Brown Skinned Bet

Chapter XXVII

          "Kainene,I've found it,let's go!" Jade tried to called to me in a hushed tone but the eerie silence of the night caused her to be all too audible and our prescence to finally be noticed. Despite Jade's attempts to pull me away,my gaze remained fixated on Daryl whose orbs now widened as he looked my way,taking to his feet instantly.

           He motioned towards me and just in that minute,I snapped out of my trance,shrugging Jade's hold off and taking large strides towards the school block. Anxiety,anger,for reasons even I couldn't understand,and pang of hurt mixed within me as I walked. Had he been trying to put on some act before me ever since? He'd been trying to manipulate me again.

           "Kainene wait,its not what you think" Daryl stopped me,grasping unto my arm as he came to stand before me hence stopping any further motion. "But I'm not thinking anything" I attempted to laugh,but it came off as pained,my heart had set off in a blast,pounding heavily against me as I watched him. What I hated the most in this minute was that he still affected me,his mere grasp still made shudders run through me.

          "I know that's what you'll say but just let me explain,even if you dont want to hear it,I want to tell you everything" he tried to convince. My shoulders slumped as I stared at him,losing the energy to fight back this time. I kept having this crazy urge to believe him and it was driving me nuts. "...Please just listen to what I have to say..." he pleaded.

          My breathing ragged as I threw my gaze to the floor. His pulse was so eminent that I could feel it over my skin,his orbs spoke more desperacy than his words did,and what did Oghale say? That I wasnt seeing his sincerity? I could see it,but I couldn't help but doubt it and it was killing me,I was the one who kept dying inside.

          "Daryl...." I started lowly,bringing my free arm to rest over his which lay on my second arm. "...another day please,just....another day" I barely whispered,my eyes beginning to sting as my throat swole in my attempt to hold back the tears before him. I slowly shrugged off his grasp,returning his hand to its place before walking past him.

          On my return to my prep class,I settled into  my seat,burying my head in my arms in my attempt to regain my composure. I wiped the streaks of tears away,pleading with the rest of my body to cooperate with me as I lifted my head and got back to what I'd been reading.

          I willed myself not to think and this time,I made sure to do so because I knew I had greatly lost my ability to think logically. After what I'd seen,I was still at the verge of giving him a chance. Everything pointed to him still trying to deceive me,but I still wanted to counter logic.

          The rest of the time seemed to slip by slowly and although it did take a lot,I was able to read a good portion of what I'd allocated for that night prep despite the sullenness that had spread all over me. I'd noticed Dunni creep back into the class sometime later than I'd arrived but I honestly couldn't care less.

          The evening bell went off,causing me to slowly put my things together and exit the classroom. I headed upstairs as I wished to offload some books and I wasn't shocked to see that the class had almost emptied out,final year students always did everything before the rest of the school and that included terminating their prep time ten minutes before the time.

           I dropped the books on my table before exiting the class as well,deciding to take the stairs at the other end of the corridor as I did. My gaze darted down as I walked. I couldnt help giving off sighs from time to time and wondering why my life had taken an oath to be everything but peaceful in final year.

          "Wait,so the plan failed?" Onome's voice had me stopping just before I could take a turn into the staircase. "It didnt just fail,it failed terribly. Gosh! I dont know what thay Dunni girl was finding there,Daryl has always been alone all the times I saw him there and he goes there every night" Jade gave an exasperated reply.