Tyler's POV

There were many things I loved about being in SS3 and one of the them was the multiple free periods we had. Well, at least for first term because we ain't doing anything serious this term but come what January, we would obviously be loaded with school work.

I was in the library, my sketch pad in front of me but I had no idea what else to draw. Normally at this time, I'd probably be with my friends and we'd talk about stuff but today was different. I wanted to be on my own because I needed to be. On this day. This very special day.

Her Death Anniversary.

My friends knew, and they understood how special this day to me. So they left me alone. I flipped through the pages, admiring my works just to pass time. I really didn't feel like going out to meet the guys. As I tried to get an inspiration or an idea of what else to draw, I heard someone come in, making me look up on instinct.

It's her.

Tiana.

Since that day I saw her at the park, I haven't stopped thinking about her. It was strange but I welcomed the strangeness because it kept making me smile involuntarily. Lately, she has been the source of my inspiration. Seemed far fetched but it was true. I just wouldn't stop thinking about her.

She returned to school but kept a low profile that even I barely saw her. I found myself looking for ways to see her, or make her see me at least but she was always on her, didn't even have friends. People still made snaky comments about her and the video and even though she seemed not to care, I knew very much that she did.

I watched as she made her way into the library and towards an empty table at the extreme end of the hall. She opened two books and brought out her pen, copying from one note to another, probably trying to catch up on what she had lost. I watched her, memorizing the littlest details about her.

Like, the way she swept her braids over one shoulder continuously when it kept falling. And the way she bit the head of her pen like she was deep in thought. Or the way she swept her tongue over lips slowly. She was a beautiful sight to watch, whether I admit it to myself or not, she was. I felt my lip quirk slightly in a lopsided grin.

I suddenly took my pencil and started to sketch her. I don't know what drove me to but I really wanted to draw her. It wasn't so easy has she kept moving occasionally but I didn't mind, I kept drawing. Soon I was almost half way done.

"What are you drawing!" The voice came to me so suddenly and I immediately closed my sketch pad and looked up to see Kelvin looking at me.

"Jesus Christ, Kev! You scared me." I glared at him. He chuckled and sat down beside me.

"I didn't mean to. Oya sorry. What were you drawing?" He tried to get my sketch pad from me and I glared at him again.

"It's none of your business." I told him.

"Since when na?" He asked.

"I just don't want anyone to see it. Please let it go." I told him and he shrugged.

"The guys wanted me to check up on you, to see how you are doing." He looked at me, concern written all over his face and I sighed. "Are you okay?" He asked and I shrugged, trying to be nonchalant about the whole situation.

"I'm fine, honestly. It's just like every other year." I told him and he looked at me with a raised eyebrow like he wasn't convinced. I quickly decided to change the topic.

"Besides, I had to meet Mr Olayiwola to know if there was any update on the art school's admission." I replied and he nodded in understanding.

"Have you told your dad about it yet?" He asked and I paused.

This was the difficult part. Telling my Dad I didn't want to study Business administration in University but Fine and Applied Art. If by chance my dad got to know about the Art school I wanted to enrol in your tertiary education, he'd flip. But no one needs to know that.

"I have." I lied through my teeth and Kelvin nodded. "I didn't expect him to, but gladly he did. You know, he keeps saying me drawing reminds him so much of mum." I mustered a small smile and Kelvin nodded again.

"I understand perfectly. I don't know how it feels but..." He trailed off, probably not knowing what else to say again and I chuckled.

"It's okay." I told him. My heart was beginning to get heavy at all the talk about mum and I really needed a distraction. "Now I want to go outside." I chuckled and he joined in.

"Come on." He stood up, jerking his head towards the door.

I packed everything and shoved everything into my bag before following Kelvin towards the door. I looked towards where Tiana was and at that point, she looked up as well and her eyes met hers. I felt a tug in my chest at the way she looked at me. Her face held no emotion but her eyes did.

Clashes of Thunderstorms.

Beautiful Thunderstorms.

"Tyler." Kelvin called me from outside and I looked at him. "Coming?" He asked

"Sure." I told him, looking at her one more time before walking away.

****

The driver drove into the compound and parked by the side of the other car. I got down and made my way into the house. I saw my dad by the dinning table, eating lunch and reading a newspaper.

