Transparent

Lagos, Nigeria

4 months before present day

Thud thud thud

The sound of the rain drops tap dancing on the glass windows kept drawing my focus away from the words I was trying to absorb

"God I hate Physics" I groaned internally as the formulas for the speed-time graph all became jumbled up on the coloured piece of paper

"Aderinsola" my mum's loud voice called from downstairs "it's time for dinner"

I slammed my butterfly pen between the pages of my rarely touched textbook and turned the front cover shut in an instant as I sped downstairs for food- anything to get me out of study session

I bent my big toe at the end of the long flight of stairs, biting back a wince and a long list of profanities that threatened to come out of my mouth

"Why are you on my seat?" I shot at my little sister seated beside my mum, my usual spot

"I want to sit here today so I can see the TV too" she said nonchalantly, nibbling on her piece of cake

"if you don't stand up-

"Aderinsola sit somewhere else, can you not be dramatic this evening?" my mum spat, massaging her obviously tired temples as she ate her food

I grumbled as I settled on the chair beside my father, making sure to step on my sister as I sat down

"oww Mummy!" She cried out

"sorry, I didn't see your feet there" I said innocently, making sure to stick my tongue out as my mother looked away

"Real mature Derin, real mature" my dad commented, causing me to look straight at my food and start eating

The next day came by pretty fast, by midday I was still in bed drowsy as I didn't sleep until 4 am that morning. The sound of my mum sauntering into my room drew me from sleeping again as the heel of her stilettos clapped rhythmically on the white tiles of my room

"Honey, I told you we'll be travelling today, our flight is in three hours so we have to leave now if we want to beat traffic" I read her lips through my thick lashes and creased eye brows

I sat up straight in my bed, taking a good look at her outfit, my lips melting into a smile as I noticed what she wore. She had on the simple lilac gown that I gifted her for her last birthday, a black woven jacket with black stilettos. Her finger and toe nails were polished white, giving her a modest yet chic look.

"you look beautiful" I finally said

"Thank you" she replied, smiling wildly at my compliment- as if she wasn't already used to always getting compliments from me

She went over several house rules, what to cook and what not to, chores I had to tend to- stale gist

She did this anytime she and my dad were travelling

"don't let Ashley go to bed without having her bath and brushing her teeth" she repeated

I nodded my head to show her I was listening to all she was saying

"We'll be back in 2 days, I don't expect any of you to go out of the gate for any reason but if you need to, call me first" she added

"Okay mummy"

"We'll see you when we come back, love you baby" she said as she pulled me into a warm hug

"love you too mummy" I held her equally as tight, the sweet scent of her perfume appealing to my senses

"and yeah Aaron said he's been trying to reach you but you've not been picking up" she added as she stood up to leave

"oh my phone's been on silent" I replied

She took a final look into my room, blowing a few kisses as she stepped out

Aaron is my older brother who was in his second year studying Robotics at MIT, first class GPA holder, High-school swimmer and college basketball player, he was the embodiment of excellence in life while I was-

Less that average

I had been the best swimmer in my entire school since freshman year, no one could dispute that I was simply gifted but when it came to academics, I could barely maintain a C average. I even got promoted to my current grade on probation

'Amanda Aderinsola Akinde is promoted to 11th grade on probation, that is provided she is able to work on her core subjects'

Like anything was ever going to change- pfft

A text from my then best friend Kelly came in, inviting me over to her house. Her parents were probably half way across the world and she decided to throw a mini party. She was always throwing those

Text from Kay Kay: Bring bikinis

I shook my head, grinning at the thought- of course she decided to make it a pool party. I grabbed my swimming trunk and towel, folding them neatly into my gym bag. One thing I could never turn down was a pool party invite

I practically ran into the bathroom to do my business, not bothering to wash my hair since the whole world was waiting for me. I shrugged on my black body suit and pulled my shorts up, the elastic band slapping my waist in the process. I threw my green camisole on and fixed my feet into a pair of fancy flip flops my grandma got me from Canada grabbing my bag as I dashed out of my room. I came to a screeching halt as I was met with the rather chubby stature of my six year old sister at the end of the stairs

"Mummy said we shouldn't go out" her cherubic voice rang as I stepped down the flight of stairs slowly

