ðŸ”THE PINK Clouds ðŸ”
Episode_7
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The next day, Rebecca woke up around 5 am like she usually does. She stretched her arm to turn off the alarm of her phone that was ringing aloud. She proceeded to her bathroom that was attached to her room and brushed her teeth. After she was done, she walked out and went to the backyard to get her uniforms that she washed the previous night.
The uniforms were hung on a rope made for spre-ading of washed clothes.
She took them and walked back to her room with them. She opened her drawer and took out an iron and had her uniforms ironed on a table she kept in her room for ironing her clothes. After she was done ironing, she walked to the kitchen to start preparing breakfast.
The kitchen was of medium size with a very bright florescence light shining above it. It’s entire wall was covered with smooth tiles, while the floor was covered with rou-gh ones. She walked to the storage room and took some potatoes in a basket. She then walked to the cutlery section in the kitchen and got her favourite knife that she uses for peeling yams and potatoes.
She sat down on a small chair and started peeling the potatoes.
About 20 minutes later, she was done peeling the potatoes.
She sliced them into smaller pieces and then went to the fridge in the dining room and took some eggs. Went back to the kitchen and started frying the potatoes with the eggs on a g@s cooker. At about 6: 30 am, she had finished frying everything.
She walked to the room of her little brother Emmanuel and woke him up. “Hurry up and take a bath before mum Wakes up,” Rebecca said to him. He stood up with his eyes half closed and walked into their mother’s bathroom.
While he was taking his bath, Rebecca opened his wardrobe and took his uniforms which she ironed the previous night and kept them on his be-d. She then proceeded to her bathroom and started taking her bath. After she was done bathing, she went to her room and did all sorts of makeup before putting on her uniform. At about 7 am, she walked into the dining room and found Emmanuel waiting for her.
She served him his breakfast and soon, he started eating it. When he was about to finish, their mother walked out of her room.
“Good morning mum,” they both greeted her. “Good morning how are you doing?” Prof. Grace asked.
“We are fine mum,” they both responded.
“Are you taking the taxi or you will wait for me?” Prof. Grace asked Rebecca.
“I will be going with Amira,” Rebecca replied referring to their neighbour.
“Alright then, I will see you after school,” Prof. Grace said as she walked back to the room to get re-ady.
Rebecca ate her breakfast and took her school bag and left the house. She went to their neighbour’s house and called her friend’s name.
“Give me a minute, I will be out soon,” Amira replied.
About five minutes later, Amira walked out of the house.
“I thought you said I should give you a minute,” Rebecca smiled.
“Do you want me to go school with an empty stomach?” Amira asked.
“Not really, so how are you?” Rebecca asked and they started walked to school.
“I am okay, how about you?” Amira questioned.
“I am okay too,” Rebecca replied.
“Where is Emmanuel? I heard he is attending a new school now,” Amira stated.
“Yes, he is attending St. John primary school. And my mum is taking him there,” Rebecca explained.
“That’s great. So how is your Mathematics tutor?” Amira smiled.
“I don’t know, he didn’t come yesterday,” Rebecca replied.
“I bet you don’t hate him anymore, right?” Amira asked.
“Maybe,” Rebecca replied.
“What do you mean by maybe? You know he created the best scene in school ever yesterday to save. What can possibly be wrong with him?” Amira asked.
“Have you forgotten that my mum sl@pped me because of him?” Rebecca recalled.
“Come you can’t possibly hate him forever because of that. You don’t know how he impressed everyone at school yesterday to saved you,” Amira revealed.
“Really?” Rebecca asked.
“Yes of course, everyone in clas-s kept talking about him after you were gone,” Amira revealed.
“They asked me if I knew who he was and I told that he is and I told them that he is the best student in this university,” Amira told.
“Who told that you that?” Rebecca asked looking shocked.
“You did of course. You said it was the very reason your mother hired him to teach you,” Amira said.
“I never said he is the best student in this university,” Rebecca replied.
They got the main road where they boarded a taxi to school.
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Around 10 am, Richa-rd walked into a lecture theatre where they were supposed to have a lecture by 11 o’clock. He sat on one of the front sits and brou-ght out his books and started going throu-gh them. He was alone in the lecture theatre, so the lecture theatre was extremely quiet. About 30 minutes later, students started arriving into the lecture hall. Students usually come early into the lecture hall so that they could sit in the front. About fifteen minutes later, quarter of the theatre was filled with students.
“Excuse Me, you are sitting on my seat,” c@m£ a voice.
When Richa-rd looked up, it was Janet talking to the person sitting next to him.
