Cina Soul- Jorley
Recess was pretty bland without everyone present. Michael was there and so was Nesrina but it still didn't feel the same especially with Faye and Veronica still grieving over the loss of their loved ones, they weren't their usual cheerful selves. Efua wasn't around to start up a random conversation either ,so they all just ate in silence.
Ciarra walked to the quad for the first time without contacts and everyone was staring even those trying really hard not to.
Kobby met her halfway to her table,
" Ms Alice wants me on the cycling team and coach needs me on the basketball court. I love both so which should I choose?"
" Why are you asking me?" She asked and he shot her an obvious grin so she was forced to answer, " I think you should weigh both out and choose the one that will least affect your studies."
" Good point." He says jogging off.
" Kobby wait!" She called him back and he walked closer.
" Don't you notice anything different about me?" She asked and he stared at her briefly before shaking his head.
" I'm not using my contacts." She reminds him and he suddenly noticed.
" Oh." He gasped and quickly recovered, " Oh right, that's why you look so pretty in the sunlight."
" You're so weird." Ciarra shook her head in dismay and walked away blushing in the process at his last comment.
Zuriah passed by with her tray in hand and glanced around the packed quad. The table she shared with Rebecca was now occupied, had Rebecca been there, they would all have evaporated from there but Zuriah wasn't as intimidating as Rebecca. She decided to go sit on the lawn like the others did last semester but since it was the dry season, the grass had dried up and was covered in a layer of dust.
" Hey guys, isn't that Zuriah?" Ashanti asked them. Everyone turned except Faye who was absent minded.
Nesrina noticed and snapped her fingers at her till she snapped out of it.
" Dude, you should really start talking to the shrink." Nesrina advised when Faye finally glanced at her.
" Hey Zuriah you can join our table!" Ciarra called at her and she waved back at them and walked towards them taking Kweiba's emptyseat.
" Hi." She greeted bashfully and everyone responded in their own special way.
" How's Becca?" Ashanti asked taking a swig from her bottle of orange juice.
" She's fine." Zuriah sighs.
" When is she coming back?" Ciarra wondered.
" I don't really know but she said she'd come." Zuriah replied stabbing her noodles with the fork.
" Great." Ashanti affirms.
Just then, Ladi Nylander shows up behind Faye and swaps her can of Fanta for a bottle of soy milk.
" I love this guy." Mae mused.
" Dude!" Faye exclaimed, " I am not on the team anymore so I don't know the essence of dieting. Give that back."
" Faye you weren't supposed to be eating healthy for the team. You should do it for Fayanna Quansah. How many of these have you had this morning?" Ladi delves and all her friends now turn expectantly for her response.
" I thought this was the first can you had." Ashanti says and Faye suddenly feels like she's been trapped.
" Fine, I've had a couple but it's not a big deal."
" Five cans is not a couple baby." Ladi reminds her.
" You've been spying on me?"
" More like keeping an eye on you, it's not difficult with how openly you do stuff. You had one before breakfast, another after, two in-between classes and then this one."
" Hey you can't prove that." Faye disputes.
" I can, you put them in your water bottle so no one knows what you're drinking."
" Oh really?" Ashanti nods in comprehension, " She's gotten smarter."
" Come on." Ladi took her hand practically dragging her away from the table for a little private conversation.
" Guys, I think something is really bothering Faye. She's acting unusual. I don't know if it's the loss of her mom or if she still feels bad about being kicked off the team." Sarah sighs.
" Both, she should really talk to Ms Geraldine." Ciarra states.
OoO
At about 1am that night, Ciarra woke up to the sound of sniffles, it was from Veronica's bed.
" Vee, are you crying?" Ciarra croaked from her sleep. Her question woke Ashanti and Joy up.
" Who's crying?" Joy mumbled sleepily.
" Vee." Ciarra replied.
" Oh my..." Joy drawled sitting up in her bed
" We can't have all this somberness in the dorm, last time this happened it was during Ivy's breakup."
