Mag-log in"DID YOU HEAR!"
"Hear what?"
"That Rica just came back from the psychiatric hospital"
"What! Are you serious, so the rumors were actually true"
"Yes na, I heard that the poor girl wasn't completely okay up there"
"Wait is that not Rica over there?"
"Shhh don't point at her na, see now she's looking at us"
"Why is she just staring at us like that, Abeg let's just go"
I stared unwavering at the two girls as they hurriedly left. God I hated this school. It was only full of rich dumb snubs, didn't they know the difference between a Rehabilitation center and a psychiatric hospital.
And yes apparently I'm the Rica they were soo shamelessly talking about soo openly.
I stiffly continued my walk down the hallway and as I walked people kept pointing in my direction whispering to themselves, well I wouldn't exactly call what they were doing whispering as I could vividly hear them.
"Guy guy look, no be Rica be that?" A random guy that I didn't recognize tapped his nearby friend.
(Pidgin English translation: Dude is that not Rica"
"Yesso, it's her o" the whispers continued.
"Ah Rica is back"
It's not like I wasn't expecting this type of reaction from people, after all my lovely parents were the one's that informed the whole school that I was in the hospital because of I was mentally unstable. I'm not even lying, that was exactly how they put it.
You see the school I went to, was one of the most prestigious schools in the whole of Nigeria, residing in the capital Abuja, it wasn't in anyway like your normal Nigerian School's.
The name of the school is Xenos Academy, it is an extremely expensive school that was why people called it the school for the elites, but I honestly didn't agree with that title. It was more of the school for the rich retards, because honestly I can vouch that 90% of the students that went here didn't know anything.
"Hey Fatty! So you really are back" an extremely girly voice brought me back to reality.
From the annoying high tone of the voice I could already tell who it was.
"Adaeze" I said in a small voice.
"Still haven't learnt to talk out ehn? Fatty" She teased with a bold smirk, her two friends behind her Runke and Hadiza released low chuckles clearly finding amusement in their friend making fun of me.
"My name is not Fatty" I muttered lowly.
She only laughed "Ehn but you are fat na, so the name fits perfectly"
I will not cry. I will not cry. I will not cry. You promised yourself you won't let it get to you anymore Rica.
Students stood stagnant watching us like we were currently the best drama on TV. Amebos! don't they have classes or something.
"Excuse me" I said trying to get pass her, already tired of her belittling me.
"And where do you think you are going? We've not even finished our friendly chat" she spoke pushing me back, I almost lost my balance but quickly regained it.
Having enough of her I spoke up
"Leave me alone Adaeze!"
A look of pure shock passed through her face. I bet she wasn't expecting that, even I was surprised by my boldness today.
"Ehnn so a month in a mental hospital has made you grow a backbone bah?"
"Too bad you're still fat and ugly" She once again smirked.
Fat.
Ugly.
Fat.
Ugly.
Fat.
Ugly.
Those words kept racing through my mind bringing back painful memories I honestly really never wanted to recall again.
"Abeg abeg Adaeze let's live the girl alone before they say we are the ones that made her kill herself, you know she isn't exactly mentally stable" Hadiza suddenly spoke with a very evident cruel smile plastered on her face.
The way they joked about suicide everytime like it was a mere thing was really sickening. They shouldn't joke about something as serious as that.
I sighed releasing a relief breath as they finally left. Nearby students also began to leave seeing as their favorite show was over. See why I said I hated this school.
I adjusted my school bag on my back ready to continue my journey to my locker.
I felt eyes on me so I looked up to find the source and it wasn't anyone I was expecting, not in a million years. I was shocked to see it was Dili, the most popular boy in the whole Xenos Academy that was unblinkingly staring at me. Even when he knew I caught him staring he didn't bother to remove his gaze.
I quickly averted my eyes from his. The way he looked at me was like he knew something about me that no one else did.
And I didn't like it one bit.
