TEACH ME HOW TO LOVE [RE-WRITING]

End of semester

It was the last day of school and students were moving up and down the hallway, packing their bags and suitcases.

Emerald high school was a mixed boarding school. The semester there lasted three long months of hustling with studies. Going to class everyday to deal with nagging lecturers.  Most of the kids who went to Emerald were from well to do families. The other kids who managed to make it to this luxurious school got there through scholarships. Nina  Reed was one of the students who had been smart enough to secure herself a place at the school on grounds of academic excellence.

Nina came from a humble family. Her father was a carpenter. Her mother was a house wife who owned a beautiful rose garden from which she harvested roses for sale to top up her husband's income.

Erica Woods was Nina's best friend. She had long straight blonde hair, sea green eyes and curved lips. She was the daughter of Mr. Steve Woods, the mayor of the town. Her dad owned a hacienda, a ranch in the country side that sat on a fifty acres of land, and several ostentatious cars.

His family was known for living a lavish lifestyle. They always took vacations to different places around the world. They had been to Paris, Hawaii, Ibiza, Alaska, Mumbai, Italy, name it. The Woods had travelled half the world.

School closings days were hectic. There was a fuss everywhere. One could hardly find the person they were looking for.

One thing was certain though, lovebirds would spent their last hours together in the enchanted garden, so they called it. It was a small garden of flowers with a fountain at its centre. It had four paths, that led straight to the fountain.

A fleet of cars could be seen in the parking lot as parents came to pick their children from school. One could think that it was an automobile expo.

Among the cars that had arrived already was the mayor's signature car.

"Erica, your ride's here," a certain girl called out from the doorway.

"Finally," she said. "Let me go and say goodbye to Nina."

She walked down the hallway to Nina's room, and just barged in.

"Hey," she muffled. "My driver is here. I gotta go."

Silence....

"Well, won't my best friend give me a hug before I leave?" Erica asked.

There was no reply. She spoke again.

"You are coming to my house for the holiday so we shall have a lot of time to catch up. Right?"

Nina sat on her bed, lost in thought. She was thinking of how she was going to convince her dad to let her go to Erica's house for the holiday.

"Ninaaaaaa, are you there?" Erica's voice woke her back to reality.

"I am really sorry bff.  What was that again?" Nina asked, guilt plastered all over her face.

"Forget it!" Erica said. "My driver has arrived. I'm leaving now. Just don't forget to tell your dad about the holiday. You have to come to my house."

"I won't forget. I promise," she said. Nina stretched out her hands and gripped Erica's.

"I am really glad to have you in my life. You don't know how much joy this gives to me. You know it is rare for girls of your social class to have friends like me."

"Oh! Isn't that sweet of you?" Erica said.

The girls hugged and Erica left.

It was not long after Erica had gone home when Nina's dad arrived. He had a very old truck. He took such good care of  that it kept functioning as new.

"Hey dad," Nina said as she threw her stuff in the back of the trunk.

"Hey honey. How was school?"

"It was okay."

Nina walked over to her father. She stared up at his dog face and looked straight into the sea green eyes. Deep in her mind, she wondered why he'd never let her in.

"Hey.  Is everything okay?" asked Mr Reed.

"Yes dad. Everything's good."

"I am happy to see you again, Nina."

She smiled. "Me too dad."

Mr Reed opened the door and Nina stepped in.

Nina's dad never tolerated nonsense. He made sure that everything went exactly as he wanted it.
Mr Jackson Reed was a hard working man who believed that a good life did not come free. He knew that people had to toil to survive. However he did not like how the rich people in town despised the less fortunate people like him.

He used to say that the rich thought of poor people as bad luck, though he never showed his opinion publicly.

The ride home was quite long. Nina sat in the passenger seat. There was a wave of silence in the truck all the way home. Nina was thinking about a plan to convince her father to let her go to Erica's. Meanwhile Mr. Reed thought of what the holiday would be like.

His only wish was to see his wife and daughter happy. For a long time he had been planning to take them for a vacation, his income never let him.  He wanted to show her that how much he cared for them

Nina and her father had not been on good terms for a long time. He knew that something had to be done to fix their relationship.

After the long drive, they reached home safely.

"Home Sweet home," Nina mused.

A smile formed on her face when she saw her mother coming out of the house to welcome her home.

Their house was built with timber in a modern kind of way. It was painted white with lines of deep red at the edges of the windows and the door.
The windows were fitted with glass and blinds, revealing little to nothing that was inside the house. Attached was a small porch barricaded with black rails. The pale grey bricks of the roof gave the house a beautiful finishing.

"Muuuum!" Nina screamed with great joy as she ran into her mother's arms.

"My baby," Mrs. Reed said, her face lit with a huge smile.

Mrs. Emily Reed was a pretty lady with a soft voice and a pale skin tone.
She wrapped her arms around her only child. Her precious little girl. Nina meant the world to her mother.

When Mrs. Reed had given birth, she had gotten complications with her uterus and it had been removed. That was the day her hopes of having another child were shattered forever.

She had lived in sorrow for a long time, until the day she managed forgave herself and let go of the past.

Hey loves.
What do you think about the relationship between Erica and Nina?
What do you think is Nina's character, from this small chapter?
Tell me what you think in the comments.

Bunches of love