my exams are over!

034| Running Is Not A Sport

~K O M I S O L A~

I continued to read the words engraved into the pages of the book, the whole class was noisy. It was first period but there was no teacher teaching.

For a second when I looked up, I saw people chatting with each others and I remembered that they were friends. I had forgotten what it felt like to have friends.

Not that I ever had any but I used to be the type who related to everyone, no one and every one were my friends. Of course I had enemies, but they laid low. I had rivals on track like Dabirah Oluwa and Ameenah Ahmed but it was only so little they could do to me. I guess my situation became a catalyst to a terrible to the then future.

I tried to remember what my life was before that, but I couldn't, honestly.

All I ever remembered was my childhood, having quiet dinner while Mother and Father spoke to Davies like he was their only child. Davies was a star, an academic scholar and a popular basketball player in CH. Everyone knew Davies. He had everyone at his beck and call. Davies was the king of his world while I was just his shadow. Either you knew me as the daughter of a General Overseer or the sister to Davies Matthias Adedire.

It was never Komisola Queen Adedire.

Even our parents favored Davies more than they did me.

I grew up running with little to no acquaintances. One time I almost made a friend who died due to leukaemia. I had another friend who had a twin sister. They both attended CH. He was half-caste, but in JSS3, he suddenly left CH and no one heard about him. Rumors had it that his father died or that he went back to his hometown.

Friends weren't my thing.

Everything became worst when Davies happened.

I should've known though.

To outsiders, Davies was sweet, kind, humble and caring. He was loved by everyone. And he could've kept that reputation if only he didn't indulge himself in drugs, if only he didn't keep bad friends. I had no enmity against my brother then. I was fine with being his shadow or no one at all.

The first time Davies had inappropriately touched me, it was strange. Something about it felt wrong and I gently pushed his hands away but seeing that my parents were there and they didn't say anything about it, I was convinced that there was nothing wrong about it.

It escalated pretty fast. When he started doing worse to me, he started doing worse to his drugs too. Davies would physically abuse me whenever I refused and would force me to shut up if any thing ever got out to our parents.

He was the one who recorded a video of us and sent it to a group chat that had his friends in it while being under the influence of drugs. To him, it was a dare but the whole school found about it. I thought he felt remorseful when he left for Canada but seeing him now assured me that he didn't feel a bit remorseful for his actions.

"I've been told to tell everyone to go to the field!" Yusrah entered the class, shouting in everyone's ears as she walked around the class, repeating the same information over and over again. "Go to the field! Go to the field oh! If Senior Zara should come here, I'll be held responsible! Go to the field, abeg!"

Today was my rematch with Dabirah and Ameenah. Truthfully, running against people wasn't something I liked any more. Before, I used to compete in races and in events but now... Running was more of a coping mechanism than a sport for me.

I hadn't seen Ameenah anywhere today. My eyes scanned the whole field as I sat from the bleachers until I saw walk her towards Dabirah at the last row at the front.

"Ameenah! My fencer!" Tiamiyu yelled suddenly, startling everyone including Ameenah. I watched in confusion. Everyone knew she was a fencer, why did he have to shout?

"I can't believe you won a gold medal! Gah, you're amazing! If the Principal hears about this, you're definitely student of the month." Jean walked into the scene and placed a hand over Tiami's shoulder.

"It's all over the news, I swear." Tiami awed and breathlessly stared at Ameenah like she was some goddess or something.

He was right, though. I'd seen Ameenah's big win on a news channel at home. That was the channel Mother and Father left showing before they left and no one bothered to change it. Which explains why I saw it.

"Track runners to the field in 3 seconds!" Senior Zara began shouting from the field while reading her clipboard as usual. Something she would discard once field practice was over.

"Thank you guys so much, I need to get to the field." Ameenah hurriedly said and ran to the field. Reluctantly, I stood up and went to the field also, Dabirah following.

That's when I saw Hanniel. He'd been at my back all along on the bleachers?

His eyes were glued to his phone. I shifted a bit and looked back only to see Ameenah staring at him. Her focus was solely concentrated on him.

Okay...

Ameenah broke the stare and turned to Senior Zara who was saying something that entered nowhere near my ears.

