The day was a regular warm one in Longroove as it was in the life of Maya and her girlfriend. The duo were having a hearty argument by text about the best coffee and where it can be found. "I like home made coffee, period!""Nickel Cup has a flavour that you have not tasted, and when you do, you may sell your coffee maker," bragged Maya who grew up in Longroove watching Nickle Cup satisfy all her coffee cravings. She knew all their different flavours and what they taste like."That will never happen," Anya responded, adding an eye-rolling emoji. "Okay, what if I get you their best flavour, if you take and like it, I will seize your coffee maker for the next 3 weeks. Deal?""Jeez! That's far!""As intended." Maya sent in her responses with trouble making emoji. "Fine, deal. Wow me!" "Expect your coffee and your girl in 20 minutes." "Okay. And make sure to look edible too." Anya replied with a winking emoji. With that, Maya threw on some clothes and dashed off to Nickle Cup. She
At home, Anya had waited for quite some time and decided that Maya should give up on the coffee and come around. "You could let the coffee be and come around let's get started on the twenty rounds. Let's see how far we can go before it is night fall" she finished typing and hit the send button, but the message bounced back. She tried to call her via video call, but the button wasn't easy to tap on. That was when it dawned on her. She had been blocked. Anya laughed. She felt Maya was planning her. She decided to give her an audio call, but her call bounced back. She stood up from her bed and decided to get to her house. Rushing to her wardrobe, she found a pair of Denim and a t-shirt. She hurriedly threw them on and sprinted downstairs. She didn't know what to think. She didn't know if something was wrong with Maya or was she playing. Jamming her door behind her, she ran out of her porch to the main road where she flagged down a taxi. Getting to her place, Anya saw a gigantic blu
Mondays are usually Anya's favourite day of the week. She enjoys the company of her pupils who would be more occupied with school work than having time to play around. However, this Monday was different. The principal had arrived at school earlier than usual. He was supposed to have a meeting with Anya and Mr Rodriguez concerning the science fair. Anya was sceptical about going for the meeting knowing who she was dealing with. However, she had to be present. Seated directly opposite Mr. Surajo who was tidying his desk to get it ready for the day, Anya said all manners of silent prayers to heaven to keep Mr. Rodriguez away from the meeting. Mr. Surajo on the other hand had glanced at his wristwatch a good number of times and decided to give up the wait. "We may have to start the meeting. Perhaps he will join us later.""We can do that, sir." And so the meeting began. Mr Surajo explained the rulings of the State Education Board on the science fair, mentioning that it would take plac
It was a warm evening, the sun was racing to its resting place, so was most animals. Anya was lying in an open field at her aunt’s place at Mongroove. Emma was lying next to her, but the other way round, legs in opposite direction, their faces facing each other, eyes closed. Silence surrounding them except for the breeze blowing the grasses surrounding trees. Far voices throwing instruction. Children playing, birds chirping away. "We could remain here like this for ever." Emma said. Anya's eyelid fluttered open and fell on the perfect pearls in front of her. "We could," she whispered as if scared of breaking the spell that Emma's presence has blessed them with. "But we can't. You can't" Emma said, her tender gaze holding her lover's. "You need to accept who you are, your power and your strength are part of you. You are born this way and you are supposed to unite people, not divide them. The task ahead of you won't be an easy one, but you must confront it and face it head on." She
The taxi pulled up in front of Midland Hotel, the security man, a man in his mid-thirties got the gate and let him drive in. As he drove in, he stopped at a clearing very close to the entrance, so that the passenger would pay him and he would be on his way. The sky has cleared out."Can you turn off your ignition while I go upstairs to get my wallet? I am not with it here." Anya explained. After looking her over, wondering if she was lying or mentally challenged, the man simply said, "okay," giving her benefit of doubt. Anya ran into the reception, self conscious of her appearance and all the sceptical and judging looks she was getting from the workers and other occupants. She ascended the stairs carefully avoiding the lift to prevent any strange stare from anyone. Getting to the second floor she walked down the hall to their room and met Maya sitting on the bed, pressing her phone. She didn't say anything. She didn't know what to say. She simply walked over to the wardrobe and
Anya transformed back to her human form and ran to her porch to see if she could convince Maya who had just ended things not to do so. Her porch was quiet and empty. The rest of the environment was quiet too, no singing of birds not a sign of them on the trees in front of Anya's house. The breeze too had ceased. It's as if nature itself knew that something bad had happened. Standing there confused, she glanced at her door and it reminded her of the evening they kissed for the first time and she felt her heart breaking into tiny unfixable pieces. She placed a hand on her left breast as if it would cushion the effect of what had happened as tears made their way down her face in free reign. The weight of the heartbreak weakened her knees and she landed like a sack of cloth on the floor as lost control of her voice. She sobbed loud for all the lost she has ever been as a human: her parents, Emma, Annalise, now Maya. Being a werewolf has taken more from her than what she had gained.
