I'd woken up late, considering the time I slept last night, only to see my Mother doing some yoga in front of the TV. When she spotted me, she stood up and asked if I wanted to join her in the kitchen to prepare pancakes for breakfast. Neither my Mum nor I cook, so it was a surprise. She'd asked the maids to stand aside, and that was it. We made pancakes, which were messy but fun. I also noticed how we burnt a few. Aside from our average breakfast, we did things like play Scrabble, Ludo, and whatnot. Now I was presently resting my head against my Mother's shoulder as we both had our attention glued to the TV screen.
"Heyyo!" I jumped up after hearing that voice, then quickly turned in excitement to see Chuks gracing his presence.
"Chuks!" I left my Mother on the couch to go hug my best friend but stopped midway when I saw a second person behind him.
"Stella," I mumbled as my other best friend slowly walked to be beside Chuks. I opened my mouth, ready to ask if she was alright, but was stopped by the bright smile forming on her lips.
"Nsikan!" She yelled and spread her arms wide while running to hug me. "I miss you so much!"
"She's done mopping around," Chuks added, watching as Stella and I wrapped ourselves in a warm hug.
"Are you alright now, Stella?" Mother asked, and Stella pulled away from me to face her.
"Yes, ma," she said in a cheerful tone, "so much better."
"That's good." Mother nodded. "Don't let the media bring you down."
"Never." Stella shook her head rapidly. "Never again."
"Mummy, I'm going upstairs with my friends," I said to my mother, and all she did was wave off. Chuks, Stella, and I didn't waste time as we raced upstairs to my room and shut the door.
Now I was sitting in the middle of my bed, with Chuks lying at the edge, on his stomach and Stella resting her back on my headrest.
"See Nsikan o," Chuks couldn't stop looking at me and grinning from ear to ear. "Standing up for someone."
"You guys have been standing up for me," I said to him. "It was only fair to reciprocate. Plus, the comments were getting annoying."
"Well, I'm proud of you," Chuks held my ankle, "extremely proud."
"And I've learned to watch my mouth," Stella said, lifting her right hand. "Well, that's if the person doesn't find my trouble first."
That got me to chuckle and shake my head. She reached for her phone in her purse and showed Chuks and me her phone screen. "See the way people are sending me heart emojis in my comment section like they weren't telling me to go kill myself a few days ago."
"Humans are so two-faced," Chuks hissed, "just forget them."
"Are you still getting hate comments?" I questioned.
Stella nodded, "but not as bad as before. Besides, I don't care now. They can all go to hell, for all I care. Most people are now focused on the director and whatnot for being so unprofessional during the premiere. Now they're saying, no matter what, they'd have let me join."
"People are two-faced o," I said, folding my arms, astonished. "Wasn't it last night most comments were glad she wasn't at the event?"
"I'm sure it was Queen." Chuks sat up. "I'm sure she had a hand in that video of a thing."
"It doesn't matter," I said to him. "What matters is that Stella is better now."
"See Nsikan o," Chuks still seemed surprised.
"She has grown," Stella added. "No longer the frightening mumu girl that's always scared of the Trix. By the way," she nudged her chin to me. "Chuks was telling me about some dinner."
"Oh." I knew I'd tell them eventually. I told Damian last night after my Mother left my room. And I'd poured out things I wish I'd said to Mr. Segun instead of keeping quiet when he was insulting my Mother. "Mr. Segun suggested I live with them."
"Eh?" Chuks scoffed.
"Is he mad?" Stella questioned.
"And the way he was acting yesterday like he was entitled to me." I shook my head. "He was indirectly calling my Mother names; na, that one pain me pass."
"So what did you say to him?" Stella questioned.
"I told him to his face that I'm not his daughter," Stella clapped once, and Chuks cheered like he was watching some match. "If you even see combat fighting between my Mum and Queen's, throwing of insults, like both had some secret insult bank somewhere. Sha, my Mum is taking him to court."
"Deserve!" Chuks clapped. "Your mother knows what's popping. This gist is too sweet, abeg."
I laughed, then turned to Stella. "They're pasting the overall result on the notice board tomorrow. You might go down on the list for missing a few exams."