Someone chuckled. It was Lartifa from her bed now awake, " I swear no one had been that disoriented in this dorm since then."
" You remember she cried an entire week straight." Joy laughed sleepily.
" It felt like a replay of Olivia Rodrigo's Driver's license and the worst part was that her best friend was also involved, " Lartifa talks lazily, " She felt so betrayed, she wouldn't even walk in a hundred meter radius of the Morning cafe because everything there reminded her of both him and Flora."
" And Rainey told her to set something he loves on fire." Joy goes on, " You should have seen Ivy attempting to act scenical, it was so stupid."
" Hey I heard that!" Ivy retorts in a husky tone from her sleep.
" You were supposed to." Lartifa adds.
" Ronnie...it's okay to cry, it helps but I assure you that if you think about it too much you might start coming up with crazy theories."
" Like setting your boyfriend's clothes on fire." Joy laughed and Ivy hurled a stuffed bear at her through the dark dorm and it still hit her.
" Ouch my nose." Joy laughed.
Mae got out of her bed and joined Veronica in hers draping an arm over her shoulders, " It's okay." She tried soothing her but to no avail so she just lay next to her and tried to while her to sleep.
" I hear crying." Vera drawls from her sleep.
" We all hear it, shut up." Ivy says from her bed.
Mae didn't know so many people were up.
" Allow her, the tears on my pillow phase will pass soon." Praise says soothingly.
" Kinda reminds me of you Ivy. You cried over Sly and Flora for two weeks straight." Vera chuckled.
" You guys really heard me?" Ivy got out of bed in surprise.
" Of course we did, we just pretended not to hear." Beullah replies.
" As a matter of fact we literally hear all of you when you cry at night we just choose to ignore it." Wathoni adds in a sleepy tone, " Let's please go back to pretending we can't hear it ok, I'm tired."
Morning arrived with a team of forensics and police officers at the gates of Manhattan house by the time for inspection. Everyone but the freshmen were in full panic mode.
If they were going to search the entire house half of them were going to be in serious trouble. They should have seen this coming and hid all contrabands they possessed. It was almost too late but not late.
Quickly they stuffed their backpacks with everything they owned that wasn't prescribed by the school. Some couldn't even fit everything in their backpacks and had to resort to stuffing them into the freshmen's backpacks and lunch bags before exiting the house for the search.
Assembly was also pretty stern that morning and as usual Praise gave the tune to yet another guilt tripping hymn, Trust and Obey. Principal Yankee stepped unto the podium to address them. She rarely joined assembly so that only meant something big had happened.
" Pst." Anita whispered to The freshmen in her queue, " I figured out what that note written behind the hall of Fame portrait meant."
" The one we found?" Ciarra asked and Anita nodded in agreement,
" There are lot of ears itching to hear about everything here, so let's meet at the Morning Cafe after this." Anita suggests.
Beullah glanced hopefully at Faye from her queue but Faye immediately looked away.
" Aside from this terrible news we have good news. As part of our international learning program, Judith Mills, an alumni of the school and principal of the Golsbridge High School in New York has agreed after deliberation with her academic board to embark on a student's exchange program for the sophomore year students of her school...." The entire place was now teeming with whispers and inside conversations.
Principal Yankee cleared her throat and everyone paused.
" They will be arriving in two weeks, do well to be welcoming to them. They are not only going to learn from us but hopefully by the time they leave you should have also learnt something from them so no bullying and ostracizing." She went on,
" 56 of them will be joining us in our various houses, we're going to randomly distribute them and they'll be here for the most parts of the semester take note. Also, the renowned annual observance popularly known by all of you as In Your Shoes has been resumed. We will be emailing your parents on the updates especially the freshmen since they haven't experienced it before. On that note, Great Nelson?!"
They repeated the latin motto of the school before she dismissed them.
The girls quickly scurried off to the Morning Cafe instead of the dining hall for breakfast.
