Dedicated to dheenmah. She's gold and her book is golden. You should all check out her book, When Golden Souls Collide. She's really good and her writing skills are topnotch 😩😍😍😩♥️♥️💖
~Adam~
I walked into the house with Charles to see Dad's car in the compound. My heart leapt,
For joy, for relief.
And yet, I couldn't understand why my stomach tightened into hard knots and why my fists kept clenching and unclenching as I entered. Mom and Dad were sitting on the sofa backing the entrance and dad's left hand was draped over mom's shoulder. The joy and relief I had felt instantly turned into something darker, something terrifying, something threatening to swallow me whole. My fists clenched and unclenched again and Aunty Shade looked up and saw me saw me standing by the door.
"Hey! The man of the moment is here."
Mom and Dad looked up simultaneously and I focused my attention on mom's face. Her face dissolved into a huge smile when she saw me and my heart almost soared, almost because I wasn't even sure of what I feeling. What I felt for mom was masked with something between hate and love.
I love her, I love her way too much but still....
I don't know where the love ended and the hate started and looking at her with a smile on her face, alive and glowing, flesh and all, I felt happy, unconstrained happiness bursting through me.
"Hey Korede, we've been waiting for you. How're you?"
She stated in her high pitched voice and she stood up. The first thing I noticed as she walked towards me was the limp.
She was limping!
It was barely noticeable. Most people wouldn't even notice but I definitely would. I was still wrapping my head around the fact that she was limping when she got to me and she enveloped me in a hug and that was it. She was an embodiment of home and peace and all and even without meaning to, I found myself hugging her that, wanting more of the feelings I've only been able to feel in her presence, in her hug.
"Eeh eeh. Look at mother and son oo. You people don't know you're making the father jealous."
That was Aunty Shade and Mom pulled back, a smile on her face. I fleetingly wondered how she always manage to have a smile on her face.
"Oh, I'm used to it now. They always manage to ignore me and Adams is supposed to be a daddy's boy."
The smile on mom's face disappeared for a brief second before it was back again, this time, forced and I could tell it was a fake one.
"Of course, what do you expect? You're hardly home."
"Eeh! I'm kuku not complaining. I'm used to it. And Adam, you should go and get your bags. We should leave now."
I nodded, even though he couldn't see me and I stepped fully away from mom. I got to the room, ready to close the door after me when I discovered mom was right behind me.
"Are you sure you're fine?"
She asked, immediately she entered and she closed the door. I did not say anything, I only looked around the room, looking for the things to pack but there was basically nothing. My clothes were all carefully arranged in my bag. I'd been low-key waiting for them to show up since mom first called.
I sat on the bed, the way too big bed that had served as my solace and sanctuary for the past 9 days and mom joined in, a frown on her face.
"You stopped picking my calls! I was worried. I thought something had happened. Did anything happen?"
She asked as she sat down beside me, a face full of worry.
"I wanted to give you time to recover."
I stated plainly, lying through gritted teeth.
"And you think not seeing your face and talking to you would have aided my recovery? I was very worried about you."
"I was worried about you too!"
I shouted, shocking myself at the intensity of my voice, shocking myself at the fact that I had shouted at mom. She recoiled, looking at me with an expression I couldn't fathom. She was looking at me as if she was seeing me for the first time. I breathed and I facepalmed myself, trying to calm myself down.
"I was worried about you." I said, voice calm and collected, not communicating the things I really wanted to say. "And it was all too much seeing you on hospital beds, with IVs. I kept having bad dreams."
Scary ones.
Frightening ones.
She swallowed and she grabbed my two hands and she cradled them in hers. Her palm looked and felt so small.
So easily breakable.
"I'm so so sorry. I did not know... I never knew...."
Her voice cut and she trailed off. I wanted to say a lot of things. I had a lot of things to say but for now, I was just grateful that she was here, that she was alive and that she was holding my hands.
So I hugged her, ignoring the thousand things I wanted to say and wondering why it was always this painful.
Why it always have to be this painful?
Or if we were the one simply choosing the hard way.
***********
~Kunmi~
School resumed today.
The school, especially the academic block was filled with students, hugging students, laughing students, shouting students. They were all talking animatedly, obviously trying to tell each other how they had spend the holidays, their Christmas and New Year.
I smiled at the thought of how I'd spent my new year eve.
With a certain boy.
"You must be so happy to be back to school since you're smiling like you won a lottery. Why would anyone be happy to be back to this hell?"