"Dili wasn't always this optimistic in life" I listened attentively as Dili's mom continued talking."He was once in a very bad place" She narrated sadly."It was when his father passed away, that that's when it all started" eagerly I wanted to ask 'When what started' but I immediately stopped my hasty self."My baby went into drugs" She choked out a sob. My body automatically moved and I went to her to comfort her, though I didn't really exactly know how to comfort a person. Not a single clue.To say I was shocked by her words was an understatement. Sure I was surprised by what she said, but the first thing that came first was to comfort her.After gathering herself she gave me a small smile, indicating that she was alright now. I removed my hands from her and went back to sit down."Sorry about that" she tried to joke "As I was saying, Dili went into doing drugs. One time he overdosed and I had to rush him to the hospital. One of the worst days of my life if you ask me" A bitter smi
"Hey mom" Dili smiled brightly as soon as we entered his mother's hospital room.Mrs Uzora looked up from the book that she was reading and smiled."Ah, Dili you're here?""Yup" He responded popping the 'P'. Then he added "And I also brought Rica with me" I waved a little at her as Dili mentioned me."Good afternoon ma" I said."Nonsense, don't speak which so much formality. How many times will I tell you to call me mom. I am your future mother-in-law after all" She playfully winked.I didn't really know what to say, so I just awkwardly scratched my neck. True to what she said, she has told me a lot of times to just call her 'mom' on the different occasions I had visited her, but honestly speaking anyone else that was in my shoes will find it extremely awkward doing so.Her features saddened a little as my silence persisted "Or you don't want to? is it because you don't see yourself getting married to Dili?" My eyes widened a little alarmed. I didn't like the sad look on her face, it
"So what have you been up to these past few days?" I turned my gaze to Dili as he drove.Presently I and Dili were heading to the hospital. At first he was supposed to take me home but I asked him if we could go see his mom in the hospital. He was a little surprised at first when I told him I have been regularly visiting his mother."Are you sure that's the only thing you're curious to know?" Dili asked.I pondered over his question for a while before I replied "You're right, I do have other questions but I'm not sure if you'll answer them" I honestly spoke."Don't worry" He removed his eyes from the road and smiled at me briefly before he turned back "I will""Alright then" I heaved out."I'll start with my first question again. What have you been doing through out this week that you didn't once come to school""I was working" he grinned.Confused I asked "Working?""Yeah I was running my family business, that's why I couldn't come to school" Wow, I wasn't expecting that answer.I wa
When I released Dili from the hug, the next thing I did was to hit him."Ouche. What was that for? I thought you were thankful" He frowned rubbing his hand."Ehn I'm very thankful and grateful and all. But, you shouldn't have done that, why did you go and announce that we are engaged" I said."Uhm, because we are" he replied in a smartass tone, I also spotted a smile on his face.I gave him a look."Okay fine" He sighed "I just wanted to state a claim on you" He mumbled.I won't lie, I found what he said unbelievably funny yet charming. "A claim you say?" I asked in a teasing tone "You don't have to worry about that Dili, nobody wants me" I chuckled. Although it was sad, it was still the sad cruel truth. No one really did."You'd be surprised to know it's the complete opposite" His words were all muffled that I couldn't hear a single thing he said."Sorry I didn't quite catch that, what did you say?" I said."Nothing" he said."But just so you know" Once more he spoke. "It's not true
"Rica calm down, where are you rushing to" Favour said to me as I speed walked through the library all the while heading to the exit, She was not to far behind."To meet that boy called Dili" I mumbled."Ahn abeg o, don't kill my friend for me o" She said in a teasing tone. I'm glad she's having fun.I chuckled "I'll see what I can do about that" I could already imagine a grin on her face although I couldn't see it. Yet again, I'm glad she was having loads of fun.Opening the Library I didn't know where exactly I was going to, but all I knew was that I had to find Dili, fast.Luckily for me as I opened the library door Dili was standing right outside the door, as if he was about to enter. 'The cliches of it all'.I spotted Victoria from the distance, the grin on her face said it all. She heard everything Dili said. Who am I kidding, pretty much every person in the school heard what Dili had said. At that thought a faint blush stained my cheeks. probably because I was highly embarrasse
The following week was what I would call eventful. Or maybe will I use the word 'weird'. You're wondering why I said weird right? Well let me give you a run down.First of all, after I had met Dili's friends that faithful day, they all turned out to be nice. Which was definitely not what I was expecting. They treated me like I was a fellow human like them, which was far to eccentric for me. But I appreciated it nonetheless. They all introduced themselves to me. Their names were Tobi, Chimdi, Favour and Victoria. Pretty cool people if you ask me.After that day, I actually thought that, that was that, and they would probably never talk to me again, especially in school. But boy was I wrong. When Monday reached I was surprised to see Victoria and Favour in the library apparently waiting for me during lunch break.I tried as much to hide my shock in seeing them their as I asked."What are you guys doing here?"Favour was the one to answer. She was the one that apparently according to her