As soon as they walked in to the aroma of fresh baked goods, Healenore dumps her backpack on a chair and slumps into her side of the booth
" Well someone's tired." Anita comments from where she sat in the corner already slurping her slushie.
" I have a laptop and two tablets in my backpack along with my books, allow me to complain." Healenore relates as Fred walked over to them from the counter. Veronica kept glancing around.
" Dude stop doing that it's weird." Mae whispered to her.
" What can I get you girls?" Fred asked warmly.
" Tea, and whatever it is you're baking." Healenore requested.
" Same." Ciarra agreed.
" Let's all go for that then." Sarah sighs.
" I'll have orange juice- I wish for a fanta but Ladi will be so mad when he hears about it." Faye says.
They joined Anita at her table
" Who put the letter behind the portrait?" Ashanti asked.
" Soraya did, there's only one person who has been trusted enough to work on the wall of Fame. The mural on which all the photos hang on was painted by Melanie last year so I am hypothesizing that Soraya was scared to voice out what was going on so she put it behind the portrait in hopes that Melanie will surely see it. But this is real life and not a movie. She seemed to have never found the note."
" Oh my..." Ashanti groaned.
" Right now nobody is saying anything in the house, Mrs Asare and Ms Bella are keeping things hush hush for our sake so they won't tell us about the report but I know if that report has anything to do with the house, there'd be dire consequences." Anita informed them.
" How dire?"
" They're going to interrogate every single one of us present in the house during Melanie's reign as Ms Manhattan, even Velar will be drilled in her nuthouse. So we're working on being as honest as possible since we didn't know about all of this."
" What about Soraya, she seems to have been aware of what happened." Faye asked.
" Whoever murdered Melanie knew how to keep her traces clean. The only witness we have unfortunately has been reduced to a four year old. She won't talk or respond logically to anything, Soraya became feral after being drugged, she doesn't even know who she is anymore. She has the attention span of a toddler now."
" That's serious, what about Flora?" Sarah wondered
" Flora was imprisoned for attempting to kill Sly but I think there's more to it."
" My parents were already thinking about pulling me out of the school, now all this drama just had to ensue." Ciarra sighs.
" Anyway what's this In Your Shoes thing anyway?" Healenore asked.
" It's an annual observance started by the Fourth headmistress of Nelson's. So basically there's a raffle, a random pick of names in a jar for every house, you get to pick one folded paper which bares a name of someone in your house and same year group." Anita begins to elaborate,
" During the midsemester break you get to live in that person's home for the entire break. It's just supposed to teach everyone to treat each other kindly because when you're in each other's shoes you finally begin to see everything in a different light and the world in a whole different way."
" Wow, that sounds like fun, I want to live in Ashanti's house." Healenore declares.
" Oh Lord, I wonder who gets to live with Healenore's crazy twin?" Sarah shudders dramatically. Healenore smacks her playfully just as Fred walked back to their table with their orders.
OoO
Lejandro unbeknownst to his friends hadn't been eating at all for the past couple. He passed out in class suddenly and had to be rushed to the school clinic. His condition was pretty serious, low blood sugar, low blood pressure and his vision was blurry. The school nurse immediately requested for him to be sent home for immediate medical treatment.
Kobla was immediately called in by Charlie Johnson to go get Lejandro. The boys didn't know what was going on with Lejandro they couldn't even explain to their chauffeur. He drove Lejandro straight to Dr Ortega in Accra where he was immediately admitted. After several resuscitation procedures and shots his vision cleared up.
" How did you boys not know Lejandro was sick?" Ciarra queries Kobby.
" I have no idea, he looked totally normal yesterday." Kobby tries to explain.
" How did this happen?" Hannah who sat close to him deadpanned.
" I have a reason but it seems ridiculous, then again , Lejandro is ridiculous." Ashanti says with an eye roll.
Everyone looked at her expectantly.
" Heather." She stated.
" He wouldn't." Samed dismissed the thought.
