Behind The Gate of Lakeview

~Thirty Nine~

              Dedicated to BdgirlSasha
             

                               ~Jade~

This wasn't how it was supposed to happen.

Not like this.

Not at all.

I did not even know what to feel, what to say, how to feel.

'Smile into the camera'

I smiled.

'Congratulations, you've made us proud. The whole Lakeview must be proud of you right now

I smiled again.

Everything had happened in a daze. The secretary called in the morning to tell me Uthman was sick and I had to fill in for him, me calling Uthman and the calls going into voicemail, calling Akin and that one saying he has no idea because they've not even spoken since we left school, the driver driving me to school, me practicing again, the drive to the airport, the drive to the venue, me climbing the steps to the podium, holding the microphone, me saying everything Uthman was supposed to say, me going back to my seat amongst the other students, the host calling the runner ups and finally the winner

Jadeshola Badmus from Lakeview High.

This is a dream come through but I felt so bad. What kind of stupid sickness did Uthman come down with?

The shouts, the cheers, the applauds, and how Miss Folarin had hugged me tightly, whispering words of praise into my ears. I climbed the stage again to receive the medal, the plague of honor.

This is a dream come through but I wasn't even supposed to be here.

I was quiet throughout the flight back home and Miss Folarin kept asking if I was fine. I wasn't though I told her otherwise. I was dropped at home by the school bus because the school already closed. Mom wasn't home and Fatima was in her room. I went to my room and tried Uthman's number again. It went to voicemail.

Oh, God! What's this?

Someone opened my door and I glared at Fatima.

'Hey, congratulations.'

'You should knock and wait for me to tell you to enter before entering my room.'

She ignored my words as she moved closer.

'You don't look too excited for someone who just won a major major contest. It's already on installing self.'

I rolled my eyes.

'I'm happy, now please get out.'

'Eeh eeh, Jadeshola. Loosen up a little now. Why are you always so uptight? And obviously, something is wrong with you. This is the ECOWAS contest. You've been looking forward to this all your life.'

I sat down on my bed.

'I'm too happy and excited and the thing is I'm not even supposed to feel this way but I'm so happy that I feel like my heart is going to burst.'

She pulled out the chair from under my desk and she sat down facing me.

'Why are you not supposed to feel this way?'

'I wasn't supposed to represent Lakeview. The boy that was supposed to represent Lakeview fell sick this morning. I just filled in for him.'

She shrugged.

'So? His bad luck. Abeg. You won, that's the main point. How much is the cash price anyway?'

I shook up and stood up. Fatima is just ridiculous. I started taking my clothes off.