One Rocky Term

~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 defined 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.

"You?!" I asked in a bored tone.

"Yeah. The library is free for all students, ain't it?" She asked. I rolled my eyes. I was seriously at loss for words. I wouldn't have said anything even if I wasn't.

Just then, I heard the sound of the bell. I had no idea what the bell was for, bet me, I wasn't even interested in knowing. "I have Geography class now," I said and left her there.

****

'Rain on me' by Lady Gaga ft Ariana Grande boomed in my ears through my headphones. I kept my eyes fixed on the tinted glasses of the car trying to zero my thoughts.

I shifted my gaze to the rearview mirror and caught the driver staring at me. I raised a brow and he quickly looked away. I redirected my gaze to the glass frame while making a mental note to ask for a new driver.

The car soon halted in front of the gates of a massive mansion. The glasses of the car rolled down. I popped out my head and pulled my hoodie off a bit, at least enough to reveal my face to the camera in the front of the gate.

The gate slid open almost immediately as I took my head in and put my hoodie back on.

I stepped into the spacious living room and immediately sighted my mother with a few people I assumed to be her friends. I only recognized one of them. She was a Nollywood star, and her name began with an I or so.

The actress was modestly dressed compared to the rest. I mean the rest of them looked as if they were attending some red carpet event and not just visiting a friend.

"Excuse me? Is there a problem?" One of my mother's friend asked in a seemingly faked foreign accent.

She must have noticed I was standing there. I also saw the others turn their attention to me, my mother being the last. We made a little eye contact for a while.

She looked younger than the rest of her friends there although I couldn't tell if it was natural or not. She looked more like twenties while she was actually thirty seven.

She also had this perfect brown skin which made me assume that perhaps my dad was really fair for me to have gotten my complexion.

My mom spoke up on seeing me, "Honey, you're..."

"I'll be in my room," I said interrupting her in my most polite manner. I went up the spiral stairs not waiting to hear her reply.

I heard someone ask who I was and I faintly heard my mother's reply as, "She's my niece".

I pushed open my room door on getting upstairs and went straight for the bed. I sat on the edge pulling off my shoes. I left them at the spot I had dropped them once I had taken them off knowing that they would miraculously find their way back to my wardrobe, and even if they didn't, I wouldn't be affected in the least.

I changed my clothes, showered and finally laid on my bed.

I didn't have any assignments to do and I didn't feel like reading either. I already read enough as it was. Watching a movie would have been nice if I didn't have to get up really early the next day.

I rather decided to take a dip in the pool since I couldn't think of anything else to do. Bad choice though cause I ended up with a very bad cold the next day.

I sneezed again for like the umpteenth time since I got to school, this time almost loosing my balance.

"Be careful", came a voice. I looked up to see this tall guy in front of me who turned out to be Ifeanyi.

"Thanks," I said in a tone that suggested he should mind his business and walked past him. He didn't care when I almost died yesterday due to his incompetence, why would he care if I walked carefully or not. I was a little distance away from him when I heard him mutter something about me. I ignored him and moved on to my class.

I arrived just in time for the class. I was late to school that day so I had kept my hoodie on day to prevent Genevieve from seeing me if she was in school. I still couldn't just get myself to die the issue.

Perhaps I would if she didn't have one hell of a loud mouth. She would probably blurt out that I was Ami Tara's daughter before anybody got a chance to ask.

I took my seat and that's when I realized that Chiamaka might just end up sitting next to me for the rest of the session. She waved at me but I ignored that and looked straight at the teacher.

"Good morning class," he greeted before proceeding to ask, "I hope you didn't have a problem with the assignment I gave you..."

Assignment?! He gave us an assignment? Oh no! I totally forgot to do his assignment!

"...Alya, you must have done the assignment. Can you please bring it so I can go through it quickly and then the rest of the class can use yours to review theirs to be sure they got it right."

Those were the next words that came out from the teacher's mouth. I stood up. He was still backing the class as he basically drew the letters, G-E-O-G-R-A-P-H-Y, on the board.

He turned his attention back to me once he was done. "Where's the assignment? You did it right?" He asked and I fell dumb for a while. Well I didn't do the assignment and I could just tell him that. I mean what was the worst thing he could do to the top student in class. Send me out of his class?

"Yes she did," Chiamaka answered before I could even speak. I turned to look at her confusion written all over my face.

She gestured to my table and I saw a pink transparent file with my name printed on the first page in black ink with what I assumed was Chiamaka's handwriting. What was she up to now?

"I asked you something, did you do the assignment?" He asked again. It was either he didn't hear Chiamaka or he just chose to ignore her.

