Chapter 1: Rosalind
I have never thought that I was a normal girl. Really! I have a so strange behaviour (according to anybody) and I don't know how to mend it.
My name is Alana Moro. I am 22 years old. Physically, I am an average person: two feet, two hands, one head... Maybe I am not very tall, 1.57 meter anyway it's a problem for my mother. She would like I was at least 1.65 meter like her. My siblings are all of them taller than me. I have nine siblings : two sisters and seven brothers, and please I don't want any stereotype, it's not because we are an african black family. Yes, I am dark in complexion and proud of it and I come from a very big family: the Moros. I live at Libreville, the capital of Gabon, a state in the Middle West of Africa; national language: French. Certainly, you don't know this country. - Now you can look at your map, my little geeks! - My greatfather Napo Moro had fourteen wives and almost a hundred children and my father married one woman and has had with her ten children. It's not a big deal! But my country and my family were not the topic. Sorry! I am a bit wandering. I was speaking about me and my behaviour. I think that to speak about it will be boring so I prefer you to see by yourselves.
When I was at high school, I was one of the three best students of the school. I was very proud of me and sometimes even too proud. I was good at music too. I never failed an exam. Secretly, I always to meet love, the true love but unhappily or happily I never succeeded. It was not because I was ugly and in fact I was an ugly, fat and acne covered teenager. But it's only due to my incapability to fall in love with someone. Ah, ah! I can see you doubting about the fact that a human being can be unable to love someone. Nevertheless, I was like that until I met Boris.
The first time I saw him, I came back from school. I can't remind the day but the weather was very. I didn't have an umbrella so my school was wet and I used a notebook to protect my front against the tropical hot sun. I walked with my best friend Rosalind. She was so excited by one of these banal girls'subjects and I listened to her because I was happy to have a friend who was not a boy. She and I were in our first year of senior high school, in the same class, and were friends since the first year of the junior high school. It was the longest friendship with a girl that I had had since I could not tolerate other girls, always gossiping, crying and believing all the lies of boys or fighting for them.
Rosalind was different, always joyful and kind. Prettier and taller than me, she never looked down on me. She had light-brown eyes, a symmetrical face which light up when she smiled. Even if I was a bit jealous of her I liked her more and always tried to protect her. Actually she was a little naïve and a lot of boys were interested on her. We were neighbours and she was 15 like me but three months elder than me. We were born to be friends.
When we arrived at the small market near our homes, Rosalind took my hand and made me across the road to buy ice-creams. I had refused to eat ice-creams because I was a singer and it was not good for my voice but when Rosalind asked for something it was useless to discuss about it. It was about 2 pm. Around 1 and 3 pm a mass of pupils and students came out from schools so we were waiting in a queue of about ten people. I was exhausted and a bit angry. I hated waiting! On the left and the right of the ice-cream maker, several sellers were talking with their customers or waiting under their parasols. There were some grocers'shops, several sellers at every side of the road and another ice-cream maker also.
In the line, Rosalind was just in front of me. She did not stop talking and I was arguing with. But I could not win the debate. I can't remind what we were talking about however it made us laugh at the end of our discussion. At this moment, the little girl before her had progressed in the line but we did not notice it so the boy behind me said in a sweet voice:
- "May we keep the line moving?"
- "Of course. I am sorry!" I replied glancing at him and then asking Rosalind to progress with a nod.
Rosalind immediatly walked forward and joked at how I was bothered. Another boy came and spoke with the boy behind me but I didn't see him. I could just hear them. After about five minutes he went away. could not but I noticed that the boy behind me was pretty good-looking. He was around 1.7 meter and wore a blue short and a white t-shirt. Despite of this clothes, I can see his abnominal muscles drawing under his t-shirt and his nice biceps. His hands were in his pockets and he had made a mysterious smile when I looked at him. Nonetheless, I didn't care a lot since I had friends more handsome. Finally, we had our ice-creams and continued our way.
- "Bye girls" said the boy smilling and looking at...ME!
I was sure he was looking at me. Why? I did not know him. Only Rosalind answer "bye". I just waved with a glacial expression. Rosalind knew that I hated speak about boys so she didn't say nothing about him. I am pretty sure she would like say something.
Except the hot sun, it was a second reason I was so hurried to go back home. I had my music lesson by 6 pm and my coach always said that vocal cords and body need a good rest. When I arrived at home, the cooking-pots were empty.