" Yes he can. This is Heather we're talking about，he's not heard from her the entire break and now she's missing in school so go figure." Ashanti elaborates.
" Wow this is insane...he tr..tried to kill himself so he c..could leave school?" Zaron wondered.
" I bet you he's no longer in the hospital as we speak." Ashanti informed them and the boys quickly bolted towards the telephone booths though it wasn't time for making calls.
" Don't get caught!" Ashanti called after them.
" How did you know?" Ciarra asked her when they were out of earshot.
" I spoke to him during the first day of class, he seemed really worried about Heather." Ashanti grinned, " It's funny how she's my best friend and he goes this length to see her, makes me feel like a bad friend."
" On the contrary, she wants some space so you're giving it to her. When she's ready to ask you for help, she will." Ciarra assures Ashanti.
Samed slipped in his call card and dialled Kobla's number from his phone book. He picked up in the third ring .
" Samed." He greets
" How's Lejandro?"
" He's getting better, he woke up last night." Kobla replied, " I'm still at the hospital."
" Can we speak to him?" Samed asked.
" Alright, let me check with Dr Ortega. " Kobla says, they hear a few shuffles, a mumbled conversation and more shuffles.
" Ummm, it looks like he isn't here." Kobla replied minutes later.
" What? How?"
" The nurses haven't seen him, looks like he left not too long ago, but where?" Kobla wondered.
" I'll give you a hint. He'll be anywhere around Jamestown British Accra." Samed states.
" What? That's two hours away!" Kobla freaks out, " I'm heading towards that side. I'll get back to you tonight."
The boys stared at each other.
" What is wrong with him?" Kobby asked.
" He likes Heather a lot." Samed concludes.
Lejandro walked in a slouched position down the streets of Jamestown trying to navigate the neighborhood. He asked passersby if they knew Heather but it seemed no one knew her by that name and he didn't even have a picture of her. It was a sight to see since he was the whitest person walking those streets. Little children followed him around, folks stopped whatever they were doing to stare at him wherever he passed.
He finally recalled the name of the junior high school Heather attended and asked around for the Mantse Armah cluster of schools. The school was in full swing as he walked through the dusty compound. The school children were all suddenly glued to their classroom windows to have a look at the Caucasian walking through their school. He asked a teacher in one of the classes for the headmaster's office.
The older man was surprised to encounter him. When he mentioned Heather's name he grinned, she was one of his brightest students. Lejandro indicated he was a schoolmate of hers. The man sent for a student and indicated he should take Lejandro to BabyNaa's house.
That was the name he was looking for!
The little boy brought him to the entrance of a compound house where everyone was going about their daily activities. He went in and asked for Heather and he was told she was at the community square with her troupe.
The boy led Lejandro there, he was slowly starting to feel the pain in his stomach again and had the boy buy him a bottle of water to which he drained.
Soon they showed up at the open grounds where instruments had been set up for music, there was a performance already ongoing when he got there. They were just a bunch of kids and only two adults. He easily spotted Heather on the wooden flute, the Atentenben. Though Lejandro didn't understand a word in the song being played by the band, it was so melodious to his ears. As he drew closer to the band, Heather spotted him and like seeing anapparition, she froze.
Everyone soon stopped playing to look at the visibly attractive foreign boy in a flannel and dark wash jeans as the wind ruffled his curls. He waved at Heather. She set the flute down and walked over to him, dragging him away from earshot.
" What are you doing here, are you not supposed to be in school?" Heather asked.
" I could ask you the same thing." Lejandro retorts and she looked around anxiously.
" We need to talk...but I have to finish here first."
" Can I join? " He beamed ecstatically and she rolled her eyes.
Ryan had noticed the little conversation and got up from behind the keyboard, grabbing his crutches, he made way to them.
" Everyone's waiting for you, we have the last song." Ryan informs her.
" I'm sorry... this is Lejandro. Lejandro Ryan, my best friend." Heather introduced and suddenly Lejandro felt a bout of dizziness but struggled to keep his head up so he wouldn't seem weak. Heather had a best friend? Who was a boy? Looking at him right now Lejandro could tell he saw her as more than a best friend and Heather was oblivious to that.
