Brown Skinned Bet

Chapter XVII

•Daryl•

         The mere use of words couldnt and would never be able to explain the degree of my exhilaration that evening. My spirit soared with immeasurable glee,I doubted if I'd ever felt that happy over a girl.

          I walked briskly back to my hostel,smiling from ear to ear as I did. She'd opened up to me,even though it wasnt much but I felt like she'd confided in me. We'd had a normal talk,she was beginning to smile more around me,I couldnt describe how much happier that made me. It was sure strange,but I didnt hate the feeling,I rather embraced it.

         Maybe someday,she would finally see me as something more than a friend,how I wished she would feel something close to what I felt for her. I'd never been this sincere towards anyone,not even my first relationship.

         The week went by faster than I thought it would and my only emotion towards the week was that it was one hell of a week. School work started blowing up in our faces and with each teachers struggling to cover their scheme as soon as possible,it made our work even more bulky.

          With notes to copy flying all around,assignments piling up,practicals becoming even more hectic and the school authorities taking every chance they got to remind us that we had only but a few days before our final year exams would be in full swing,school seemed to be putting chains around our necks.

          Nevertheless,that didnt stop me from giving time to things I'd formed a new penchant for. I still took out time to observe Kainene from time to time,even if it was that split second when my gaze left the notes I would be trying to update,or whenever I walked into class, or even when I spotted her walking some good metres away from me with her friends.

         I deemed her a studious student,I'd never noticed up till now,how much effort she puts into her school work. She was never idle,always solving some questions or reading some textbooks or just attempting the assignments like the rest of the class. It was shocking that she had her head in the books yet she was very far from being a nerd,or what some people would call a bookworm. She kept her balance,an interesting balance.

          The times she caught my gaze on her,I didnt miss the brief smile she gave off before turning back to whatever she'd been engaged with previously. I'd formed a habit of wiggling my brows at her whenever she walked past me,loving how her lips always curved up into a breezy smile,one which showed how tired or exhausted she was on certain days. And just like that,we found ourselves sitting over the bridge of the now old week and a new week,Friday.

          The first half of the day was rather uneventful,but that was before Temi made the announcement to the class that we had been instructed by the vice principal to file out of the class and get ready to take passports which was to be used in our SSCE registration.

          "Nawa o,cant they come and take this passport inside the class?" Sele grumbled as we made our way down the stairs. "You think your vice principal will make anything comfortable for you?" I told him,sighing at the end of my reply.

         "But it's not possible to even do that na,the lighting of the class isnt good" Andrew pointed out. "Even if abeg,Friday that we're meant to use and rest from all these school work" Sele grumbled on.

        "Just say you wanted to spend the time with...." Sele was quick to silence Andrew. "Abeg shut up joorh!" He sneered. "No vex o" Andrew laughed back.

          I smiled,looking around and noticing Yomi trailing behind us as we exited the school block and headed for the school's photo studio which was always used for purposes like these.