me to pout my lips. "Grab a string instrument let's play."
I rolled my eyes at him and stayed rooted to the spot I sat. "I even added please. I don't want that photo staying in your phone for another day."
I was in a towel after all.... With a pan!
"And I gave you a condition if you want it deleted." He said, pulling at his guitar strings.
I creased my brows and glared at him. "Then we're not playing. Good luck looking for another music partner." I said, standing up and heading for the door.
"You're a newbie that was fortunate to be paired up with me. I've been in the music club way longer than you have and you're still new to some things, I would stick with me if I were you." He said calmly, and that statement pissed me off.
"Just because I'm new to this school doesn't mean I'm new to music. I wouldn't be surprised if you flopped your music notes when you compete against me. You would be the one at a loss if I leave so just delete the photo." I said angrily as I placed my hands on the sides of my waist.
He rolled his eyes at me and stood up, placing his guitar on the ground. "A music pro wouldn't always look scared to play an instrument." And with that, he walked out of the studio and shut the door.
I glared at the now shut door without saying anything. I wasn't sure who to be mad at, Ifeoluwa or Aidan.
I could be mad at both.
I puffed and sashayed out of the music studio. And when I walked down the stairs, I came across the asthmatic girl.
She smiled on seeing me and skipped up the stairs. "I don't think I ever got a chance to thank you, Tammy." She said, as she made an attempt to hug me.
I furrowed my brows and moved a step upwards holding a hand up. "That's Senior Otamayomi to you. I didn't give you the permission to call me by my nickname, Did I?" I said without caring about how she found out my name in the first place.
"And, you're welcome." I said, smiling at her with a wink before passing her.
~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~
I had yelled at Ifeoluwa when I had gotten him, my voice was so loud my throat began to ache.
He had embarrassed me.
Humiliated me.
He had apologized, saying he only wanted to tease me and that the fact that the phone wasn't mine slipped his mind. It looked similar to mine anyways.
He was my brother after all, so I forgave him in the end.
I stepped out of my room in my red hoodie and black jeans with a tote bag in my hand as I walked down the stairs and into the dining room.
Mum was seated on a chair, her eyes pinned to the book she held in her hands and an glass of orange juice placed on the dining table beside her.
"Mum." I called. She brought her gaze up from the book and rested it on me.
"I'm going out." I said.
"To where?" She asked.
"I'm going to Mandel's place." I said, and she nodded at that. I smiled as I turned around and walked towards the living room where Ifeoluwa sat.
I reached for the door when I got nearer to it and was about to walk out when Ifeoluwa decided to ask his question.
"Where are you off to, Sis?" He asked.
"Mandel's place, we decided to work on a project together." I said and he nodded.
"Bye."
I stepped out of the house and hurriedly walked past the driver.
"Small madam, where you dey go?" The driver yelled. "You no want make I drive you?"
(Small madam, where are you going to? Wouldn't you like me to drive you there?)
"No sir." I said, and stepped out of the gate.
I took an Uber to my destination and I couldn't help but feel excited coming here again.
I took a minute to stare at the building after coming out of the Uber and I couldn't help but feel proud.
I began to walk into the building just as I took a glance at the sign pinned on the door.
"Welcome to Joe's Dogo."
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Firstly, I just want to say that the opinions of my characters are not in anyway mine or similar to mine. Their humans after all with different opinions and perspective of things.
And, isn't a Dogo a place to learn Martial arts?
Hmmm.
Bye,
Benzita13 ❤️