WELLINGTON SECONDARY SCHOOL WAS simple on the outside. The Administrative building was the first thing one saw from the entrance, with its blue and white coat writing the name bold enough to be seen from a distance. The building was a single-storey that managed to overshadow the others Because it stood on a hilly side of the compound. The school was built around a slopy ground, which the founder joked often used to make jokes whenever he visted the morning assembly while I was still in the school. He would say, "This is all of the exercise you need in your lifetime. Going up and down this natural hill is the best thing this school can offer you."

But that really was not the best thing. Asides the well-structured classrooms, fancy sports arena that only the school athletes were allowed to make use of, and the international standard teaching and teachers, there was a direct access to the Ogun river. The school had its very own riverfront.

"Ah, the sweet smell of summer holiday," I closed my eyes and breathed in the bouts of breeze that blew my way. It was a few minutes past nine and the Lagos sun had decided to not be merciful any longer. "I just know this will be the best holiday ever."

"I don't know about you, but going to school during holidays has to be the worst thing any sane person on the planet could ever think of." I opened my eyes and looked to my side to see Ike wearing a very marring frown. He had his eyes on the administrative building of the school, looking at it like it was the last place he wanted to be.

"Did anyone actually force you to be here?" I countered, remembering that one minute over the phone he said he was not going to be attending the summer lessons, and the next he was sending a message simply stating he would be joining me. It was custom for Sopuluchi to attend the lessons, which I knew was a reason for Ike not to attend. But I could think of nothing that would convince him to change his mind.

Instead of giving a response to my question, he shrugged and got out of the vehicle, leaving me behind. Such a gentleman, I was about to exit the car when Odion called my name, sitting uncomfortably just to look me in the eye . I had the idea he was about to inform me of a document or the procedure in registering, I was wrong.

"Ehn, you cannot go in without us. I don't want those boys having some idea." He gestured to my outfit with his mobile phone, wearing his signature frown again.

"Lord," I was glad no other person was at the car park. He was a menace, and I hoped his future daughters did not get to suffer how much I had suffered just this morning. "Can you just drop it with boys this, boys that?" I kissed my teeth and got out, slamming the door hard. I blamed my mother for not being the one to drop me off, everything would have been easy. Get into school by myself, register attend classes, find my love, live my life. It did not take long for my brothers to match my strides though, one at my left and one at my right like some sort of bodyguard protecting a celebrity even though there was literally no one around. Before I could get to the entrance door, Akhere had pushed it open, bowing his head with one hand stretched forth.

"After you my lady," he failed at his fake British accent.

Instead of a thank you, I said "You sound like a lazy butler."

Odion snickered behind me but made no attempt to say anything. We all walked towards the registration room in silence, or I was quiet while Odion and Akhere saw something to reminded me that they had schooled here for the six years of their life, and it had been a big mistake on my part to choose to go to a boarding school instead of finishing my education at Wellington with them.

Finally, we got to the room, Ike stood beside it, playing with a folded white paper. As soon as he saw me, he dropped it into his school bag sitting by his leg on the ground.

"Isn't the floor dirty?" I gestured with my head to the bag.

"At least it is cleaner than your boarding house," he responded, earning a couple of hoots from my brothers. I chuckled, mouthing a 'wow, nice one. I will get you back though'

Jamuike wore a bright smile, proud of the cheers from his supporters. "Mrs. Adekunle is waiting for you, to register. Then we can go to our class, and they have already started, so be quick."

"Mrs. Adekunle is around?" Odion suddenly lit up and rushed past me into the room, with Akhere on his heels too. I frowned, seeing the strange excitement of my brothers over a staff of the school. I thought they were just intelligent lumber heads who went to school for the sake of their popularity and clashed with teaching and non-teaching staffs. The last time I was in the school, they had a constant reputation of getting in trouble. My curiosity led me inside the pristine white office that housed a variety of files on brown shelves, the school logo and three tables. One by the entrance, the second by the farther end, and the third by a door with the inscription 'Head of Administration'.

The tables were empty of occupants save for the third where a woman who looked to be in her late forties sat. My brothers were gleefully happy to see her, talking loudly one after the other.

"...like that, we have decided to taka a leap year..." I walked towards them, hearing Akhere speak, before Odion completed.

"It is better to go to university when we are eighteen."

I knew of this decision, which bothered me because that meant they would be around longer. For every of my SS3 holidays. Plus, we would be going to the university together since there was nothing that would make me choose to take a year off my education. I got shivers, and they were not good.

"Good afternoon ma," I gave the best new girl smile that I could muster.

The woman brought her attention to me, wearing a professional smile that said 'yes, how can I help you', before it shifted to a full grin. "Wait, this is tiny Oze that was always running away from you boys?"

Both my brothers nodded at the same time. I looked to them, expecting them to give an explanation, maybe magically write it on their forehead about how this woman remembered me while I did not have a single memory of her.

"Oze, wow." She gestured for me to come closer. "You are so grown up. How old are you now?"

