This chapter is dedicated to miss_onyinye_ for being an awesome poet. You can check out her poetry work In The Mind Of A Weird Girl and coming from someone like me who doesn't do poetry, it's really good.

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The wind howled and wailed outside the school building, blowing strongly against it's walls and windows and causing me to pull my jacket tighter across my body.

It was 8:30 pm and I was currently sitting on a chair in the middle of the large lecture room, waiting for the lecturer to arrive, amongst a hundred other students, whilst leafing through the notes I had taken down during the previous lectures.

It was the last lecture of the day and, if not anything else, I was desperately looking forward to getting it over with and heading back to my lodge to fall asleep straight away on the couch.

Yes, I was that tired.

By the time I had gone through the entire note and the lecturer had still not yet arrived, I sighed and closed my notebook, slipping it into my small handbag. Trading my earpieces for my book, I took them out and plugged them into my phone.

Just then, someone settled into the empty seat next to me, but I didn't bother to look up to know who it was.

As I made to plug the earpieces into my ears, a hand took my wrist and pulled them away.

What the...

Scowling, really hard, I turned to look at whoever it was, ready to give him a piece of my mind when I realized it was James.

That infuriated me even further.

"You get mental problem (do you have a mental problem)?" I raised my eyebrows in annoyance and pointed my index finger to my head, emphasizing my point.

He blinked.

"Ahh. Babe, calm down. I just wanted to talk to you."

"Wait a minute, just hold it right there, did you just call me babe?"

He sighed.

"Alright, I'm sorry. Sabrina Ikeji, I just want to talk," he told me.

I rolled my eyes at him.

"As you can see, I'm busy," I said and held my earpieces up for him to see, fixing a pointed stare at him.

Suddenly, he frowned.

"Why are you always like this towards me. I don't get it. You do know I'm really trying here right? Most boys—"

"That's it right there," I cut in. "Right there. You trying. All you have to do, really, is stop trying. I mean, who do you think I am, James? Another stupid girl you can easily get and play around with like some puppet then when you finally get bored, you cut off her strings and throw her away? Three years, James Adebayo, three years of flirting, using, dumping, then the same cycle all over again. All I heard in these past three years were the long list of girls you'd used and dumped like some stupid ragdoll and then all of a sudden you claim interest in me—"

I stopped and made quotation marks in the air when I said the word interest, to emphasize my point, then continued.

"—I mean, do you think I'm that daft? Or dumb? What did you think? That I was just going to jump right into your arms because you asked me out, like you had done to a thousand other girls? This is the very last time, James Adebayo, the very last time I will tell you this. Do not, I repeat, do not ever pester me again. You get that, yeah? Do not ever pester me again about your stupid request because my answer will always be no."

With that, I stood up, grabbed my handbag and stomped out of the lecture hall.

I was beyond angry now. I was seething. It made me feel foolish that James had thought I'd be another girl he could ask out, date, use and dump.

Yes, I had been a little bit wayward in my earlier years in school, but, I was changed now. I had a goal now. A drive, and to everyone who cared to look, that change was notable. Hadn't he seen that before daring to ask me out?

I bumped into someone on my way out of the school building and muttered a quick sorry, not bothering to look up.

To hell with the last lecture for the day. The lecturer wasn't even serious about his classes anyway, or else he'd have been in class, waiting for the students even before they arrived.

I was heading straight back to the lodge.

On my way out, I crossed a group of guys huddled a few feet outside the school's gate and smoking. Trying my best to seem oblivious to their presence, I walked on.

All I had in mind was getting back to the lodge before the looming storm broke out.

"Fine girl." One one of the guys smoking hooted.

I paid no attention to him, walking faster than before.

Suddenly, a pair of footsteps fell into step with mine.

"Fine girl, you no dey hear me abi (aren't you hearing me)?" a scratchy, husky voice came to me from behind.

The footsteps doubled and I broke into a run almost immediately, my heart already racing madly from the anxiety and thought of getting raped.

"Hey! Come back here," the first guy to speak hollered and followed after me.

I ran as fast as I could, but, I had been wearing boot heels and trust me, when trying to get away from someone, it was definitely something you wouldn't want to be wearing. They made me slow and in no time, the guy had caught up to me and wrapped his arms around me from behind.

"Leave me alone!" I screamed, squirming, trying to break free from his grip.

Immediately, a flash of vein-like lightening streaked across the sky and a loud clap of thunder followed almost immediately after.

And just like that, the sky opened up and cold, hard sheets of rain poured out, the first few drops feeling like tiny rocks on my face and hands.

"Hey, hey, baby calm down. Calm down. I no go do you anything (I won't do anything to you)," the guy with his arms around me said into my ear, his breath reeking of cigarette, then he released his arms from around me and held my wrist tightly, turning me around to face his other smoker friends.

"We only wanna have fun," he smiled a yellow, toothy grin, the streetlights illuminating his face in a half silhouette.

His other friends had already closed in on us.

"Please, just let me go. I'll give you anything, abeg (please)," I begged, feeling a lump in my throat and a sharp pain sting the back of my eyes.

Tears.

I struggled to keep them at bay. They'd only make me seem vulnerable, which, in turn would aggravate the situation.

"Regga, you to dey waste time with that girl, bring her here make we do fast fast commot this place (Regga, you're wasting too much time with that girl. Bring her over here, let's do and go quickly)," one of his friends said, irritation dripping from his voice.

Suddenly the guy holding my wrist yanked me, hard, pulling me into the the semicircle that had been formed by his three other friends.

"No wait, look—" I had only began when the second guy to have spoken slapped me across my face, sending blinding lights in my peripheral vision.

I felt woozy for a split second and staggered, my eyes unable to focus properly.

Suddenly, a hand wrapped around my neck and pushed me into the wall behind me, choking me. Another hand reached for my jacket and slipped it off my shoulders.

I couldn't breathe. I scratched at the hand that held my neck but it won't budge.

A third cold, wet hand slipped under my flannel top and splayed its fingers on my belly. That was all it took to make me really go high on adrenaline.

I screamed, spat, flailed my arms, shrieked, scratched, kicked, like a wide animal, until finally the hand that held my throat let go, basically because I had kneed him in his groin.

I bolted, right back to the school, screaming, tears running down my eyes and mixing with the rain water on my face, my stomach feeling so queasy it felt like I'd throw up any moment soon.

I heard footsteps splash in the water behind me and I screamed even louder running blindly as the rain water got into my eyes too.

My eyes stung from so much water getting into it.

As I got to the school gate, a bright red Mercedes with powerful headlights and a notable glint to its outlook drove out.

I stopped as soon as it braked in front me, crying, unable to put forth a word.

"Help me!" I shouted finally, dark spots clouding my peripheral vision.

The owner of the car got out immediately. A guy.

I wasn't able to make out his face for two reasons. One was because of the intensity of the light from the headlights of his car shining in my eyes and two, I was fading fast.

"Help me, please," I said again.

This time it was more of a whisper.

The black spots in my peripheral vision pulled forward until it took over my whole vision.

The last thing I remembered was the guy taking fast strides over to me as I blacked out.

_______________________________________________________

So, there are no foreign names or words to translate here 😇

Anyway, this chapter is also specially dedicated to all those out there who have encountered rape or near rape attacks.

I want you all to know that we girls can do something about it.

And that's FIGHT.

In what ever way we can. No matter what it costs. Whether you gouge out his eyes with your nails or you mar his face for life, at least you'd know you did it trying to save yourself.

#saynotorape

Love,

Thea😉💕