"hii potato" I cooed as I side stepped her

"mummy said we shouldn't go out" she repeated, walking behind me

"I'll be back soon, I just need to do something very important" I lied through my teeth as I pulled the door of the fridge back to check if there was any more fruit juice

"I want to go with you!" She said firmly as she crossed her arms

"like you have any friends or age mates where I'm going" I retorted with a dry chuckle

"I'm hungry" I rolled my eyes at her infamous antiques to stop me from going out

It was at that point that I wished I was like my classmates who had housemaids and cooks sprawled around the house and answering at their beck and call. My family was quite comfortable, we travelled abroad for vacations at least once a year, we attended quite expensive schools and we could afford basically anything affordable but we weren't that kind of insanely rich family. Even the house we lived was just a large duplex, nothing fancy

"I'm late, when I'm back I'll cook something for the both of us to eat okay?" I said while stuffing my bag with the last large box of juice I could find throwing the small sized juice box to my sister

"take that for now till I come back home"

She threw herself on the floor, kicking her legs in the air while banging the floor with her arms

"stop throwing a tantrum it doesn't work on me" I said plainly, already getting annoyed by her attitude

"I'll just cook by myself" she finally said when she saw I stopped paying attention to her

"you can't even reach the top of the cooker" I replied with a humourless chuckle, walking towards the kitchen back door

"please let me follow you" she said again

I almost fell for her sad face but I knew taking her with me would be very irresponsible, Kelly's parties were never children friendly

"I'll be back soon" I said as I walking through the door, making sure to lock it behind me so she didn't wander

I waved her a final goodbye through the transparent door, completely ignoring that she started to cry

"she'll be fine" I said to myself as I walked quickly to meet my ride already waiting in front of the gate

I made a mental note to get her something for the party to at least make it up to her for leaving her behind

The party was well- like usual Kelly's parties- we spent most time in the pool. They had insisted that I dove severally into the water so they could get it on camera and I couldn't say no to my friends- right?

I chugged the remaining content of my juice as I scanned the entire party to see I was the only one still in the right frame of mind. Every other person was giggling, babbling, some openly making out, the stench of alcohol and cigarettes marring the area

I checked the watch on my wrist to see that evening was approaching. I waved them goodbyes and left with the excuse that my sister would be starved and frustrated by then. The traffic wasn't a lot since our houses weren't so far apart so the ride home took about twenty minutes tops

"what in the name of-

I quickened my pace towards the door as I noticed smoke trailing out through the kitchen window. I fumbled with the keys as my hand failed to stabilise when I tried to open the door. That sight that evening is an image forever engraved in my brain as my most painful memory. My sister had attempted to cook

The hugest fire I had ever seen roared from inside the empty fry pan up to the white ceilings, the whole house engulfed in smoke that it hurt to take a breath as I dragged the limp body of my sister across the floor and outside

"Ashley" I called as I tapped her, coughing violently at the same time

"Ashley wake up" I tapped her more fiercely it gradually graduated to slaps as tears gathered in my eyes

I knew what had happened, but I couldn't accept it

My sister was dead, because of me

***

Major Characters

Amanda Aderinsola Akinde

(Trip, Amanda, Derin, Aderinsola, Akinde)

Age: 16

Height: 5'58

Erling Tobechukwu Kingston

(Erling, Tobe, Kingston)

Age: 17

Height: 6'1½

Nancy Idara Damijo

(Nancy, Nana, Idara)

Age: 17

Height: 5'75

Edmond Thompson

(Edmond, Eddy, Thompson)

Age: 17

Height: 6'4

Adetoke Karen McAnthony

(Toke, Toks, Karen)

Age: 17

Height: 5'10

Aidan Timini Aniye

(Aidan, Aniye)

Age: 17

Height: 5'11

Espn June Young

(Espn, JustEspn)

Age: 16

Height: 5'49

Uzoamaka Eleanor Maduka

(Amaka)

Age: 17

Height: 5'6

Minor Characters

Aaron Adetomike Akinde

(Aaron, Tomike, Big Trip)

Age: 19

Height: 6ft

Nkechi Mcgregor

(Nkechi)

Age: 17

Height: 5'7

Amir Al-Ghazali

(Amir)

Age: 17

Height: 6ft

Justin Lane

(Justin)

Age:16

Height: 5'9

The whole situation had caused us to move to Abuja, a different house, different city, different school for me.

