Chapter nine.

Damini.

When I stood up,every thing was dark. There were no walls,ceiling, windows or doors. I was just in a pit. No where to hold as I tried get myself together.

"Damini!"

I turned when I heard my name. It was so faint but urgent. I could tell that the voice belonged to a girl.

"Damini!!"

The girl called out to me. Her face was blurry but her voice was as clear as the day. Deep and soft at the same time. I could make out the outline of her hair and I reached out to touch it but as I brought my hand closer she went further away from me. 

"Help me."

The voice floated around me because she seemed so far from me now. I still couldn't see her face and I was getting frustrated.

"Come closer."I shouted at her without meaning to.

"I can't."Her voice broke as she said those two words.

"Please!"I said,with a lot of emotions in my voice. As soon as she heard that one word, she froze and nodded slowly. As if in a trance,she started walking towards me with her hands outstretched.

Finally we were standing two metres apart and I could finally make out her face. She was a brown-skinned beauty with freckles sprinkled across her nose. Her hair was packed into two places. Her black eyes held a kind of innocence that I wasn't used to. It was vaguely familiar but I couldn't remember where I had seen it. I ran my hand through my hair as I tried to remember, but to no avail.

"What is your name?"I asked but she shook her head and said:

"We don't have time,Damini. They are coming. You have to help me."

I could feel her panic as she gripped on her hair. And she began to pace around the ground. She began to grow distant again and fear  gripped me.

"Wait!Wait!!"I tried to stop but she didn't stop walking backwards. She burst into sad,hot tears and said"Hurry Damini!Hurry!!"

She disappeared and I heard screaming and I was pretty sure it came from me.

"Wake up,Damini!"

I trashed around my bed as I continued to dream. The person shouting tapped my head but I didn't budge. I tried to chase after the girl but she was nowhere to be found and it was as if my legs were stuck to the ground.

"Damini!Stand up!" The voice invaded my train of thoughts and I lost my footing and I started falling into a dark and massless abyss.

I opened my eyes as I tried to make meaning of the seriously scary nightmare.

"I thought you would never wake up."A voice joked beside me and I decided to ground  it because I knew it was my idiotic brother,Femi.

"You were really trashing around. What type of dream did you have?Is it..."He wriggled his eyebrows at me. 

"I don't have to say anything to you."I snapped at him,the details of the dream still vivid in my mind.

"Why are you as cranky as this?You need to get laid."

I rolled my eyes and said"What are you doing here?"

He laid on my bed and started picking imaginary fluff from his shirt"I need relationship advise from my stupid big brother."

I opened my mouth in shock as I tried to grasp what he was saying"Relationship advise?"

He nodded his head in the positive and I had to stop myself from bursting into laughter.

The look on my face must have been an horrifying one because Femi said"Dude,that was one time."

I shrugged and stood up from the bed.

Femi laughed too and shook his head. I knew that he would never have a girlfriend in his life.

The one time that Femi had asked me for relationship advice,it did not go well.... At all.

"Why are you really in my room Femi?"

He shrugged back and said"You never take me on that date wey you promise me the other time."

The guilt that enveloped me was a lot,so I said in a joking manner"I don't remember asking you out on a date. Moreover,I was busy."

He laughed out loudly and asked "Busy? Busy with what? Abeg,you really need to get laid."

"I get laid every weekend,bro!For the last time,ki lon se ni  bi bayi? What are you doing here??"

He stood up from my bed with a dramatic flair and said with a straight face"Do you really want to know why I am here?"

I nodded and he replied with a grim voice:"I am here to talk to you about my crush slash girlfriend that you stole?"

I was perplexed,but only for a while, before I asked "What the hell are you talking about? Which of your girlfriends did I steal?"

He didn't even smile "It is not funny,Damini. This girl is the most beautiful out of all those haughty girls in your set oo. I think her name is Halley...no....Harmony."

I haven't heard of an Harmony before.

I raised my eyebrow and said"You don't even know the name of your crush."

He sighed in surrender"Alright she is not my crush but I have noticed her. Noticed her staring at you. So being the "mumu" that I know you are, I decided to call your attention to it."

