It’s the graduation ceremony, the graduants are trooping in, in their impeccable Army green suits, all looking sharp and well-ironed. The gator of their trousers gave the sharpness of a new knife, ready to cut. Some of the ladies too had opted for trousers instead of skirts. It made them appear smarter and gave their look some sort of elevation.
Dili and Hazel walked in, Hazel went first, then Dili. As Dili walked in he sighted Tejiri, the one who everyone anticipated would be a prefect but didn't turn out to be one
Tejiri had been unusually calm since their second year in senior school. She spent more time alone than with the rest of the class. Neck deep in her books. Not that she knew too much, but she knew enough to survive each class and perhaps life.
Tejiri had turned to see who was pushing from behind on the queue when she caught his gaze. For a moment, she tried to smile but it was a wry smile. She could feel her palpitations heighten, her hands shaky and she turned back forward quickly, hoping that he didn't notice her fidgeting.
This was her graduation ceremony, the one she wished was from the University and not the prison-like dormitory of a school she had been made to endure for three years. Three years had felt like a decade to Tejiri. The events that made up for those last three years groped at her heart almost making her choke.
But this was her graduation, she shouldn’t sabotage the day. The very day an end came to everything
“Tejiri is not a hard girl as you think” Hazel said, when she noticed her brother’s stare.
“You just need to know her closely enough to understand her dysfunction”. She added. She could see the worry in his eyes but could never understand why. Why he was particular about this girl called Tejiri
As they marched forward and proceeded to take their seats row by row on the finely carved wooden seats with comfortable backrests, the kind he saw white children use in movies, the new principal was the one to be praised for this, Dili tried to understand why Hazel had used the word “dysfunction” in describing Tejiri. Although Tejiri seemed everything far from someone who lived a normal life, it wasn't enough for Hazel to use the word “dysfunction”.
It sounded like she had an incurable ailment of some sort.
But he too began to drift in his thoughts, he had tried stalking her everywhere on social media. The representation he saw of her didn't match the human he saw almost every other day.
She wore a mournful look all week, hardly putting any effort into her appearance, it was a shock that her body never oozed, not even the faintest smell and her hair was always neatly braided every other week
“How is she so sullen and now withdrawn” he had thought after looking her up the fourth time. He was trying to piece it together trying to connect her in some way, find out more about her, there was a lot she left to his imagination
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Chapter 1
The wish you want, you have.
I’m in love with this already!🥹🔥
Okaayyy, this is anticipatory! Well-done Fiyin