“And how is this supposed to be your seat?” The man sitting next Richa-rd asked.
At this point, all the attention in the hall was on them.
“Well, I was here earlier, I just went out to get something,” Janet replied.
“That’s untrue, I was the second person to come to this place after Richa-rd ,” the man replied.
“Well, you should ask Richa-rd yourself. We have been sitting here together, I only went out get something and it took me so long,” Janet answered.
“Is that right Richa-rd ?” The man asked as he turned to Richa-rd .
Before Richa-rd could say a word, Janet win-ked at him.
“Yes, she was here with me,” Richa-rd replied.
“Why didn’t you tell me then?” The man asked angrily.
“Sorry, it must have sli-pped my mind,” Richa-rd apologized.
The man angrily stood up and left the seat while Janet sat there confidently.
Richa-rd was totally amazed at the she spoke to the man with confidence even pretending to angry as if she was right.
“Why are you looking at me like that?” Janet asked when she noticed how Richa-rd was staring at her.
“Nothing,” Richa-rd smiled and looked away.
“If you have something in your mind that you want to say, say it,” Janet said giving Richa-rd some kind of dirty look.
“I just pity that man,” Richa-rd replied.
“So you don’t pity me?” Janet asked pretending to be angry.
“As a matter of fact, yes, why should I pity you?” Richa-rd asked.
“If that’s the case, then I have to find another sit,” she said as she tried to stand up.
“The man is still over there watching us angrily. If you don’t want to get both of in a very big trouble, then you should get seated,” Richa-rd said.
When she looked in the direction Richa-rd was looking, indeed the man was glaring at them angrily. Janet quietly sat back without saying a word.
“Are scared of him?” she asked.
“Of course I am, just look at his size, he can eat both of us alive,” Richa-rd replied. Suddenly Janet started laughing out loud that people close to them to looked at them. They were all surprised seeing Janet talking to Richa-rd like that.
About 10 minutes later, the lecturer c@m£ in and the hall went silent. He started his lecture and lectured for about two hours. After he declared that the lecture was over, all the students started leaving but Richa-rd remained sited.
“Hey, aren’t you leaving?” Janet asked. “Actually not, I still have some places I have to cover,”Richa-rd revealed.
“Come on, today is a free day for us, you nee-d to relax and enjoy yourself,” Janet suggested.
“Have you forgotten that we have an as-signment to do?” Richa-rd asked.
“We’ve got plenty of time before the d@t£ line of the submission, do you mean you want to do it now?” Janet asked.
“Yes of course, I won’t have a calm mind if I don’t do it now,” Richa-rd replied.
“Thank God you are my friend, and I will use our friendsh!pto my advantage,” Janet announced.
“Really?” Richa-rd asked.
“Yes, there are things I don’t really un-derstand. I would like you to teach me,” Janet said.
“Janet , we are going,” said a voice. When Richa-rd and Janet turned, they noticed that it was Janet ‘s friends try to leave the lecture theatre.
“You guys should go ahead, Richa-rd is going to teach me something,” Janet revealed.
“Okay, you know where to find us if you are done,” one of her friends replied and they turned and left.
Richa-rd brou-ght out one of his books from his bag and started teaching Janet with it.
He taught her for about an hour until she disclosed that she was tired.
“Come on, we just started,” Richa-rd tea-sed.
“Started? Have you forgotten that we had a two hour lecture?” Janet reminded.
“No I haven’t,” Richa-rd laughed.
“You see, even a machine nee-ds a rest, so do I,” Janet said.
“Alright then,” Richa-rd responded.
“Tell me more about you Richa-rd ,” Janet uttered as she la-id her head on the desk of her seat.
“My life is boring, there is nothing much to say,” Richa-rd replied.
“That’s untrue. You are one of the most amazing people I’ve ever met, I only realised that after I have come to know you,” Janet revealed.
“Really?” Richa-rd asked surprisingly.
“Yes of course, so tell me about your family,” Janet requested.
“Well, we are three in my family. My elder sister, younger sister and I. Our parents died 10 years ago in a car accident,” Richa-rd revealed.
“Oh I’m so sorry to hear about your lost,” Janet said as she lifted her head off the desk.
“No problem, my elder sister had gotten married 5 years ago, so she gave up everything to see that I study, that why I give it all my best,” Richa-rd revealed.
“She must be the br@vest woman of the century,” Janet complimented.
“I think she is,” Richa-rd smiled.
“What about your younger sister? How old is she?” Janet asked.
