LOGINShare
Thirty
publish date:
2020-10-08 20:02:06It was the longest holidays in history, tortuously so but at least Marcel swept the living room every morning, one more reason for my mom to further adore him. I had a lot of free time but not a lot to do unlike Marcel who seemed to be busy all the time. He joined the other boys in the neighborhood to play soccer almost every evening and when he wasn't out with Chris, he was in his room, painting, I realized.
Kunle's was letting him have his space so the house was usually free of guarded screams. Abike was finally well enough to visit according to her mother and I was always grateful for her goofiness, she was even getting along with Marcel.
I didn't exactly miss school, of course I missed the constant activity but I didn't miss the bells and assignments. I missed my friends, even as we spoke on the phone regularly, it wasn't the same. We had left the tension undissolved and it was making our distance seem farther.
Eventually, the holidays came to an end and this time, Marcel couldn't skip the ride with both our parents. They banished us to the backseats while they spent the entire ride holding hands and making what Marcel called 'old people jokes'.
The stares we got were obvious, they weren't even trying to hide it. I knew people talked about Marcel and I but seeing us get out of the same car and our parents being all Bonnie and Clyde was a new conversation starter.
We were on a new floor but my roommates hadn't changed. I wondered why Ms. Flora paid any mind to Mrs. Dapo but the woman could be scary. Henrietta was in the room when I got in with her younger sister who was her perfect contrast in combat pants and a stylish haircut.
She greeted me with a wave at the same time Henrietta catapulted herself into my arms and dropped strawberry scented kisses all over my face.
"I almost got a heart attack when I saw I had a new room but I'm so glad we are still roomies". She said.
"Yeah, me too". I replied, dumping my back on the top bed of the unoccupied bunk."The room is still bare but I'm gonna get my stuff from our old room and glam this place up".She pulled her sister out of the room with her and when she returned with the decors, she was alone. She immediately began redesigning our room and telling me stories I wouldn't remember while I arranged our belongings.
Vivian was the last to enter our new room and by then, Hen was somewhat done with the decorations.
"Wow!" She said from the door and we indulged in a brief scream off as she danced into the room."Honestly, I was praying for new roommates". She said with her hands on her waist as she let her bags drop to the ground.
"Shut up. You are miserable without us". Abike replied, offering the first hug that was taken, albeit sluggishly.Now that the whole squad was in, the juiciest stories were thrown out, from Abike's new phone to Hen's pet project on beauty products and Marcel's secret girlfriend; it was Abike who told that one, I knew nothing about it.
Vivian said things had improved with her parents. They weren't totally ignoring her anymore but they weren't entirely friendly either. So far, SS3 was looking nice.
* * *
Some things change, some never do and right now I was looking at a big change on Christopher Lawal's desk. The box of chocolate was enough to feed the entire class. Slightly annoyed, I walked to my seat and the sight of Rasheed already engrossed in a book slammed a little smile on my face.
"You told me you didn't do any reading during the holidays. Strictly fun?" I said as I sat.
"Holidays are over". He flicked a page without a glance in my direction."So, strictly business now"."You could say that". He tried to keep a straight face."You don't look bad, I prefer when you were having papers for breakfast daily though". He let the smile show.
"You don't look bad too, Amanda"."You would know". I let a few beats pass."How the hell is Becca skinnier?"His head immediately flew towards the entrance of the class and strayed to me when he realized he got played. I couldn't help the laughter.
"Oh, so you want to see your skinny little crush eh?""Not my crush". He said sternly"Of course, just the object of your fantasy"."You've become corrupted". He accused and I shrugged.When Becca walked into the class a few minutes later, Rasheed wasn't the only one staring. Of course she was still in her element and cloaked with an aura of bitchery but along with it was a few extra pounds.
I went to the cafeteria with Rasheed and we were already halfway into our snacks when Marcel strolled in and took the seat beside me. He took a bite from my half eaten sandwich and I let him but this didn't sit well with Rasheed."That is rude". He stated.
"Not if she doesn't complain, mouthpiece"."Of course she wouldn't complain, it's Amanda"."Suddenly, you know her so well"."Not suddenly... ""Boys!" I called, putting a hold on the toxic show of masculinity."We can all pretend to be matured or I can leave you both to your verbal brawl".
"As long as I get the sandwich". Marcel said, taking another bite from the snack he still hadn't put down."Like I was going to keep eating something that has been in your mouth".
He proceeded to make chewing sounds in my ear while Rasheed swallowed his words with his yoghurt.A tray clattering on the table alerted me of Henrietta's presence. She took the seat beside Rasheed.
"Hopefully this junk is enough to drown all that shrine talk in tourism class. Did you guys know that shrines are tourism sites? Who even wants to go to a shrine for fun?""The chief priest?" That was Marcel.
"Why is Marcel here?" The question was directed at me."My thought exactly". Rasheed backed."Ah, I feel the love". The moron said, snatching Rasheed's yoghurt.I had never seen Rasheed so irritated and it was amusing to watch."You could have just gotten your own snack". I pointed out.
