OYINADE

~23~

~OYINADE~

The rest of the weekend went by pretty fast. I didn't get an opportunity to talk to Ade as his dad made sure they spent almost every minute together.
He even insisted on driving us both to school today. Although we were seated in his luxurious Audi Q7 and Ade and I didn't have to trek, it was still a pretty uncomfortable journey. I just kept glancing at Ade, who was sitting in front beside his Dad and didn't talk throughout the journey, then his Dad from the rear view mirror, back and forth till the end of the trip.

Ade got down from the front seat and closed the door. He opened the back seat door for me and I also got down.
"Take care my dears", Ade's dad said from the driver's seat. He had a slight British accent as though he was speaking "the Queen's English", probably because he travelled to England often and he also spent half of his early life there.
"Yes sir, goodbye sir", I genuflected.
"Bye", Ade murmured.

I watched him drive off. Ade, on the other hand, just walked towards the blocks of classrooms. He didn't even wait for a moment or wave. He was probably sick and tired of his dad already.
I jogged towards him.
"Hey! Wait up", I said, trying to cover the distance between us.
"Hey. You good?", I asked.
He still had a sullen expression. I wished I could do something to help him feel better.
"Yeah, I'm fine", he said, nodding.
"Ade", I said.
"You know, you can always tell me anything", I said, urging him to speak.

I couldn't help if I didn't know what was going on and I really wanted to help so badly.
"I said nothing's wrong. I'm fine!", he snapped. His hands were tightened into a fist and his eyes had darkened.
"Oh!", I mumbled, startled at how loud his voice was. I was a bit taken aback. He had never yelled at me before. His voice had managed to attract the attention of the sparse number of students around.

"Since you want to be left alone, I'll just let you be", I said. I knew that he wasn't in a good place but that doesn't mean he had every right to yell at me. I couldn't fault him and I couldn't bear to be yelled at again for trying to help. So, it was best for me to leave.

"Oyin..", he started to speak. His expression had changed so quickly almost as though he was bipolar. His eyes were the exact reflection of regret and I had to fight the urge to hug him and tell him that it was fine. I just couldn't.
At this time, I felt he needed space to gather his thoughts and sort his emotions. And whenever he was ready to talk, he could always find me. He knew where to find me.

"See you around", I said, ignoring the fact that he was going to say my name and probably something else afterwards.
I walked off and I could feel his eyes watching me as he just stood there, right where I left him.

After the morning assembly, we all went into our different classes. Almost everyone was in groups of threes and twos, they were chatting actively as they separated into their classes. I saw Peace walking towards the SSS 2 science class and gave him a small smile. He returned the gesture with a broad smile and a small wave. A few people noticed our interaction and the looks on their faces were priceless.

They must have been thinking that how on earth could I be speaking to the same person I slapped, the school's most notorious bully. They were probably expecting an entourage of police officers and bodyguards to swarm in today and teach me a long overdue, memorable lesson. I guess it's safe to say that they were beyond shocked that I was now fraternizing with "the devil". I chuckled at my weird train of thoughts.

As I got to the door of my class, I remembered my plan with Ade. I needed to act normal and find out what I could from Bisi.
I got to the class before Bisi and sat down. She walked in a few minutes later and sat down too.
"Good morning", she deadpanned.
"Hi! Beautiful morning to you too, Bisi", I said with a ridiculously high pitched voice. I was being extra cheery only because I needed to know what was going between her and Jordan.
She looked at me weirdly. To be honest, if I were her, I'd have given myself that look too. I had never spoken that way before, so it was normal for her to be surprised.