Kamari Ese Avena
Soft rapt knocks.
Once. Twice.
I sit up instantly.
I have never been good with sudden noises. The knocks came again, louder this time. It takes a while to process where I am. The soft fabric of my bedspread seems a little unfamiliar, but then I remember where I am and everything else that has brought me here. Rain Academy. Elle.
"Kamari, are you in there?" That name again and the unfamiliar voice, a light and feathery feminine voice. That isn't Sierra. I swing myself from the queen-sized bed and find my way towards the door, my feet slapping quietly on the soft, plush rug. I try to look into the keyhole to see who is there, but my vision is blurry so I just settle for opening the door instead.
"Hi, Kamari!" A dark girl around my age stands at my doorstep, her braids are the first thing I notice — white braids which she has up to a ponytail. She grins at me and I catch sight of the glistening gold ring between her teeth.
"Hi," I mumble.
"My room is next door to yours. I am Mika. Ireyimika actually but it is a tribal name and no one gets the pronunciation right here, hence the short form. My Dad is Nigerian." She beams, her gold ring glistening again.
"My mum was—" I pause, most times I forget she exists, the only reminder that she does are the yearly postcards she sends on my birthday and during Christmas. "My mum is Nigerian too, my tribal name is Ese." I never tell anyone that, but Mika seems different from people I have met.
"Oh wow. That's cool to know. Sierra sent me to fetch you for dinner, but—" she looks down at my dressing which is the robe I threw on after taking my bath because I felt too lazy to unpack. "You don't look like you are ready."
"Oh, I will be ready in five."
"I will wait for you, now go on.." She makes a gesture with her hand for me to go back in, and I nod and close the door to get dressed.
I do not think too much of it as I throw on the first clothes I find which are a pair of baggy sweatpants and a crop top. When I show up at the door in less than five minutes, Mika looks surprised. "That was fast," she muses.
I shrug. "I do not spend a lot of time dressing." That was Elle's specialty, but not mine. She would spend hours trying to fix her hair and it made me wonder whose hair needed more time fixing between the both of us because where hers were very straight, mine was a mass of messy African curls.
"Great. Let's go eat."
The dining hall is located at the far end of the building, it is almost not visible unless you are looking for it. Since it is the first day, I do not expect the students to be as much as they are here. Roughly, there might be up to fifty of them present. Chatters fill the hall and I clench my fist to stop my sudden nervousness. I hate crowded places. Thankfully, no one acknowledges my presence, everyone goes about minding their business which is incredible.
"Come, let's go sit at my table," Mika urges me and starts pulling me towards the nearest table. The nearest table is one that occupies three other students, two girls and a guy.
"HI guys," Mika greets them rather cheerily. In the little time I have encountered Mika, I have realised that she is more of the bubbly type which is a total contrast to me or anyone I have ever associated with. Her friends all raise their heads at the same time, and of course, I recognise every one of them. From the blonde-haired guy; Arlo Han, son of the CEO of Khuum Entertainment, the biggest entertainment industry in all of Korea, to Nuru Kaan, daughter of Leila Kaan, an Indian model and there is Iris Kiyomi; the daughter of the present Minister of Health in Japan and Elle's best friend. They are all friends of Elle, She never kept quiet about them and at least once or twice, I have seen their faces in magazines. What are the odds that they are the first set of people I meet on my first day in Rain?
"Guys, meet Kamari Avena. Elle's sister." Mika announces as she beckons for me to take my seat on one of the two empty chairs on either side of Arlo Han.
"Mari," I cut in, and settle on the chair on the right side of Arlo. "I go by Mari."
"She is Elle's sister?" Nuru looks me up and down as if she is trying to size up how fit I am to sit with them or maybe not, but that is what it seems like. It makes me self-conscious, so I pull my top down a little bit. As if that would help.
"Mari," Arlo says as if testing the feel of my name on his lips. "You look nothing like Elle." Do I sense the disgust that rolls out of him in waves as he says Elle's name? I blink my thoughts back instantly because they were Elle's friends and I am just being dramatic.
"Where is Seven?"
"Yusei is probably busy stacking his head with his codes and does not have time for unintelligent folks like us." Arlo laughs at his joke. I do not know who Seven is, but if his surname is what Arlo has just called then he is Japanese, and Elle never spoke of any Japanese boy in her friend group. I wonder who he is.
"Seven went to get our food, dumbass." Iris hits Arlo's head playfully. "And you are just jealous you are not smart enough like Sev."
Arlo scrunches his nose up as if the thought of that irritates him. "I'd rather be a bartender than a programmer. Dude, that thing is freaking hard."
"Eres tonto, Arlo". 'You are silly, Arlo.' The voice is blank with no humour and even any sort of feeling, almost robotic.
I hear him before I see him, his Spanish is so fluent that it sends goosebumps down my skin, and when I turn to satisfy my curiosity, he stands there with two trays on his hands, dark hair braided, eyes sharp and menacing, silver earrings line his right ear in three places. His gaze meets mine and holds it for a while. He asks Mika without looking away from me, "Another Avena?"
"Kamari Avena." I do not know why I answer for myself or why I introduce myself as Kamari instead of Mari. Neither do I know why the look on his face has now morphed into something more intense, more glaring than the impassive expression he had when he arrived. If my observation is right —- that look is one of contempt, which was not there until he heard who I am.
Perhaps the ghost of Elle Avena hunts me.