Chapter 1

Zaria's POV

I saw her again. 

She ran through the woods, crying and calling to me for help. 

I couldn't move, the fear of being hurt had me rooted to the ground, as always. 

I watched helplessly as the man in black overalls gained in on her and soon he was right behind her. He pinned her down with his body and an evil smirk spread across his lips. 

The girl glanced at me one last time, her tearstained face sending a quiet cry to me, as she surrendered to the man. Before the darkness enveloped me, I heard the same words yet again, coming from the man. The words held venom like always, if not more than the last.

"You are Mine."

☆☆☆☆

I woke up with a start, sweating profusely though the cold air from the air conditioning system was on full blast, and panting. My breath came out in rasps and my chest constricted like I had been in a marathon. 

The numerous Little Mix posters on the wall confirmed to me that I was still in my room, my head fell back onto the pillow as my rapid breathing slowed. I turned to my bed side table where a small alarm clock sat, it was almost 5:00am. I looked back to the ceiling and allowed my thoughts to wander. 

I sighed as I replayed the dream over and over in my mind, the girl’s voice echoed in my ears and I shuddered. Every sound, turn, movement, and word was ingrained in my mind’s eye.

It had been reoccurring for as long as I could remember and I had no idea what to make of the scary dream. I always wanted to help her but the fear would freeze my features. The environment was pitch black, making it difficult for me to see her face but somehow she was able see mine. She knew me, there was a hint of familiarity in the way she called my name, it was like calling out to a friend to wait up.

Zaria. 

I shook the thought away like I always did, repeating to myself that I was above the weird dream. 

I am beautiful, I am smart, I am perfect and that no one would take that away from me, I chanted with my eyes closed.

I had decided not to tell anyone about the dreams and I made sure my parents didn't put me in a boarding school because I wanted to keep it known to myself as long as I had to. I didn't want anything to ruin my reputation. 

After saying a quick prayer of thanks, I headed for the bathroom since there was no use going back to sleep. Besides, a new session of school was going to start in two hours. I finished in the bathroom at about 6:30am and started to get dressed. 

I brought out my well ironed uniform from the huge wardrobe and smiled lightly. Limelight's High was one of the schools in Nigeria with the best uniform; Blue button up long sleeved shirt with the school badge woven in white and blue wool on the side pocket, a grey tie, grey thigh length flare skirts for the girls and smart pant trousers for the guys. Girls weren't allowed to wear the skirt without wearing pop socks or opaque pantyhose underneath. We were allowed to wear any kind of shoe so far it was black and covered the foot well. 

Apart from style, my school also excelled in academics. It was enough to be proud.

I styled my natural hair into two French plaits and the long length of the hair made it fall over my shoulders. I put on a little makeup; a puff of brown powder, a smack of pink bubblegum lip gloss and one swipe of mascara. I sat at the edge of my bed to put on my suede, wedge boots. I looked at my reflection in the mirror and smiled in satisfaction. 

Only one word described the image that stared back at me, Perfection. 

I daintily picked up my backpack and left the room. 

My house was quite big, it was practically a mansion. I descended the spiral staircase, my father, the "most honorable" Femi Coker sat in the living room, reading a newspaper and dressed in his chiefly attire while the maids went about their chores. One of the perks of being the daughter of one of the richest men in Lagos state, I didn’t have to do a thing.

I dropped my bag on one of the leather chairs and walked into the kitchen where mother, Aisha and few maids were making breakfast. I hugged my favorite, and only, sister from behind.

"Good morning baby sister." She cooed, smiling at me. 

"Good morning, Aisha. Wow, you are looking smoking hot." I exclaimed as I assessed her dressing. As a student of law in UNILAG, she was dressed in a black, knee-length bodycon gown with a fancy zip in front. Her white stilettos were without blemish and her weave looked brand new as always. I didn’t understand why she bothered with human hair, her natural hair was long enough. 

"You can greet your sister but you don't even have the courtesy to greet your own mother." My mother, Amina Coker, sneered. I rolled my eyes, earning myself a nudge in the side from Aisha. 

Forcing a smile, I murmured, "Good morning, Mother." emphasizing the word "Mother". I stopped calling her Mum a long time ago. 

"That's more like it. Good morning my dear, how was your night?" She asked. I ignored her and turned to Aisha. 

"When will you be leaving?" I asked. 

She gave me a look that warned be to be careful before replying me "Immediately I'm done with breakfast, why?"

"I will be waiting in your car. You are giving me a ride to school." I replied her and turned to walk out of the kitchen.

"What about breakfast?!" Mother called after me. 

"Nope." I answered without turning and left, I grabbed my bag from where I had dropped it earlier and started for the door. 

"Young lady.” My father’s baritone voice made me stop in front of the door. I rolled my eyes and walked back to stand in front of him. He placed the newspaper on the stool beside him and removed his reading glasses. 

"Yes, father?" I answered him. 

"Have you seen me this morning?" He asked with a raised brow. 

"Yes sir." Was my simple reply. 

"And have you greeted me?" He asked. 

You don't deserve my respect, was the reply that played on my tongue but being raised by a Yoruba Father and a Hausa mother who had spent all of her life in a Yoruba land, I quickly decided against it. Instead, I knelt like I was taught since my diaper days and did the right thing. 

"E ka a ro sa (Good morning Sir)." I said in my native language.

"Good morning. Wait for me, I will drop you off at school." He said as he stood. 

"Don't bother. Aisha will drop me." I simply told him. 

"Omolara." He called my native name and that got me angry. 

