Beneath the surface

"From the depths of pain and strife,

Rises a story of growth and life.

Where broken souls with shadows cast,

Find light, love, and hope at last.

A tale of scars that shape and mend,

And hearts that learn to truly ascend.

For those who seek to overcome,

This is a journey worth becoming one."

****

In the heart of Lagos, where the bustling city lights shine bright, lies a place where hope, love, and redemption meet. Welcome to Daily Light College, where teenagers come to heal, grow, and find their place in the world.

In this coming of age book, you will meet characters who carry scars and secrets from their past. They may seem like the misfits and the outcasts, but they are more than just their flaws and insecurities. They are survivors, dreamers, and believers.

Join them as they navigate the murky waters of adolescence, discover new passions, form unbreakable bonds, and fall in love. Witness how they face their demons and learn to embrace their imperfections, paving the way towards a brighter tomorrow.

At Daily Light College, life is anything but ordinary. But one thing is for sure – it's a place where you will find light even in the darkest of nights. Come and journey with us as we uncover the beauty and complexities of Nigerian youth and the human experience.

# **Boitchh,

I'm gonna miss you so much**

- Riri_Main best friend ❤️.

10 minutes ago.

**God😭I miss you alreadyyy.

-Riri_Main Best friend ❤️.

Just now.**

Uncle David opened the door for me, patting me on the head before going to sit in the front with Dad. I smiled at my phone and sent a quick reply, then took my place at the back next to my little brother and my mother who sat by the door. Loluwalase was so engrossed in the kiddies show he was watching on his iPad,he didn't even notice the extra presence, nor spare me a glance.

"_johnny johnny?

Yes papa

Eating sugar

No papa!_" Little lase sang enthusiastically with the voices in his iPad, swinging his legs and hopping on the seat. I smiled warmly at the bundle of joy, then returned my gaze to my cellphone.

Ever since last week, I had been getting so many text messages from my friends from my old school, all telling me how much they'd miss me. Aarin's texts were my favorite. She told me she missed me every five minutes, which was honestly so sweet.

Four months ago, after the incident at school, Dad brought home goodnews. He had been promoted and sent to a new branch. A much better place with a sponsored accomodation. Everything seemed like it was crashing, then the news about his promotion brought us unexpected joy. We were going to be living in the Island now.

From a mainlander, to an islander. Imagine!

I tore my gaze away from my phone screen as I felt my little brother leaning in on me, wanting to tell me something. I granted him my undivided attention as he stared at me with those adorable big eyeballs of his, and his cute smile.

"Niyemi." In the past, it irked me whenever he mispronounced my name, but I stopped caring. I hummed, fixing the collar of his forest green T-shirt.

"Mommy said- Mommy said I'm going to have plenty new toys."

"Wow.Plenty new toys?" I played along.

"Yes." He kicked his legs again." And new car,and bawl, and new sing." I furrowed my eyebrows. Four years living with him and I still had no idea half the things he said.

"Ball and swing." Mom supplied, seeing my look of confusion. I parted my lips in realization and nodded.

"That's so cool! How many cars do you have now?" He stared off into space for a while, then pulled out five fingers. "Five!"

He giggled." Yes! I have plenty cars. Mommy, where is my cars?" Mom looked up from her phone and informed him it was in the second car following us. Lase pouted, his lips quivering.

"But- but I want to show Niyemi my cars!" He whined, nearly kicking off the iPad. I was quick to catch it before it hit the floor,same time mom sat up to catch it as well. Lase had already started crying, and I sighed.

"It's okay, Lase. I'll see them when we get to our new home, alright?" I placed the tablet on my lap and used my palm to dry his tears, rubbing his back at the same time.

"But-but." Dad sighed from the front seat, speaking for the first time since our drive.

"You'll show her when we get home, buddy. "

"Okay." He said quietly, dropping his head on my arms with droopy eyes. I chuckled, picking him up and setting him on my lap. He rested his head on my chest,and I ran my fingers through his curls, soothing him to sleep.

The ride to Ikoyi lasted thirty minutes,and soon enough we were driving into our new resident. The estate was beautiful, quiet and heavenly like. The houses were big and modern. The cars that drove past were posh and expensive looking. And the people that walked past were fascinating. I stared out the window throughout, till we were pulling into our new humble abode.

Just like the other houses, ours was the same. Big,modern and so unreal.

From inside the car,the house looked so attractive. It was a two storey building, painted off-white, with brown roofing,and balcony. There was a small, beautiful garden at the corner, and a driveway.

Dad told me that his boss was going to give us his old home to live in. I always knew the man lived fancy, but this house was a full on wow. I wondered how his many other houses looked like. They were probably built with glass, and had Versace everywhere inside.

Uncle David was the first to get down from the car,then we all followed. I shifted Lase in my arms and stared ahead.

_so this is our new life now_

"Let's go in." Dad said, breaking the momentum silence. I shifted Lase in my arms again, placing him in a position where his whole body leaned on me and his chin rested on my shoulder. I pocketed my cellphone, then picked up a luggage by the handle and rode it by the tyres with me. I followed closely behind Dad, glancing around the compound until we were finally inside.

The furnitures were already there. All of them were either gray or white. The couches were grey,and so were the pillows. The walls were white,and so were the pillars. The stairs were also painted white and formed an S. The downstairs consisted only of the living room, dining room and kitchen, whilst upstairs were the rooms. There was an AC placed in every corner, and flower pots as well. The rug was in the middle of the living room, gray with little stripes of black. The tiles were as white as snow, so clean that one could see their reflection on them!.