“She is 15 years old, currently in SS1,” Richa-rd explained.
“That’s wonderful, I wish I could meet her in person,” Janet said.
“Don’t worry, I do have a picture of her in my phone,” Richa-rd revealed.
“Can I take a look?” She requested.
“Yes of course,” Richa-rd said, and he took out his phone and showed Janet the picture.
“You guys look pretty much alike, what her name?” Janet asked.
“Her name is Susan, but we call her with Mimi,” Richa-rd answered.
“So Mimi is her nickname,” Janet replied.
“Yes it is,” Richa-rd responded.
“What about you? What’s your nickname?” Janet asked.
“Is so embarras-sing, I can’t tell you,” Richa-rd replied.
“Is that so?” Janet laughed.
“Yes of course, it was given to me my grandmother when I was a kid,” Richa-rd revealed.
“What about your younger sister, who gave her the nickname she has?” Janet asked.
“When she was very little, it was something she likes saying when she is hungry. That’s why my family named her with it,” Richa-rd explained.
“That’s so funny,” Janet laughed.
Before they knew it, the whole bec@m£ silent because it was Friday. All the male Muslim students had gotten to school central mosque to pray, while most of the girls had gone back to their dormitories. They stood up and walked out of the hall and noticed that the whole faculty was quiet with only few students around.
“Looks like everyone has gone,” Janet said as they headed out of the faculty.
“Yes, I’m surprised that the time has moved very fast like that,” Richa-rd replied.
“When you are having a good time, you won’t notice it when time is moving really fast,” Janet responded.
“Do you mean you had a good time with me?” Richa-rd asked.
“I will be a lair if I say I didn’t,” Janet replied with a smiled on her face.
Richa-rd smiled back and could not say anything.
“Tell me about your girlfriend,” Janet asked.
“Actually I don’t have a girlfriend,” Richa-rd replied.
“Wow! You must be kidding, right?” Janet asked pretending to be surprised.
“I’m really serious Janet , I think I have told you that the other day,” Richa-rd replied.
“I can’t recall you telling me that,” Janet responded.
“Well now you do,” Richa-rd answered.
“But why don’t you have a girlfriend?” She asked.
“I don’t know, maybe I am not handsome,” Richa-rd replied and Janet laughed.
“Of course you are. You are indeed very handsome,” Janet said with a smiled.
“And you are indeed very beautiful,” Richa-rd said after he had st©pped with all seriousness in his eyes. “Really?” Janet asked as she st©pped walking too, and the smile on her face faded.
At that moment, Richa-rd ‘s heart beat like it never had. It was the br@vest thing he ever said to a girl in person. At that moment, it was like his de-sire for her has increa-sed a million times. He couldn’t believe he had actually said those words to her.
“In fact, you are the most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen,” Richa-rd continued.
“This is the lie that every boy tells a girl,” Janet replied.
“Believed me, this is the first I am saying words like this to a girl,” Richa-rd replied.
“Really?” Janet asked.
“Yes Janet , I really mean it,” Richa-rd continued.
“Okay, thanks the compliment,” she said and continued walking.
“I am going to be late, my friends are waiting for me,” she said she looked back with a smile on her face. Richa-rd walked to her and they continued walking together.
“How old are you?” She asked him.
“I’m 18 years old,” Richa-rd replied.
“Wow! Are you serious?” Janet asked astoundingly.
“Yes of course. Why do you look surprised?” Richa-rd asked.
“Well, that’s because I’m very much older than you,” Janet replied. “How old are you?” Richa-rd asked.
“I’m 22 years old,” Janet revealed. Richa-rd started laughing instantly.
“Do you think I’m a kid to believe that?” Richa-rd asked.
“Yes of course, let me show you something,” Janet said as she took out her phone from her purse. She showed him a scanned picture of her birth certificate, and Richa-rd could not believe it.
“So I have been hanging out with a granny all along, I have no clue,” Richa-rd tea-sed.
“Who are you calling granny?” Janet asked pretending to be angry.
“You of course, it never c@m£ to me that you will be older than me,” Richa-rd revealed.
“No wonder you do act childish sometimes,” Janet smiled.
“When did I ever act childish?” Richa-rd asked.
“Well, you were even scared to say I’m that beautiful, isn’t that childish enough?” Janet smiled.
“How did you know?” Richa-rd asked confusingly.
“Well, is because I’m older than you,” Janet laughed. They got the road that will lead to the dormitory, and Richa-rd boarded a taxi.