Neither of them seemed ready to befriend the other.
He never thought he had any competition in winning Heather over, well aside from Justice in class but that was a no brainier, Justice was a bully and Heather was bound to find out soon but Ryan?
" He plays the guitar in school, can you help him...he wants to join the rehearsal just for today." Heather pleads with Ryan.
He hesitates briefly before agreeing.
" What was the song you were playing before?" Lejandro asked Heather as she walked back to join them.
" It's a Ga classic by the Wulomei, they call it Eba Mli." Heather explained as they walked back.
" What does it mean?"
" May it come to be." Heather replied, " It's a prayer asking for several qualities and gifts from God. And wisdom like King Solomon."
" Oh yeah, I heard Mantse Solomon!" He chuckled, " See, I'm learning already! What's the next song?"
Heather smiled, " Kpoo Keke. It means Peacefulness or humility. It's about finding someone who understands you and who is ready to settle with you peacefully regardless of your financial status."
" That's so sweet." Lejandro expressed.
Heather introduced him to the band. The youngest being a nine year old girl who played the Banana bell was so excited he wanted to play with them. Ryan taught him the chords to Kpoo Keke on the bass. More spectators poured in after noticing the handsome boy in the group. These bands were usually made up of blacks, it was a first for everyone to see a white boy behind the band.
The vocalists were just amazing to listen to. As soon as it was over, Heather told them they could go ahead and that she had something to deal with. You could see the frustration in Ryan's eyes when Heather left with Lejandro.
Heather walked him to the beach which wasn't so far off. It was quite secluded.
" What are you doing here?"She reiterated.
" I want to know why you're not in school, are you dropping out?" Lejandro asked frankly.
" It's complicated Lejandro."
" I thought we were friends Heather. I told you about my family, I don't expect you to tell me about everything but at least trust me with the problems you're facing." Lejandro reminds her warmly.
" You don't get it. It's not that I don't want to tell you...I don't want to lose my dignity in your eyes, not you, not Ashanti, not any of my friends."
" Why?"
" Do you know how it feels like to be the one constantly with problems, the one always in need? It's unnerving Lee." Heather tries to explain.
" But we'd hate it, I will hate it if I could do something to help you and I didn't. We help each other Heather,not just financially... emotionally and physically too." He explained.
Heather deflates and sat down on the beach sand staring far off into the distance. He joined her.
" Two days before school would resume, mother fell ill. We spent all our savings in the hospital including an advance pay from working in Ashanti's company. I'm sure she already knows." Heather finally discloses.
" It doesn't seem likely. Ashanti seems to have given you some space, she didn't even try to go looking for you, she says when you're ready you'll talk to her." Lejandro states，" I don't think you should do that to her. Let her help you when she can, don't push her away. How would you feel if you can help Ashanti one way or the other when she's in dire need of help and she keeps pushing you away?"
" I guess you're right. But I don't like everyone worrying about me "
" Too late, we already are since you ghosted us. So tell me, what have you been up to?"
" The band plays every Saturday, we split the earnings, then I go head potting at the market."
" Head potting? Don't you have a bullet wound or something you're recovering from?" Lejandro panics but she only laughed.
" Yes I do. But it's much better now."
" Great. Then I guess I should go ahead and tell you. I'm paying your fees this semester and I'm not taking no for an answer."
" Lee!" She tries to change his mind.
" No Heather, your education is key, you can't give up now." Lejandro tells her.
" Now I'll feel like I owe you." Heather sighs.
" Because that's what most guys do these days, pay for the tuition of girls and later demand they settle with them in marriage even though the girls might not feel the same. When they don't want to, the girls seem ungrateful and wicked." Lejandro relates exactly what Heather had been thinking, " Look at me Heather? I know you've only known me for a few months and yes, I do like you. A lot more than I thought actually, but do you think I'll really demand something from you in return?"
