That Incident

FOURTEEN

❦

𝘛𝘏𝘌 𝘈𝘜𝘉𝘙𝘌𝘌?

I couldn't tell if I had made Mrs Ujam upset because she ended the session early giving me a task of discovering what triggered my panic attack and we were going to discuss my bitter childhood memories in the next session.

I couldn't disclose to her how I punished myself by crouching in the bathroom with cold water running. My pjs all soaked up.

I caught cold again and I was made to drink mum's bitter concoction of whatever smelly greenie herbs.

I still had the taste of the bitter liquid in mouth.

My mother seemed to be doing fine. She had been really cheerful. She hummed a melodious tune as she worked in the kitchen. She made me breakfast which she hadn't done in a long time.

I had sat at the breakfast bar in the kitchen with a scrumptious breakfast of akara balls and pap laid before me. It felt so unreal. I blinkered twice to be sure it wasn't a dream.

"Lota, my akara is a little too crusty. I don't know if you'll like it?"

"It's okay, mum." I smiled.

She nodded with a warm smile going ahead to get prepared for work.

I ate so much that I was pretty sure my bulging belly were visible in my uniform. I lowered my eyes to check running my hands on my belly. Thank goodness, it wasn't.

"Aubree." A voice called out my name.

Oh my goodness. I was weirdly standing in the middle of the senior class hallway touching my belly.

"I want to apologize for what happened...." Triton said when I looked up at him.

"It's okay." I flushed embarrassedly. I couldn't even look him in the eye.

"I don't even know what to say....I was so foolish to.."

"It's...ok..ay." I stuttered coughing heavily.

"Are you okay?" He questioned with concern written all over his face. Don't be fooled by it, Aubree. Guys were so deceitful.

"Yes. I'm...fine." I said coughing. This was probably the effects of the medicine. Why now? I looked like some patient of tuberculosis. I was literally choking at the spot.

"Let me get water. Just stay here." He said dropping his book bag on the floor and rushing to the water dispenser at the end of the hallway.

"Here you go." He said handing me lukewarm water in a disposable paper cup.

I gulped down the water in a rush and noticed how he rubbed his hand at my back saying easyy.

"Don't touch me..." I pushed off his hand spilling some of the water left in the cup.

He looked bemused by my action.

"Aubree, are you okay?" He asked.

"Why is everyone asking me that question? Am I okay? Do I look okay? Of course not!" I was saying out loudly. I could swear my cheeks were bright red and the tips of my ear.

Control, control!

Before I could tell what was actually going on with me, big fat tears were rolling down my cheeks. I could tell that Triton didn't know what to say or react.

He watched calmly.

"I'm sorry if I hurt you, Aubree. I'm really sorry if I caused you to cry...." He said in almost a whisper. He was saying when he got interrupted by Fred who seemed to appear from nowhere.

"Babe, are you okay?" He asked frowning at Triton.

Shaking my head, I walked away in disgust.

                                          ❦

I was really happy we were having the Books Club meeting in school. I was really happy I got to take my mind off everything that happened earlier. Books and music seemed to be where I found my peace of mind.

We usually held the meeting in a little room just close to the library. It also had shelves containing few books.

Alisha had gone for her club meeting. You wouldn't guess what her club was. It pretty suited her personality: The Foodies Club. The club was formed by a famous foodie guy and was slowly being recognized as part of the clubs in Pamvielle.

I had asked Alisha once what they did in their club.

She literally said:

"We talk about food and share food. What else do you think the club is about?"

Alisha was a real foodie and she never missed an opportunity when it concerned food. She always frequented the school cafeteria to buy food and she never put on weight despite the amount of food she ate.

"Hi, everyone! You all are looking sweet today." Kemi the head of our club said in her high pitched voice. Her smile revealing her clear set of teeth.

"You look sweet too." People were saying.

  "Can we welcome Aubree Okali back. We really missed her presence." She said when her eyes met with mine.

"Welcome Aubree." Gideon my last year crush who was seated close to me said shaking my hands. He looked like he was going through a lot of puberty. He had a messy moustache and it did seem like he had a deeper voice.

He still looked pretty handsome. I had already given up on getting him to notice me cause I was surely not his type.

"Thanks" I mumbled with a smile.

"Before we get on to talk about the beautiful novel Zikora by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. I would like to welcome a new member to our class. The finest popular boy in...."

Oh my gosh! Why did I have a feeling that I knew who it was.

"Please welcome Triton Damilola. He's a book enthusiast. He owns a bookstagram on Instagram too."

I didn't bother to turn back.

Why was he everywhere?

"And please welcome Thelma Oji." She added.

The girl seated at my right stood up waving her hands like some kind of barbie girl. I noticed the way she was all dressed up in everything contraband: coloured hair beads, face makeup. mini skirt, long socks and tons of bangles on her wrist.

She was a dark skinned beauty with bulging eyeballs.

"Hi, you're the Aubree right?" She asked when she sat down.

I nodded.

The Aubree?

"A humble request. Please stay away from my boyfriend, Fred." She said with a scowl.

What?

A/N
Don't forget to vote and comment!～(￣▽￣～)