She ran. It was foolish of her but she did anyway, ignoring Jace's desperate calls for her to come back. The doors were locked when she got back. She had to use a rock as a means to get the window.
When Nadia got in, she slid down the wall of her room, brought her knees to her chest, and grabbed a fistful of her hair in frustration. Anytime she was with Jace, her emotions were in disarray. One minute she would be happy, next she would be angry, then confused.
Confused about how she was feeling about Jace. She was refusing to accept that she was gradually falling for Jace. What would her friends think of her? What would Mia think of her?
She glanced at Joanne who was spread out like a starfish on her bed, snoring loudly and drooling on her pillow. She then glanced at Freya who was laying on her back with her hands placed on her stomach, snoring lightly.
This is so frustrating
“Nadia!”
Nadia was brought out of her reverie by Joanna calling, more like screaming, her name. Nadia looked up at her four girlfriends who were staring at her with concern. It was the next morning and they were seated in the school fields.
“Yes?”
“I've been calling your name for a while now, you were not answering. Were you even listening to me?”
“Of course, I was,” Nadia quickly lied.
Joanne gave her a look and crossed her arms over her chest. “Oh yeah? What did I say, last?”
“T-That Michael and Gloria broke up?” She stuttered. It was more of a question than an answer.
Joanne gave her an annoyed look. “I said that minutes ago! You haven't been listening to me for minutes?!”
Nadia winced at the girl's loud tone, fighting the urge to cover her ears with her hands. Makena gave Joanne a fierce glare that told her to shut up, which she did.
Mia asked Nadia, “What were you thinking about?”
Nadia considered telling them about her encounter with the figure last night. “Nothing,” she said instead and her gaze drifted to the woods before her. “Just school work.”
“Asalamualaikum.”
The girls looked up to see Ahryan and his friend. They all replied and he sat down along with Elijah. “Guys meet Elijah, Elijah meet guys.”
“I'm Far-” Faryal started to introduce but Elijah nicely interrupted her.
“There's no need for that, I already know all of your names.”
Nadia who sat beside Elijah stared at the dreads which were packed by a thin rubber band that looked like it would snap any minute.
She wanted to take one between her fingertips and feel its texture. She summoned the courage and raised her hand, but she quickly dropped it when he turned to look at her.
“Nadia, How far?”
She stared at him with furrowed brows. “From where?”
Elijah smiled, amused while Ahryan let out a laugh. “He's greeting you,” Ahryan clarified.
Still confused about how to respond, she said, “Not so far, I guess.”
Both boys burst into laughter and Nadia heated up in embarrassment. Why were they laughing?
“What kind of greeting is that?” Mia blurted out.
Makena replied, “A Nigerian greeting, they're weird like that.”
Elijah quickly sobered up. “We're not weird, just unique in our way. You're African right, what country?”
“Kenya.”
“Oh,” Elijah replied, sounding disappointed.
Makena raised an eyebrow, feeling offended. “What's that supposed to mean?”
“I wanted you to be a Ghanian, I've always wanted to meet a Ghanian,” he explained. “But Kenya is amazing also.”
“Why do you want to meet a Ghanaian?” Ahryan asked.
Elijah chuckled. “So that I can laugh at the way they pronounce words.”
Nadia blinked I hope he isn't like Ahryan
“Your skin is light,” Joanne said. “Is one of your parents white?”
Elijah shook his head. “No, my mother used to say, that I escaped being an albino. Back in my country, people used to mistake it for an Oyinbo”
“What's an Oyinbo”
“Ask google”
A student suddenly ran up to them. Not greeting, she pointed at Nadia. “You're Alexandra Crawford, right?”
“Miss Campbell said you should come to her office,” she said after Nadia nodded, then ran off.
Nadia stood up wondering why her Elementalist teacher called her, she waved goodbye to get friends and headed for the office.
Nadia knocked on Miss Campbell and entered when she told her to. Miss Campbell was seated behind her desk, arranging the pile of papers on her desk when Nadia walked in. She looked up at Nadia and smiled.
“You asked me to come?” Nadia inquired
“Yes,” Miss Campbell stood up and walked over to Nadia. She was dressed in a red, knee-length, flowery gown accompanied by black heels. Her blond hair flowed past her shoulders in waves as usual.
“So, we got a new orb,” Miss Campbell said excitedly. “We can know your level now.”
“Now?” Nadia asked, dread filling her. After what happened last time, she didn't want to go near any orb.
“Yes now,” she said excitedly but that excitement quickly faded when she saw Nadia's face. “Don't you want to know?”
Nadia smiled nervously. “Not really.”
“Look Nadia, are you scared about last time? It won't happen again. I promise.”
“I really don't want to,” Nadia said in a small voice.
Miss Campbell sighed. “I will give you some time to mentally prepare for this but you are going to have to do it eventually. It's part of the rules.”
Nadia nodded. Miss Campbell had nothing else to say, so she left. Nadia was planning on never going back to that office again.
Nadia hugged her white fur coat closer to herself. The night was chilly and the moon was covered by clouds, barely giving her enough light to see where she was going.
She had snuck out of the school, this time through her window, using a rock as a means. She walked through the woods, scared out of her mind but she needed to talk to that person, she needed answers.
“Hello,” she called out. “It's me, you were trying to tell me something last time?”
No answer.
“Are you still there?”
No answer.
“Look, if you can hear me, I'm sorry about my friend. He can act irrationally sometimes.”
No answer.
“Please, come out,” she pleaded. There was silence and she added. “I will leave then.”
Seconds passed and still nothing, Nadia hesitantly turned around to leave when she had some rustling in the trees above her. She stopped abruptly and stepped closer, looking up at the trees.
A figure jumped on a branch, then another, and they continued like that until they landed before her. Nadia took notice of the school uniform first, before going to the face. There were tiny bolts of lightning in the person's eyes and she took a step back in surprise.
“Lloyd?”
YOU ARE READING
ForestLands Institution
FantasySeventeen-year-old Alexandra Crawford's life takes a whole new turn when she's thrown out of her aunt's house one night. Powers are revealed and she's taken to an institution that houses supernatural creatures which were believed to be myths. At lea...
