I turned around sharply and met face to face with her. She had on a blue jumpsuit that looked perfect on her. "Hi", she said with a smile.
"Hi?" It came out more like a question than a greeting as I still looked at her in surprise.
"What are you doing here and how did you find out where I live?" I finally asked the question that had been on my mind.
"I have my methods", she said with a smile. She was starting to really creep me out. "Won't you show me in?" She asked me.
"No", I replied sounding dead serious. But for some reason she started laughing.
"You are joking right?" She asked still choking on her laughter. I didn't answer, I just stared at her with a cold look.
"If you're trying to scare me then you are doing a really miserable job", she said and ushered herself into the compound. I clenched my fists as I walked into the compound behind her.
The security tried to stop her but I gestured for them to let her in. My mother was out of the country so I figured out I would just let her stay for a while although this fact kept eating me up.
I couldn't fully understand the reason for my anger I guess I still could not just accept it when things were not done the way I wanted it. I sometimes wondered why I couldn't just get rid of that aspect of me.
As we went up the stairs, I heard her ask, "Are you a fan of Ami Tara?"
"Nope", I said popping the p. That for one wasn't actually a lie. I really wasn't a fan of hers even though she was my mother.
"Not to sound nosy but... There are a lot of pictures of her here... I mean you must have a sibling or so who is a crazy fan cause why else would her pictures be all over the house?"
Because she's my mom.
"My mom is a fan. Also my cousins and they come around a lot. Plus she does make nice wallpapers don't you think?" I blabbed out the lamest excuse I had ever thought of.
She only nodded and kept walking. I knew she didn't believe me, although if she did, then only heavens knew how she always ended up with such nice grades. She made herself comfortable in my room even when I didn't ask her to.
She was fun to hang out with though she did ask a couple of annoying questions like who my parents were, whether I was the only one living in the house and a couple of other questions I didn't bother answering.
It was nice and at the same time not so nice when she left.
****
The weekend passed in a blur as most days did for me. And next thing, it was a Monday. I was already home from school.
When I was just done with my assignment, I got a message from Chiamaka saying that she was coming over. Immediately, my tablet beeped. I guessed it was probably from the security trying to inform me of her presence.
I didn't bother checking. I went outside after putting on a hoodie. I gestured for the security to let whoever it was in. Chiamaka soon walked in accompanied by a tall light brown skin guy. One of our classmates who I didn't know by name.
I had asked her not to mention anything about where I lived to anyone and here she brought a random guy to my house. "Hi", she said on reaching me.
"Who is he?" I asked disregarding her greeting.
"He is my boyfriend", she said.
"Oh", I said not knowing what else to say.
"I'm Ifeanyi Chukwuemeka", he said stretching his hand for a handshake. I stared at his hand for a while, "Aaliyah Chizitaram", I said my hands still behind me.
He must have gotten the message as he quickly retracted his hand and rubbed the back of his head. "You guys have been classmates for a long time now and yet you are acting like people who just met", Chiamaka said grinning.
"I don't recall him being in my class", I said. They were about going in when I remembered Chiamaka's reaction to my mother's pictures and the fact that the pictures were still there. It wouldn't be advisable to keep letting people in the house.
"You guys can't go in." I said in a rushed tone. They stopped to look at me both probably wondering what was up with me.
"Let's stay in the pool side... The air conditioner isn't functioning properly and it's as stuffy as fuck in there", I said almost facepalming myself for giving yet another miserable excuse. But the duo didn't seem to mind. Without any arguments or questions, they followed. We sat at the bar when we got there.
"Nice view", Chiamaka said staring at the pool. "So tell me Alya, I haven't seen your parents around. Anything wrong?"
"No!" I answered plainly annoyed that she kept trying to poke her nose in things that had nothing to do with her. I shifted my gaze from her and it landed on Ifeanyi.
Was it just me or was he staring at me? I hated it when people stared, it is a really terrible habit. "Ok", she replied. Her eyes not moving from the pool. I also set my eyes on the pool.
That evening was extremely uncomfortable for me, with Ifeanyi and Chiamaka going on with their public display of affection, Chiamaka barely chipping in a few statements once in a while.
I call it statements because I had no replies, wasn't even interested in giving any.
And I just sat there awkwardly trying not to be the third wheel. If this was their idea of 'hanging out', I would rather sit alone and stare at black walls. I was extremely relieved when they left.
~Ifeanyi
Chiamaka had asked me to go somewhere with her. She hadn't told me where it was and even after saying no, she kept bugging me until I finally gave in.
She had this way of always getting me to do things I never wanted to. I was surprised when we ended up at Alya's house.
I mean, I never thought the girl even had friends. She was extremely rude and she didn't give a fuck about anybody else.
With her attitude, you'd even wonder how her family managed to live with her, if she even had one.
But then my girlfriend had to shock me even more than she already had in the past.
But of course my shock was immediately replaced. Perhaps she wasn't so bad after all. I already knew her name and a couple other things about her but I doubted she knew mine, I doubted she even knew me.
When we were sitting in a structure that resembled a bar by the swimming pool at her house, I just couldn't take my eyes off her for some reason. I didn't know if it had something to do with a crush I once had on her which should have died by now, but I found myself staring at her continuously. She was just something else, out of this planet. Then she caught me staring, or so I thought. I had to quickly look away. 'What are you doing dude?', my subconscious reminded me.
'Your girlfriend is sitting in front of you and you are checking some other girl out'. I stared at Chiamaka a bit. Perhaps I should try distracting myself, I thought as I slowly wrapped my hands around Chiamaka's waist and pulling her closer, placed a kiss on her neck.
Alya's eyes had been on the pool all along and when she eventually looked at us, she quickly redirected her gaze to the pool. I saw clearly that she was not comfortable.
She looked like she would have thrown the both of us out of her house at any moment. I found that amusing for some reason. I tried pushing all that out of my head as I picked up my Maths assignment.