~Alya
I basically ran into Venos high once I stepped out of my limo, not even taking a backward glance.
I hastened my pace with each step I took, you would actually think I had something important to do or someone really special to see.
But neither was the case. In fact, I had no one to see. You could call it excitement of being in final year, but then you're wrong. Truth is, I honestly couldn't care less.
I just hated crowds and there was soon going to be one hell of a crowd, one of the reasons why I had arrived really early.
Rumors had it that Genevieve Chidi, daughter of popular singer, Demi Chidi and also a star herself, would start schooling in Venos and boy did she have a lot of fans, the school went crazy over the news you would wonder if it was the first time having a celebrity in the school.
In fact I couldn't count the number of stars in the school but then, there were always these wannabes who wouldn't miss an opportunity to be associated with one.
On a norms, I would be the least interested by her arrival, after all, she was two classes below me. I would have still been uninterested if she had been in the same class as me.
I wouldn't have even been so bothered by the crowd, but I couldn't risk a chance encounter especially in such a crowd.
Why? Because we were already familiar with each other, she even thought of me as a friend, but I just took her as another one of those people in my life.
My mom was friends with her father at a point and she used to visit a lot when I was still homeschooled until my mom decided that I could attend an actual school in my Senior Secondary 1.
She was one of the few people I would mostly have around and the same was the case for her as she was also homeschooled. But that seemed like a really long time ago, long before we moved out of the neighborhood the Chidi's also lived in.
And moving for me meant leaving everything and everyone behind, whether a boyfriend or best friend. I was especially glad to be rid of Genevieve who was one of the hugest pests I had had the misfortune of meeting.
But it wasn't really that easy to cut off someone from your life. I did see frequent messages sent to my old number from her, messages which I only read without giving replies. Then life had to play a cruel game on me and drop Genevieve back into my life in the worst situation possible. I had already made a mental picture of what would happen if she saw me amidst the crowd.
The first thing she would probably do on seeing me would be to scream, not even minding the fact that we were in a crowd, and literally jump on me and that would definitely cause a lot of attention.
Firstly, how did we know each other? Cause our parents were friends. Then who the hell is my mom and how the hell did she get to be friends with Demi Chidi?!
Well, she's a movie star. Miraculously turned Hollywood's heart throb after saying goodbye to the adult film industry, over two hundred million Instagram followers and on her way to winning an Oscar award. So basically, she's really famous.
So at least more than half the population of the school knew her. But then, I and a few others really close were the only ones aware of the fact that I was her daughter.
Not even the school was aware of that fact as my late aunt had taken charge of everything that had to do with my registration. The flashy cars I came in wouldn't even be a hint cause almost everybody in the school was from a fucking rich background.
But then it would be an explosion if anybody found out. I just had this feeling that a couple of backward people would keep judging me because of her and I wasn't such a fan of attention either so I would rather let the sleeping dog lie.
Besides chasing after stupid things had always come as a priority over her daughter. Firstly, it was her dealing with drugs and struggling with addiction. Then when she finally got her senses, she went after her career and then boom, she realized that she was actually a mother and magically appeared in my life when I was eleven. After spending more than half my life living with my grandmother, Ami Tara simply became synonymous to another one of those people in my life.
I was still kilometers away from the school as I tried to make it across the surprisingly large parking lot. I guess I only realized how large the lot really was that day. I regretted hopping down from the car at the gate. I walked faster not wanting Genevieve to suddenly arrive and see me sprinting across the parking lot like a maniac.
When I found out that she would start schooling in Venos the night before, I basically had a panic attack. I even considered messaging her, but what exactly would I have said?
'Hey, so sorry for ignoring all your messages the past few years, I heard you would start schooling in Venos high. I also school there but I would love it if you do me a favor and pretend not to know me and never mention anything about me being Ami Tara's daughter.'
I would sound like a total jerk and there was no way in hell she would have understood me.
When I paused my thoughts, I realized that I was only halfway past the parking lot. Before I eventually made it out of the lot, Genevieve would probably have arrived.
My pace soon reduced to a jog since my legs were hurting badly from attempting to run across a parking lot the size of a stadium in a tight straight cut skirt without it ripping apart.
It was just then that I became totally aware of my surroundings, aware enough to hear the faint and slightly distant screeching of tyres. I waved the sound off as another student being dropped off at school.
I kept walking until I really heard something, more like the hum of a car coming from behind me. I turned just in time to see a blue Audi speeding towards me. I was confused for a moment before realization hit me.
I didn't know whether I had hopped or dived, but the next place I saw myself was on the tarred floor. I had scrapped my hand when I landed on the floor leaving a small scratch which I was sure that Stephanie would make out as a big deal.
I looked up to see that the blue Audi had screeched to a stop a few meters from where I was. I got up in anger ignoring every ache I felt and marched towards the car angry that my not so heavy school bag still managed to slow me down.
I noticed before I dived out of the way that the glasses and windscreen of the car were all tinted. So I couldn't even catch a glimpse of the lunatic who almost killed me.
I went straight for the driver door and pulled the handle. It wasn't locked as I had initially expected. The door opened revealing a guy and a girl seating on his laps while holding onto him so tightly she was basically digging her nails into his skin.
Her face was buried in his chest in... Fear? I couldn't tell which exactly although she did seem rattled, rattled enough not to have noticed that someone had opened the door. The boy's face wasn't entirely visible as his face was turned to the other side.