The rest of the week at school were days of awkwardness for Anya. She didn’t know how to act around Maya. Maya, on the other hand was not interested in making it easy. She would pass Anya's class up to ten times a day and pretend as if she didn't know her. On Thursday, Anya was walking down the corridor and Maya was walking towards her in the opposite direction. Anya was planning to say "hello" with a smile and walked past her. But when Maya drew nearer, it dawned on her that Maya wasn't interested in saying hi. She strolled passed her like there was no one on the corridor. Anya couldn't believe herself. She walked to her class dumbfounded. During the break period, as usual, Caleb and Anya were together in her empty classroom, Anya told her what happened. Caleb responded, " I was about to tell you the same thing. She did this to me and have been doing it since Tuesday Morning. I understand that she is scared for her life, but…" his thought trailed off as he shook his head slowl
"I… Maya…" that was all he could say.Anya stood there, her expression a mixture of confusion and concern.Caleb dropped the piece of snack he was about to munch on and stared in horror at the sheer amount of blood staining Vincent's shirt. "Whose blood is that?" Anya finally managed to ask, her voice trembling.Vincent looked up at them, tears glistening in his eyes, and uttered the name that sent shockwaves through the air, "Maya."Anya felt her knees go weak, and she sank back into her seat to avoid collapsing."Maya…" she whispered, her voice barely audible, her hand clutching her chest as if trying to hold her heart together.As her eyes remained closed, a whirlwind of emotions swirled within her. She was lost, drowning in a sea of disbelief and sorrow. But just as a coherent thought began to form, Caleb beat her to it. By the time Anya opened her eyes, she was met with the sight of Caleb lifting Vincent off the ground, a mixture of anger and concern etched across his face. Vinc
We walk into Maya's class and there she is seated, staring into an empty space. I try to read her mind, but can't. It feels like an endless void, the kind I felt the day I connected to Mr Rodriguez. Just dark! Perhaps, it was the distance between us, so I close the gap as fast as I can. Getting close to her, I squat down by her feet to directly look into her eyes, but her gaze is far away. It feels as if she is in a different world altogether. She doesn't say a word to either myself or Caleb, let alone acknowledge our presence. Out of desperation to make contact with her, I glance at the table and I take one of her hands into mine. Her usually soft and warm palm feels cold. Outside, the sun seems to be in a competition with humans to ascertain who is hotter. “So, why is her palm this cold?” I whisper to myself. If a pin had dropped on the floor, it will be like a bomb, that's how quiet the classroom is and it's unnerving. “What's up with her? Can you feel her?” Caleb’s voice rise
Everything is as it should be. I know this because I am standing in front of Maya's class after the bell for school over rang. Her students, just like mine, have joined the ocean of bodies swimming towards the gate, others walking to the car park to join their parents and older siblings. The rest headed towards where the school bus is parked. Maya isn't in her class. She may have gone out to get something. All I have to do is wait. And so I wait. I sit down on one of the chairs in front of her table and automatically bring out my phone to while away the boredom threatening to descend on me in the absence of anyone to talk to and anything to do. I open my chat to text the good doctor as Anya likes to refer to him. Gius, that's his name, isn't a call person, texting is his style. He would spend an entire twenty-four hours thumbing the screen of his phone if he had a cleared-out schedule. Myself on the other hand never minded. As luck may have it, he is online, and so, we text. He wan
It is as if my legs couldn't carry me any longer. It felt as if I had been standing up for over an hour. My students were working on a science project that they had chosen in our previous lesson. I had come to the board to illustrate something when I turned towards the door because noise was coming from the corridor. Anya stood by my door staring at me. She was elegant. She never slouch, but now she was. Why is she looking at me that way? Is she scared of me or scared of what she's about to say? "Hey," I voiced out. "Hey yourself." She responded with a weak smile and walked in. I returned her smile with a nervous one. Watching her take her steps one after the other made me realise that she was being cautious. It didn't take me up to a minute to site the backpack she had on. It was puffy and looked heavy. About two steps away from me, she whispered, "I'm going home." I connected the dots and my gaze softened to sympathy. I wanted to take her hands into mine and pull her into a hu
"Why did you uncloak here with the kids…"The question died on my lips as I glanced around. Every pupil had their eyes fixed not on anything in particular. Their hands, body, stopped, as in frozen."What's wrong with the…"My questions died on my lips again as I looked at her. Birdie May happens to have one of the strangest powers. Did she just freeze my class? Did she pause time? "Yes, I paused time," her voice vibrated in my head. Yeah I forgot about that power, too. "I paused time within this environment. You have that power too. Any pure blood can do that with some training. No lamb should be able to break the barrier unless they have both legs into old religion." She explained casually like one explaining why cereal is for breakfast. I stared at her in a mixture of wonder and astonishment. Silence fell upon us as she fixed her gaze on me. As we gazed at each other, I found out that I couldn't read her mind, she was blocking me out on purpose. "I will be leaving town today.
