009| SIMPLE GESTURES, SIMPLE SMILES~

triggering content ahead in the chapter, please skip if you aren't comfortable. THANK YOU FOR A HUNDRED READS MY LOVESSS🥺🤍

~K O M I S O L A~

I was running.

Running as fast as I could.

Tears spilled out of my eyes.

I felt dirty.

I felt like filth.

We lived in an estate now, there was more than enough free road to exercise.

But I wasn't really exercising.

I was running.

Trying my best to escape from reality while I kept crying.

I continued to scrub myself clean, harder and harder that my skin hurt.

I wanted to wash the memories away.

Everything.

All of them.

"Come on, Komi," my brother pulled me closer. "You can't lie to me. I know you really want this."

I shook my head immediately.

"No, you do." His voice became stern. My eyes flickered to the bag of weed on the table beside his bed. I looked away, feeling doomed once again.

"Mum and Dad aren't around. Which means, I have you all to myself." He unzipped my gown, exposing my bare chest. "Oh my..."

He reached for my bare chest, from the back. My eyes stung with hot tears that were threatening to spill out.

I couldn't escape.

He would slap me if I did.

He had done it several times.

Painful, deafening slaps.

I flinched as he cupped my breasts and inched closer. Too close to the extent that I could feel his bulge on my back.

The tears poured out.

"You're so endowed, Komi, seriously." He told me, whispered in my ears.

"You were so small back then, but now you've started growing." He continued. "Look at you. You're thirteen now. Puberty hit you good, didn't it?"

"You mustn't tell anyone. Not even Mum and Dad." He warned, his voice cold once again. "Not that they'll believe you-"

"-But you must never."

I tasted salty liquid on my tongue.

Alongside cold water.

I hugged myself and let the water run all over my body.

My body which I hated so much.

I hated my body.

So very much.

All because of my brother.

All because of him.

All because of Davies Matthias Adedire.

☔︎♪☔︎♪☔︎♪☔︎

Only the sounds of forks clattering and gulping of water could be heard.

The dinner was as eerie as it was quiet.

With the stone cold look on Father's face, I knew it was just a matter of time before...

"Since when did you start hanging out with boys?"

I swallowed. Refused to look up.

"Your teacher called me today. You're hanging out with a new transfer student. Are you that desperate?"

"Look at me, I am talking to you!" Father's voice boomed through the whole house.

I looked up slowly. He was glaring at me like he was going to strangle me to death any time soon.

"What did I tell you about laying low?"

Then he laughed.

A sick, harsh, cold laughter.

"Under the rain," he spat. "You're under the rain with a boy. You're in a romance novel, ba?"

I shook my head in response, shakily maintaining his death glare.

"You were the one who complained about the way your brother touched you, about how he played with you. Simple gestures, simple smiles. You mistook it for something else-"

-He sexually abused me, Father. Countless times-

"-But now, you can play lovey lovey with a boy."

"Adebayo, it's okay." Mother spoke up, placing a hand over Father's while looking at me.

"Drop that food and go to your room. You can eat from my money and still go ahead to spoil my reputation. You this disgraceful..."

I pushed my chair back.

Sure that I was going to cry any minute from now.

But I had already cried enough in the shower.

"Thank you, sir," I said. Bowed my head and began to go upstairs.

꧁꧂

~H A N N I E L~

"Chemistry, first period? Abi shey, you're playing with me? Ugh."

That was Ameenah, who dropped her head on the table with a loud groan.

"Don't be lazy," I chuckled.

"I agree with Ameenah, sha." Dabirah spoke up. "It's like this timetable was made to torture us! We're having Maths after this! Double period!"

"On a Tuesday oh," Hassan added. He then hissed out.

I threw my head back in laughter. "You guys are just lazy." I told them, still laughing.

Being a Science student, I wouldn't exactly say that I had fun with Science subjects. I didn't even know what my future ambition was.

But I was better in Mathematics than in English, so basically...

No to the Arts & Humanities department.

Meanwhile, I struggled not to look at Grey Eyes—Komisola—at my right.

She was being so eerily quiet today.

Not that she was any different yesterday but at least she said few words to me...

Few words that you counted.

What were you expecting? A friendly introduction and a new beginning?

Come on, come off it.

"Greetings, everyone!"

I looked around and everyone was standing up. I did the same, not greeting but just standing.

The teacher, whom I knew to be called Mr. Jarah dropped his books on the table in front of him.

"Good morning, class. Well, we're starting with Revision for today. Next class, we'll begin with the real work because we have so much to cover up."

"Unlike last term," Mr. Jarah continued. "Where all of you became relaxed, I hope that doesn't repeat itself this term. Chemistry is an easy subject-"

Dabirah sniffed, "Na so."

Sucks to be an Australian.

"-But if you keep picturing it as a hard subject, then you'll never really make any progress. So that being said," Mr. Jarah smiled at us. "Welcome to your first term in SS 2."

Five periods later, I was in the cafeteria.

With my new friends.

Turned out they were the elites of SS 2. The most intelligent, most popular and probably the richest kids in my class.

They weren't stuck up.

I probably didn't know them well enough to evaluate their characters.

But I knew they weren't stuck up.

Back in Australia, I had only one friend, Marc. Was my true friend because the others either wanted to be friends with me because of my money, looks and popularity.

The cafeteria was sort of noisy.

In the middle of the cafeteria, Hassan showed me the senior whom I had a striking resemblance to.

I didn't see the resemblance. Not until I looked closer.

We sort of had the same hairstyle, his hair not just as full as mine, but shinier and curlier. We had the same complexion also.

I was told his name was Solomon Williams.

And then, how we had two out of the top ten teenage female models in Africa attending our school; I couldn't pronounce the name of one out of the two.

And then Hassan revealed he had a crush on the other one, Amyra Abdelnour.

I was also told about how the Head girl was probably the coldest person on Earth(not sure she could be as cold as Grey Eyes) and was enemies with the Head boy.

Ironic.

I was also told the three hottest—in Ameenah's words—boys of CH, were the Head boy, Senior Solomon and the boyfriend to the Head girl.

And then I knew, social hierarchy did run here in CH too.

~
it's how komisola's mind travels from one place to another every time.
and safe to say, since i've begun writing, never cried for a character but i did today.
while writing where komi was being sexually assaulted by her brother.

btw, left some hints here.
hanniel is quick. he already knows the invisible rule of social hierarchy.
characters like Solomon Williams, Amyra Abdelnour, the Head boy and the boyfriend to the Head girl should be familiar for OLID readers.
anyway, i'm afraid i am saying too much already :)
bye my luvsss, <3