My mum reopened her fashion empire and my dad was still working at Chevron so he had to travel to Lagos for work. Everything happened so fast- too fast. Mum and dad had stopped grieving, it took the most toll on me. Aaron had to come to Nigeria in a rush to attend the funeral and also to keep the family strong. He had gone back to school already, it was I who had to cope with the new school

"Amanda"

Her bubbly smiles, how annoying she could be, how she was almost my weight at six

"Amanda"

I'd left her that day at home and locked the door to keep her safe. Maybe if I'd even left it open she would have run out and not suffocated

"Amanda!" My therapist jolted me back to reality. I was at her office for the third time that week. What I did every time was to stare at her and wait for my appointment time to be up. I wasn't ready to sit in front of a wannabe doctor and act like I was the victim

"Your parents said you had gone to get groceries to cook stew am I right?"

I gulped, of course that was what I had told them. I wasn't even allowed to go out so I had to use something like that. If they found out I was the reason for her death, they'd probably just kill me too so I could join her.

I nodded slowly at my therapist then looked at the quote above her head. It read

'a problem shared is only half solved when you share it with the right person'

Right person indeed

It's really not easy to lose a loved one, especially when the circumstances..."

I zoned out again. A loved one? Ashley wasn't just a loved one, she was my baby sister. She was the reason I thought I had to keep my results above a C average because she always looked up to me, she was my little errand girl, she was the one who loved to watch me swim and when the water splashed she'd say "cold cold, this water is too cold".

Again what circumstances was she referring too? I had left her that day to hangout with Kelly- who was supposed to be my best friend and her my other friends but the most these people had said to me after her death was "sorry for your loss, please accept my condolences"

Did they even understand that it happened on the day I was out partying with them? I would never forgive myself, I don't think God would even ever forgive me. My parents don't know but if they did I'd probably be out on the streets by now.

The clock rang and I was happy to know that my one hour session had ended. I picked my bag and started to walk out

"Goodbye Amanda"

I nodded and dashed out of the office, out of the hospital and into a cab that took me home. Painful images kept coursing through my mind, a whirlwind of emotions consuming my soul

Abuja is a beautiful city and it's way more peaceful than Lagos, but Lagos was my life. My school, my friends- even though none of them bothered to call- I'm starting to feel they were never really my friends, I was just a tag along. I had even told Kelly that my parents travelled and I didn't want to leave my sister at home but she had me come anyway, I shouldn't have listened. She did not call even once since after the accident, the best she did was send a line message that read

"sorry about your loss baby, accept my deepest condolences"

Did she get that it wasn't my aging granpa that passed on? That it was my little sister that I was supposed to be babysitting that had died in a fire accident?

I had to deal with demons of guilt that dealt with me each night while I slept, breaking apart the little sanity I had into shards

I stared at my reflection in the mirror to see that my eyes had grown bags from continuous crying and worsening insomnia. My skin looked okay but it had lost its usual glow. I looked like a shadow of the girl I used to be. I gave myself a dry smile to check if my lips could still form a curve. The smile didn't get to my eyes just as it didn't get to my heart.

I regarded my new uniforms on my bed with a small smile tugging on my lips. As much as I hated the idea of joining a new school, the innocent uniforms didn't do anything to me. They were sooo hot

I held the first set of uniforms to my chest and walked towards my vanity, the smile tugging on my lips becoming wider. I picked the second set and repeated the action, a sigh escaping my lips- what was the use any way? After all, "fine uniform and dead brain all equals zero"

I ripped the tag off my new doc martens and slipped my feet in- my mummy really went all out because what was the chain accessory hanging off it like I was in some rock band- I slipped on the other one without bothering to lace it since my talents didn't extend to lacing shoes- I was terrible at it

Guess who added at least three inches to her height? This girl

I never wore shoes without a little boost at least, that was what you got for being the short average. I whipped on my navy blue blazers and immediately decided that I preferred it to the white one- what if I got syrup stain on it?!

On the right side of my blazers- like a second badge- were my initials A.A.A embroidered in gold letters, trust my mum to label all my stuff including my socks and hankies. The uniform also consisted of two sweaters, one navy blue and one white one- both long sleeved- why did these people double all their uniforms?