Before anyone tells me that my days any where are numbered, I usually feel it. That was the same feeling I had as I walked into Mr. Surajo office and a scent waffed into my nose. I walked passed his secretary tapping into the strong girl part of me as I proceeded into his office and stood tall against Vincent who sat on plastic seat opposite the principal. I fought endlessly to subdue the urge to glance at him but I caved in. The disdain in his eyes almost floored me, but I had to keep my shield as high as possible as I focused my attention on the principal. "You sent for me?" I asked him as I turned fully towards him. "I did." His gaze was on everything and everyone else apart from me. Was he worried about firing me or about what he will find out if he questions me?The silence that descended on us was like a heavy blanket trying to squeeze life out of me, but I had to remain calm and clearheaded for the shots to come. I fixed my eyes on him while my mind travelled back and fo
Today isn't my day. I have no desire to be where I am currently even though it is a Monday. Everything around me is irritating me. Merely hearing voices around riles me up. As if it isn't bad enough, suddenly my co-teachers want to say hi which I am not in the mood for. On top of all these, I have this unease, fear of something bad happening today. What’s up with you, dude? You don’t look happy today, why? Anya’s voice pulled me out of my head.I threw a glance her way and saw concern on her face.“Nothing, just not in the mood for being an adult today,” I responded, transferring my gaze to the window and my eyes fell on students playing. I sighed and held back the comment of Maya coming in to ask me the same question. Dear Universe, let today be one of those Mondays that she is too busy to go for a break, I wish. I had barely sighed when my eyes fell on the tall glass of wine called Maya as she made her way to Anya’s class. it is not all prayers that the universe answers after a
My aunt's voice cut through our little make-out. I practically held myself from openly whining about it. We withdrew our lips but our hands were still making contact with our body parts. None of us had disconnected our gaze. I still looked at Maya like she was the most beautiful woman I had ever seen. She was, in a way. "Both of you need to get a room, Aunty B's voice came up again. "Meanwhile, Anya did you not bring spare clothes today?""I…" Maya beat me to a response. "You could help us arrange those quickly since you are good at slipping in between worlds and places." Maya quipped without disconnecting her gaze from me. "I should totally do that." Aunty B left her gaze on Maya with a smirk on her face. "You should," Maya's gaze finally left mine and fell on Aunty B. She disconnected her hand as well and stood in front of me. I was so scared of doing this after what had happened roughly an hour ago, but had to. I quickly peered at Aunt B's face. It wasn't filled with laissez
"Why would you think like that? Why would you just call off our relationship? Did it ever occur to you that I should have a say in this? She didn't say anything. She stared at me, her pupils bristling with unsheded tears. Just as the first began to drop down her cheek, she turned away. Was she feeling ashamed of herself? Why? "You won't understand, Maya. I think you should stay away from me. I am dangerous. I am a beast. I could kill you." She yelled and began to walk away. I began walking towards her and her step quickened. I was falling behind within seconds which means she was using her speed. This wasn't what I wanted her to feel. This wasn't what I expected from her after the incident. Thoughts of what she might to do herself clouded my mind forcing me to say the exact thing I hate saying to people. "Are you ashamed of me? Is that it?"I watched her stop abruptly. She covered the distance between us in seconds and stared me in the eyes. She had this stunned look in her fac
The days I dreaded most came too fast. Birdie May has been out of her cloak for more than 24 hours. Anya has been busy. Her training began the next day after the evening her aunt crashed our little party. The training takes place at the other side of the forest where my pack hang out. Birdie May had cleared out trees using her power to create an open space for the training. Her first training with Anya instilled fear into me. Anya on the other hand is changing very fast. She is becoming stronger. She's getting faster in her superspeed. Her windseeking skill is developing very fast. It doesn't take her up to 10 seconds to shoot up into the sky. Maya has been here, observing, learning unlearning, discovering things she has always referred to as fairytales. I am somewhat marvelled at the courage which she summons to be here witnessing and experiencing everything. She has changed from the fearful and anxious girl to this strong backbone, giving Anya all the support she needs. What