THE GIRL I NEVER HAD, PART 12

"When a man loses his prestige, he does not regain it by going to where he is not known. " I decided to right my wrongs. I would have to regain my reputation. I knew she would be going for choir practice that evening. I thought that would be a great opportunity to meet her again and beg for her forgiveness. I was so tensed that I couldn't control myself. I found a pile of blocks beside a house and went to take a rest there. By that time, ECG had taken their light.

As I sat there thinking about all the techniques and tricks that I can use to win her back, I saw that boy. That ugly boy. JK. I knew he attended the same church with Lucy but I didn't know he was also a chorister. If JK could sing with that irritating voice, then may God forgive me because I have been wasting my talent. He was heading towards the direction of Lucy's house. I felt uncomfortable. I felt uneasy calm swimming through my veins. I wanted to confront him, but I felt powerless.

He got to the main gate, entered, and a few minutes later returned with her. They were walking in a compromising posture. They talked. They laughed. They hugged and almost kissed. What prevented them from kissing was my cough. I intentionally did that. I didn't want them to go that far. Hugging was normal, but kissing? I couldn't stand that. I approached them. I wanted to teach JK a bitter lesson. I can't stand there and watch while JK put me through hell. Just when I was about to pounce on JK, I saw something that made me stop.

I saw that the girl wasn't Lucy. It was someone else. I couldn't believe I was wasting my energy on a strange girl. I couldn't believe JK had been cheating on Lucy. I had caught them red-handed. Right in front of Lucy's house. Lucy must hear this. JK saw me but said nothing. The girl saw me but wanted to ask me something. JK dragged her away. I'm very sure she saw me either entering or going out of the house. I didn't waste any more time. I started walking towards the gate of Lucy's house to reveal to him the real personality of JK. I got to the gate, tried to open it, but someone opened it before I did. Who could this be?

It was her. Lucy. She was decently dressed. Ready to go for choir practice. "You again? So what you saw wasn't enough eh? You want to come and enjoy yourself more. Shame on you!" she said. When I heard those words flowing out of her mouth like a river that has lost its direction, I felt bad. I felt stupid. I felt humiliated. "How could she be this mean to me. Upon all I have been through, just listen to the insults she's adding to my injuries?" I said it quietly to myself. Enough is enough. I turned to go home to "nurse my wounds" but she held my shirt. She pushed me towards her. She hugged me.

The hug was so tight. It was tighter than the one she gave me at the hospital. I was shocked. Was I in love with some kind of a psycho? How could she push me away this minute and the next minute, she's pampering me in her arms. I didn't want to fall for her tricks. I told her to stop what she was doing. I wanted to tell her what I saw between JK and the girl. I didn't know how she was going to take it. Would she be angry? Would she be disappointed? Would she be shocked? Should I tell her or just keep mute?

THE GIRL I NEVER HAD, PART11

"You will never know whether your friend is a snake or a snake is your friend until one of them bites you." I didn't know whose room I was hiding until the owner entered the room. I didn't want to stand there for the person to see me. As soon as I heard the gate opening, I went and hid behind a giant old refrigerator in the room. I did that spontaneously without thinking. The person entered. A female. A girl. Lucy. She wrapped herself with a towel. I'm very sure she was coming from the bathhouse.

I was a bit safe now. I was still behind the refrigerator watching Lucy. She started dancing to the song being played. I watched her as she danced. She danced so well. How long will I hide? What if she finds out? What if her mum joins her in the room? I started sweating. The room was hot. I didn't know what happened, but I unexpectedly sneezed. Pandemonium broke out. She was so terrified that she screamed. I also screamed. I came out from my hiding place. When she saw me, she screamed the more. Her towel dropped to the floor and she stood there naked.

She stopped screaming when someone started banging at the door. Who could this be? It was a male. He tried to open the gate and come in but luckily for me, Lucy had locked the gate. He asked what the matter was. Lucy still stood there naked and speechless. She was shocked to the core. She stood there shaking. I stole a glance at her dangling breast. I couldn't enjoy the view because I was so tensed and frightened. The person kept banging the gate and asking her what the matter was. I begged her not to mention anything about me.

