At the End of August

One

 BOOBS WERE THE PRETTIEST part of the body I could think of, but the big ones were sublime. As a boarding school student, I got to see girls with different sizes, shapes, and builds, and none ever caught my attention like the big beautiful round damsels sitting at top the chests of girls like me. They were also the first thing a boy would take note of in a girl.

It is probably weird to describe breasts this much as a girl—or human being—however, I only took notice in the first place because I envied them, wishing and praying that my agbalumo breasts would switch with that of Jennifer, my side bunkmate. I could not blame my genes because my mothers were noticeable, not to talk of my maternal grandmother who never seemed to find a brassiere each time she visited.

I had started to accept my fate as a part of the flat chested gang when my miracle happened a couple weeks to the end of my SS2 class. Aside the unbearable pain that came with the growth, I—and others—started to see their shapes through my uniform. It was as if God himself chose to give me a sign, telling me that my summer would be the best by checking off two out of the three prayer points I submitted to him at the beginning of the year.

1. Give me bigger boobs, it doesn't have to be extra big, but enough for my brothers to stop calling me bro.

2. Please take away any opportunity for Odion and Akhere to Chaperone me after they graduate.

3. Let the boy of my dreams notice me as more than his stepbrother's best friend.

Number two was on the verge of being completely answered as my twin older brothers were finally releasing their annoying claws off me because they graduated from secondary school, which meant they would not be able to cast their eagle eyes over me all summer. Once upon a time I believed having my three brothers watch over me all the time was a treasure, it quickly turned to a prison and they were the wardens charged with not letting me out of their sight.

In Junior secondary school, they hawked over me all of the time, the oldest, Uyiose, planted spies to report every detail, including and especially boys who dared talk to me. Odion and Akhere would randomly show up in my class, threatening my classmates for sitting next to me, or holding my notebooks. At the end, I got tired and decided anything was better as long as there were far from me, so my parents sent me off to a girl's boarding school at my request.

At first my boarding school was basic, but soon every one of the girls started to grow and after each holiday they would return with stories of everything that happened to them, the fun experiences they had and most of all the boys that they shared moments with. I always felt like an outcast, the only moments I had was getting all of my siblings to back off when my phone rang. While my classmates had boyfriends, creating cliques to giggle about what their boys got them as gifts, I had my fairytale imaginations, waiting for the perfect moment when I knew I would be free.

But the time came. It would be my last holiday as a secondary school student, the last time I got to see him and the only time to make my fairytales real before we all decided to go off to tertiary schools, so I decided that I would make the most of it. I had to.

From the beginning of the school year, I counted down the number of days to when Odion and Akhere would be out of secondary school, and as soon as I got to the house for my final long holiday leading to SS3 I informed my mother I would be enrolling for the August summer school. She did not object easily enough because what my parents loved more than making money was ensuring their children had enough education to make more for the family.

"Pink is girly enough to make me look girly enough, but yellow is sharp and calling. Which do you think I should go for?" I put my mobile device close to my mouth, making a voice recording as I stared at the two sundresses that sat on my bed as I stifled a yawn that threatened as a result of my being tired. I was not as morning person, but my excitement and plans had got me up by five am, and almost completely ready at seven am. I had a goal. Today was the second of August, the first day of summer school and the first day of the rest of my life without brothers. It would also be the first day I would get my love to notice me as the girl that I was.