"...that was how they hit her leg so badly that it got extremely damaged. I don't think Onyx house has much of a chance this year. Poor Silvia! Hope she gets better soon," Kaira concluded with a sigh.
"Yeah," I said already bored and wishing that the hostel would soon be in sight, the song Xanny singing in my head for reasons I couldn't understand. It wasn't exactly my favorite song although I did develop a recent liking for the song.
I tried pushing it out as I glanced at Kaira who was now talking about Justin Bieber and Hailey Baldwin's relationship before suddenly changing to gist about boys.
I sighed. She talked a lot, I mean a lot. She was a really interesting person but it was tiring to keep hearing her voice and I wasn't in such a mood at the moment.
"Maybe a swimming competition wouldn't be so bad an idea. You should suggest it to that PE teacher." I nodded as she continued talking. I noticed that over the past five minutes she had been talking and had practically mentioned everything and anything, she hadn't for once mentioned anything relating to my mother's identity being revealed or even anything relating to my pictures.
Was she not aware of it? Or she was only not mentioning it because she didn't feel it was nice to do so.
We were finally near our room when Kaira said, "Alda and Josh started dating recently and Isa is basically on the verge of death. She's been pissed at everyone and by everything. I feel really sorry for her but you might not want to go near her."
I nodded thanking her for the information. For that singular reason, Isa would be my main target that particular evening. I pushed open the room's door entering the room as my roommates looked up.
My eyes first met with Isa who was putting on a black tank top and camo joggers, her loosened hair hardly held together by a rubber band. The dark circles forming under her eyes showing evidence of her lack of sleep.
She looked away immediately our eyes my met. I looked at Chiamaka who was putting on a plain pink gown and unlike Isa, she didn't break eye contact.
"You are back!" Chiamaka commented returning her attention to her laptop. "Thought you'd stay a bit longer at home," she added not looking up from what she was doing.
Ignoring the statement, I went to my bed only noticing then that the walls of the room had been repainted. The entire room was hot pink! 'Yuck!' I thought unpacking my small luggage.
"You noticed the change right? Actually, that silly supervisor decided that the color combination in our room was insane so it needed to be changed. We all agreed on pink and the paint was changed. It's nice right?" Kaira asked offering me yet again information I hadn't asked for.
I nodded not in the mood to share my opinion.
"For these past few days, this room felt really empty without you..." Kaira started saying but was interrupted by a knock on the door.
"Come in," she yelled and the door swung open revealing a junior student. Not waiting to be questioned, she immediately stated that Mrs. Ejimbe wanted me in her office.
I groaned internally as I knocked on the door leading to her office. She didn't even allow me to settle before taking up her task to frustrate my life again.
"The door's open," I heard her voice from inside and I pushed the door open.
"Good..."
"No need to greet me. I just wanted to know why you returned to your room without informing me. Do you think it's appropriate to do so? You found it appropriate to inform me when you were leaving yet you didn't deem it fit to inform me that you were returning?"
"Sorry ma'am," I said looking at the floor uninterested in her cliche anger.
"That by the way, once you get to school tomorrow morning, the first thing you should do is pay a visit to the principal's office after which you'll go meet the school's guidance counselor. Is that clear?"
"Yes ma."
****
On my walk back to my room as I tried to reason why I was wanted by the principal and the guidance counselor I was just finding out existed, Billie's whispers came back this time refusing to leave.
Still singing in my head by the time I lay down wondering what it would feel like to walk into the class the next day. I dreaded the moment I would have to step into that class and come face to face with everyone's curious stares.
Both those who probably had perverted thoughts while staring at the pictures, both those who had stared in disgust, those who might have shared with others. What thoughts would they have had?
Then their words... Something I would have never cared about before was suddenly the main reason for my worry.
I knew exactly how insensitive and judgemental people could be which would be pretty funny until it's you at the receiving end.
Who knew what sickos would do with the pictures?
Those I had fall outs with... I had hit Aldrin, what would he have thought when he saw the picture? Would anyone try to rape me?
As these thoughts kept floating around my head I realized I was horribly mistaken when I decided that listening to Stephanie was a good idea. Of course she didn't understand my point, her nude pictures had never been taken and posted without her knowledge.
I thought about the possibility of going back home. My house was really far from the school, so there was no possibility of me trekking back. The song wasn't leaving and it only added to my worries.
...I can't afford to love someone who isn't dying by mistake...
The fact remained that I couldn't go back to school, I couldn't meet my classmates and I had still done nothing to the person who created all this mess.
I turned around in my bed for the umpteenth time since I lay down as I glanced at the digital clock next to my bed once more. It read 2:15am.
I felt a tear slip down my cheek. I swiped at it angrily. There was no way I would start crying again, not when those who caused this were all peacefully sleeping. Sitting up on my bed as I reached the bag I returned with, I slipped my hand into a smaller bag, retrieving the pills Stephanie had strictly warned me not to take anymore.
'You know how hard it was to deal with your parasomnia' Stephanie's words rang through my head. Hesitating slightly before taking out a few pills and consuming it before giving it another thought, I shoved the pack back into my bag.