She finally spoke. She told him it was nothing. But this man wouldn't move an inch until she told him what made her scream so loud. She lied that she saw a big mouse on her bed, and that made her scream. That got the man so furious that he went away insulting Lucy. By that time, Lucy had wrapped herself again with her towel, but I could see that she was still in a state of shock. "What are you doing here? Why are you here? How did you get in here?" she asked me these questions and demanded answers from me. I told her to calm down, which she gladly did. I explained what happened to her.

I thought she would pity me. I thought she would comfort me. I thought she would kiss me. I thought she would hug me. I got none of these. She asked me to get out of her room. She pushed me out of her room. She was so annoyed. She didn't care about their dog who was lying in wait to devour me. She didn't care about the man who had come to bang at her gate. All she cared about that moment was herself. She got so pissed that I had seen her nakedness. She drove me out.

I entered her room with courage but came out with shame. My mind had been captured with shame so much so that I didn't even have a space to entertain fear. I didn't give a hoot about the wild dog. I didn't care about the man seeing me. I walked out slowly to the gate, opened it, and went out. I knew by then that my chances of winning Lucy's heart were very slim now.
#to_be_continued

THE GIRL I NEVER HAD, PART 10

"You can't run and scratch your buttocks at the same time", that's what our wise folks say. I was faced with two difficult tasks. One was getting JK punished and the other one was winning the heart of Lucy. They both seemed easy tasks but actually, they were very difficult. I needed to plan with my guys. It was too big a burden for just one person to carry. I called for a meeting on Friday after school. We met. We planned. We decided to start with the revenge on JK, and after that, the three of us excluding Frank, will "fight" for the heart of Lucy. Whoever succeeds, takes her.

That Friday evening I decided to go and visit Lucy at her house. I had not seen her after we separated at the hospital. I wanted to make an impression. I wanted to win her heart, mind, and maybe the whole body. I took my bath. I brushed my teeth. I dressed very well. I didn't forget to steal my mum's perfume. I stepped out and set off. We lived in the same area so I didn't need any transport fare.

I got to her house. I opened the main gate and entered. I have never entered her house. She only gave me the direction to her house. I couldn't see anyone around. I heard music playing in one of the rooms. I decided to go there and knock. I went there and started knocking. I heard a dog barking. I turned to look at it, but unfortunately, it was running towards me.  My heart started beating faster. The dog was wild. I knew that it wouldn't spare my life. I had two options; face the wild dog and fight it, or run for my dear life. But run to where?

I kept on knocking. Very faster now. Still no answer. Just when the dog was about to pounce on me, I opened the gate and entered the room. I didn't care whose room it was. I didn't care who or what I was going to meet in the room. All I wanted was to escape that wild dog. I had done that courageously. The dog was still outside barking. I was safely inside someone's room. There was no one in the room. The dog waited for some time and went back. Just when I made up my mind to open the gate and go out, the gate opened. Who opened the gate?
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THE GIRL I NEVER HAD, PART 3

I quickly hid the letter in my pocket. I opened the toilet gate. Guess who was there? The new guy.
"What are you doing here, " I asked him." I'm here to do exactly what you came here to do, " he replied me. Exactly what I came here to do? Does he have any idea what I was doing in there? Is he aware I've been keeping a love letter from a secret lover which was meant for him? Was it the right time to spill the bean? Should I wait for him to finish so that I can give him his letter? I was more confused now.

I decided to wait for him. I wanted to tell him everything. I stood outside waiting for him. I saw my dream girl approaching. I saw that as an opportunity to book an appointment with her. I knew she would vehemently reject it, just as she always did, but there was no harm in trying. I called her politely. I knew she "had been called by nature" so I decided to make it brief. Miraculously, she agreed to meet me after school.