That wiped the smile off my face. I turned to see Sophia beside me, her face bored and expressionless.
"Anyway, happy resumption and do take care of yourself."
She stated plainly before sashaying off in Sophia's way. I shook my head. I had initially thought she wasn't going to get any weirder but she just proved me wrong.
Finding my way to our class almost proved to be a difficult task because it seemed like all the students decided to stay outside and not inside their classes. Eventually I found my way to our class that was very scanty except for like eight students. My eyes briefly scanned the class and it landed on Aminah who was having a conversation with Rahman.
I rolled my eyes. If I felt anything for that boy, then it was intense dislike. They seemed not to notice me until Aminah looked up and she saw me. And she shrieked.
Like really shrieked.
She stood up, almost ran to where I was and she threw her arms around me, almost throwing me off balance.
"Babe! I've missed you. God!"
Then she moved back to look at my face.
"Look at your face. I've really missed you."
We did not see each other for three weeks. Just three weeks and not three years oo.
Then, without giving me time to talk or to recover from her shriek, she dragged me to my seat, made me sit down and she dragged Sophia's seat closer to me.
"So, how was your holiday? Did you miss me? How did you spend your new year? And I saw the pictures you took with Adams and Sophia. You must have really had a good time. Tell me about it."
She asked in her high pitched voice, her moving farther away from where she sat and moving closer to me. It was obvious that she was too excited. I don't even know the questions to answer first. Only God knows the number of questions she could ask in just a single breath.
"I don't even know....."
My words trailed off and I burst into laughter. She surprisingly joined in too.
"Don't mind me jhare. I always tend to talk too much when I'm excited."
We heard footsteps walking towards us and we both looked to see Sophia walking towards us. Aminah stood up and she hugged Sophia and I tensed, half expecting Sophia to push her off.
"Hey Sophia. It's good to see you. How was your holiday?"
Aminah's back was to me and Sophia's face was to me. She had an uninterested expression on her face. She wasn't pushing Aminah away but she wasn't hugging her back either. Her hands just laid limply at her side.
"Not boring!"
She replied in a tone that sounded bored to me and she even rolled her eyes.
God!
This girl creeps me out for real.
"And, I'm going to be siting with you guys now. I changed my seats with Rahman."
Aminah stated once she disintegrate herself from Sophia who was now sitting on her seat.
I was grateful for the fact Rahman was gone, that he wasn't going to be behind me, probably shooting daggers at me all the time.
"So, Kunmi, you were going to gist me about your holidays. I'm all ears now."
Hmm? I opened my mouth, not knowing what to say. My holiday was spent holed up in my room, browsing the internet, saving pictures of styles I'd never probably get around to sew on IG. I even got around to checking Sophia's IG page and I'd been surprised at what I saw. She never for once acted like a celebrity. She was proud and stucked up and all that but I never expected her fanbase to be huge like that and to think her mother was even the CEO of a very popular makeup brand, House of Bibi. Well, Sophia was the one with the surprises. Someone nudged me and I turned to see Aminah looking at me expectantly.
"The gist?"
The bell went off at that moment and it was almost like the timekeeper was waiting for that moment because to me, I was exactly saved by the bell.
**********
~Adam~
It was good to be back to school, seeing my school mates' excited faces, the excitement that'd soon wear off when the harsh reality of school life hits them. I was in the Arts Studio as usual. I always ended up missing the first assembly. Even when I plan not to, my body would work on its own and it'd bring me to the studio.
My favorite place in the world.
Things were good at home, surprisingly good at that. Too good that I was starting to feel a sense of foreboding.
"Does it always have to be like this?"
I chuckled to myself just as Kunle walked in fully, eyebrows raised and looking at me quizzically.
"What's that?"
I asked even though I knew what he was talking about.
"Do you always have to be holed up in this sanctuary of yours every time?"
He asked, his eyes roaming the entire lenght of the Arts Studio.
"You called it my sanctuary and you're still asking me that question? Does it make any sense to you like that?"
"Wow, so you're basically saying that I'm senseless?"
"Nah. I'd never talk about a scholar like that."
"Oshi òrò."
He said playfully just as he burst into laughter. I joined in too, feeling something close to exhilaration. It was good to be back in school, with familiar faces and places.
"We should go to class, our mathematics teacher must be in class."
I started to get up at his first words but I sat down automatically as he completed his sentence.