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In the evening, Richa-rd went to Prof. Grace’s house. When he got there, he found Rebecca sitting with her friend on a rest bench on the opposite of their house. They were both going throu-gh their phones and laughing at the same time.
Richa-rd stood still and couldn’t take his eyes off Rebecca. Her hair was beautifully plaited falling on her forehead. She wore a black dress that was completely the opposite of her skin. And when she smiled, a dimple appeared on her cheeks. She looked up and their eyes accidently.
Richa-rd quic-kly looked away with his beating fast. She stood up from the bench and approached him.
“Good evening,” she greeted him. “Good evening, how are you?” Richa-rd answered somewhat surprised.
“I’m okay, you can come in,” she said as she proceeded to the door of the house.
She opened the door and entered while Richa-rd followed her.
When they got into the house, she proceeded to her room, while Richa-rd walked to the dining table. He waited for her for a couple of minutes before she finally appeared with her books.
She brou-ght the books and placed on the table next to Richa-rd .
She drew back one of the dining chair and sat down on it.
“What did your Mathematics teacher said to you today at school?” Richa-rd asked.
“He didn’t say anything,” Rebecca replied.
“I expected he wouldn’t,” Richa-rd replied.
“I know you do hate me, and you will never learn from a teacher you hate. So plea-se, if it is possible, you should st©p hating me temporarily.
You can continue to hate me after I have taught you,” Richa-rd continued. “Okay,” Janet replied.
“If want to be very good at calculation, you have to give it all that you’ve got,” Richa-rd advised.
“Alright, I will try,” Rebecca responded.
“You spare at least 3 hours out of your 24 hours to practise, that way, you will be perfect,” Richa-rd continued.
“Alright, I will try doing that,” Rebecca agreed.
Richa-rd started teaching her some simple problems. Unlike before, she gave her maximum attention. Richa-rd was very glad that Rebecca was paying attention. After 30 minutes of the lesson, Richa-rd decided to test her by giving her some exercise.
Surprisingly, she solved all of them.
“Wow! You are more intelligent than I expected you to be,” Richa-rd smiled.
“Really?” She asked with a doubt.
“And believe me, If you practise ha-rder, I can make you the best student in mathematics in your school,” Richa-rd promised.
“There are many intelligent students in my school, I don’t think that is possible,” Rebecca doubted.
“Any is possible if you believe in yourself. Haven’t you heard the story I told yesterday? These were the very words I said to my teacher when she said she will make me the best student in Mathematics in my secondary school. I gave her the same replied and she encouraged me to believe I could do it. And at the end, I was not only the best student in Mathematics, but in order subjects too,” Richa-rd revealed.
“I will be graduating next year, don’t you think is too late for me?” Rebecca asked.
“It is only too late after you have graduated. Besides, you have just started your SS2, there still plenty for you,” Richa-rd emphasized.
“Well, I can try my best to be good. But being the best is something that can never happened. There two students in my clas-s called Has-san and Migrate. Those kids are like the devil, they can solve any problem given to them since during our junior years,” Rebecca said.
“That’s because they have given it their very best, have you ever given it your best? Studied like you will die tomorrow?” Richa-rd asked and Rebecca shook her head.
“From the way I see it, you have potentials. If you maximise your efforts, you will definitely succeed,” Richa-rd insisted.
“Okay master Richa-rd , I will give it my best,” Rebecca said as she put her hands and bowed like a Chinese and Richa-rd started laughing at her.
“Should we continue with the lesson is okay for today?” Richa-rd asked.
“I like it, we should continue,” Rebecca smiled.
He taught for another 30 minutes before he finally concluded the lesson by giving her some as-signments to do. As he stood up to leave, Rebecca asked him to wait for her and she ran to the kitchen.
About five minutes later, she c@m£ back holding a yam porridge on a plate in one hand and a bottle of coke in the other hand. She placed it on the dining table and re-moved all the books from the table.
“Thank you so much,” Richa-rd appreciated.
“You are welcome,” she smiled.
“Wow! It taste delicious, did you cook yourself?” Richa-rd commented after taking his spoon.
“It taste horrible, I wasn’t even paying attention while I was cooking it,” Rebecca br@gged.
“Wow! Then that means I can forget my name if I taste your best dish,” Richa-rd joked.
“I think so,” Rebecca replied after she had st©pped laughing.
“Let me go to the kitchen first, I will be back before you finish eating,” Rebecca said.
“Alright,” Richa-rd replied.
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About five minutes later, Rebecca c@m£ back just when Richa-rd had finished eating.
“Are you done eating?” she asked.
