You are not alone

Chapter 9

I woke up to the smell of something cooking downstairs. Did Ben wake up early ? I thought.

That's strange, I'm usually the one who wakes him up. Most of the time.

I looked at the time by my bed side . 6:00 am. Dang! I overslept!

I hurried out of bed, made it and rushed downstairs to do the dishes in the kitchen.

I couldn't believe my eyes when I entered the kitchen and saw dad bent over the kitchen counter .

He was ...cooking?

He turned to face me ,as if sensing that someone else was there.

"Good morning, Dad", I greeted.

" Morning . Sleep well ?"

" Yes ,sir ," I responded as I slowly made my way to the sink.

" Don't bother about doing the dishes now . You can do that after we've eaten . Go take a bath and come down with your brother for breakfast. Okay?"

I nodded and went upstairs . I knocked on Ben's room door and turned the handle. The door opened and I walked in . I walked over to  the sleeping form of my brother and shook him lightly.

" Rise and shine, big bro," I called.

He stirred but didn't open his eyes. I walked to his window and stumbled on some of his clothes and books that were strewn across the floor. I pushed the curtains to the side and opened the window. Streaks of sunlight poured into the room and flashed against his eyes. He groaned but didn't get up. Instead, he covered his face with his bedsheet.

I rolled my eyes and told him," This is phase one. Up next , is cold water ".

He  slowly got up and strolled to where I was.

" Good morning, little sister," he greeted with an amused look on his face. " Don't forget I'm your big brother. You don't get to threaten me , okay. I'm the oppressor and you're the oppressed, " he continued pointing between himself and me.

I laughed," Good morning to you too, big bro."

"Hurry up . Breakfast is ready . " I said and hurried to my room before he could ask any questions .

I stripped and got into the bathroom . With  Broken glass by  Sia  playing from my phone, I quickly brushed my teeth and had a bath. I stepped out of the shower , dried my body and got into my school uniform.

I checked my school bag for my assignments ,notes and textbooks. I heaved a sigh of relief when I saw that everything was in place. I was hardly ever tardy and whenever it happened I'm prone to forgetting something.

I descended from the stairs to the   dinning room and helped Dad set the table. I noticed he was already dressed for work. Ben came down shortly . He stopped  when he saw Dad but quickly regained himself.

" Good morning , Dad," he mumbled and took a sit.

" Morning, Ben. Sleep well ?"  Dad responded.

I could tell he was a little bit  uncomfortable . Ever since his last lashing out at Ben , they've been acting pretty civil around each other .

" Yes , sir."

" So... how's school going? Do you understand what your teachers teach you?"

Dad made us breakfast. Now he's trying to make small talk? He's actually asking about school? I wonder how many more surprises today has for me .

"Celeste? Ben?" Dad called when he got no answer .

" I'm sorry, Dad," I apologized . " School is fine . "

We both turned to Ben who hadn't said a word since he sat down at the table.

" School's fine ," Ben replied curtly . He had his head buried in his food and refused to look up at anyone.It was obvious that Ben didn't want to talk to him.

We finished breakfast in silence , thereafter, I got up to do the dishes.

" I'll drop you off at school ."

That came as a shock to me because Dad never dropped nor  picked us up from school. He was always running late and couldn't afford to stop along the way. Mom was the  one who usually took us to school . We only started using public transport after her death. We didn't like the school bus.

"Why? Aren't you running late ?" Ben inquired.

Today had already started well and I didn't want it take a wrong turn now.

" Thank you , Dad. We'll be out in a minute". I put in before Dad became angry .

The ride to school  was quiet. The only sounds coming in was from the radio. It made the silence a little less awkward.

" Have a nice day , children."

"Thank you, Daddy."

I had a smile on my face as I walked into the school premises . Dad was making efforts to be there for us.  It seemed little but it meant a lot to me .

" Good morning, Celeste."

I turned around to see who called my name and caught a familiar face. It was Debbie. I hadn't really talked to her since Annie brushed her off  a few days ago.

" I'll see you later , Cee." Ben said to me . " Debbie ". He acknowledged her and stalked off.

Maybe it was because of the happiness from the morning. Or the fact that I like to do things the right way, but I decided I owed Debbie an apology for the way Annie spoke to her.

"I'm sorry about the other day. "

She seemed a bit surprised ,but smiled and said ," It's fine . I just wanted to find out if you were okay."

" I'm fine. Thanks for caring." I brought out my hand and she shook it. We walked to class together and I felt a little bit of hope that things were going to be okay.

Maybe this was a sign from God . I'll need to talk to Miss Aboh before the morning assembly starts.

A/N : Tanx for reading. Please vote.
Song for the chapter : Feel the light by Jennifer Lopez

***Ekwaadoo