"There is joy in sharing, browny". He tilted the box higher so that all its content poured into his wide mouth."Not everything. I don't want to be sharing my beauty products". Hen said before taking her first bite."Henrietta, darling, no one wants to share your beauty products with you". I smirked
Rasheed chuckled lightly while Marcel grinned."The organic ones? I heard about those". From Abike, surely.I preferred when they didn't like each other. Now it was like she told him everything."Y'all are just hating on my flawless skin". She boasted.
"You've always had flawless skin, Hen. Those mixtures have nothing to do with it". I said"I know". She beamed with pride. "But Chris said I glow differently now".I saw Marcel's jaw tick at the mention of his bestfriend. Suddenly, he couldn't look at Henrietta anymore.
"Well, Christopher Lawal lies".
Latest chapter
Just Do It Thirty nine
Beeping, distant shuffles and the rustling of pages; those were the sounds I woke up to. The beeping got louder and as I craned my neck to the side, I saw it was coming from some sort of machine that was connected to my index finger. The only other bed in the room was empty. A repeat of the rustling sound caused me to look to the right. Seated there was Marcel, in casual clothes, reading a book."What are you doing here?"He looked up in surprise but was smiling within seconds. "Watching over you and reading a pretty good book". I was curious about the book but more so on a different matter."What of school?""Ms. Flora let me go. She couldn't keep a brother away from his sick sister". He smirked. Of course she let him come. Anything for her star student of the year. "Brother?" He sighed, a little of his confidence fleeing his eyes."I know, a pretty bad one but I a
Just Do It Thirty eight
Overwhelmed. I never expected a hospital to be this crowded but apparently there are a lot more sick people in the world than we care to know. For five days we all left for the hospital which was really close to the hotel we were lodged at so I could have a drip administered to me while mom went on with her treatment.The drip never lasted over five minutes, Kunle said it was supposed to help grow my white blood cells. Each day I tried to put up a brave front for my mother, I didn't know how far gone her illness was, nobody was telling me anything and I didn't let myself assume.I was alone at the room most of the time, during which I watched TV and thought of my friends. I missed them, I missed how we used to be before all the drama. I missed Vivian's cold retorts, Abike's bear hugs and Henrietta's incessant talking. I missed Rasheed's intelligent jokes, even Marcel's cocky smirk and general annoyance.I wondered
Just Do It Thirty seven
Marcel was seated at our old seat on the next combo day when I walked into the class. I stopped at the door and stared at him, ready to push him off if I had to but Abike placed her hand on my shoulder and gestured to her seat while she took the spot beside him.He tensed as she sat and I avoided looking at them for the rest of the class.A junior student stepped into our English class and whispered something to the teacher."Amanda Okorie. You are needed at the principal's office". Madam Osita said and waited for me to leave before resuming the lesson.I walked through the deserted class block to the principal's office where her office assistant just smiled and pointed towards the door."Amanda. Do you know this man?" Ms. Flora pointed to the man who was seated across from her and had his back to me.I nodded as he turned to look at me.&nbs
Just Do It Thirty six
Situations always have a funny way of twisting themselves up when it comes to me and I usually end up paying the price of for the bad things that happen to me. Apex secondary school was once again humming my name, loud enough that we all heard it but not so loud to make any real difference.I didn't know what they were saying behind my back and I was mad that it bothered me. I was bothered by their stares, by what they thought of me but mostly, I was bothered that my friend group was falling apart because of my truth.In our room, it was like ss2 third term all over again. Vivian spent most of her time with Tolu but she was better than Henrietta who turned to a ghost. She only came to the room to have her bath and long after lights out when she thought we were all asleep.She'd quietly crawl into her bed and from the top bunk I'd watch her stare off for what felt like hours before being consumed by sleep, some
Just Do It Thirty five
How do you not realize when someone close to you is keeping a secret? I think you notice but choose to stay quiet about it because you have secrets of your own that you'd rather no one found out about. My mom and I spent the rest of the Christmas holidays avoiding eye contacts and giving short replies to prying questions.She spent most of her time at the church. We weren't the only ones avoiding eyes, Marcel was too. He left the house early and got back late only to stay holes up in his room. I wasn't any more social either but our busy parents never noticed or if they did, chose not to address it.The thought of telling my mom what happened with Chris never crossed my mind and I was grateful that Marcel kept his mouth shut about it. The only other person I told about it was Abike, unknowingly ending her friendship with Marcel, she said it was his fault Chris was in the house at all.
Just Do It Thirty four
I felt full. Too full to eat, too full to move, too full to breathe but I did all that anyway because I didn't like not doing them. I had woken up the day after the carnival with a splitting headache and a fever, the stomach pains followed a few hours later but the chills didn't come until the evening.Typhoid, just as mom had suspected. That was what the test reports said and immediately I began receiving treatment along with a lot of unnecessary care. The drugs weren't an issue, it was the constant knocks on my door followed by hot food and 'how are you feeling?'I couldn't recall a time when I had fallen ill but I could easily say I had never been as babied as I was. Mom spoon fed me for the first day, she even offered to bath me but there was no way that was happening. Marcel took up my chores without waiting to be asked and Kunle was kind enough to tune down his Christmas carols.It was the last day of the ye
