Until The Rain Stops

EPISODE 1: The rain started around 8PM, Not heavy rain. Just annoying type that made everywhere cold and uncomfortable. Water dripped slowly from the zinc roof outside while generators hummed from different compounds across the street. Amara sat quietly on her mattress, hugging her knees, Her room was small. NEPA had taken light almost two hours ago, so the room was lit only by the brightness from her phone screen. Her stomach hurt badly from hunger, but she ignored it. She was used to ignoring things. Ignoring hunger. Ignoring sadness. Ignoring the way her aunt spoke to her like she was a burden. Earlier that evening, her aunt had embarrassed her again in front of visitors. "You and this your nursing dream " the woman hissed while arranging plates in the kitchen "Do you know how much school fees are?" Amara kept quiet "Instead of helping yourself, you sit down every night pressing phone and making useless videos" The visitors laughed slightly, not loud enough to seem wicked but loud enough to hurt. Amara swallowed the pain and carried the tray into the sitting room without saying another word. Now, hours later, the words still sat heavily in her chest. She opened t****k absentmindedly. The app instantly flooded her screen with pretty girls dancing, couples doing relationship challenge, rich kids showing soft life in Lagos. Everybody looked happy online. Everybody looked loved. Amara sighed and clicked her own profile. 12.4k followers. Not bad Most people followed her because she was funny she made relatable videos about Nigerian parents, heartbreak, and random late night thoughts. People always commented things like; "You're so naturally funny" "I like your vibe" "You make sadness look pretty" The last comment stayed in her mind. She clicked on her most recent video. A random user had commented; "You look like someone pretending to be happy" Amara stared at it longer than she should have. Then before she could think properly... She clicked LIVE. The front camera opened immediately. Her tired face appeared on the screen For one second, she almost ended it but people had already started joining. "Hi guys..." she said softly. "What is wrong with me?" she muttered angrily. she buried her face inside the pillow. Then her phone vibrated once, twice, Again. Again, again. Confused, she grabbed it. Notification flooded her screen nonstop. TikTok mentions New followers... Messages Her heart started beating faster when she saw the reposted video. Someone had screen-recorded her crying before she ended the live The caption reads: "when the funny friend is secretly breaking 13k views Uploaded only eight minutes ago Amara's stomach dropped. "Oh God...." The views kept increasing live before her eyes. Comments kept coming in:... "Pain inside soft girls" Comments began appearing rapidly. "Omggg first" "Why do you look sad" "Are you okay" Amara forced a smile. "I'm fine o" But her voice cracked badly. More viewers joined. Fifty-two Eighty-one One hundred Her chest tightened unexpectedly. She didn't even know why she came live in the first place. Maybe she was tired of pretending. Maybe she just wanted someone to notice. One comment appeared "You've been crying?" Amara looked away quickly. "No nau?" Another comment "Your eyes are red" Her throat suddenly burned. The room felt too cold Too quiet Too small. Too lonely Before she could stop herself, tears gathered in her eyes. "Oh my God...." she whispered. comments exploded instantly. "Avowrow?" "Who hurt her?" "Baby don't cry" "Talk to us" A tear rolled down her cheek Then another. Amara panicked immediately. "No.... no... no..." she ended the live. Silence filled the room again, only the sound of the rain remained. Her body became shaky as embarrassment flooded through her body. "i just want to hug her" "Who made her cry" Then suddenly another notification appeared. Xavier Obi reposted your video. Amara froze. Everybody in Nigeria's t****k space knew Xavier Obi. Rich, handsome, final year university student, over 700k followers, Every girl's favourite. With trembling fingers, she opened the repost. Xavier had added a caption: "Some people smile too much for people that are hurting". The post already had thousands of likes. Amara stared at the screen in complete disbelief. Her followers count began rising rapidly to 18k. Her phone vibrated again, this time from w******p. Unknown Number: -You okay? Amara stared at the message silently while rain continued falling outside Something told her replying this text was about to change her life completely.