WHITE!!!!;The color of your heart ????????????
(A wall flower’s guide to finding God)
Chapter 6
(Sister, sister)
I sat down in church on Sunday morning, listening to the youth pastor preaching vehemently on the podium.
He was preaching some message about Faith and trust in God, and I really tried to pay attention, but I was finding a hard time understanding what he was passing across. Not that I didn’t know about Faith, but as I said earlier, I never really understood what anyone meant by cultivating a personal relationship with God to the point that you can trust Him the way the pastor was saying.
Feyikemi on the other hand, was completely wrapped in the message, jotting down points with her Yoruba Bible open beside her.
She always said she preferred the Yoruba Bible, as it was in her dialect, and felt more like home. I shook my head. Sometimes I never really understood that girl.
I sighed painfully, then snuck out my phone, and began to go through my WhatsApp, turning off my guilt meter and making sure to avoid detection by the ushers. I knew what I was doing wasn’t right, but I was bored nah, you can’t expect me to force myself to understand what I don’t understand.
In no time the service was over, and Feyikemi and I stayed behind to clean the church along with some other members. Obviously I hadn’t wanted to join, but at the start of the semester Feyi had insisted that I had to render some kind of service back to God instead of just sitting in church and doing nothing.
Like I said, sometimes I never really understood that girl.
I eventually conceded so that she would stop disturbing me.
I began to seek a secluded part of the church building, so as to avoid unnecessary conversation with any of the other members, especially the youth pastor.
Ehn, if the Youth Pastor corners you after service, it’s game over. He can stand there talking to and praying for you till midnight.
I wasn’t alone though, even Feyi avoided him most times, and she often playfully called him, ‘God’s prophet without a sense of time.’
I sighed and packed the dirt inside a Parker, then began to head for the large dustbin outside tge church.
As I headed outside to grab Feyi so we could finally leave, as I was already physically exhausted from being around so many people, I spotted her talking to a tall, fair boy.
I sighed.
At this point, I wasn’t even surprised to see Sean Odeyemi. It seemed like we could just never avoid each other and these awkward coincidences anymore.
Feyikemi spotted me and waved me over, and Sean glanced in my direction. His eyes lingered on me for a few seconds, and I realized that I was wearing a fitted gown, and he had probably only ever seen me in baggy, oversized clothes. I unconsciously wrapped my hands over my body and his eyes met mine, as if breaking the trance.
He then quickly averted his eyes away from me as I finally reached them.
“Hey babe, sorry for keeping you. You’re done right?”
“Yeah.” I faced Sean. “Happy Sunday.”
He nodded at me. “Same to you.”
Feyi narrowed her eyes. “Ahn. Do you two know each other?”
“Um….he’s the VC’s grandson I told you about.”
Sean rolled his eyes. “I can’t believe that’s how you introduced me to your friend.”
Feyi watched us in amusement. “What a small world, or a small campus Sha. Sean and I were just talking about the message.”
Of course. The message I hadn’t paid any attention to. I appraised Sean carefully. He didn’t look like the kind of person to take church seriously. Guess I judged him too quickly.
Someone yelled Feyikemi’s name from the other end of the church.
“Yes! I’m coming! Ileri, I’m so sorry, I’ll join you in a few minutes okay?”
I sighed. I really wanted to go home. “Please be fast.”
She nodded and left Sean and I alone.
There was a short, awkward silence between us.
“Later you’ll say that I’m the one following you around.” I muttered to him playfully, and he snorted.
“You shouldn’t complain. I’m already used to seeing you everywhere now.”
I scoffed at him, but his words gave me a warm feeling in my chest.
He glanced at me, then turned away.
“You…look decent though. Why don’t you dress like this everyday?” He said again, and I couldn’t help the blush that crept up my cheeks at his compliment. It was so out of the blue and felt so unnatural.
“I don’t look good. I look fat. This dress is so fitted that my stomach is bulging out.” I said freely, surprised that I wasn’t ashamed of nervous to talk about myself like that to a boy.
He gave me a look, then turned away. “Suit yourself.”
“Ilerioluwa.”
I heard a sickeningly familiar voice behind me, and my blood ran cold.
No it couldn’t be.
It couldn’t be.
I turned back in dread, my hands growing cold.
And came face to face with one of the people I feared the most.
My sister.
“Ileri, come give your big sis a hug na.”
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Sean watched the color drain from Ileri’s face as she stared at the beautiful young woman that stood before them.
He had originally been taken aback by how beautiful Ileri had looked in her dress, and he had stared at her a little longer than he had meant to.
He realized, that he hadn’t really looked at her since he had met her, and that she was truly beautiful, even though she clearly didn’t see it.
And he didn’t have the time nor did he care for her enough to try and change her mentality about herself. He had only known her for a month, but so far he had had more interaction with her than any other student in their department, and the more he saw her, the more he found her tolerable.
She was also fun to bicker with, and for some reason she wasn’t shy to speak her mind around him, and that was one thing he valued the most in a person.
But now he watched her shake and break out in a sweat at the person talking to her, who she called ‘sister.’
“Itunu…. when did you arrive?” She asked nervously.
The girl before her sighed dreamily, flicking her beautifully braided her behind her. She was the exact copy of Ileri, but she looked older and more mature. She also had this look in her eye, one that Sean didn’t feel particularly good about.
“Yesterday evening dear. I figured I’d pop in and see you. ” She replied cheerily.
“Oh…so did you attend church here?”
The girl’s face changed into a scowl.
“What? Do you think you’re better than me because I missed church for one day? Shabi I came to see you. Shouldn’t you be grateful?” She said coldly, her eyes full of spite and hatred.
Sean’s brows creased at her sudden change in character.
Ileri looked like she was about to cry.
“No…..Itunu, that’s not what I meant…..” She protested weakly.
Something was wrong.
In his body, Sean could feel the malice and fear that permeated the air between the two sisters.
What on Earth was going on?
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