"It's a mock girl," Stella said, sounding unbothered. "I'll make it up during the real exam. I heard Damian didn't go to school on Friday."
"Chuks told you?" I asked.
"No, Thompson." Chuks and I stared at each other, and I knew we were both thinking the same thing.
"Thompson?"
Stella nodded. "He visited my place again after you guys left, and then yesterday to make sure I was alright."
"He just knew your place and started visiting you regularly," Chuks questioned. "Is there something we should know?"
"There's nothing we should know," Stella said with the quotation sign on 'we'. "He's just being a good friend, that's all."
Chuks and I cleared our throats at the same time, and that got an eye roll from Stella.
───※ ·❆· ※───
I couldn't wait until Monday to meet Damian, so I called and asked if he'd let me visit the next day, and he agreed. So here I was in a black lap-length dress while looking at the house in front of me. To be honest, I was happy with today's visit. No tutoring whatsoever.
I walked to the door and gave it a knock before a maid opened it and led me inside. In the living room, Damian was in a white shirt and Jeans shorts. He had a remote in hand and was obviously focusing on the television before I showed up.
"Hey," he said, getting up. I moved over to him. I wasn't sure if I should hug him or not and was contemplating it when I felt Damian wrap his arms around me. When he pulled back, I stared at him with a stunned look, which forced him to let out a shrug. "I needed that."
I watched him sit down and I quickly took the spot beside him. "What are you watching?"
"Final destination," he responded, and my eyes widened.
"The movie where they're marked for death and only one gets to see the vision about it and try to stop it?" He nodded, his eyes glued to the TV.
"Part 3," he answered. "I've watched it before and was excited to watch it again."
"How can you have the excitement to watch that?" I shuddered as Damian turned to look at me in amusement.
"Are you scared?" He questioned me, and I didn't hesitate to nod. "Don't be; I'll hold you."
"You won't hold me in the night,"
Damian looked at me with seriousness in his eyes. "Do you want me to?"
I almost fell for that and slapped his upper arm playfully, which made him laugh. "Okay," he started, "what would you like to watch?"
"The Barbie movie?" I questioned. Damian didn't give me any weird looks whatsoever. He was focused on my request. I watched as he searched the movie with a smile on my face before asking. "How's your mother?"
"Off to work," he frowned, and I knew it was kind of a touching subject.
"Damian?" I fully turned to him and pulled the remote from his hold. Damian turned to me with a creased brow, but I wasn't ready to back down. "You know a lot about me. My family issues, and well, what not? But aside from the fact that you're Damian from my class, on the swim team, and the top student in our class with two amazing friends that I've learned to like, I know close to nothing about you."
"Nsikan-"
"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to," I said to him. "I didn't tell you about things going on with me because I wanted you to tell me about yours. I just thought it'd be best to let it all out so I could understand the situation better."
Damian was quiet, and I thought it best to continue. "What you're facing is completely different from mine, and I get that. We're like..." I spread my hands wide and clapped, "Two worlds colliding, and I get that too. But irrespective of that, you've been by my side and have helped me. I might not give you the best advice out there, but at least let me hear your story."
Again, Damian was quiet. He looked down and refused to say a word. "But as I said, I ain't forcing. You're free not to say anything. How about we watch-"
"Remember the assignment we had in English?" Damian asked, stopping me from saying any further words.
"English?" I questioned.
Damian gazed at mine, and I watched the hesitation in his eyes. "The poetry."
"Oh!" I snapped my fingers in realisation. "The one you helped me with?"
He nodded silently, then cleared his throat. "Remember my poem?"
How could I forget? It was so dark and sad that it felt personal and wasn't meant to be shared in the class. "That was about my Father."
I remained quiet and waited for Damian to take his time. The way he was sitting at the edge of the couch and the way he kept playing with his fingers showed he was in a vulnerable place. It was rare to see him like this, and he was showing this part of him to me.
"He..." Damian started but stopped himself to take a few breaths in. "He fought with my uncle a day before his death." Damian paused, and I noticed his tight fist. He shook his head while he spoke as if trying to recall. "Some talk about the main hospital and health centre. My uncle wasn't happy with what my Father was giving him, and he wasn't afraid to come to the house to show his disappointment. He warned my Dad about how weak he was and how the hospital would crumble with him-my uncle, being pulled out of it, but my Dad threw him out of the house and told him never to return until he learned to be grateful."