I looked at Chiamaka and she made a gesture once more suggesting that I should take the file. 'Might as well go with it' I thought as I answered, "Yes."

"Then what are you waiting for? The earth should stand still before you bring it?" The teacher asked in annoyance.

I would have rolled my eyes if I didn't have a good student reps to keep. I picked up the file praying to the heavens that Chiamaka actually knew what she did.

I handed it to the teacher silently still praying. He flipped through it and nodded in satisfaction.

"Perfect!" He commented. "The rest of the class should really learn from you. Make sure everyone gets this before this class is over. I'll collect them all at the end of the class".

He handed me the file and went back to teaching. I flipped through the file. The assignment was typed and basically faultless. Wow, Chiamaka actually did think this through. Guess she did use her brains after all.

****

What Chiamaka had done for me that day in class was great although particularly odd, odd enough that I found it almost creepy. I mean why would she just hand me her assignment like that?

Too bad I couldn't thank her. And also luckily for me, the week ran out without me seeing Genevieve. I was actually starting to think that we might not meet until I left the school. It was a Friday afternoon, around three o'clock.

I couldn't get myself to stand up from my bed as I lay gazing at the ceiling. I came back from school two hours ago and had done absolutely nothing but gazing at the ceiling. If I continued at that pace, I was getting a sure F in my WAEC.

I soon heard the sound of a bell. That wasn't my problem anyway, I'd just let the security do their job. A minute later, I got a beep on my tablet. Lazily, I picked it up.

It was a message from the security. Apparently, there was someone who wanted to see me. But I didn't normally get many visitors. The only person I knew that could give me such a random visit was currently in Canada.

'Name?' I texted back to the security.

'She has refused to disclose her identity ma'am'. I stared at the message for a while.

'Dismiss her' I typed at last and dropped my tablet.

I could have checked the cctv footage on my tablet to know who it was but then why bother if the person wasn't interested in giving out her identity. After a short nap. I decided to take a stroll. Putting on a white big hoodie and black jeans, I left my room.

Once outside the gate, I put my face down pulling my hoodie closer to cover my face. I was barely one meter from the gate when I heard a voice call out, "Alya!" I froze in my step. That familiar deep annoying voice that belonged to Chiamaka.

I turned around sharply and met face to face with her. She had on a yellow 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 give a reply, 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 again 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.

Besides assuming I was in a normal scenario with a normal parent, like when I lived with my grandmother. If I became obsessed with some celebrity, Juice wrld for example, and I put his picture all over Gammy's living room then I would probably have ended up in a mental asylum.

It was true that Gammy let me do a lot of crazy things even though she was naturally strict but only because I never really stepped out of the house unless it was to accompany her to a Sunday mass. So I got really bored most of the time.

Chiamaka 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 big top and a skirt. I gestured for the security to let whoever it was in. Chiamaka walked in accompanied by Ifeanyi.

I remembered asking her to never mention where I lived to anyone and yet she just had to bring him along. I sighed honestly tired. At that point, I wouldn't even have been surprised if she brought the school's principal to my house the next day.

"Hi," she said on reaching me.

"Who is he?" I asked disregarding her greeting. Actually that was the wrong question, I meant to ask why is he here?

"He is my boyfriend," she replied.

"Okay," I said dragging the 'a'. "You're Ifeanyi..."

"Ifeanyi Chukwuemeka," he completed for me before offering me a smile. "You aren't still mad about the other day right?"

"You mean the day you tried to kill me and didn't have the decency to apologize? Sure, I am not mad. Not mad at all," I said sarcastically.

"So sorry about that. I guess I should have apologized much earlier but I was pretty much still in shock," he said.

I shrugged not in the mood to carry on any type of conversation.

"You are Aaliyah Chizitaram right?" He asked suddenly. I nodded as a reply.

"You two really don't know each other's names or what?" Chiamaka asked looking at us as if we just fell from the sky.

"I don't really remember names like that and I don't think he has ever really been in the same class with me," I said. The introduction, or whatever we just did was in no way necessary since we had been in the same set for almost three years now, not the same class, yeah, but same set. So we both should have at least been in one combined class or the other. But that didn't really mean I had to know his name, did it?

I mean, there were like a hundred people in the set as a whole. I couldn't know every single person in all four classes.

Chiamaka and Ifeanyi 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 commented 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. We had never really been in the same class until this year but we had been in a lot of combined classes, she had even been my partner during chemistry practicals quite a number of times.

But then we were far from friends. She probably didn't even know I had been in the same set with her. And then Chiamaka decided it was the best idea to just show up at her house? I mean we almost killed the girl the other day and it was totally our fault. She probably despised the both of us.

Surprisingly, she didn't kick the both of us out of the house as I had expected.

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.