Sunshine

9| woodsy scent

Nana Yaa was drawn to the spot again. Everything looked different now, at five pm. Not at night, but with the sun just setting.

There was a small boulder on the ground and she sat on it, closing her eyes and drawing in the sweet smell of different flowers the students had probably planted. The act of breathing in the mixed sweet scents of flowers, breathing out, slowly, was so relaxing. She thrived on it, losing her head in the pleasure, even as her mind reeled over the past events which unfolded since they'd come here four days ago.

She wondered if she could excel in the pending exams. One thing she feared was failure. Well, failure pushed her to achieve things. Her mother, in her Senior High School days had been a bright student like her. Her father too. Looks like the thing ran in the family. She had achieved many great things; various trophies and certificates and mind-blowing raw scores in her exams.

The fact that Jessica Aidoo topped the school as the overall best student and she came second best doesn't and has never, spooked her at all.

But this was different, she mused. Very different. She had many odds to fight against, and the chance of winning was...well, slim.
Why?

This special programme has been organised for very brilliant students. Even though she could admit to herself that she was brilliant, she knew other people were brilliant, too. Even more brilliant than her.

Take this girl called Mara. She was in the same hall as her and always asked and answered difficult questions during the tuition. She walked brilliant, looked brilliant, did everything brilliantly, just like a Science student should. She'd even once overheard her telling some of her friends that she would surely win the pending exams. The fact that she was a student of Wesley Girls' was another thing to look at.

She sighed. Oh God, this was so hard and a bit...

Please help me win this pending exams. If he won, it would ease his burden. At least if not first position, he prayed to be second. Please God. Please help me.
He knew it would be difficult, difficult to top all the science students from the various schools in Ghana. Scholarship, a relaxing vacation at Holy Trinity Spa in the Voltage Region, that huge sum of money...

Surely God, you won't let this bypass me, will you? You know how much I'm already suffering, what I'm going through already. At least I could support my siblings with the money...
Tears ran down his cheeks. The boulder he sat on felt very hard against his backside. The sun was completely vanishing...

Nana Yaa jerked a awake.

Thoughts, emotions, thoughts, emotions...

She was surprised to feel tears on get cheeks when she ran a palm over her face. She was trembling...she was hot.

The sky was vanishing, the boulder she sat on feeling hard against get backside, just as it had been in her dream or hallucination or whatever it was she just had.

She could smell a certain woodsy scent. She remembered that she had smelt that same woodsy scent that first night she had come right here, and also that night she had dreamt about...who? A suffering kid?

No human being was around, and no flower had that woodsy scent. So, where was the scent coming from?

She had been thinking, all right. But the thoughts seemed to go on and then bam!...they weren't hers any longer, though she felt them. The feeling of desperation and thirst for success.

What the hell was happening to her?

***

Jessica followed Isobelle as they left their dormitory to the next dorm. Isobelle said she'd found some cool girls in the same hall as her. They were also business students and her friends, and she wanted Jessica to meet them.

"You would be thrilled with them," Isobelle had said.
Jessica had felt a but jealous that Isobelle had other favorites. Wasn't she good enough for Isobelle?

"Heyyy Iso." One fair girl screamed with delight when Isobelle and Jessica entered their dorm and headed straight to their beds. "We were even talking about you just now." She added, indicating she and the other fair girl.

"Oh," Isobelle laughed. "So I'm popular." She plonked her butt on the bed beside the two fair girls.

Enam Opoku and Nadine Blankson, as were the names of the girls, loved talking, Jessica noticed. After Isobelle made the appropriate introductions, these girls began to talk about everything right away. Surprisingly, they never ran out of a topic.

Netball, celebrities, fashion and clothes, boys. Jessica also found out that Enam and Nadine had been making time together with Kojo Arthur and Paa John, friends of Lovelace. They kept saying how they were real cool and how they would let Isobelle and Jess meet them, maybe tomorrow.

By the time Jessica settled back on her bed and took out her physics notes, she felt so relieved. She had not done any studying for days now, she realized. Nevermind, she told herself. She'd try to cover up.

But she was deep into wave motions when Isobelle came to nudge her excitedly that Lovelace was calling her...

*Hey guys, hope you are fine. Did you understand this chapter? The dream part?

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See you next chapter.