My Nigerian Fairytale (Completed)

Chapter 20- I Don't Need It

Tobi exhales.

"What I'm trying to say is that when I met you I was just flirting around, you are a pretty girl so of course I'm going to flirt with you. But I somehow suddenly started liking you. Your personality, the way you seem to do your own thing without a care in the world, how aggressive you can get at times when I push you too far, the way your lips lift in a sneer when I do something stupid or annoying. Look I really like you and I might hide it behind all my stupid jokes but I can't stand to see you with Timi, smiling at him the way you never..........forget that part".

"What part?"

"The.....never mind..I.... ", he reaches into his pocket and brings out a necklace. It's silver with a silver flower pendant and a little diamond right in the middle of the flower.

"It was hard convincing my mom to buy this. She thinks it's for my aunty, Richard's mom".

"Oh".

"But it's for you. I just wanted to give you something special".

My heart skips a beat. My mouth suddenly feels dry.

"You like me?"

"I'm really serious Miracle. Jokes apart I like you a lot. I understand if you can't take me seriously with everything I've done and I'm not asking you to reciprocate the feeling. I just want you to have this", he puts the necklace in my hand and quickly walks away.

"Crap", I mutter. Amelia will kill me, step mother will ruin my life even more now. Suddenly feeling sophicated I turn to leave when I bump into Amelia.

"I saw Tobi here", her eyes dart to my hand which I'm trying to inconspicuously hide behind my back. She quickly grabs my hand, revealing the necklace, "he gave you!!!", she shrieks. There is murder in her eyes.

"I hate you! I told you to stay away from him! I told you!"

"I'm......"

"I'm reporting you to my mom! Let her deal with you herself".

My blood runs cold at that, "Amelia wait".

She yanks the necklace from me and throws it away, "mummy will deal with you properly. Remember how she used to lock you in your room with her? You'll scream just like before".

My whole body tenses up at the memory and I try to catch up with Amelia as she walks away but she swirls around and pushes me hard on my chest.

"Get your filthy presence away from me!!"

Oxygen! I can feel my chest constricting, my ears start ringing and I can hardly make out anything. I claw at my chest, willing my lungs to open up.

I have to run before step mother arrives, I need to hide, I need to run!........but Tobi, I need to find his necklace first, he gave it to me from his heart........I need to run......I need to find the necklace.......I need to get air in my damn lungs! But I'm still on the sand, clawing at my chest. I start seeing black dots when I feel arms around me.

***********

When I wake up I'm in the room I share with Amelia.

"Shit", I had an asthma attack. After going for over six months without one this weird love triangle I find myself entangled in somehow managed to bring it back.

I'm slowly sitting up when my door opens and Mrs Adetoye pokes her head in, "oh thank God! You are awake".

She rushes to my bed side, "how are you?", she asks.