Damian released his fists and gulped. "Before my uncle left that day, he yelled about how my Father would regret the decisions he'd made, but no one took him seriously."
"Then what happened?" I asked quietly.
Damian didn't respond immediately. He was taking his time so as not to break down. "My Dad decided to take my Mum and me out to dinner the following day," he continued, and then a soft smile appeared on his face. "It was nice. We had fun like always, with my Dad making promises to me if I did well in my exams." But his smile disappeared, and I braced myself for what was coming next.
"After dinner, we decided to head home." Damian went on, "It was raining, but good thing the car wasn't parked far from the building. While heading to the car, some car out of nowhere swiftly passed and someone shot my Dad through his chest. It was dark, and we couldn't see the individuals, and it looked like they were wearing masks."
"Dad died in my Mother's and my hands that night," Damian let out a bitter chuckle. "His blood being swept away by the rain."
I noticed the tears that had escaped his eyes, and I reached forward to wipe them with both thumbs. Damian cleared his throat and wiped his cheeks himself before leaning further into the couch and resting his back.
"I became depressed after that and didn't speak to anyone. Not my Mother, not my ex-friends. I turned to reading fictional novels because it felt like an escape route to another world." I said nothing because, though I had my own issues, I couldn't relate. He'd lost his Dad, someone he'd known all his life. "My Mum changed my school in Ss1, and you know the rest."
"Do you think your uncle is behind this?" I questioned.
"I think everyone has the thought that he had a hand in that." He answered.
"So why isn't he arrested?" I questioned further.
"You can't just arrest someone with little to no proof," he answered. "The investigation carried out had nothing on him."
I bit my lower lips and equally leaned in. "Is he threatening your Mother?"
Damian nodded. "But my Mother is equally as stubborn as my Dad was. She isn't backing down for him. Which is frustration because I'm..." he trailed, looking at me. "I'm scared."
I reached to wrap my hand around his to put him at ease while hoping it worked.
"Plus, this hospital workload is getting on her too much," he continued. "I'd told her to share the burden with other staff," he said, stopping himself and placing his hands on his temple. "I'm just tired; I'm drained out."
I placed my hands on his back and began rubbing soothingly. "It's going to be alright. Everything would be fine at the end of the day."
"Then I want the day to end quickly, so I'd be alright," he mumbled, his voice broken.
"It will be," I said to him. "Your Mother must be doing this for you. She doesn't want to give up because of you. The only thing you can do is make it easier by being by her side like the way you've been doing." I tried to look at Damian's face but couldn't because he had it buried in his palms.
"It's okay to cry," I said to him, feeling the tears in my eyes as well. "It's okay to break that wall and just be vulnerable for a second. It's okay because there's someone ready to comfort you and let you know that everything's going to be fine at the end of the day, no matter how impossible that phrase sounds. Damian-"
I was cut short by the small whimper coming from him, and I pulled his face from his hands and hugged him quietly. Damian wrapped his arms around me and I patiently watched as he cried on my shoulder.
───※ ·❆· ※───
I couldn't stop thinking about Damian, even as I got to the school hall. I wasn't sure how much I'd helped out. I wish I could've done better, but I wasn't sure exactly what to do.
Ding!
I reached for my skirt pocket as I walked towards the stairs, but stopped when I saw it was an article from Danielle from the site she'd created. I wanted to ignore it, but seeing others around looking at their photos forced me to do the same.
𝐒𝐄𝐋𝐅-𝐌𝐀𝐃𝐄 𝐐𝐔𝐄𝐄𝐍 𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐋𝐋𝐀
I creased my brows at the title of her article before reading its context.