"Mathematics? Our first period is mathematics? What a way to begin a new term? Count me out! I'd just start drawing."
I started to open my set of pencils when he snatched them away.
"So, you want to start a new term by ditching a class. Tsk tsk tsk. There's no way I'm going to allow that."
I stared at him begrudgingly but ended up following him anyways. It was when we almost got to the academic block that I was hit with a sudden sense of deja vú. I felt like I'd experience this moment before.
It took me a moment to realize that I'd actually not but there had been a moment like this, the first day of first term when Kunle had came to drag me out of the arts studio and I had almost bumped into Kunmi.
My lips acted out of their volition and they stretched into a smile before I could even comprehend anything.
"That's how it begins oo. When you start smiling to yourself like an idiot."
I eyed him quizzically, my head not wrapping around what he was going on about.
"So, tell me, who's it?"
He asked, moving closer to me and throwing his arms around me.
"Who's what?"
"You know na."
His voice was teasing, almost childlike and his eyes were dancing with amusement.
"No, I don't and I don't have any interest in knowing."
I replied him, shrug his hand off just as we got to the stairs and I started climbing three steps at once.
"Sha come for me for advice before you make any stupid move."
He yelled after me and I smiled, knowing that the whole school must have heard him.
Idiot ni Bobo yii.
**********
It seemed like the whole school missed the cafeteria's food because that has to be the only logical reason why the cafeteria was filled to the brim today. I could hardly see a vacant table. Laughter and loud talks bounced off different tables and it seems it was only ours that was quiet. Well, semi quiet.
Sophia was eating in her quiet Sophia's way.
Kunmi was eating in her quiet Kunmi's way and only Kunle and Aminah's cute bickering that could be heard. I'd initially being indifference towards their relationship but now, I feel like he really likes her and I even felt bad for not being too encouraging when they first started.
"So, you guys ended up spending your new year's eve together? Must be amazing to spend it together. I was bored out of my wits with my elder brothers. They basically abandoned me."
"You should have called me. We'd have done with video call all through."
Kunle volunteered, something like a little tease in his voice.
"Ehn ehn? Don't worry. Next time."
The two of them looked at each other for the briefest moment and my brows automatically raised. look at these kids oo. Sophia coughed at that moment and Kunle and Aminah were quick in handling their bottled water to her. She collected it from Aminah in less than an heartbeat, muttering a quiet thank you.
Kunmi had said nothing since we got here and I found myself glancing at where she sat beside Aminah, fleetingly remembering the last time we spoke, new year's eve.
There wasn't the usual laid back air about her and I'd enjoyed her company.
Well, you've always enjoyed her company.
I felt that night was just a glimpse into the real her.
I wondered what it'd be like to get to know the real her.
....I want to get to know the real her, the one behind her mask of quietness.
I frowned, my left hand finding its way to message the nape of my neck, wondering where that thought had come from.
"Sophia, we should play basketball after school hours or probably tomorrow. It's being long we played together."
Kunle said, cutting through my thoughts and I was almost glad for that distraction. I looked at Sophia who seemed hell bent on chewing the food in her mouth and swallowing it slowly.
"Yes, of course."
I watched as Kunle's face light up immediately and his full blown Kunle's signature smile on his face.
"Can I come with you guys? Babe, you should teach me how to play too."
That was Aminah and Kunle frowned, looking uncertainly between the two girls. Sophia took her water and she drank almost everything.
"Yes, of course. The more the merrier."
I looked at Sophia who just spoke to Kunle who looked somehow off to Aminah who was smiling excitedly to herself.
Something seemed off about the three of them but I just couldn't place my fingers on it.
Ghen!
Welcome to Second term sha 🤗🤗
Who else missed Aminah and her positive energy?
What's the greatest conspiracy that could be going on? Especially between Aminah, Sophia and Kunle? 🤔 🤔 🤔
So I asked you guys to come with shipnames and the names we got, mehn, I laughed ehn 😂😂😂😂. Timi even suggested Adaku. Like 🤣🤣😅😅. I got some nice ones too but I'm not saying them now.
I did not exactly feel the chapter, probably because I'm just as desperate as you guys to get to the juicer parts, I mean all the lovey and dovey and all that 😔😔😭😩 but soon enough sha, hopefully. Someone even expected a kiss in the last chapter 💔💔💔😂😂😂😭😭😩😩😩
See you soon, very soon ♥️♥️😍😍