Dabira's Diary

26

Thursday 13th March

Dear diary,

The D-day is finally here

Over the course of the last two weeks we had to combine rehearsals with reading for our exams. It wasn’t the easiest thing but we did it

The day before we wrote our mathematics exam, I almost missed the rehearsal. I have a love-hate relationship with that subject and it takes a while for me to really understand it and so that day I was so focused on solving one particular problem that I didn’t know that time was far spent
When I managed to get the answer right I checked the time and noticed that I was 30 minutes late. I ran there and saw that they had already started

“I’m so sorry, I was reading and I didn’t know that I was time for rehearsal”
“How will you know” Melvin scoffed
I just ignored him because I wasn’t in the mood to deal with his incessant rambling
“No problem, just come up and let’s continue”
**********************

We came out 4 hours before the program so we could do some last minute practice and some final checks on our costume. While we were running around to make sure everything was in place, my gown got stuck in a nail and tore a bit so I had to see it.

I looked around for Karen because she was the one with a sewing kit. While searching for her, I heard her voice backstage and it sounded like she was arguing with someone
As I approached where she, I overheard a part of the conversation
“You’re not supposed to tell anyone”
I recognized that voice to be Melvin’s
“I wasn’t going to tell her, I promise” Her voice was shaky like she was about to cry
“Whatever, just make sure you keep your mouth shut”

He walked out on her and passed by me but didn’t even notice I was standing there
I didn’t know whether to give her a bit of time to relax or to just pretend I didn’t hear anything and just ask her for what I needed
I decided to choose the first option, I let her relax for about 5 minutes before I walked up to her
“Karen please can I borrow your needle and thread”
“It’s in my bag, let me go and get it for you”
***********************

The time to present was getting closer and I was finding it hard to breathe properly.

The thought of going on the stage and presenting in front of the entire school was scary and I had a lot of scenarios in my head, most of them ending with me disgracing myself completely

Just before we were called up on the stage, I ran out of the hall to get some air. As I tried to calm my breathing I heard footsteps and when I looked up I saw Senior Tofa coming towards me
“Dabira is that you?”
“Hello, Senior Tofa”
“What are you doing outside?”
“I was trying calm myself down”
“Are you part of the people presenting?”
“Yup”
“I understand now, let’s do this”
He taught me two calming techniques, one that was very helpful and another that just made me laugh. He told me to imagine everyone in their underwear if I ever got scared while on stage

When I was finally calm and ready to go into the hall I heard the MC call my group on stage.

Right on time
**************************

Our drama concept was the resurrection story but with a twist.

The two main characters were played by Henry and Karen, he was a rich guy who was betrothed to Karen but she didn’t love him the way he loved her.

She always found ways to break his heart and lie to him. I played the role of the friend that kept giving her bad advice along with Feyi and Hannah. She had friends that were giving her good advice but she always ignored them and eventually she met the guy that was going to ruin her life, played by Melvin
They got together and that’s when she saw his true colors but by that time it was too late and her life was already in danger.

The main male lead couldn’t allow her to get hurt so with the permission of his father he took her place and died for her and it was only then that she was able to fully understand the love he had for her
Miraculously, he was resurrected and they were able to live happily together.
The drama was to depict how Christians took the love of God and Jesus for granted until Jesus died for them.

When we were done, everyone gave us a standing ovation including the members of staff

The MC commented on our drama and mentioned the fact that he got emotional especially when we thought the male lead was actually dead and Karen was crying. Honestly, I almost cried with her, she made it look so real.

The other houses presented their drama and while they all really tried, no one else came up with a concept as unique as ours. I guess we have Feyi to thank for that
The results were announced and we came first. We were presented with a trophy and each given a gift package.
***************************

When we got to hostel, I decided it was time to take care of an issue that was long overdue. I went to talk to Feyi
“What do you want?” she said with an attitude but I knew her enough to detect that she was trying too hard to be rude to me
“I’m not here to fight with you neither am I here to beg you to become my friend”
“Then what do you want?”
“You were the first friend I made in Bright Minds and I’m thankful for that. If it weren’t for you I wouldn’t have found my way around the hostel and I wouldn’t have known a lot of things” she wasn’t saying anything so I continued “People grow apart and that’s totally fine, we will never go back to being the best of friends but I don’t want to be your enemy either”
“I don’t want to be your enemy either”
I was genuinely happy to hear that
“So friends?” I stretched out my hand for a handshake like they do in movies and she actually shook me hand

As I was about to leave her bed, she made a statement I always wanted to hear from her
“I’m sorry I didn’t take your side when you had that issue with Love”
“Thank you for saying that” I smiled at her and left her dorm

This term was full of ups and downs but it has taught me a lot of things and I’m thankful for that.