THE LOOP (Double Lines)

CHAPTER ONE

2015

ASTRAL HIGH SCHOOL

It had been a long holiday , it was three months but it seemed like forever . Valerie and I , exhausted all the we had planned to do during the holidays , we had to think about new ideas to stay happy. I missed Greg terribly , he was my best friend but ever since he had started hanging out with Zahrah , it seemed like I didn't exist any more. I had wondered countlessly what he had seen in that girl , she had senseless friends and loved so much drama and she wasn't even pretty .

School wasn't as different as the last times we were here . They were still same old people , like Mrs Bale , the most feared teacher , Nimi and Naden the popular ijaw girls in my swimming class, Lolia and Iyin the singing stars , Damilola and Inemesit , the couple everyone couldn't get enough of ,Chioma and Chima the igbo duo and of course Zahrah the one that stole Greg from me .
I couldn't wait to get to Miss Maryann's office , I was fond of her , she was the one in charge of admitting new students into the school. She was so sweet , I couldn't get enough of her . She loved my company too . She had even told me of a man named Obafemi who wanted to marry her , I'm still so jealous of the man because he will get to spend lots of amazing time with her . Her office was cold as usual , as the air conditioner was always on . She had some files on the table and the office was so neat , I couldn't see a clear reflection of my self.
The glass was so neat . It looked brand new .
The school was under renovation , so students had to come from the house for the first academic session . Most of us who lived in lekki and its surrounding areas had no issues with it . The school had forfeited the boarding fees for that session , so it made it easy for those that lived in different to acquire rentals because they did so with the boarding fees.
One of the files in Miss Marys office had the name Mrs Mawusi Kofi Osei Martins . I had seen a name close to that at dads study at home one certain time. I was so curious .I opened the file a picture of the woman and her children appeared , the girls had a striking resemblance to dad . They were twins too and they were born in August 12th 2001

I started over thinking , I knew it was my anxiety again . On our birthday last year, I had seen four gift boxes in dads car but he had only given us two .
Random thoughts like " Could it be they were dads kids ? What if I and Valerie had step sisters ? Who names their children with calendar names anyway ? popped into my head.
I was lost in my thoughts that I didn't notice when Greg walked in and gotten so close to me that when said "Hey Valentine , I could feel his breathe on my cheek , jerking me back to reality .
" Hi Greg"
"What are you doing here?"
"I saw you walk in as I walked pass to drop Zahrah off at her class and as I walked back I saw Miss Mary talking with the librarian , so I knew you were alone"
I wanted to tell him everything I felt , all the hurt I felt when I saw him with Zahrah . He was supposed to be with me but instead I said
" I miss you a lot this days "
"I miss you the most , but Zahrah she is so needy and all that extra stuff "

I wondered why he mentioned her name in every statement that he made. What was so special about her anyway.

"Oh! okay . You guys hang out a lot these days "
"She's my girlfriend ,she needs all the attention , she can get and she's very sweet . " he said and left to see Andrew across the hallway and I went to use the convenience.

Now I could feel my jealous getting hold of every piece of me , why couldn't it be me ? Why can't he just love me ? Just why ? I should be the one having nice memories with Greg and having all those romantic cuddles and kisses that I see on all these TV programs like Marima , The promise , Boys before flowers etc. I just quickly excused myself from his presence . I couldn't stand in front that handsome boy without feeling like killing Zahrah , he was mine first anyway.
I missed the days he waited for me after school so he could give me a letter before heading to the male hostel and those times he kissed me on the forehead . Thinking about all those times made me despise hausa girls .
Hausa girls were the ones people would say had the worst hygiene and reeked like organic thrash but that wasn't Zahrah , she was a rich spoilt brat with clean curves and beautiful sense of hygiene .
I could barely feel my heart beating . AsvI turned to go to class , I remembered that I hadn't closed the file at Miss Mary's office , so I dashed back . I saw Greg and Zahrah on my way there.