"Good afternoon dad." I greeted him and he looked up from his paper, his reading glasses at the bridge of his nose.

"Afternoon boy." He replied monotonously, looking back at the newspaper he was reading.

I waited for him to say more, probably about Mum's anniversary but he didn't. Aunty Kemi wasn't home. She has always been the one to remind him. Let's see if he will remember without her help. He seemed to realize I was still standing because he looked at me again.

"Do you need anything?" He asked and I almost scoffed.

He forgot again. How fücking convenient!

"No sir." I said through gritted teeth and took the stairs to my room.

I dumped my bag pack on the sofa angrily, pulling off my cloth. He fücking forgot again. For the last five years he has been forgetting. Aunty Kemi has been making excuses for him but this year, I wasn't having it. I wasn't a kid anymore. I wasn't going to keep taking his shit.

I looked through my wardrobe for something nice to wear. I was going to visit her so I had to dress nice. I removed my sketch pad and pencils from the school bag and transferred it into a cross bag. Hanging it over my shoulder, I made my way down the stairs.

"Why did you take long." Dad asked as soon as I got to the table. "Your food is already cold." He said and I rolled my eyes.

"I really don't feel like eating." I replied simply. He looked up, noticing the way I dressed.

"Where are you going all dressed up?" He asked and I almost scoffed at the stupid question. He forgot, again.

"Out." I simply said, turning. I grabbed the car keys from table and started to walk towards the door but his voice stopped me.

"Out to where? Don't give me an attitude young man." He said calmly. I turned to him.

"I'm going to the cemetery." I replied in the calmest way possible  making his eyes widen in realization, proving that my thoughts were just right.

"It's mum's anniversary but I'm guessing you forgot...again." I added, watching my dad's face contour in remorse.

"Tyler..." He called.

"I'll be back before nine." I simply said and walked out. I opened the car, got in and zoomed out of the house to the flower shop, before I went to the cemetery.

****

"Hey, mum." I smiled sadly as I sat on the floor in front of the concrete stone. "I got you lilies, just the way you like them." I placed the flowers in front of the stone.

"Dad couldn't make it, again. H-he's really busy, you know." I stuttered. A gust of wind blew on my face and just as always, I felt her presence. I brought out my sketch pad from my bag and opened a page.

"I tried out the piece you did, you know, the one I didn't get for a long time. I tried it again two weeks ago and I think it's better. Do you like it?" I asked a rhetorical question. I felt another gust of wind and I smiled, taking that as a yes. "I will try it till I'm just as good as you." I said.

"I want to apply to an art school, mum. Daddy doesn't want me doing art so he mustn't know about the art school. He still wants me to go into business so I would take over his company." I sniffed as my chest began to well up, sobs almost clogging my throat. I cleared my throat and continued.

"I don't want to do that. I want to be an artist like you, mum. I love being an artist and I have no idea why dad wants to take that away from me." I felt a drop of tears fall from my eyes and I wiped it quickly.

"I miss you so much, mummy. I wish you were here with me. I wish I could see you right now. I really miss you" I couldn't hold the tears anymore, I let it fall. I could feel her presence but I wish I could see her.

I miss my mum.

****

I didn't go home immediately I was done. It was getting dark but I didn't give a shit. I decided to take a walk just to clear my head. I sat down on a bench at the near by park and began to draw children playing around, smiles playing on my lips.

"Trumpet! Get over here boy." I heard a very familiar voice but I thought it was just my mind playing tricks on me. I kept drawing.

"Trumpet, come on." The voice called again and I looked up and was shocked to see Tiana standing just a few meters away.

She was trying to get a huge, white, hairy dog to move but it wouldn't budge. It seemed to be more interested in playing with a stick. Like I was being hypnotized, I found myself standing up and walking towards her.

Get your butt back on that bench! An inner voice told me but I kept walking.

"Cute dog." I found myself saying and she scoffed in reply, not turning around to face me.

Cute dog?! Seriously?! My subconscious mocked me.

"Wait till he frustrates you, you definitely won't think he is cute anymore." She replied with a smile playing on her lips. I chuckled and she finally turned to look at me. Her smile was immediately replaced with a frown.

"Ohhh, it's you." She mumbled and I rose my hand in a mock surrender.