𝚆𝚎 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚊𝚠𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚎𝚕𝚎𝚋𝚛𝚒𝚝𝚒𝚎𝚜 𝚔𝚒𝚍𝚜 𝚊𝚝 𝙶𝚛𝚎𝚎𝚗𝚟𝚒𝚕𝚕𝚎 𝙷𝚒𝚐𝚑 𝚂𝚌𝚑𝚘𝚘𝚕. 𝚆𝚎 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚘𝚏 𝙷𝚎𝚗𝚛𝚢 𝚆𝚒𝚕𝚕𝚒𝚊𝚖𝚜, 𝚈𝚎𝚖𝚒 𝙰𝚋𝚒𝚘𝚕𝚊, 𝙹.𝙺., 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝙱𝚊𝚋𝚢. 𝙱𝚞𝚝 𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎'𝚜 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚍𝚒𝚏𝚏𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚗𝚝. 𝚂𝚝𝚎𝚕𝚕𝚊 𝚒𝚜𝚗'𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚑𝚒𝚕𝚍 𝚘𝚏 𝚊 𝚠𝚎𝚕𝚕-𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚌𝚎𝚕𝚎𝚋𝚛𝚒𝚝𝚢, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚜𝚑𝚎'𝚜 𝚊𝚕𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚢 𝚜𝚘𝚊𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚑𝚒𝚐𝚑 𝚘𝚗 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚘𝚠𝚗. 𝚆𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚋𝚎𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊 𝚜𝚘𝚌𝚒𝚊𝚕 𝚒𝚗𝚏𝚕𝚞𝚎𝚗𝚌𝚎𝚛 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚜𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝚏𝚘𝚕𝚕𝚘𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚋𝚎𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚖𝚘𝚟𝚒𝚎 𝚒𝚗𝚍𝚞𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚢 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚋𝚒𝚐 𝚗𝚊𝚖𝚎𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚞𝚙, 𝚠𝚑𝚘'𝚜 𝚍𝚘𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚒𝚝 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚑𝚎𝚛? 𝚂𝚑𝚎 𝚖𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚊 𝚗𝚊𝚖𝚎 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚎𝚕𝚏, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚜𝚑𝚎'𝚜 𝚐𝚒𝚟𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚌𝚑𝚘𝚘𝚕 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚜𝚝𝚞𝚍𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚜 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘 𝚋𝚎 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚍 𝚘𝚏.
"What are you reading?" I turned, only to see Danielle as she steadied the straps of her backpack on her shoulder. She looked at the screen of my phone with a nod. "That."
"I thought you said you weren't doing charity work." I reminded her of her words.
"I didn't." She shrugged. "Your dramatic live last Friday motivated me a little to write the headline."
"Then what motivated you fully to write the article?" I questioned.
"You aren't current, are you?" She questioned me, and I frowned. She took my phone from me and typed in something before giving it back to me. I looked down to see it was a released article from the site that had first carried Stella's video. It had an article written about the Trix's bullying ways, and the surprising part was that Elue was the person giving the interview.
"That motivated me fully." Danielle pointed at the screen. "She talked about the awful things she'd done to you and how she was ashamed of herself. She also apologised to Stella for everything she was going through. So I thought to myself, Now that's headline-worthy."
"You should've just ignored it," I said to her.
"What's the fun in that?" She smiled, then waved at me. "Have a nice day, senior Nsikan."
I shook my head and turned away from her as I placed my phone in my pocket. Damian was more important now. I got to the classroom door and opened it. Everyone was back in their original seats now that the mock exams were over. I manoeuvred my gaze to Damian's seat to see him listening to something Muller was forcing on them.
"Hi," I said, getting to his desk. Damian looked sideways, finally noticing me. I looked at him carefully to make sure he was alright.
"Hey!" Damian let out a small smile. Though small, I could tell it was genuine. "Thank you for yesterday; I needed it."
I realised something had changed in Damian. He looked more...human. Muller and Thompson were both looking at Damian and me but asked no questions.
"It's fine," I said to him while feeling giddy inside. "I'm happy you let it all out. Let me go check up on Stella."
"What are you?" Muller asked, "A nurse?" But Thompson nudged him to shut up.
"Nsikan," Damian called as I turned and was about to head for my seat.
"Yeah?" I asked almost immediately.
He smiled, then licked the bottom of his lips before saying, "Let's find time to watch that Barbie movie."
And I couldn't help but feel like I'd fallen harder.
───※ ·❆· ※───
Chapter 40, wow. We've gone far o.
Thank y'all for the 15k+ reads and the 5k+ votes. It means a lot, for real.
I'm sure everyone noticed the names for STRAPPED.
What do you think about this chapter?
See y'all next time✨