"Hey!" I said to gain their attention but only ended up getting the boy's attention. The oval faced bronze toned idiot who almost got me killed.
The guy was actually my classmate and he presumably went by the name Ikechukwu or was it Ifechukwu?
"Can you not drive? I think I already have the answer to that which is a huge NO! Then why did you get behind the steering if you couldn't drive?! You almost killed me because you were too busy doing any and everything other than the driving you should have been doing! And you gave me a fucking scratch which means I would have to sit through a lecture given by Stephanie! That is one freaking hell of punishment especially on a school night. And you probably aren't even half bothered about the fact that you almost committed murder due to your recklessness!" I yelled.
"I..." He started speaking and suddenly went silent.
"Ifeanyi," I heard a faint whisper probably the girl sitting on his lap. It was when she started getting up from his laps to get out of the car that I realized that his name was Ifeanyi.
'Ifeanyi' I mentally repeated the name.
Soon the girl got out of the car and for the first time, I saw her face. Pretty dark skin, large brown eyes, pretty face with really nice box braids and definitely not as slim as I was.
I was definitely not the kind to keep track of the people I meet, least of all their names but she had been in every single class I had been in since I had entered the school so I just had to know her name.
Chiamaka Ugonabo, a massive drama queen and just another one of my annoying classmates.
"Sorry," she said while smiling at me. I glared at her. If she knew how much I wanted to murder her at that moment, she would hastily drop her smile.
"Would you be saying sorry to me if I was dead?? And you..." I turned to Ifechukwu, sorry, Ifeanyi. "You are suddenly dumb right? What the hell am I even saying, you probably have always been! I really wonder why I am still wasting my time with you guys," I wondered aloud before leaving the two lunatics.
My class was empty when I got there. I took a seat at the back and started reading a novel.
By the time the first period was about to begin I heard a massive noise and I already knew what it would be about.
At that point more than half of the class rushed out leaving only a few people, including me, in the class. Even the teen popstar in our set, Alesscia Evans, left the class with the rest. I wouldn't say she exactly rushed though.
She more of catwalked probably expecting people to clear the path for her as she walked through. And despite the hurry to see Genevieve, a way was still made for her. She probably felt like she was walking on a ramp as she left the class.
Poor her! She was lucky I wasn't one of those leaving the class cause there was no way I would even move out of the way let alone making a path for "her majesty".
The people left in the class were either nerds who didn't want to leave their school work, or those who felt too big or rather were as disinterested as myself by the fact that there was yet another star in the school.
I bent my head on my locker and continued reading my story. Soon I heard someone tap on my desk. I raised my head to see Chiamaka's large eyes staring down at me. I wondered what she wanted since attempting to kill me wasn't enough for her.
"Can I sit here? " she asked gesturing towards the seat next to mine as if she actually needed my permission to do that.
I would have scoffed and ignored her but rather I muttered, "It's a free world" and went back to my book.
She muttered a "thank you" before sitting down. She sat quietly for a while before she spoke up. "Can we talk—"
"No!" I snapped almost before she even finished her sentence.
I was even shocked that she was not among those who left the class to meet Genevieve.
I mean, she was always with the crowd and always seeking attention so she should have been among the first people to leave.
"I don't know why people are even making such a fuss about Genevieve, it's not like she's that famous anyway. I mean even if she was Nicki Minaj or..."
Well, I stopped listening. She was basically talking to herself, she must have noticed that cause after about five minutes, she stopped talking.
Wow, took her that long to get a simple fact. She was silent for a while before asking, "Is that a Space wood series? "
That caught my attention and I raised my head from the book. "A what now?"
"A space wood series," she repeated. "You really shouldn't be reading that cause it's like total crap. It's this stupid military sci-fi where all the major character die at the end, even Kim died."
Wow! She just ruined the book in one sentence. I closed the book and tossed it in the trash bin in front of the class. It entered perfectly, not a surprise.
"Thanks," I remarked sarcastically with a fake smile on my face. I had been giving a lot of those smiles recently and I was honestly sick of it.
"You're welcome," she shrugged probably not taking note of the sarcasm and I actually thought she was smart.
The population of the class that had left had slowly filled back in so I guessed that Genevieve must have reached her class.
I picked up my Chemistry textbook and stood up to leave. "Where are you going?" Chiamaka asked me.
'None of your business'! I thought.
But I had this habit of saying the exact opposite of whatever I had in mind. I rather replied, "Library" and left the class. I paced around the hallway once outside my class.
'Why the hell did Genevieve have to start schooling here? I thought her parents would never let her go to school so what the hell was she doing here?' I thought while pacing around like a lunatic.
It wasn't supposed to be a big deal but it was one hell of a deal for me. I was not so sure how we wouldn't meet when we were basically in the same school.
I mean it was optional for us to attend the assembly since we had major exams coming up although I had to attend on Wednesdays and Fridays since I was the Sports prefect.
I would just have to never attend anyway. I would just let the main sports prefect handle it. He had openly admitted to having a crush on me so it would not be so hard to get him to do me this simple favour. Besides, Genevieve wasn't interested in sports plus the school was very big. There were chances that we wouldn't even meet until I left the school, hopefully.
A tap on my back brought me back to Earth. I turned around to see Chiamaka.