I fixed my blazers back on their hangers and hung the two sets on the steel rod in my wardrobe.

I plopped myself down on the cushion stool for my vanity and tucked myself closer to the dressing table. A huge sigh escaped my lips for the umpteenth time as I took lasting gaze at my reflection.

Amanda you look terrible

My inner voice told me

"I feel terrible too" I said aloud to no one in particular

I picked the plastic tail comb with a steel bottom and attacked the tips of my overdue braids with it.

First impression lasts longer, you can't arrive at your new school looking like a zombie from a movie shot in the 90's

I was going to make it through my final year of High-school however it came, good or bad I didn't care

I had stopped caring

EDMOND'S POV

(Edmond Ehizojie Thompson)

I threw a three pointer into the hoop when I saw the swim coach and the principal in a heated conversation. I had never liked that woman to begin with, she has the habit disrespecting every member of staff including her fellow coaches.

Coach Adams even had a special loathing for her. But still, she had helped the school win gold medals four years in a row at junior Olympics so she was practically indispensable.

The thought left as soon as it came when she stormed out on the principal, was she fired? I would have tried to listen more to their conversation but Coach Adams already said I was slacking and I needed to up my game if I wanted to get into anything 'NBA' next year. I even did a couple of airballs in the last game, really unlike me

"NBA's finest" without turning I knew whose voice that was. I gave a dry chuckle as I turned to look at the twerp behind me

"Hi Espn" she stalked over to where I stood gallantly

"May I ask why NBA's future isn't in class this morning?"

"I dropped geography, I'm not writing it in WAEC" she tried to take the ball from me as I ducked her. I shot the ball into the hoop again earning a cheer from her

"Seems like you're really stepping up your game this year, you're always practicing, don't tell me you want to take my place as King of basket ball" I passed the ball to her and she caught it, doing a between the leg dribble, a ball fake and finally shooting it into the hoop.

"I'm already the king of basketball" I retorted with a chuckle

Espn was the only female basketball player in the whole of Sheffield high so she just trained with the boys mostly, I was damn sure the boys had even forgotten she was a girl and not one of us. She had always said basketball was mainly a hobby and that she wasn't ready to pursue a career in the game but had she seen herself on the court? She was a beast with the ball, she had a small stature compared to the boys but her blocking game was always on point.

The bell rang signifying the end of first period. Espn and I walked to our separate classes, she was in the Humanities department while was in the technical department; the noisy department. I paused in my steps as I noticed a pretty, dark skinned girl that didn't seem too familiar sitting at third row from the front, new student in SS3? I plopped down on my sit as I searched my bag for my drawing book.

AMANDA'S POV

(Amanda Aderinsola Akinde)

The feeling of the new school was so strange, I was too used to having a squad. That was the first time in my 16 years of existence that I felt so odd. Everyone kept looking at me as I walked through the black gates of the school. I wondered if they were that few in the school, that they all knew that I didn't belong there with them.

Well this is going to be the longest one year of my life.

I walked into the principal's office with my credentials in my arms. She called my mum to make sure I took my transcript along with me to complete my transfer process. I paused for some seconds when I noticed the principal was in a tensed conversation with another person who appeared to be a teacher. I knocked slightly to pull their attention towards the door and I regret my action almost immediately as they both stare daggers at me. I swallowed the lump forming in my throat

"Good morning Ma'am and Sir, I was told to come here" they both paused for a brief second before the principal seemed to comprehend and told me to come in. The male teacher excused us as I sat in front of the principal placing my documents on her desk. She opened my blue file to look through my records.

I couldn't bear to look at her face as she looked through my past results. I couldn't even be described as an average student following the results I had in the papers. I looked anywhere but her face as it scrunched up in confusion. My eyes darted over to the TV connected to the class CCTVs and my orbs focused on the screen that said SS3B which would be my class, what a noisy lot. I couldn't hear any audio but the visual representation of my rascals of classmates was overwhelmingly intriguing

The noisy flipping of pages by my new principal brought me back to reality. She scrutinized the documents as she took not too subtle glances in my direction. She finally got to the last page, the one I was proud of. She visibly relaxed as she looked at the papers contentedly. Her puffy cheekbones swelled as her full lips curved into a smile at the list of my achievements. Suddenly she closed the documents and sighed before looking at me.

