Chapter One.
彡The Beginning彡
It was a breezy morning.
The air was cool and calm. Everyone seemed to be in a good mood. Even the grumpy Mr Idris.
Half of the school population were putting on their designed school long -sleeved jacket, the others in cotton made sweaters.
Annointing Ibe and Shayla Madonna stood ahead of their schoolmates, along side Mr Idris and the rest of the staff, leading the assembly and singing songs of worship.
"Ko'sagbara,
To da bi ti Jesu.
Ko sagbara ,
To da bi ti baba." Annointing's beautiful and solemn voice filled the room ,with the wireless microphone held tightly in her hands. The voices of others followed,singing along with her. Soon,even the teachers joined in singing. And even though some said the lyrics wrongly,they still sang along with the crowd.
The whole assmebly was now in worship mode. And soon their voices raised higher as they moved onto the next song.
But then-
"Stop!."
It's shocking how just one sentence could silence a room filled with almost 200 people. The Assembly soon turned as silent as a grave, as all eyes shifted towards the man in blue suit at the entrance.
Mr Jidenna Sky moved in fast strides towards the centre of the room,an undecipherable look on his face.
Something like anger mixed with disappointment and ... sadness?.
"I'm sorry everyone,but I have an important announcement to make. And we'll have to suspend morning devotion for today," Jidenna Sky didn't need a microphone to get himself heard. The crowd of teenagers stared at him with question.
" I just got a call from one of our parents and...one of Skyline's star student is currently in the hospital." Whispers fill the room, they're all trying to figure out who the person is.
Who?
Which girl?
Who was hospitaized.
"Like I said earlier, we won't continue with the worship... instead we're all going to pray...pray for this girl's family... For the Jakobs-"
"Heh?." She must've heard it wrong. It couldn't be Jakobs. No,the man must've said that surname by mistake. Evuarere kept shaking her head,not ready to believe what this man was saying.
No. Not her best friend.
She's perfectly alright. She's fine. Hale and hearty. She's happy. She's fine!.
"Pray that the Lord gives her family strength to overcome this situation. That the Lord gives them comfort. That He delivers our Idara. And that no one in this school will ever go through depression to the extent of attempting suicide," At the mention of the word suicide,the whole assmebly lets out a loud gasp.
Suicide?
Idara Jakobs attempted suicide?
Skyline's sunshine girl?
The always energetic and smiling girl? How?!
"Jesus Christ!." A girl from Ss1 class exclaimed,and loud mumurs follow,as well as comments.
"Suicide?! ."
"Idara attempted suicide?"
"This is so shocking. Like-"
"How did we not notice that she was going through depression?"
"Oh God have mercy"
"Whatttttt"
All comments were muffled together as the whole assmebly turned haywire.The assembly was filled with great sadness.
Idara Jakobs was beloved by everyone.
Everyone loved her. For her vibe,and her personality. Her beauty,and her brains. Her kindess ....
"Ohmygod!." Bela Amuta exclaims,her hands coming up to cover her mouth and her eyes wide in shock.
The whole of class 12 each had different reactions to the news. Some were shocked. Some were in tears. Some were screaming. Some looked sorry. And others like Riccardo and Evuarere,the two closest people to Idara Jakobs just stood there, frozen, with no clue how to react. Andre's hands were twitching from where it laid by his sides,Until they were shaking,furiously.
Evuarere covered her mouth repeating the same words over and over til the end of the assmebly:
"Oh God. Oh God. Oh God". Her palms cup her cheeks,her eyes turn red with unshed tears and her body begins to shake.
She was an awful friend. An awful friend.
How could she not notice that her own best friend was depressed?. How?!
"All eyes closed, let's pray." The voice of Mr Idris resounded in the room.
That morning,the whole school prayed. And prayed. For about an hour.
They all continued to pray for Idara Jakobs.
*~*
She didn't know how long she'd been staring at the frame. The slightly faded picture in the rusting,years old photo frame that had been kept at the bottom part of her belongings.
She promised herself she'd never look at it again. Yet here she was, staring brokenly at the photo frame.
The smiling kids looked like they were mocking her.
"Fuck." The tears came without her even noticing them. Malia hated crying,and definitely when it came to him.
She aggressively dragged her fist under her eyes to get rid of the unwanted tears,then she tossed the photo frame into the empty wardrobe. Whoever was meant to move in could do whatever the hell they wanted to do with it.
She was leaving the house she spent her whole childhood in. Malia was hoping for a fresh start. A drama free, peaceful, trouble free life. That's all she ever wanted.
"Lia," Her brother's call snapped her out of her thoughts. She turned around and found him leaning on the wall at the entrance of her room,arms folded,and a soft look on his face. "Time to go."
She sighed,and picked up her bag by the handle, rolling it over to where her brother stood. Ostyn moved closer to his sister and wrapped his arms around her shoulders, leading them both outside. The Edozunor twins meet their parents outside the house. Their father was busy trying to stuff as many of their belongings as possible into the move-in truck,and their mother was busy talking to someone on her phone.
"Give it to me." Ostyn said, stretching his right hand towards her bag. Malia sent him a grateful smile, handing it over to him.
Her father's highlander roared to life, overpowering the humming of the engine of the move-in truck. "Get in, princess." Her father said, calling onto her. Malia stared at her old house one more time,then walked towards the black Highlander and took her place at the backseat, next to her brother.
The Edozunors drove out of their old compound,the move in truck following behind. They were headed to their new destination.
Their new home.
A fresh start.