"I'm just trying to help." I replied. She looked at me skeptically.

"I don't need your help, Tyler." She said, an undertone laced in her voice. I chuckled slightly.

"Tiana, you keep saying that. Yet you know deep down, you need my help." I stated matter-of-factly and she scoffed.

"Oh yeah? What do you know about dogs? Because since I got trumpet, he gives me trouble." She folded her hand around a chest.

'Well, watch and learn." I smirked. I crouched down to the level of the dog and began to stroke it's fur, then I went ahead to stroke his chin and he tried to lick my hand.

"Careful! He can bite..." She started but I laughed.

"He won't, trust me." I looked at her and she nodded. I turned my attention back to trumpet.

"Down boy." I commanded and he sat down. I saw her widen her eyes in surprise. "Lie down." I said and he did. "High five." I raised my hand and he met it with his paw.

"Damn! He likes you. Naturally, he would just bite any strangers face off." She smiled.

"I happen to be a dog person....also a person's person." I grinned and she chuckled for the first time since we started talking. It was a serene sight and I really wanted her to keep smiling or laughing.

Suddenly trumpet jumped on me, pinning me down and started to lick my face.

"Okay, I take it back. He looooves you." She let out a loud laugh.

"Jeez, he is huge!" I was trying to get him off me. "Trumpet, off boy." I ordered and he went off. I stood up and dusted the grass of my body. She suddenly started to laugh. I looked at her, confused.

"What?" I asked her, couldn't help the smile that appeared on my lips.

"You have a lot of slubber on your face." She gestured to my face and I moved my hand to touch my face.

"Stop. Don't use your hand. Let me help." She brought out a towel handkerchief and moved closer to me. I bent my face a little because I was much taller than she was. She helped me wipe the dog slubber off.

"Thanks." I unconsciously turned around and saw Trumpet chewing on pages of my sketch pad. I widened my eyes.

"No, no no!" I went closer. "Trumpet, release." I ordered and he did, whining. "Please don't be ruined." I silently pleaded.

"Bad dog." I heard her chide Trumpet. She looked back at me. "I'm so sorry about that. Is there anything I can do to help?" She asked.

"It's fine, it's cool. It's not completely ruined." I straightened the rumpled sheets. She picked the other papers and started to straighten them too. I made sure she didn't get the drawing of herself yet.

"Did you draw all this?" She asked, her dainty fingers scheming the drawing.

"Yeah." I looked at her.

"Wow. They are really beautiful." She looked at me and smiled. I smiled back.

"Thanks. Though, these are mainly just sketches." I told her and she widened her eyes.

"These are just sketches?! And they are this amazing. Wow! Now I feel really bad for what trumpet did." She said.

"No, don't feel bad. It's fine, really. I can fix it." I brushed away her apology with a wave of hand.

No, you can't. My subconscious said.

No, I definitely can't. I agreed.

"Well, I'm glad." She checked her watch. "I have to be on my way." She told me and I nodded, watching her. She made no move to go and I made no move to say anything about that. I just wanted to keep staring at her.

"Uhm... T-thanks by the way." She stuttered and I frowned, not knowing what she was apologizing for.

"What for?" I asked her and her lips stretched in a strained smile.

"For Trumpet," She started, trailing off in between and I rose my eyebrows in question. "And for school." When she said that, I knew what she was talking about. I sighed.

"You don't have to thank me. No one should go through what you went through. What that person did to you was sick." I replied emphatically.

"No, I deserved it. I deserved all of it." She muttered and I got confused as to what she meant. The way she said those words had a deeper meaning and I became incredibly curious. Before I could ask what she meant, she cleared her throat, as if realizing she had said more than she should have.

"I should go. It's getting late." She said and I nodded. It wasn't in my place to ask her about what she meant.

Baby steps.

"Sure, we'll see in school." I said, shoving my hand into my pocket and she nodded, calling unto Trumpet. I watched as she began to walk away and I started to move to my chair.

"Tyler." I heard her call me and I turned around. "It was really nice talking to you." She smiled genuinely at me and my lips spread in a smile, mirroring hers.

"It was nice talking to you too." I replied honestly. She smiled again and began to walk away and I watched them.

Well that's a new side of Tiana...and I like it.