The Unwanted- /re-writing/

Chapter twelve_(12)

••What do you know?
What do you care!••

    At the end of the day's classes, I trudged back to my room, hoping that Stephanie wouldn't be in yet so I could just do my business and go straight to bed before she came in.

But, when do we ever get what we want in life? Never.

I opened the door carefully and walked in, trying to make as little noise as possible as my eyes silently raked over her almost naked frame on her bed at the other end of the room. She had air pods on and didn't seem to acknowledge that someone had come in and I was so happy as I quietly dropped my bag, pulled off my shoes and plopped down on my bed with my uniform still on.

I was so tired and I wanted nothing more than to just—

"Hey you!" Stephanie's voice startled me out of my thoughts and I jumped up to attention, suddenly scared for no reason. "When did you come in?" She demanded, her eyes raking over me with an ugly scowl on her face.

"Few minutes ago," I muttered, angry at myself for being so fearful of her. It's not even that I was scared, I had acted to be scared for so long that I didn't know how to be anything else whenever I was around her and that infuriated me so much, I felt like slapping myself.

"What? Can't you speak very well? Abi you can't hear the way I'm talking to you?" Came her sharp retort, and I noticed how her blonde wig was nowhere to be found. A distorted looking plaited all-back remained on her head like a bush of thorns.

"I came in a few minutes ago," I said, loudly this time, my teeth clenched in anger at myself.

"Ehn ehn? Okay. Em..." She started, suddenly looking uneasy as her hand flew up to scratch her head of thorns.

Ouch!

"...eh, can you plait hair?" She asked, her eyes looking anywhere but at me and I almost laughed. Yeah almost.

"What?" I asked instead, cause I really was confused by her question.

"You're not deaf oh! I said do you know how to plait hair?" She yelled, getting back to her usual snarky self and I stopped a snort.

"No, why?" I raised a brow and asked, relaxing my nerves as I sat more comfortably on my bed.

"You're just useless! Just get out of my sight jare! Stupid thing." She hissed, eyeing me with her big eyeballs as she put her air pods back on and I couldn't help the snort that escaped my lips. This girl is something else.

Such a weirdo!

I quietly slipped out of my uniform and changed into comfortable sleeping clothes, then flopped on my bed and before I knew it, I was lost in the vast abyss of sleep.

Nothing serious happened after that time. I tried my possible best to avoid Wilson, but he always sat beside me during breakfast, lunch and dinner. We didn't talk, but he always sat beside me.

Stephanie was acting really weird and she seemed to be in a daze everytime—like she was lost in space—and I was happy, because that meant no torture for me. For once, I thought maybe things would finally be okay and everyone would just live their lives in peace until graduation. I was still hurt about Mary, but I knew I had to move on. Plus, Faith and I got close quicker than I would have ever imagined and I spent most of my time in her dorm room. Her roommate, Ada, was a really crazy Igbo girl that was in BIS on scholarship and she was so funny and crazy at the same time; I just wanted to move into their room.

It was C.A test week—midterm tests—and everyone was always busy, either preparing for their papers, or working on projects and assignments they'd neglected, in order to boost their C.A scores. I was walking to lunch one Thursday after our final test paper when a junior student ran up to me and told me the principal wanted me in his office.

I frowned, wondering why the principal wanted to see me. But I wasn't scared though, cause I knew I hadn't done anything wrong and I made my way to principal Martins' office, confused and curious.

"Good afternoon sir," I greeted as I entered the office, my eyes widening in surprise as I saw my...mom seated in front of the principal.

"Afternoon Mayowa, your mom's here to see you," The principal greeted with a sad smile, his voice sounding weird. I turned to look at my mom, not happy to see her at all and then I noticed how nervous she looked, her eyes darting here and there like a scared hyena's.

"Good afternoon ma," I faked a smile, not knowing what else to do. She looked at me and smiled, her eyes seeming lost and distant. Then she picked up her bag, thanked the principal and then made her way out of his office. I frowned, wondering what was going on as I trudged behind her unwillingly, her heels making the only sound in the halls as we headed for the parking lot.

We got to her car and she still didn't say a word and I was about to just say my mind, regardless of all the awkwardness when she finally turned to me and talked. Words I wished I could un-hear.

"Your dad's dead." she said, and I felt the gentle whispering of the breeze as it fluttered against my skin in a soft caress like a lullaby, trying to lull me to sleep and to not believe my mom's words. But then the breeze picked up pace and blew harshly against my face, as if waking me up from sleep to face reality.

"W-what? How?" I managed to choke out, different emotions flowing through me at the same time, making my head swim with dizziness. I felt like a stream of acid mixing with another stream of barium chloride, shock surely written all over my features at my mother’s unfiltered news.

"Plane crash," her voice sounded so far away, like it was being transmitted through radio waves.

I stumbled against the pavement and quickly held on to her car bonnet to keep from falling.

Mr. Adebanjo Smith, the man who'd fathered me was dead. I had no father anymore. I think that's the only reason I cried. I didn't cry because I was hurt about his death, I cried because somewhere deep inside my heart, there had always been an open space with a chance for him and mom to redeem themselves and become the parents I'd always wished for. But now, that space would remain empty forever, the chance I'd left open would be empty forever and I would never have a dad again.

I felt mom's arms wrap around me awkwardly and I couldn't even try to fight back or stop her from hugging me. I was too devastated with the news of never having a father all my life and now losing the chance of ever having one.

"The principal said you finished your midterm tests today and next week's your midterm break, but you can go home today and resume with everyone else upper week." Mom released me from the hug and explained. I watched her lips tremble as she struggled to remain the strong woman I'd known all my life—she was failing terribly.

"Okay," I muttered and pushed out of her stoic embrace as I began walking towards the dorms to pack my things. The hurt I felt was intensified even more because, look at us, mother and daughter and yet we were more like strangers. Even strangers could comfort each other better during times of grief. I didn't know how to act around my own mother.

I floated towards the dorms like a lifeless soul, not seeing or hearing anything. To think this week had been going fine—

"Ow!" I heard someone scream in pain and I looked up to see that Clara girl—the half cast from Stephanie's clique—rubbing her head in front of me. I guessed we had bumped into each other.

Too drained for any form of confrontation, I just muttered something that sounded like sorry and moved on like a lost spirit, but then someone was having none of that. Clara pulled me back and before I could force my brain into action and register was going on, the hottest slap I'd ever received in my entire life landed sweetly on my cheek.