"Zaria, Father. Call me Zaria." I told him in a sharp tone. 

Mum and Aisha were already in the room watching us. I looked at Aisha, "Are we going or not?" I asked her. She picked her white hand bag and walked towards me, I stormed out of the house. She opened her black Range Rover with the remote and I got in.

"That was uncalled for." She said as she entered the car. 

"Aisha, please start this car and get me out of here." I answered. She sighed and started the car, honking at the gate man to open the gate. 

Aisha was the gentle one. She always tried make peace, giving several reasons why I shouldn't act the way I did. I also had a hundred and ten reasons why I was acting that way. 

☆☆☆☆

Aisha drove into the large school compound and parked in an empty parking space. I didn't get down immediately, I still had some time before the assembly started. Aisha turned to me, 

"You always don't want to talk about it." She told me. 

"I never want to talk about it. It makes me feel weak, and I am definitely not weak." I told her. 

"You sharing a problem doesn't make you weak. Your attitude towards dad and mum is not getting better and your relationship with them is falling apart." Aisha argued. I wanted to reply but the shrill sound of the bell interrupted me. 

"I have to go. Don't come and pick me, I will find my way home." I told her. 

"It's okay. Be good." She hugged me. 

I got down from the car and ran towards the assembly hall. The chapel supervisor was already leading the morning prayer and singing worship songs. Soon after that the Principal, Mrs Akinkunmi, came to admonish us and later dismissed everyone. 

I looked around for my best friends and I spotted Lyla in the distance. I screamed her name and she turned, screaming as she ran towards me. I met her half way and we enveloped each other in a bear hug, not caring if other students were watching. 

"I have missed you so much." She squealed in her usual baby voice. I feigned a frown and folded my hand across my chest. 

"You missed me? You got back from the States and didn’t even tell me." I countered. 

"Zee…I'm so sorry. I was really tired on Saturday when I got back and I was busy yesterday. I am so sorry, please forgive me." Her lips folded in a pout and she batted her lashes at me like a baby doll. I laughed and pulled her into another hug. 

"I'm just kidding. Look at you, you have become fatter o or should I say curvier?" I winked at her. She giggled and slapped my hand. 

"So I am invisible." A voice came from behind. Lyla and I turned and saw our third friend, Adaora. We hugged again. 

We had been friends since forever and we were practically inseparable. Although Adaora was more outgoing and exposed than Lyla and I, we loved her.

We made our way to our new class at the top floor since we were in SSS2 now, Lyla and Ada were in the science class while I was in the technical class. 

In addition to my academic excellence that couldn’t be rivaled, I also engaged myself in various sporting activities; handball, basketball, and lawn tennis. The long row of trophies and medals in my room proved my expertise in the field.

Ada's voice pierced through my thoughts,

"That's the new guy I was talking about." She jerked her head subtly towards the back seat as we entered the class.

"Who?" I asked, clearly lost. 

"You didn't listen to anything I said, did you?" Ada raised her brows at me. 

"My mind wasn't here." I shrugged. 

"Mama mia! That's one fine ass boy." I heard Lyla whistle. I followed her gaze and my eyes landed on the most handsome guy I had ever seen. Charles, a friend of ours, was talking to him, probably asking him a billion questions. Though he was handsome and looked like a smaller version of Thor, I don't like him. 

"I heard his name is Joel, Joel Bamidele. His Dad is the CEO of Bams Minerals, that big company that just opened on the island. His mum is British and he has lived in England almost all his life till he wanted to start secondary school and his dad decided to have them relocate back to Nigeria. He had his JSS1 to SS 1 in Abuja and they just moved to Lagos this summer." Ada rapped. I chuckled, the girl never misses anything.

"How did you know all of this?" Lyla asked her. 

"I did my research. Besides, when you want to have someone, you need to know everything about them right?" Ada bit her lower lip seductively and looked at Joel like he was a piece of meat in a pot of stew. My eyes widened when I realized what she meant. 

"Ada! He is New!" I yelled loud enough for just the three of us to hear. 

"And he is hot, he is my dream guy. Have you seen his eyes? Green… They are beautiful like the mother nature itself and I heard he got it from his British mum. Have you heard his British accent?  Oh God... It's so sexy!" Ada moaned quietly. 

Lyla gave her a girl-you’re-going-crazy look. "So you want to play this one too, abi?" Lyla scoffed. 

"Nope, I am keeping this one. He is all mine. I’m going to introduce myself to him." She started to adjust her shirt, she removed her blazer and dumped it in Lyla's hand who in turn dropped it in my hand. "How do I look?" She asked us. 

"Like Cinderella..." Lyla started. Ada started to grin but it was short-lived when Lyla added "...before the bi bi di ba bi di bo." I closed my mouth to suppress the laughter. 

"Bad belle (Hater)." Ada hissed loudly. 

"I don't see the reason for doing this, it's not like the guy is any different from us." I scoffed. 

"Na you sabi (It's you that know)" Ada said and started to walk off.

"Hopefully she doesn't embarrass herself." Lyla mumbled beside me. 

"You are talking like you don't know Ada." I huffed. I looked up to see if she was making any progress and unsurprisingly, she was. She was holding his hand in a shake and he was smiling at her. 

As if sensing that someone was watching him, he looked up and his green eyes met mine. He was still talking to Ada but his eyes were locked with mine and he wasn't willing to stop staring. He raised a brow with a smirk on his lips. 

Who the hell does he think he is? Is he trying to intimidate me? I think not! 

I eyed him and hissed before walking to my seat, deciding immediately that I didn’t like him, not one bit.