Right after I had finished booking my appointment with her, the new guy appeared. "Are you still here?" he asked me. "Yeah, I was waiting for you."  He was pleased to hear me say that. On our way to the classroom, he asked me what I was doing with Lucy. I explained to him that it wasn't anything important. He wanted to probe more, but I gave him that, shut-the-hell-up look, so he kept mute. I thought I had to give him the letter. I was so afraid of how he was going to react. How would I explain myself? Should I keep it and find out what this anonymous lover will write next. My hand was in my pocket, ready to fish for the letter.

I brought out the letter and handed it over to him. "Ei, another letter for me? I have received three already, just today,"  he said. I was shocked to hear him say that. So it wasn't a big deal after all. I asked him what all the previous letters were about. He told me the letters were from an anonymous lover. In fact, Lovers, but he wasn't ready for such stuff. "Crazy boy,"  I said that quietly to myself. We entered the classroom. A few minutes later, the school was over.

My next target now was to meet my dream girl. There was one challenge. My paddies. How do I tell them to go home and leave me behind? It became a headache for me. We were so close that none of us was seen without the other. I gathered courage and told them to take the lead, and I'll join them later. They found it strange, but who dares question the leader? They obliged. Everything seemed to be working for me. I also overheard Lucy telling JK to take the lead. Wow, what a moment. I had dreamt about this many times, and finally, the time is up. All the students left, except the two of us. I was alone in the classroom with Lucy. I was so tensed. I didn't know how to begin. I couldn't look her in the face. She was also looking away. She asked me why I asked her to meet me. I opened my mouth but no sound came out.

I stood there gazing at her. She was growing impatient now. She told me not to waste her time if I had nothing to tell her. I finally spoke. I begged her to give me just five minutes so that I can tell her why I arranged for the meeting. Just when I was about to start, our headmaster entered our classroom. He asked what we were still doing in the classroom. I explained that I was teaching her a Maths topic she was finding difficult to understand. The headmaster stood there for some minutes and went out. A few seconds later, he came back and called me.

THE GIRL I NEVER HAD, PART 2

I didn't want the new guy to see the letter. It could be him, and it could also be me. I decided to find out the writer of this love letter. Luckily for me that day, I was the first student to enter the classroom. The others started trooping in, so I hid the letter in my bag. The new guy joined me on the desk, and we had a good chat that morning. While we were talking, we saw our Maths tutor approaching. Complete silence rained on us. Most of my mates,  including me, didn't like Maths. I don't know if our teacher is the cause or just the subject. When the teacher started teaching, something happened that got us all shocked.
I never knew I was sitting with "Archimedes". The new guy was not only cute but a shark. He answered most of the questions our teacher asked. Surprisingly, he got all of them correct. He also asked intelligent questions. JK could not match him. JK scored eight out of ten in the test we did, but the new guy scored all. I'm sure you are wondering what I got? For the very first time in my life, I got all the answers correct. How do you expect me to even get one answer wrong, while I was sitting with the shark? I took advantage of him and copied all his answers. I became very happy that day. I felt like lifting the new guy with the last strength I had in me. But I didn't. I didn't even show I was happy. I felt I was doing him a favor. Why? I made him sit beside me. I accepted him as my friend. So if he's helping me to excel in my academics, that was not a big deal.

The new guy did not only excel in Maths but he extended his dominance in the other subjects. Soon, JK was forgotten. No one gave him much attention as we used to. All the attention was on the new guy now. Since I was virtually getting the same score as he got, I also got my share of the attention. I found that as an opportunity to win the heart of that pretty girl. Surprisingly, she was not seen so close to JK as she used to. She was either seen alone or with some female friends. I knew that was the right time to strike. I wouldn't waste time. But who wrote that letter? And who was the love letter directed to?

Exactly a week later, I saw another envelope. I went to the classroom with my two paddies, oh sorry, three. The new guy was a member of our group now. We called ourselves, MEGA BRAINS. I was still the leader. I needed to know the content of the letter, but I didn't want my other friends to know about this secret admirer. I decided to hide the letter in my bag again, and find a quiet place to read it. The first break came, I couldn't get the chance. The second break came, I couldn't find any chance. I needed to read it before closing because I couldn't bear the suspense any longer.

