𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐖𝐞 𝐀𝐫𝐞 𝐓𝐨𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫.

~TWENTY~

“Imperfections are not inadequacies; they are reminders that we’re all in this together.” – Brene Brown

                    
                          •BOLU•

Clad in grey baggy sweat shirt and pants; feet in white high tops converses and my braided hair let down with a white bandanna tied around it like a bandit’s band, I stared back at myself in my bathroom mirror.

“Bolu, it’s okay. You can handle this.” I told myself.

I exhaled.

“Nina reads and understands fast, so can you.”

But you’re not Nina!

I closed my eyes and willed myself not to cry. Willed myself to forget the harsh words of my physics teacher. But they did not stop anyway. They’d been ringing in my head since that day. Since the day he mentioned it.

“I am able to understand physics…” My voice quivered.

“My best is not the worst…” My voice broke.

Useless. My words were useless because the voices in my head did not stop. They kept repeating and hammering those words so much I thought I was gonna have a migraine.

“Bolu, me I will leave you oh!”

I heard Kanyin shout and tracing the sound, I figured it was from the stairs. I quickly washed my face and wiped it with a towel. I checked my face in the mirror so it didn’t look like I was about to cry.

“Coming big sis,” I said, trying to sound casual but even I felt the slight hoarseness of my voice. I exited the bathroom and saw her just entering the room.

“Nawa oh, you sha want to spend hundred years in the bathroom, let’s go jhor!”

“Sure.” I grabbed my backpack and phone, then something else caught my eye.

I walked to my table and saw his hoodie. Yes I forgot to return it. I’d washed it since but I just kept forgetting. Probably because of the mood I’d been in. Well, I blame it on Mr. Noah’s head.

“Bolu oh!” Kanyin yelled again.

I quickly grabbed the hoodie and trotted down the stairs.

It was the first day of our holiday classes and Kanyin was to drop me off at school before heading to hers this morning. After the physics teacher told me what he said last two weeks, I’d cried alone in that garden.

I didn’t show up in school the next day. My friends were worried but I just told them I caught cold and catarrh. They bought it and besides it wasn’t a total lie because I did catch cold and catarrh. I cried too much.

Funny enough, when my family members saw me and asked what happened to me, I told them it was cold and catarrh.

They bought the lie.

I mean, it was a rational lie.

Considering the fact that harmattan was here and the weather was dry and all.

Nina was the most worried as she kept chatting me up and calling me like she was my mom. It was sweet and very like what Nina always does. She even came after school with cupcakes to make me feel better. I was so grateful for a friend like her. She was the best anyone could ask for.

So because of her, I pretended to be well and attended school till we vacated.

This was Christmas week which meant we had like, three days of holiday classes? ‘Cause Christmas was on Friday. RBA probably did not think this through enough. Would these classes be really worth it?