- "Mum! There is nothing to eat", I yelled in the kitchen with a disappointed.
- "Sorry" She replied "I told your siblings not to be selfish but you know them. You can cook for you. I am busy now" She was busy with Dan (only 2 years old) whom did not want to dress.
we rarely eat together in our family because of our time tables. We are numerous and different. My father, Kigni Moro is a networks and telecom engineer for several years he worked in the same company. Once the company collapsed six months before I met Boris he decided to up his own business. It did not work well when I was 15 but now... My mother, Sara Moro is a state registered nurse. Sometimes she spend the night at her job. My eldest brother Eric is a sound mixer he worked as a teacher in my arts school. My second brother Antoine is a computer scientist, my elder sister Kelissa is a literature university lecturer, my third brother Stephen a programmer, my younger sister Eve wants to become an architect, my younger brothers are too young and I... At 22 years old, I don't know what I want. I can everything. I am good at all subjects except sports. None of my siblings has his house so we live together even now. But I am wandering again. Come back to when I was 15 and none of my siblings had a job.
After cooking I ate quickly, did my homework and rested for a while. As soon as I arrived at I joined my classroom. This evening someone was waiting for me there.
- "Hello Alana! How is it? You are so pretty. You have lost some kilos I think" Greeted a tall and handsome boy.
- "Hi Lionel! What do you want?" I answered with a mocking smile.
- "Oh Alana", he said on a reproachful tone, "it is not a manner to speak to your best friend".
- "You are not my best friend you are just the guy who comes from time to time to ask for my services. This is not the drawing classroom. Speak fast. I need to do my vocalises".
Lionel and I had been in the same schools since the primary school. When I was in the elementary he was a newcomer. Even today we laugh when we talk about the first words he told me: "I love you Alana". All the pupils had laughed. I had slapped him and was punished. After I was released, he kissed my cheek and said: "I always love you" and he ran away. He has no more feelings toward me. But we became really great friends.
This evening, he had forgotten his notebook and then he had a test. He wanted me to remind him the colour wheel and some authors. I was not in drawing but he asked to me. He did like everyone. They asked me to help them for such a lot of difficult thing and since I was able to answer they called me "Miss know-it-all" and joked at me. Moreover, in any class debate nobody could stand against me. I questionnes nobody during the presentations if not they will be mean with me. Nobody wanted a "know-it-all" for friend who corrects all your mistakes. The girls were nastier with; they excluded me from their groups. However when they need a help they called me. I had never refused to help them except during the tests. For this reason I was more alone: I refused to cheat. Rosalind was the only girl who wanted to be my friend and the other girls used her to have my services. I hated the way they used her but I was tired to explain it to Rosalind.
This same night, I had had a strange a strange dream. A beautiful white woman with red long hair, a crimson dress and two wings like a fly called me in a dark forest. I was attracted by her beauty and her kind smile and began to follow her. But I noticed at a certain moment that her eyes were all dark, no white part, just all black. In my culture, dark eyes mean witchcraft and maliciousness. So I stopped follow her and the woman got angry and caught my hand to bring me in the dark forest. I struggled against her but she was too strong and suddenly I woke up. But just before I woke up I saw a man behind me in the eyes of the witch. It was 11 pm and I was awaken by a call of Lionel. He told me that he passed the test. He apologised because he felt that I was sleeping. We continued a ten minutes joyful discussion and he hung up. Then I checked my hand. It was painful. It was not the first time I had this kind of dreams and I used to relate them to my mother but she only feared and made me feared too.
The most of the boys were not mean with me. It is the reason why almost all of my friends were boys. My brothers, the boys of the arts school or classmates even the strangers, I always got along with males. Little by little I became a tomboy. The boys saw me no longer like a girl but like a guy and I liked this because I had a place somewhere.
Lastly, Rosalind began to dislike my company in the second year of high school. One day, we had a great quarrel about my outfit and my behaviour. She wanted me to become more "sociable" and "normal". I got angry. I don't know why but in the midst of my words I called her a "hypocrite". I apologised just after but since this day she avoided me. She spent her time with the Elsa band, some really mean girls who caled themselves "the godess". Her outfit and her behaviour turned totally. she cheated at tests, broke classes. I had tried to prevent her to drag with them but one day she retorted:
- "What do you know about it? You, the perfect girl who always follows the rules and her tradition. We have no business together."
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