I lay back down staring warily at the ceiling before slowly my eyes began to feel heavy, the last Billie's statement that rang through my head being
...I don't need a Xanny to feel better...
****
"Alya! Alya!! Alya!!!"
I heard voices calling my name but I felt too weak to respond, falling back asleep the moment I woke up. Until I felt something cold hit my face and my breathing was partly obstructed by something and next thing my eyes flew open as I quickly sat up.
I glared at Mrs. Okoye who was holding a now empty bucket as water dripped down my face.
"Stop staring at me like that and get up from that bed. Your mates are all ready for school," she said annoying me the more. I stood up leaving the room in my drenched clothes.
****
I was feeling a bit dizzy as I stared at the mirror on the wall. I was done dressing and was wondering what to do with my braids which was already a week old. I didn't have the patience to sit down and start getting new braids.
And Mrs. Okoye had already soaked it with water this morning meaning I still had to get rid of it.
The thought of cutting it crossed my mind. I waved it aside deciding to make a decision much later when I was back from school. I pulled the braids into a ponytail exiting the room before any of the grumpy divorced women we had as hostel mistress's decided to return.
I had already missed breakfast although Mrs. Ejimbe informed me that the kitchen had kept my food for me, I didn't go for it. I was walking in the direction of my class before I remembered that I needed to see the principal as Mrs. Ejimbe had ordered.
I turned just as I heard someone call my name.
"Hey! How are you doing today?" Alesscia asked in a cheerful voice giving me the task of figuring out who or what made her day.
"I am just there I guess."
"Just there? What's the meaning of that?" She questioned.
I shrugged not having a reply.
"Does it have anything to do with those horrible girls and your hair looks damp you know?"
I sighed. I knew that my quick blow drying wouldn't have much of an effect on my hair although it was my fault since I should have loosened the braids two days ago but then that would have meant Mrs. Ejimbe would have ruined my new hair or maybe I might have just stuck with my natural hair and then nothing would have been ruined.
"Earth to Alya!" Alesscia said in a loud voice.
"I didn't space out!" I said finding her presence annoying. She was behaving a bit too hyper this morning and annoyingly cheerful.
"Is there something wrong?" She asked her mood changing to solemn and concerned.
"No, there's nothing wrong. Aren't you supposed to be in class?"
"Yeah, I am... I was just heading to the cafeteria. I heard they no longer sell coke and the school banned the consumption because coke contains caffeine and caffeine is addictive. Can you imagine! That's just absurd!"
"And how is that your problem? Aren't you like supposed to stay away from stuffs like coke and everything other normal human beings consume to avoid gaining weight?" I asked confused.
"Says who? It's my weight after all. Plus if I gain weight I'd just quit modelling. It isn't such a big deal. Apart from that, I normally don't have any appetite for a long time, so the rare times I do, I try to actually eat. I'm not gonna starve myself just for some stupid career I care less about," she rolled her eyes at the last part.
"And your manager doesn't have a problem with that?"
"Of course she does, that woman has a problem with everything. But anytime she tried to give me too much shit about it, I would just tell her plainly that if she irritated me any further, I would quit modelling. That's how I managed to get her and my mom to agree to my staying in the hostel. Although it's more like I'm still at home and would only sleep over every once in a while.
"I don't know why they can't just see me as anything other than a star or rather, a money minting machine. I just want to live a normal teenage life sometimes you know. Like really, if they frustrate me any further, I am done! Now back to you, are you sure you are feeling alright? Did your roommates do something to you?"
I was about to answer that when I saw some of the guys in my class heading towards our direction. The first group that were nearer to us consisted of Ade, Toby and Ubaro. Just behind them were Chudi and... Ifeanyi.
I gulped when I saw him without knowing why. He raised his eyes and they met mine before I quickly looked away.
He had also seen those pictures... Was that a good thing or a bad thing? I would opt for bad if I was thinking properly... But most importantly, what did he think?
I sighed feeling like tearing up again. These darn tears! Why couldn't they just leave me alone! I just hated how I suddenly cared about things that normally wouldn't have bothered me like what people thought about me. I really would give anything to go back to when I cared less about what any fucking person thought about me.
I faced Alesscia. "I have to go to the principal's office. I'll see you later," I said and headed the opposite direction which was coincidentally the direction to the principal's office.
After my long walk, I finally found myself in front of the office. I tapped on the door softly, a bit too softly that I almost thought the principal wouldn't have heard it.
"Come in!" I heard her voice. I walked in and stood by her table greeting her.
"Hmph," she hummed as a response to my greeting. "You can sit down."
I obliged as I pulled the wooden chair back to sit on it. She returned her attention to her computer and the files in front of her. After a few seconds, she adjusted in her seat, facing me.
"I assume you are wondering why I requested to see you. A really serious issue has been brought to my notice," she paused to look at me.
"Have you seen the guidance counselor?"
"No, I haven't seen h... The guidance counselor yet," I said remembering that I didn't have a clue whether the guidance counselor was male or female.
"It's okay. I don't think I should say anything before you meet her. You can go to her office during the break period. For now, you can return to your class," she said dismissing me.
I left the office wondering why she hadn't just told me what the issue was and why I had to see the guidance counselor first.