Heather looked him in the eye as he spoke, she could sense the pain in his tone. He must be really hurt she thought of him that way.
" I'm sorry, I'm going to allow you to do this just this once...you know I have my dignity to protect too, right?"
" I understand." He nodded in comprehension to her view.
She got up and dusted her clothes he did same but few seconds later he could barely hear himself as his hearing muffled, He swayed and Heather caught hold of him.
" Lee what did you do? Are you okay?" She asked but it all fell on deaf ears.
" Oh my goodness, Lejandro!!" She panicked as he lost his footing.
She saw a man rushing towards them with an umbrella. He closed it when he got near.
" I'm Lejandro 's chauffeur, Kobla. He's supposed to be in the hospital. " He informed her as he picked Lejandro up.
Heather follows him out to an SUV parked by the road side. She opened the door for him and joined Lejandro in the backseat while Kobla got behind the wheel and sped off.
She tried to keep his head up the entire time, his eyes kept drooping, you could tell he was struggling to remain conscious.
" What happened to him?" Heather asked.
" Severe starvation and exhaustion. He's going to get sick if we don't get him back to the hospital soon " Kobla explained.
" Back to the hospital?" Heather wondered.
In ten minutes they were in a polyclinic where he was strapped into an ambulance bound for the hospital. Heather was so scared she followed. Lejandro was immediately admitted, placed under oxygen and several other IV fluids.
Did he really almost kill himself so he would come get her to school? Was he crazy?
An hour later, Kobla joins her in Lejandro's private ward.
" I need to go finish up with some errands for Charlie Johnson, and I need to change I've been here since last night. Will you keep watch over him, please?" The man pleaded. Heather could see exhaustion written all over him. Picking Lejandro up from school, admitting him into the hospital, going round searching for him after he escaped...he was tired.
" I need to call someone." Heather requested and he immediately offered her his cellphone. She called Zara's phone.
"I might not come home tonight."
" What do you mean? Are you with the troupe?" Zara asked, worry etched in her tone.
" No, Lejandro collapsed, we're at the hospital and there's no one with him. His guardian is Kobby s father who is super busy."
" Wait, you mean the white boy who showed up just some hours ago looking for you?" Zara asked in surprise.
" Yeah, that's Lejandro. Turns out he's really sick."
" Ok, take your time but where exactly are you?"
" Airport East Hospital. Private male ward." She replied.
" Alright noted, we'll be seeing mom in the hospital tomorrow afternoon so make sure you're home by then."
" Alright."
" I'll let everyone know. Stay safe, wish him a speedy recovery for me." Zara informed her before the line went dead.
Kobla was so grateful he thanked her profusely, before leaving, he gave her Lejandro's black card so she could get anything she needed.
OoO
Faye finally had her session with Ms Geraldine during personal time. The woman offered her a seat and water to which she accepted.
" You know you're the first to accept something from me." She said and Faye only replied with a grin.
" So it says that your name is Fayanna Akua Sefakor Quansah. Do people know you as Sefa?"
" No, only my Dad's late mother called me Sefakor, everyone calls me Faye or Kukua."
" It's a really nice name you should introduce it to others, I doubt your friends know that name." Ms Geraldine remarks.
" They don't." She agreed.
" You have really pretty eyes Faye." Ms Geraldine observed and Faye smiled.
" My mom has the same eyes that comes off as way too asian for a Ghanaian."
" Do people ask you if you're asian sometimes?"
" Yeah, when I was little but it stopped over the years." Faye says fondly
" Cool, it says here that you went to two boarding schools before this one making three."
" Yeah, my parents are veterans so they had a lot of missions back then and I was an only child."
" Must have been really hard for you."
" On the contrary I had a lot of fun in boarding school, no parents, one adult is assigned to over thirty children you could easily be invisible. I also learnt to do a lot of things on my own."
" I guess you're right, it says here in your folder that you're quite independent. How do you do that at fifteen?"
