DianaThe next morning, as I waited for Martin to come to pick me up, I heard a car drive into our yard. Thinking it was Martin, I opened the door and came out carrying my bowl of cereal with Walter on my tail. I stopped short when I saw my car with Adam in the driver's seat. My heart froze when he opened the door and stepped out in full slow-mo. His dirty blond hair was the first thing I saw before I allowed my eyes to travel down his athletic body. He had another one of his famous wisdom black shirts on with words on it about living life fast before death knocked. It was partly tucked into black ripped jeans. He wore a navy blue corduroy shirt over the t-shirt. His grey eyes were on my face for a moment before they fell on Walter. His lips curved into a smile unlike any I had ever seen as he whistled at my dog. The betraying animal left me and ran to him, wagging his tail excitedly. «Go, Walter! Teach Diana how it's done.» Matthew whooped in my head.After playing with Walter for
JaneMy head felt heavy and I groaned, placing a hand lightly on my head. Diana was calling my name repeatedly, her concern for me bleeding into her voice. I tried to open my eyes immediately, but the lights were too bright, so I was forced to pry them open slowly. When I did, the view remained the same. The ever-familiar pitch-black hair and ocean blue eyes, double chin and goatee had my eyes narrowing. He was looking back at me and I saw concern and surprise in his features. I didn't get to look at him more because Penelope and Diana filled my vision. I sat up slowly with their help.“Are you okay?” They chorused. I took a quick look around and found the rest of the students murmuring as they watched me. I didn't see any flashlights that would indicate people were recording, but I did see plenty of bored stares and sharp glares. They probably didn't because the principal would have punished whoever did with a week in detention. The man named Flynn was by my side, one of his hands
LuciaMy eyes went to the clock and I released a relieved sigh when I saw it was lunchtime. Because I had to take care of my demanding daughter, I was unable to eat or rest well for two days. To top it all off, I had to listen to my ex-husband tell me I was doing a poor job of raising his daughter like she wasn't my daughter too. The audacity of the fool to tell me such things while he was away playing sugar daddy to the young woman he left us for, got me mad. I had to behave myself in front of the kids, especially Flavia, but now that I was at work, I didn't have to hide how I truly felt. My friend and coworker, Helen, who unlike me was happily married to the love of her life, placed her hands on my shoulders. “When are you going to tell me what is bothering you? You've been pushing yourself hard all morning. Aren't you tired?” I released another sigh, glancing up before I spoke, “You won't believe what Richard told me.” She knew who Richard was so I didn't have to explain.“You
DianaI knew something was wrong with Jane, her behaviour after gym class confirmed what I already knew. Martin hadn't been around because he and some members of his club had gone for the first phase of their competition. If not, he would have been there to witness what happened to Jane. I dropped a message for him on WhatsApp, telling him a bit about what happened. Immediately after the class finished, she rushed out of the hall like she was being chased. I was not the only one who noticed her weird behaviour as the rest got busy talking about her. Penelope responded like the good friend she was by glaring at the offending gossips. “I need to check what is wrong with her.” She said as she began to walk towards the direction Jane went. I wrapped a hand around her arm, pulling her along with me. She looked down at my hand around her arm because that was the first time I have touched her. “I don't think now is the time to chase after her. Jane closes up when you demand answers she isn
DianaI waited for my aunt outside the house, praying and begging God for her to understand. I tried calling her on my way home but she must have been busy because she didn't answer, nor did she return my calls. My fear of the approaching dinner eased somewhat when I realised Flavia would not be home early enough for dinner, since it was her first time out of the house after her accident. The only person left was my aunt. Luckily, since I now had my car back, I didn't have to wait for Jane to take me home. I couldn't have gotten it at a better time because I hadn't seen her or her car around at the end of school. Penelope was so worried, wondering if we did the right thing by letting her go on her own. I was busy thinking about the disaster ahead so I didn't worry as I ought to.My body perked up when I saw her car driving down the road towards our house. I gently rubbed my sweaty palm on my faded jeans, stifling the urge to run and pick up my phone to cancel the dinner plans with M
DianaI stammered as my aunt bore down on me, her liquid brown eyes throwing daggers into my soul as she waited with her hands on her waist. Luckily, I had ended the call since it was already too late to do anything about it. Quickly, without pausing to take a breath, I continued to speak the longest speech in the history of speeches.“So I was trying to tell you before the call that I invited Mr Yukino over for dinner. I was on my own, going to class when he suddenly walked by with a sour face. I felt sorry for him and went to find out what was wrong with him. He told me a little about what happened at the hospital and I felt bad for him, before I knew what I was doing, I was inviting him over. I know you feel betrayed by me right now and you probably wouldn't want to talk to me because I am putting you in an awkward position, but he is so lonely, aunt. He has no friends in town as everybody thinks he is weird. I just wanted him to feel seen for once.” Her glare didn't lessen, her li