I decided to seek permission from our French tutor so that I can go out and read the letter. She wasn't that difficult. So far as you can ask for permission in French, then your permission would be granted. By that time, I had managed to sneak the letter into my back pocket without my paddies knowing. Well, so I thought. I walked to the teacher and rattled my French. Off, I went. I was so eager to know what this secret admirer had written. I went to the toilet, locked the door, took out the letter from my pocket, and started reading.

There wasn't enough light there to help me read. I had to strain my eyes. And the stench was so unbearable. I nearly threw up. I started reading the letter, and as usual, she went on and on telling me how she was dying to be in my arms. I was enjoying every bit of the letter, despite the foul smell I found myself in. I read and read and read until I got to that part. The part that the anonymous writer mentioned a name.

I started sweating. The bad smell was choking me. I couldn't stand it anymore. This letter I had been brooding over it wasn't even supposed to be mine. It was meant for the new guy. Oh, what a complete waste of my precious time. So how do I tell the new guy? How will he receive this? Will he be angry, or happy? Will he continue to trust me, after I had read a love letter which was directed to him? Avalanche of unanswered questions started weighing me. While I was still inside trying to figure out what to do, I heard someone banging hard at the door.

THE GIRL I NEVER HAD, PART 1

A very long time ago, when I was in Junior Secondary School, there was a particular girl in my class that every boy wished was his. We did all we could, but we couldn't snatch her away from the tight grip of one boy, whose forehead was so big that it could block the destiny of six generations. Yes, you read that right. We couldn't comprehend why such a beautiful girl would choose such an ugly dude over us. Love can indeed be blind.

We tried our best to convince her to stop seeing this ugly guy, but it felt like convincing a hungry dog to choose honey over bones. It was hard. Very, very hard. At one point, we even thought that this ugly dude had bewitched the girl.

There were three of us friends - EK, MA, and me, KD. We decided to separate the "couple", and then each one of us would try to win the heart of this damsel. Whoever wins, wins. Ewwwwww, you say? This shows how frustrated we were. I was the leader. I was the cutest. I was the smartest. I stood a better chance of winning her love than my other friends, so I never had a problem with that arrangement.

Here's how we planned to separate the two. Oh, I forgot to tell you that this ugly guy, JK, was the most intelligent in our class. He used to teach us during those times when our teachers went on strike. For obvious reasons, I didn't like him, but not his style of teaching. He taught us like a trained teacher, and he controlled the class as if he were the headmaster. He was loved by both boys and girls in my class, except the three of us. There was never a day that you wouldn't find JK and his books together. Most of the time, Lucy, the girl of our dreams, was found next to him in a compromising posture.

One hot afternoon, after we had returned from our second break, the headmaster entered our class with a boy. We thought he was our headmaster's last born. He was well-dressed, with a neatly ironed shirt, polished shoes, and well-combed hair.

You could see on the faces of the girls that they were dying to rest in his arms. He was so cute, perhaps even more than me. Envy was written boldly on the faces of the guys. We just couldn't believe a guy could be this cute.

The headmaster told us he was a new student who would be joining us the following day. After the announcement, he asked me to be the friend of this new guy. I was sitting alone at the desk; my two friends were behind me. So automatically, the new guy had to join me at my desk. I didn't have much of a problem with that arrangement, but my only fear was going to school one day to hear that the new guy had snatched the girl of my dreams away. I prayed hard against it.

The following day, I had a lot of fun with my new friend. You could see from his new uniform and even his skin colour that he came from a rich home. Although my parents weren't poor, the new guy had a lot of things that I didn't have. The very first day he came to sit beside me, he brought me a gift. I thought that was too thoughtful of him, but I asked him to give it to my other friends.

One early morning, I went to our classroom and saw an envelope under my desk. Since it was under my desk, I decided to open it; besides, there was no name on it. I opened the envelope, and it was a letter. A love letter, I should say. I read the letter carefully to the end, but the writer didn't add any name to it. The letter was from Miss. Nobody to Mr. Nobody. The content of the letter was simple; she was beginning to fall in love with a boy who sat at that desk.