Was she not contented with what she just saw? Was I not good enough for their school?

"Is swimming the only thing you do?" She asked in a calm, motherly voice. I would have taken that as an offensive question coming from other people trying to embarrass me for my lack of intellect but the woman didn't seem like that, she seemed quite gentle about the whole thing. I found my voice even though it only came out as a whisper

"Yes ma, it's the only thing I do well" I cleared my throat saying my last three words before I looked down at my fingers entwined with one another on my lap. I heard the principal sigh and I watched her as she removed her glasses.

Was she about to tell me that I wasn'tenough? Oh God that's all I'm good at what if-

"Well you're in the right place, we appreciate every form of excellence" I smiled as she said those words and looked into her eyes to see if there was any hint of falseness but her orbs only held sincerity.

"SS3B" I said to my self as I walk into the seniors block trying to locate my class. A light skinned slim girl of about my height- with my shoes on- almost bumps into me and my notebooks in front of SS3A.

"Oh sorry, I didn't see you. Are you new? Are you in SS3? Wow we usually don't get new students in SS3. I'm Nancy what's your name? What arm are you?"

Talkative much? Yes. What were those questions she asked again?

"Amanda Akinde, SS3B"

"Oh wow I can call you double A then dub?" She smiled broadly with her eyes beaming. Were they always this bubbly at Sheffield?

"Actually my middle name is also A so I go by Trip, thanks" I side stepped her to walk to my class as my books were already feeling too heavy from standing in one spot for long

"Bye Trip, see you around" she called out as I walked away. I turned to at least give her a smile so it wouldn't feel like the new girl was a snub. After plastering my fakest of smiles on my face I caught a glimpse of another girl, this one stared at me intently, as if trying to see through my blazers straight into my heart. I caught her staring but she didn't budge one bit, I guess she was enjoying making me feel very uncomfortable.

What a rude child! rude but very pretty child

EDMOND's POV

I walked down the quiet halls leading to the principal's office to see her. She requested for me, Mr Mark said she called for the 'sports prefect' so it was probably about the basketball team or the inter house sport. She couldn't possibly be calling me to renounce my title as basketball team captain though, I hadn't slacked that much. Or had I? Oh God Eddy you're starting to overthink again what's wrong with you!

"Good morning ma'am" I walked in and sat down when she gestured for me to.

"Your swim coach has left us"

"Or you fired her" I thought to myself

"Actually yes I fired her, she was getting too much"

Did I really ask my Principal that out loud? That was meant to be a 'me' thought. I should just keep quiet till she starts talking again

"I was thinking to cancel the swim team..."

Ehn? The swim team ke? What about the students on it?

"But I've changed my mind because of a particular new student in your class"

My mind went to the petite looking girl I saw in class

"She's a swimmer?" Interesting

"And that's the only thing she does, that's basically what she has to offer. She seems not to be an academically inclined student at all"

I understood what the principal was saying the moment she said it. They needed a new coach but they couldn't get one. She didn't want to disappoint the new student by telling her that her sport was being cancelled. Swimmers like Toks would mind too but at least she was the best student in A class so she hss a lot more to offer. I had good academic records too but if basketball were to be cancelled I'd just quit school altogether. How much more this girl...

"... I called you majorly to ask for your advice. Should we cancel the swim team since we have no coach and try to help this girl towards average at her final exams.."

"No! Let's get another coach, no matter how. We can get another one somehow. For the mean time, the very good ones like toks- Toke can coach the others, while we try to get a coach. In this process too, we can help her with coaching exercises towards her final exams but she'd be doing it along side what she loves doing"

I said sounding a little too personal about the whole scenario. Why was I that concerned though?

The principal sighed as she took her glasses off. She had been doing more frequently these days

"Okay Edmond, thank you very much. I guess I just needed that much encouragement, you can go now."

She picked up her cell phone as I stood up from the chair to leave. As I got to the door I heard her talk to the phone receiver

"Good morning Dan, do you mind meeting later this week?"

I walked back to my class with many things on my mind.

Lord let this work, don't let people's dreams be crushed