a double update tonight bc this chapter is short :)

035| Damned, Diamond Necklace I

~K O M I S O L A~

Forfeiting the competition gave me more peace of mind than I needed. It was official; I was not going to the Jacqueline Hennessey International Conference. Father had asked me to lay low and that was exactly what I would be doing. Running in front of a crowd? In front of more strangers?

No, thank you.

I made my way to class, the corridors and hallway very silent since everyone was out on the field. When I got to my class, my heart almost jumped out of my chest. Why?

Because a tall guy had appeared at my front, coming out from the Science class whom I recognized as Ibrahim.

He was wearing the school's customized sweatshirt, the white collar of the school shirt resting on the round neck of the sweatshirt. His hands were in his pocket and his eyes had this warm look that immediately had an effect on you.

I stepped back in fear and moved out of his way to enter the class when he called out.

"Are you Komisola? The girl who just ran on the field? I'm Ibrahim. I've always wanted to talk to you."

Last week in the ladies, I heard some female students talking about how handsome Ibrahim was and how the boys in our class were totally, in their words, hot. They also mentioned how he was an Abdelnour and how their family were born with good looks and brains.

But what surprised me wasn't the fact that the Ibrahim was here right now. What surprised me was the fact that he was talking to me and asking me questions with a smile.

I had to point to myself to ask, "Me?"

"Yes," he nodded. There was something really cool about him. Like he was really composed. "You're an amazing runner. I can't believe you beat Ameenah."

You can't believe I beat...

He couldn't believe I beat Ameenah? Meaning?

"Well, I believe." I curtly replied and was about entering class but as usual...

"Wait,"

What, what, what?

"You've competed before in CH right?"

I nodded in reply.

"Take care of yourself."

I stopped in my steps and looked up, whipping my head around only to find Ibrahim's tall figure striding down the hall. What did he just say?

Those four words were like arrows that attacked my heart and made me think all over again. It made time stop and made my eyes well up but I didn't give in. Just four words had me this miserable and frozen.

"Thank you." I said even if he was no longer here. I entered class and saw that the class was empty, only bags scattered everywhere. On tables, chairs and floors. For a second, my mind traveled to the calm looking boy I had just walked in on and I wondered what he was doing here. If he was in my class, then definitely he wasn't in this department. Why was he here when everybody wasn't?

I went to my seat and sat down, but my eyes drifted to the pink note glued to the corner of Hanniel's table.

I read the last lines. "You're not pretty boy, you're golden boy."

This was written on the day of Senior Feranmi's demise. I had seen Ameenah and Hanniel walking to class hand in hand and while Hanniel was walking, Ameenah paused to write something on a pink note on the wall and caught up to Hanniel when she was done. The guy hadn't even noticed when she plastered the note on his back. A very unobservant person he was.

Yusrah who had also been watching was the one who handed the small note to him.

And the way he smiled when he was reading the note beside me, I almost cringed.

Their relationship was weird. Everyone knew Hanniel didn't speak to Dabirah and Hassan because of me and they really hated me for it.

But Ameenah spoke to Hanniel and they both remained friends. He didn't see that as questionable. If only he knew her true nature.

Today was worst. The way Ameenah stared at Hanniel like he was some sort of treasure or someone she was in love with. It wouldn't take a fool much straining of the brain to know she liked him. And goodness, how she made it obvious.

I stared out the window and saw Ameenah running on the field alongside Dabirah. They had both made the cut while I forfeited. I just hoped Ameenah wasn't going to confront me like one year ago.

That girl had secrets. Dark, deep secrets that I feared were worst than mine.

~

Practice was over and everyone started trooping in. I missed my peace and quiet immediately because of their loudness.

Things got louder when Yusrah shouted. She always shouted. But this was different.

"Hei!"

I looked at her and her bag was wide open in her hands. Her eyes screamed panic and alarm. I looked down to find all the contents in her bag emptied on the floor.

"Wetin dey do you? You dey find something?" CK stepped in and teased, slightly pushing Yusrah on her shoulder who snapped.

"Do I look like I'm playing here?! Abeg, get the fuck! Who stole my phone?! And my diamond necklace?! Who stole it, o?! Who is the thief?!"

"We have a thief in this class?" Someone whispered.