NancyI could only thank God for closing early because my back hurt more than ever. It was my fault for taking on more than I could chew, but I needed to keep myself busy especially now that Adam was not talking to me. So, maybe I had shared information that he considered private, but I still didn't understand why he was this angry. Lord, knew I was trying to figure out what went on in his head most times. If my daughter had been alive, surely he wouldn't have turned out this way, all angry and short-tempered. I could tell something was eating him, taking his peace away. I was glad he came to me instead of going to God knows where. Everything was Alexander's fault. He had taken everything good away from me and poisoned it with the evil that was his soul. I hoped it was not too late to save my boy because he was all I had left in this world. If only he would be friends with Diana, it would change a lot. I didn't know why I was so sure, but I knew he would be better, at peace if he allo
DianaSo, last night would go down in history as one of the worst nights ever. In my heart was a mixture of emotions that had me feeling lethargic, without any strength to face the day. If I could be feeling this way, I wonder how my aunt felt after all that happened. I imagined she must be blaming herself for what happened the same way I was blaming myself for starting the whole freak show by inviting Mr Yukino over for dinner. If I hadn't tried to sort out someone's feelings of loneliness, this wouldn't have happened to us. The irony wasn't lost on me that I had been trying to help someone who felt alone and unappreciated when I also felt the same way....most times. The reason why we were slightly different was that I had my aunt, my dog, my friends and my brother. He had no one except his family who had relocated back to Japan, leaving him all alone here. I didn't need to solve anyone's problems when I still had mine to face. The thought of how I'd handle Vance and his soldiers t
DianaI felt like my head was about to be ripped open as I opened my eyes. Slowly, the sound of activity filled my ears and I looked around me. I was in the emergency room of the hospital my aunt worked. The smell of bleach, blood and God knows what assaulted my senses, fighting for dominance. The overpowering smell caused nausea to crawl up my chest. A sharp pain travelled from the base of my spine and spread to the other parts of my body. I sucked in a breath to keep myself from crying out and pressed a hand to my left side. It was like I had a ton of bricks on my body, grinding and crushing the life out of me. A dark-clothed figure surprisingly rushed at me before I could see who it was and wrapped part of my upper body and head into a tight hug. Not knowing who it was, I stiffened and tried to free myself as I couldn't breathe well–not that I had a problem with the sandalwood scent I was currently inhaling. It was far better than the air I had been breathing some seconds back.“I
FlaviaThe displeasure I felt at having to deal with Vance earlier today refused to go away. I couldn't imagine what made me date the fool for so long. Having to put up with his higher-than-thou attitude just because of what I wanted to get from him had been nothing but torture. For months he had tried to get me to be his girlfriend, asking me out publicly while trying to be manly about it. I didn't care a fig about him but I didn't need to care for him to get things from him.I wouldn't have had to date the fool if mother had just given me things whenever I asked for them. Always, she would tell me she was saving for this and that and couldn't give me money every time I asked for it. To punish her while still getting what I wanted, I decided to teach her a lesson by accepting Vance as my boyfriend. I was so gleeful when I announced to her and my cousin that I was now dating the school's biggest contributor's son. Mother had opened and closed her mouth repeatedly like a fish before sh
DianaVance advanced and tried to land a punch on Adam's face but Adam moved out of the way quickly. Seething, he tried again but Adam was just so fast that his blows didn't graze him not to talk of touching him. For every failure, I watched Vance get angrier, his wide nose flaring as he grunted. Adam, on the other hand, looked like he was enjoying himself, his face had this unholy glint that made me think he was enjoying this. Vance almost got lucky when his punch looked like it would connect with Adam's tummy, but he twisted out of the way and kicked Vance brutally, causing him to fall unceremoniously to the ground. Vance jumped up and charged in but he still couldn't land a blow. Adam caught him by the arm and began punching him solidly in his face.I spared a glance towards Vance's friends, afraid they would try to interfere, but I saw them rooted to their spots, flinching as they watched their friend struggle to beat someone who was not up to his size. Vance went down on a knee,