" It was more of a need. I needed to grow up since my mom was diagnosed with lung cancer when I was younger. She couldn't really do anything and my Dad isn't the handiest of persons so I learnt to do everything by myself whiles following my mom's instructions."
" You know you're a really really diligent and smart girl. Do you know that?"
" I don't really know, everyone thinks I'm pretty careless, without self-consciousness and pretty dull."
" Is that what you think?"
" I don't know anymore. I always thought I was so intuitive and hardworking but my decisions lately say otherwise." She leaned back in her seat and sighed.
" What decisions?"
" Not caring much about my diet, getting involved in drugs as you might already know in my file and not being close to my mom when I had the time."
" You know what I think?" Ms Geraldine begins.
Faye looked up so she'd continue, " I think that you're just an average teenager going through new changes you're not accustomed to. Faye, none of this is your fault, you just lack something all your other friends have... A mother's support."
Faye thought about it, she was probably right. Heather wouldn't do somethings because her mother would disprove, even Ashanti walks on eggshells around her mom and definitely didn't go overboard with some of her decisions, Ciarra's parents wouldn't even give her the space to mess up, same for all her other friends. She on the other hand had constantly made every decision on her own without asking for her mother's input, her mother also was in so much pain there was barely any paranoid thoughts in her head about her daughter.
" But that doesn't mean all is lost. You have a great support system around you, you need to make the effort to draw on that. There's Ms Bella, I met her and realized she genuinely cares about you girls, Mrs Wilberforce the student's counselor is more than just an authority figure, your dorm prefect also. Do you have a school mom?"
" Oh that ship sailed last semester, and trust me I don't want to talk about it."
" Alright we won't, but my advise is that whenever she wants to talk about it, give her the chance. We're all humans, we make mistakes." Ms Geraldine advises.
Faye was silent for minute.
" Now for an icebreaker, tell me about your boyfriend." She suddenly changes the subject.
" How do you know I have one?"
" So you do." Ms Geraldine beamed and Faye scoffed.
" You just threw me off with your psychology stuff didn't you?." Faye grinned.
" It works everytime." The woman giggled, " Or do you not want to talk about it."
" Oh on the contrary, I really do. I need an adult opinion that isn't my Dad's on us."
" So your Dad knows about you two."
" I learnt it the hard way that I needed to involve my parents in my love life, so yes he knows about us. At first he didn't like that idea but Ladi Nylander seems to grow on people."
" The speaker of Parliament has the same name."
" Yeah that's his father."
" Oh my goodness he must be a gentleman, I know the speaker and that man is astute." Ms Geraldine remarks.
" You seem to be falling for my boyfriend without even seeing him." Faye accuses.
" Oh sorry, my bad go on."
" Okay, so I've grown to like him very very much, more than I thought I will, but this year in September he'll be in Dartmouth, I think we'll grow apart."
" What are your dreams?" Ms Geraldine probes.
" You might think I'd want to follow him to the US but I'm not really into that. After school I want to take a break to find myself, I don't know what I want to become in future unlike all my friends."
" Do you think so? It's actually a good thing to not know, it's better than being in a career you don't enjoy but do because people stereotypically think it's the perfect job."
" Exactly, I don't want to be no lawyer, doctor, soldier, engineer ,accountant, computer scientist or business woman, I don't know what I want to be but it's definitely none of those."
" Then be Fayanna Quansah, you should also talk to your dad about it."
" Definitely." Faye agreed. Her session soon came to an end.
Faye returned to the dorm to change for dining. Veronica was in bed staring at her headrest while Ciarra arranged her stationary into her backpack. Mae walked in from the bathroom and proceeded to dress up.
Dining wasn't anything different, it was just rice balls with groundnut soup, Ashanti's favorite. Letters came in that evening and names were mentioned for each.
" Fayanna Quansah." Helen the school prefect called and Faye stood up confused.
She wasn't expecting a letter, she had two envelopes. Did True write her?