"Stop shouting, guy!" CK hissed and scrunched his face in disgust. "No be phone wey you give me make I help you hold be this? Dey shout like tout."

"You're stupid." Yusrah raised her hand to her skull to illustrate. "Give me, abeg!" In anger, she snatched the phone from CK's hand who went back to his guys, them Jean, Tiamiyu and the rest.

"But my diamond necklace isn't here! We have a thief in this class! I kept it in its case in my backpack and now I can't find it. The case is empty!"

"We're all rich." Tiami stated in a blank tone.

"Some students are here on scholarship oh!" Jean chipped in, casting a mocking glance at one timid girl in our class, Sarai who everyone knew as the 'scholar who walks the school'. She was a transfer student who had gotten a scholarship in CH, all thanks to her academic intelligence. But of course, no one would consider that.

They'd rather mock a girl because she didn't have money.

"That's your problem! Just release my necklace abeg! It's very special to me."

"Who was here when we were all in the field?" Dabirah suddenly asked. A ghost smirk lingered on her lips after her statement and she concentrated her gaze on me.

"Why are you looking at me?" I asked and took a step back. What was she trying to say? That I stole it?

"Wire," Dabirah answered sarcastically. Just then, Hanniel entered the class and his smile dropped when he noticed the tension in class.

"Is everything okay? Why's everyone so tense?" His eyebrows pulled together in a state of confusion.

"Yusrah's looking for her diamond necklace and Komisola here has stolen it." Jean answered and when Hanniel shot him a glare, he raised his hands in surrender. "What? Dabi said it, not me."

Hanniel shook his head and walked over to me. He reached out to hold me but then he remembered and withdrew his hand.

"What are they saying, Komisola?"

"I didn't steal anything, Dabi." I ignored Hanniel and looked straight at Dabirah. "Not every one is petty like you."

In a swift motion, the sound of a slap echoed in the classroom and I felt stinging pain on my left cheek. Dabirah had slapped me.

"Dabirah!" Hanniel shouted, voice thick with anger.

"Jesus!" Someone whispered.

"This slap doesn't need sound effect, I swear!" Laughter followed.

Stupid people.

"Petty? Me, petty? You're one to talk, Komisola Adedire! Fucking daughter of a General Overseer!" Dabirah spat in my face. Her chest rose and fell with each heave of anger, rage burning with intensity. Her eyes bulged out of their sockets and her fists were clenched. Then she calmed down.

"You know what? I won't even argue with you." She raised her hands and stepped back. "If you're not the one, then let Yusrah check your backpack."

"Even if she stole it, it's none of your business, Dabirah. It's Yusrah who should be affected here, for all I know." Hanniel stepped in between I and Dabirah. "And never raise your hand against Komisola."

"Just shut it, Aussie." Dabirah hissed. "Should I search your bag if you're innocent?"

I threw my backpack at her and she smirked, ready to open it. She chucked my phone at me and emptied my backpack in front of everyone. The new medication I had gotten made a loud noise as the containers landed on the floor.

"Even the sister is using drugs. Like brother, like sister." CK laughed out and slapped 'Miyu aggressively.

"Those are panic attack drugs, CK. Shut your mouth." Hanniel glared at him.

"Of course you would know. You're the boyfriend." CK wiggled his eyebrows at Hanniel who didn't budge to his stylish hint of us dating. He wasn't finding anything funny at the moment.

All my notebooks were thrown out of my backpack and I couldn't even feel angry because at this point, anger was useless.

Dabirah didn't find it. She really didn't.

Until she stooped low, literally, to the ground and begin searching my notebooks.

What exactly was the meaning of this show?

I wanted to stop her, to push her hands away from my belongings but at the same time, I wanted her to be shamed, to be proven wrong. She was so sure that it was in my backpack that I wanted her to find out there was nothing like a necklace in my backpack.

"Where is the damned necklace now, Dabi-"

"I told you to shut it, Aussie." Dabirah stood up and the next few minutes played slowly. I was rendered speechless as she dangled a shining, neat diamond necklace at our faces. "Because this is the necklace right here. Got anything to say?"

The whole classroom went silent and so did my brain at that moment. It shut down totally. The silence was so loud that you could hear a pin drop and someone exhaling and inhaling.

"We've got a fucking thief in our class!" That was Tiamiyu and immediately I felt my eyes sting with hot tears.

Fuck this.