My mind was instead registered on what I had just seen, and it was really hard to decipher the emotions in Ameenah's eyes.

They were too intense and heavy, but guarded at the same time.

Did she like him?

~H A N N I E L~

I hadn't spoken to Ameenah all day, because I hadn't seen her. We were in the arvo and everyone was training again. We were leaving for Abuja this month. I wasn't quite sure how to feel about that.

That asides, I never knew CH was so huge and broad in the area of sports. There were too many sports here in CH, with different buildings assigned for each.

The natatorium, the fencing studio, the basketball court, the tennis court, the track field, the football field, the badminton court and more...

CH was wonderful.

The time I gave myself a tour of the school, I actually got lost and a girl in Grade 9 helped me get back to class. I didn't even finish the self tour.

I typed away on my phone, searching for new music. I decided to stop when my eyes landed on strange, foreign songs that I had never seen before in my life in one playlist. Songs I would never imagine having on my phone.

Some of them had titles written in a foreign language and even the artist's name.

The first person my mind went to was Ameenah. She must've sent all these songs to my phone. I wondered what her obsession with this sort of music was, though.

I plugged in my air pods and tapped on one of them, that had the word 'BTBT' for the title and probably like three names as the artists.

Okay...

A loud whistle distracted my attention and I looked up at the field only to see Ameenah, Dabirah and Komisola racing like their lives depended on it.

Ameenah was around?

Before I could place any thought on that, my eyes immediately drifted to Komisola who was leaving Dabi and Ameenah behind with a mad gap. That girl was a beast on the field!

Her head was up high, her legs showcasing after one another as they moved with agility and speed. She was even better than the last time we had practice. Just how?

Ameenah soon caught up to her and everyone was watching. It seemed like a huge competition suddenly, not just practice.

Dabi was just a feet behind Ameenah, also very fast but not able to leave Ameenah with a gap.

The competition seemed like it was between Ameenah and Komisola.

But Komisola reached the white line first.

She won.

But her next action shocked me.

Immediately, she left the field and came up to the bleachers to drink from a bottle of water she had brought.

"You did pretty well," I commented as I watched her. She was a different kind of pretty when exhausted, I noticed. Like how she drank water to how she inhaled and exhaled... Okay, I'll just stop.

"Thanks." Was all she said after dropping her water bottle and returning to the field. Abruptly, I stood up and followed her. "But just so you know, I'm forfeiting."

"What do you mean, forfeit?" I asked her. I was confused. She was so good at running and now, she was going to forfeit a competition she could participate in?

"Senior Zara," Komisola called out to the Headgirl who turned to around to stare at her, eyes lacking emotions and soulless. "I'd like to forfeit the competition. Thank you."

With a slight bow, Komisola turned around and I held her hand to stop her. People were watching. "What are you doing?" I whispered.

"Why are you forfeiting?" The Headgirl asked and Komisola answered without turning back.

"Running is not a sport for me."

That was the simple answer that had everyone staring in silence and confusion and Komisola went back to the bleachers, picked up her water bottle and went back to the school building.

This girl never ceased to intrigue me.

~c h a p t e r  b r e a k~

One year ago, she had decided to compete in a race. She had never viewed running as a form of competition. She wanted to try something new.

She was on her way back to class, eyes studying her white sneakers instead of looking straight ahead. She stopped when she was another pair of sneakers at her front and she looked up to see Ameenah Ahmed, the popular fencer and track runner. Komisola wondered how she managed to play both sports together. To her, it was tiring.

"I heard you're joining the competition." Ameenah started. "Why?"

"I want to." Komisola moved out of her way and tried to walk past her when she was suddenly pulled back. Ameenah's nails dug into her skin, really deep and painful.

"You want to? What do you think I am, a fool? Komisola, you've never participated in competitions. Don't make things hard for me."

"You're scared that I'll make things hard for you. I see." Komisola looked away and nodded in understanding.

"You really are disgusting. Your presence is repulsing, honestly." Ameenah sneered, glaring venomously at Komisola. "Don't join the race, Komisola. Don't even try to steal my spotlight."

But it was too late. Komisola won the race and Ameenah ended up hating her more.