"Technically sixteen, if we are following the year," I started but Akhere stepped in.

"Don't mind her. She is fifteen on the dot."

"But my birthday is this month."

"Doesn't matter—"

Mrs. Adekunle shushed Akhere, pulling me to come closer. "A pretty lady like herself can be whatever age she chooses to be."

"Wow," she went on. "You were so tiny I believed you would be a short girl and look at you looking like a female basketballer."

It was Odion's turn to speak, but at least this time he was nice. "She plays football actually, and she is good." I started to smile at his brotherly compliment when he added to his statement. "Enough. She is good enough."

Nice my foot.

"That is good to hear. How is your school treating you?"

"Very well ma," a quick glance at the wall clock told me it was time to hurry up with the registration and get to class. "I came for the registration of the summer lesson, and I think I am late already." The last part was like a nervous question from my lips.

That seemed to snap her attention back to what her job was. "Yes, that is true." She struggled with the drawers attached to her table, jamming, and hitting it briefly. Odion and Akhere both offered to help her, and she let them after she pushed her chair backwards to give them space to struggle with it too. Soon enough they, meaning Akhere because Odion has no single ounce of physical strength, pulled opened the drawer. Mrs. Adekunle fished out a form and handed it to me. "You have to wait for the HOA to come back. She went on a brief inspection round the classrooms to ensure they are well settled in for the lessons."

"HOA?" I asked confused and Mrs. Adekunle pointed to the inscription on the door. "Oh, Head of Administration. Where do I wait?"

"Outside, like how every normal student of this school waits," Odion smirked at me, and once again Mrs. Adekunle became a favorite staff for shushing one of the twins twice in the space of five ten minutes.

"A pretty girl like her should not even be touched by this harsh sun. You can wait inside the office."

My brothers started to object and complain about how they were not allowed to go into the office when the HOA was not around, but Mrs. Adekunle ignored them, opening the door for me instead. I smiled at her but ensured to give a condescending smirk at them. I got to do something they were never allowed to do on the first day of my summer holiday. Perfect.

If it were possible for a place to be whiter than white, that is what I would have used to describe the office I stepped into. It was large and had only one table with two visitors chairs settled in front of it. There were white colored bookshelves outlining the walls of the office. As I took my sit on one of the chairs, I was able to make out the images and the words on the hanging frames. The first from the right was a man with tribal marks going down his cheeks, it said Head of Departments. The next was the governor of Lagos, followed thereafter by a larger frame of the President of the Country. Next to it, in regular size was the picture of the founder of the school, Wellington himself, then the present principal and on the last frame sat the face of the Head of Administration.

I bit the inner of my lips, looking at every object on the table, files, papers, pens. I felt uncomfortable in the silence of the office and started to wish that my brothers had followed me in when I shook my head out of that thought. That was a bad bad wish.

Soon, my mind wandered to the previous hour at the Akubunduns house, particularly to the moment Sopuluchi spoke to me. I replayed it over and over in my head, feeling flusters of butterflies in my stomach. I bit down on my lips and giggled over and over, careful not to get so loud that Mrs. Adekunle would wonder if I was sane.

I wished the HOA would come quickly so that I could settle down and begin to make the best of all the time I had in this month. I would get a seat next to Sopuluchi so that he could see me up close and have a whiff of the perfume I got from Daddy's wardrobe. My roommates had said that a good smell was one of the secret to creating a lasting memory, and the sense of smell was one of the powerful sense the human being had.

I thought up scenarios where Sopuluchi would pass by me and would stop, saying 'That smells divine,' then he would look to my face for the first—second I guess—time and fall deeply in love with me. It would be as perfect as he was, and we would have the perfect life together. I felt my cheeks hurt from smiling too hard, and I resisted the urge to squeal by using my school bag to cover my mouth.

"Quite amusing to see somebody smiling so hard in this city of pain and suffering," a deep, articulate voice rang from behind me. My first thought was that it was the HOA and she would have seen me act stupid because of my daydream.

I turned with my eyes on the ground, the best way to show humility to people older than you. I wore a quick detailed apology at the tip of my tongue, "I am really sorry, I got bored and started to remember the movie I watched last night and—" the words stretched in my mouth as I finally saw the owner of the voice. Dark skin boy, full hair, black clothes that accentuated his tall height. Silver chains outlined his neck, wrist and the waist of his trouser. Most of all, his nails were coated black and looked better than mine.

A frown found it's way between my brows, "And who are you?"

"Your best nightmare." He didn't miss a beat, answering immediately, possibly knowing that would be the first question I would ask because why not. His words were cringe, but his voice and how he promised the words with some type of delicate accent that I could only concluded to be northern Nigeria made it less cringe and more divine.

He sounded like an angel.

"You sound like an angel," I did not know when I blurted it out, with gawking eyes. He wore an amused look with a brow raised at me, and that was when I realized what I had said. "Oh shit." 

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hiya, another At the End of August Wednesday is here again. I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I will make sure that next weeks update is a double update.

QOTD: has your daydreaming ever gotten you in trouble?

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