“Yes I am, thank you for the meal” Richa-rd replied.
“Don’t mention it,” Rebecca replied.
Richa-rd walked out of the house with Rebecca beside him. It was alre-ady dark when they got out. Richa-rd was relieved that he had eaten and he doesn’t have to go back to the dormitory to eat before going for his night studies.
“Alright, I will be coming tomorrow around 10 am, since tomorrow is weekend,” Richa-rd announced.
“Alright, I will be waiting,” Rebecca replied.
After he walked out of the house, he decided to go to one of the halls close to him and study.
As he started ma-king his way, his phone started ringing. When he took out the phone, he noticed that it was Paul calling him. But when he answered the call, it a different voice he heard.
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Richa-rd : can I know who’s on the line?
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Caller: I want to know if you know the owner of this phone.
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Richa-rd : he is my friend
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Caller: Okay, come to Tamuwa ward
Before Richa-rd could ask for what was wrong, the caller ended the call. He began totally scared thinking what might have happened to Richa-rd . Due to the fact that the area that caller mentioned was faraway, Richa-rd had to get some money before he could get there. He quic-kly ran back to his campus and took his credit card. He returned to one of the ATM machines in the school and withdrew some money. He boarded a taxi that took him to the gate of the school.
After he was dropped at the gate of the school, he boarded another taxi that will take him to where Paul was. When he arrived at the area, he called Paul’s phone again and the same person that called answered the called. The person instructed Richa-rd to go a building that seemed to be very old with no light in it.
As soon as he entered the building, he started to smell marijuana at every corner of the building. His hearted beating as he was overwhelmed with fear. He wanted to leave, but he worried about what might have happened to Paul. He then walked into the inner p@rt of the building where red fired of cigarette all over.
Richa-rd dialed Paul’s number, and he heard the phone ringing in the corner of the building. He walked to the corner and found Paul lying on the ground in the mist of some boys. Before one of the boys could answer the call, Richa-rd ended it.
“I’m here,” Richa-rd said.
“Oh are you his friend?” the boy asked.
“Yes I am,” Richa-rd replied.
“Well, your friend took something more that his br@in could contain,” the boy laughed.
Richa-rd was altogether taken aback in the condition he found Paul. It was if he was the person he knew.
“Paul!” Richa-rd called out.
“Don’t waste your energy, he can’t hear you in the next three days,” the boys laughed. Richa-rd asked one of the boys for help, and they helped to carry Paul outside the building. Richa-rd st©pped a taxi and he entered along with Paul. The taxi took them back to school to Richa-rd ‘s dormitory.
Richa-rd called one of his roommates and he helped him in taking Paul in and la-id him on his be-d. After Richa-rd had la-id him down, he walked out of the room and sat bench in front of the room. He placed his hands on his head and couldn’t believe what was happening. it was then that Richa-rd realised why Paul missed so many lectures the previous semester and why he is rarely seen in the night. Richa-rd felt like he doesn’t know him anymore.
He began to think of a way he would approach him if he wakes up. About 30 minutes later, Richa-rd stood up and walked out of their hostel in order to get some fresh air. He then decided to visit the school north club.
It was where the students in the north campus use in entertain themselves. Some students usually go there to pl@ysnooker, while others go there to pl@ytable tennis.
When Richa-rd walked into the club, he was really shocked to notice Janet pla-ying snooker in the mist of 4 boys.
Their clas-s repres£ntative was among the boys standing beside her. Richa-rd felt an anger he had never felt before. He watched her angrily as she laughed and pl@yamong them. When she looked up, she saw Richa-rd staring at her and her quic-kly looked away pretending not to have seen him. He quic-kly walked out of the club and decided to go back to his room in the campus.
He went a little distance when he heard Janet shouting out his name.
“Where are you going in such a hurry?” she asked after she had finally got to where he was.
“Somewhere you don’t nee-d to know,” Richa-rd replied with an angered face.
“Why are you like this?” Janet asked confusingly.
“What is wrong with you?” Richa-rd asked furiously.
“I don’t know, you tell me,” Janet responded. “How can you mingle yourself in the mist of those boys as if you are not a girl?” Richa-rd asked.
“Are you jealous?” Janet asked.
“No I’m not, it just makes you look less clas-sy and cheap,” Richa-rd replied.
“St©p being childish Richa-rd , they just my friends like you are. If you are not okay with that, then I guess we can’t be friends,” Janet responded.
“I guess so,” Richa-rd replied and he turned and left.
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To_be_Continued
_____📙. Pls pardon typogra-phical Errors u might have come across.