One was a big brown envelope and the other was the usual envelope everyone received. She carried the two to her table and read the inscriptions on each. The smaller envelope was from Owen Simpson to which she opened and begun to read right at the dining table.
That shows how she felt about the letter, if it was precious and intimate to her she'd read it in solitude but it wasn't.
Hey Princess,
Hope you're feeling better now. Don't get me wrong, I am not writing as a fly in your ointment but as a friend of yours.
I thought of all you've been through the past couple of years and I just want to say Atta-girl Faye. You're one resilient and smart girl, a bright light on every path you find yourself.
Don't eat yourself up, keep trying, we all make mistakes but I want to tell you to keep trying because I see someone great in you Fayanna.
If words could explain how I view you, this letter would be a poster on your headboard.
Faye laughed at the irony of what he just said before continuing to read...
I know you're laughing at this, that is what I intended to do. Hope to hear from you soon.
Love,
Owen
She refused to believe Owen had changed.
" Hey hide it, no foreign material at the dinner table remember?" The girl sitting next to her cautioned and she quickly folded the letter into her pocket and proceeded stirring her soup absentmindedly grinning like an idiot at his words.
Suddenly she became a bit conscious and glanced around and caught Ladi laughing at something his friend said at his table, she tried to look away immediately but like a magnet he caught her eye before she could. He winked at her before turning his attention back to his table and she suddenly felt so guilty.
" What are you reading?" Edna one of the girls at her table asked.
" Oh it's just a letter from my best friend." She lies casually and folded the paper back into the envelope.
" That's one huge package, whoever sent it must really be into you." Edna goes on, this time referring to the brown envelope Faye hadn't paid any attention to. She planned to open it privately but there seemed to be no such thing in the entire school...well except in Ms Geraldine's office.
Veronica slept through dinner and the girls at her table had to constantly wake her up. That had become her habit in the course of the days, she barely ate at dining, practically slept through it and cried herself to sleep later at night.
Her friends didn't notice but Myria did realize her schooldaughter was losing weight and hurting simultaneously. She made it a point to meet her during prep to talk about it.
After dining, she cleared her plate and washed it just like everyone else, while she placed her cutlery in her lunch bag Myria approached her.
" Hey you." She greeted with a warm smile.
" Hi, I'm just going to go prep alone." She informed her. No one had to tell Myria she was just going to sulk.
" Can we talk before that?" Myria asked since it was personal time. She nodded.
OoO
Faye walked into Ms Geraldine's office with the envelope in hand.
" Faye! What a surprise?" The woman beams putting together some folders.
" I know you're not expecting me because this is not my session."
" No problem, Veronica is supposed to be here but she bailed again I guess, have a seat." She offered her to which Faye sat, " What do we have here?"
" I received it today and I'm too nervous to open it. Mostly because the first letter was from someone I didn't expect meaning this could be worse."
" Looks like a college acceptance package by how bulky it is but I doubt you've applied to any colleges yet, you're only a freshman." She points out, " Have you checked the address?"
" Not yet."
" Okay, let me see...." She scans the package, " It's from outside the country- Los Angeles."
Ms Geraldine opened up the package to forms, brochures, a headset and a flashdrive then there was a letter.
To Fayanna Quansah,
I hope this letter finds you well. Majesti Records have been signing music prodigies for twenty years now by scouting out random voices globally.
You are a potential voice for stardom. After listening to your covers, I had no doubt you were born to be a star. Majesti Records invites you to join our year long musical cohort where we train and mentor talented young singers into a group that earns a debut album, exposure, branding and support from the Majesti record's Young Songs division. This is a fully funded musical program.
It is an honor to have you Fayanna, kindly go through the forms and fill them out accordingly if you agree. You need to record three more songs in your response letter. The completed package can be mailed back to the same address for processing.
Young big voices Fayanna, remember ... needs to be heard.
Best regards,
Big Boss.
***************
Mind-blowing, isn't it?
Stay tuned.