In short, the house was perfect.

Perfect and unreal. Just like our lives were at the moment.

My only prayer was that God continued to keep it this way. May our lives remain this beautiful, peaceful and filled with pleasant surprises.

Fingers crossed.

Mother and I had just gotten back from the nearby supermall. Dad had already gone to his new office, and uncle David had gone to campus for his afternoon classes. Loluwalase was sitting in the living room surrounded by plushies, toy cars and red and blue balls. The distinct sound of baby-ish British voices were heard. I put it to Lase's favorite cartoon earlier but he didn't seem the least interested in it, but then he cried when I tried switching off the tv.

Little troublemaker.

"Ouu. Look at this one. " Mother gushed, pulling out a blue dress and holding it out in the air for us to see. It was a tiny strap baby blue dress that would reach just above my knee. There wasn't any special design on it actually,but it still looked pretty either way. I beamed at her and she smiled back, tossing it aside to the pile of 'Yes' outfits.

Mother thought it'd be a good idea we went cloth shopping after shopping for new food stocks for the house. Three dresses turned to seven dresses,two shorts, three jeans and six blouses. She even bought this alhaja style dresses for herself. She always loved those type of dresses, with the scarf and all.

"You can wear this blouse with that jeggings I bought for you December." She tossed an offshoulder white with black stripes top to the yes pile.

We spent the next thirty minutes rearranging my wardrobe. Taking out clothes I barely wore and putting them in a small bag for when next we'd go to the orphanage, or Aunty Kalifat would call my mother begging for new clothes for her fifteen year old daughter.

My heart swelled with happiness, with every smile and sound of laughter my mother would make. It felt so good to see her happy again. I was always the reason behind her distress and I made a promise to myself never to do so again.

No more bad girl Nifemi.

"Let's move to the kitchen. We need to wash those our pots and kettles again." Mother shut the door to my almost six feet tall wardrobe, and headed towards the exit. I put on my rubber slippers and followed behind her passing by my little brother,Lase. Lase was making sounds with his mouth as he rode his police car down one of the couches. Sofia the first was playing on the television , and it was an episode of her being chased by the sorcerer's raven and her brother's pet dog , while being a pink-or was it purple, cat.

Mom picked him up into her arms and placed a sloppy kiss on his cheek. Lase grinned at her, kissing her sloppily on the lips as he begun yapping about God knows what. Mother nodded her head and they both spoke in Lase's confusing language. She turned her head towards me and nodded once, indicating her follow behind her.

The house was built in a way that we had two living rooms. One downstairs, along with the kitchen, dining, guest room and laundry room, and a second one upstairs where three more bedrooms were. It was small and in a circular arrangement. A grey couch and two arm chairs, with pillows upon pillows that were usually always on the floor,all thanks to Lase and his restlessness. There was a flat screen tv there, just like there was one downstairs,and it was usually connected to one another. So normally, whatever was showing downstairs would be showing in the upstairs tv, and vice versa.

"Where are we going?" Lase whined as all three of us made our way down the flight of stairs. Mother's hands tightened on little Lase, because we all knew he would do something stupid if we didn't hold him well and try to jump down from her arms.

"To the kitchen, my love. We'll clean and then cook your favorite meal."

"Coco powps?" Lase's face brightened.

"No your other favorite meal."

"Fwied rice?"

Mother beamed. "Yes! Fried rice and plantain and chicken." My mouth watered just by thinking about it. My mother was an amazing cook. I'd honestly never get tired of her food. I'd probably take three more servings this afternoon.

"No. No chicken. Fwied rice and plantain!" Lase threw his arms in the air in excitement.

Oh yes. Loluwalase only ate turkey.

No eggs, no fish, no meat, no chicken, no pork. Just turkey. Anything else would to untouched and sometimes, thrown to the ground. We don't bother giving him anything else again. Loluwalase was very stubborn. It was hard to convince him to do or eat something if he didn't want to.

Imagine how he'd be like when he becomes a teen.

Chaos alert!

"Okay baby. No chicken." Mom chuckled. She placed him on one of the high spinny chairs patting his head twice. "Now sit here, okay?. Play with your toy car while mommy and Nifemi work."

"Okie." He smiled. I patted Lase's head and kissed both his cheeks before following my mother.

We brought out new pots and kettles from the many given to my parents on their wedding day they managed to keep safe for so long. We also brought out new glass cups as a few flat plates as well.

By four thirty in the evening we had finished everything, sliced and diced, boiled and fried, and were setting the table for lunch/dinner. Mother already served Lase's food earlier than the rest of us. He smelt the food and started demanding for a plate. He didn't stop crying until his favorite bowl was in front of him, filled with rice and golden brown plantain.

Brat.

"Davie!" Lase nearly knocked me over as he yelled at the top of his lungs and ran towards uncle david who had just walked into the house. Uncle david cheered as my little brother ran up to him and hugged his knees. He knelt down to reach his height and ruffled his hair.

Dad came back home soon after and we all gathered around the dining table and ate dinner together as a family. Lase had two more rounds just like myself and Uncle David. We talked about anything and everything, Dad announced me enrolling into a school nearby our estate.

Daily Light College.