DianaAfter the crazy day I had in school, all I wanted to do was to go home and rest. I was not surprised that Vance was punished lightly, even after we reported everything that happened during lunch was his fault. The principal dared to tell us that Martin provoked Vance and that Jane was out of line for wanting to save her friend. Our argument that Martin had to be treated at the nurse's office because of the injury he sustained fell on deaf ears. After punishing Vance with detention for a week, he took Mr Scott into his office, probably to brief him on whom the chairman of the school's committee was. Jane was so angry at Martin that she kept rubbing it in his face that Flavia didn't tell him thank you even after he jumped into the fray on her behalf. I tried to get her to calm down, but she was beyond listening to reason, she just kept talking. Poor Martin looked so glum with his swollen left eye as he sat listening to her without defending himself. Immediately the closing bell r
DianaThe next three days flew by so fast that I was left wondering if the person controlling time had it in for me. Jane had returned to school to the delight of Penelope, who had missed her and had been worried she was missing. Jane didn't want Martin to know about her pregnancy, so we had to cook up a story about her being depressed because she was unable to perform like she used, to which was partially true. Martin had been so concerned that I felt bad for lying to him, but we could not tell him the truth, especially now that the father of the baby was close by. I still hadn't gotten Flavia to take Vance back. Not that I was even trying after what I discovered some nights back. It was clear from all indications that she no longer had any interest in him or the comforts his father's wealth could provide. If I needed any proof that she was serious about Adam, that would be it. As each day zoomed by, I grew more anxious as my mind began to create dreams where Vance got to torture me
DianaJane took some steps back as she watched the victorious smile on my cousin's face, her already pale face losing all the colour it had succeeded in getting some minutes before. Quickly, I rushed to my cousin and held her by the arm, dragging her out of my room while telling Jane not to follow us before slamming my door shut.Jane was too unstable right now, and I didn't want Flavia sinking her teeth and releasing poison into her already troubled soul.“You were eavesdropping.” I attacked as soon as I took her far away from my room, folding my arms under my small breast. Flavia smirked before using a hand to throw back a stray strand of her platinum blonde hair.“Like your life was of any interest to me until now.” She replied with a smug smile. I closed the distance between us, intending to prove to her that I was not afraid of her. “You didn't hear anything.” My gaze was unflinching as I tried to force my will on her. She clucked her tongue while wiggling her forefinger.“Dear
DianaLater that night as I laid down on my bed trying to finish up my literature assignment which I was having trouble finishing because I couldn't concentrate, I got a text message from Jane. I quickly sat up, dislodging Walter who was lying on the bed with me. Jane: Hey, you up? I read the cryptic message like three times before I typed out my response.Me: Yes, I am. Where are you? 😟I waited for a minute, till a minute turned to five, then five turned to ten, and ten turned to twenty. When it seemed like I would not be getting a response any time soon, I decided to go take a shower and wash my hair, maybe then I would be able to remove the unrelenting thoughts about Adam and my best friend long enough to focus on my assignment.After twenty minutes of self-pampering, I came out of my bathroom with my eyes closed while I towel-dried my hair. A scream left my mouth when I saw Jane sitting on my bed beside Walter. My eyes went wide as I took in her appearance, wondering what the
DianaVance luckily didn't cause a scene, but he got Adam's name out of me. I released the name not because I was scared but because I knew he would get it from someone else; Adam's identity was no secret. Vance had to be the only one who didn't know anything about Adam, which was an indication that he was so removed from whatever went on around him that doesn't affect him.Immediately I told him what he wanted to know, he freed me, but not without telling me I had three days left to do what he told me to. I opened my mouth to argue that it was eight days not three, but I kept quiet when I realized it would only make him stay longer than he already had, and I didn't want that.After handling Vance, I met with Penelope and Martin in the hall as they chatted about Martin's outing yesterday for their club. Penelope's hair was packed in her usual loose pigtails. She twirled a tail absentmindedly around her forefinger as she gawked at my oblivious friend. It was ironic how Martin couldn't
DianaSo, last night would go down in history as one of the worst nights ever. In my heart was a mixture of emotions that had me feeling lethargic, without any strength to face the day. If I could be feeling this way, I wonder how my aunt felt after all that happened. I imagined she must be blaming herself for what happened the same way I was blaming myself for starting the whole freak show by inviting Mr Yukino over for dinner. If I hadn't tried to sort out someone's feelings of loneliness, this wouldn't have happened to us. The irony wasn't lost on me that I had been trying to help someone who felt alone and unappreciated when I also felt the same way....most times. The reason why we were slightly different was that I had my aunt, my dog, my friends and my brother. He had no one except his family who had relocated back to Japan, leaving him all alone here. I didn't need to solve anyone's problems when I still had mine to face. The thought of how I'd handle Vance and his soldiers t