My mind immediately went to the girl in my dream. I don't think any other girl would make me so alert like her. I laughed to cover up my apprehension "Little bro,do you know how many girls stare at me?"

Femi stared at me for a while before saying"You are a cocky bastard. I am going to go eat breakfast." He said, and stepped out of the room.

I hopped in the shower and kept on thinking about my dream. Especially the girl in my dream.

**

I didn't even feel like answering girls today,which was not a normal phenomenon with me. I didn't get enough sleep and it was not making me clear headed. I don't know if the girls in this school don't get the hint. They even took to chasing me. Which was why I was breathing heavily now.

"Damini,we need to talk."Jeremy said as soon as I entered my class. I was still trying to catching my breath.

"Sure thing!What do you want?"

He looked at me murderously for a while and said"Do you know that I hate you?"

My mouth hung open in shock but Jeremy continued nevertheless.

"I hate your entire being. I love Caiti but you plan on stealing her from me and there is nothing I can do about it."

"Jeremy,I.."I tried to explain myself but he just cut me off and continued  talking.

"I know that it isn't your fault,Damini but I still hate your perfection and the fact you have no problems."

If only he knew.

"What do you want,Jeremy?"His words were now making me think of my own predicament. So I was getting angry and impatient.

"I need your help!"Jeremy breathed out and slumped on the seat close to him,prompting me to take my seat too.

"With what?"

"Caitlin!"

That one word filled me with unbridled anger. That little piece of garbage was making my life really difficult.

"What do you want me to do?"I asked notwithstanding.

"You know about the game we are having on Friday, don't you?

I nodded my head slowly because I somehow knew where this was going.

"Caitlin has refused to come. And you know that she always listens to you."He explained ."So I want you to talk to her for me....please." He begged, desperately.

I looked at him and saw in him, a really pathetic element. 

"Why are you like this,Jeremy?"I spat out,not able to control myself anymore"Caitlin is a venom. She is using you. She isn't the only girl in Richview,dude. Please,leave her alone!"

Jeremy had started crying and I wanted to slap him so badly for being so emotional.

"I love her,Damini. You don't understand. Will you help me or not?"

I stayed silent for some time before saying"Tell her that I will see her during break."

**

"Damini!!What are you doing here?" She screamed annoyingly in mock surprise,as if she didn't know exactly what I was doing there.

"I am here to speak with you,Caitlin."I said with gritted teeth. To say that I was angry would be an understatement.

"Why so formal,Damini?Call me Caiti."She pouted and I gagged inwardly. If she thought that the pout made her pretty, she was wrong. If anything,it made her look like a depressed bulldog.

"Whatever. Can we sit?I don't even get why we are here. Can't we talk about it in our class?"

She smiled forcefully and said in a sickeningly sweet tone"I want to see Elena when I am done with you. So I have just decided to kill two birds with one stone."

I sighed in consent and took a seat.

Ten minutes later,I was sure that my ears were bleeding. Caitlin had decided to bless me with her history. Literally.

"Will you just come to the game?!"I snapped"I will really like to have you there."

She smiled in an unfashionable way and the urge to vomit came in very strong waves.

She opened her mouth to say something but instead she looked past me and snapped"What the hell are you doing here?"

I turned slowly to see who she spoke to so rudely and I swear that my heart stop beating for a millisecond.

It was that girl. The girl from my dream. The pretty girl who had been begging me to help her. The girl that had made my heart beat a thousand times faster, even in my sleepy state.

"Um,He i-is sitting o-on my seat."She stuttered and I couldn't  stop myself from smiling. She seemed flushed. Was it because of me?

"This is Nonso's seat ."Caitlin said to the girl and I felt like slapping her senseless.

"Nonso is on my seat!"The girl countered weakly.

I stood up because Caitlin's presence had begun to annoy me.

I wanted to leave but not before I knew the girl's name.

"What is your name?"

She looked down and answered softly"Harmony."

What.The.Actual.Hell?

The girl that Femi had been talking about and the girl in my dream were the same?Why had I not noticed her?I would have seen a girl that pretty before. What the hell was wrong with me?

I looked away from the girl and turned to Caitlin"Are you coming or not?"

I turned before Caitlin even talked and I couldn't make out her words because my mind was somewhere else.

It was.....On that girl from my dream.