A Bride For The Prince: A Forbidden Romance (A Nigerian Love Story)✓

Chapter 8

The day seemed like a drag.

Ifunanya dug in her skirt pocket as she walked into the school gate. Bringing out the naira notes from her pocket, she stared at the two hundred naira she had; and a sigh followed. Not long after, Ayomide and Priye joined her as she walked into the school building. They still had another thirty minutes before the morning assembly began.

"Hey, Ifu. What happened na? We tried reaching you all weekend but you were just silent." {=>Na - For Emphasis<=}

Ifunanya turned to Priye as another yawn followed. "I'm sorry. I was very busy helping my aunt with her shop. You know she goes to the main market on Saturday so we had to take some of the things there on Friday after school. She had a lot more than usual."

"Oh." Priye replied as realization dawned on her. Waiting for a group of students to pass by as they headed for the elevator, Priye continued. "No lele. How are your aunt and uncle doing? Are they well?" {=>No lele - No problem<=}

"Yes, they are." Ifunanya replied as she pressed a button on the elevator. "What's up with the both of you? This one that you two came to school together."

"Oh, my mum had to travel very early. She has a big three day conference so I texted Priye if I could get a ride with her." Ayomide explained. And when Ifunanya nodded, she added, "Anyway, we had some things we wanted to discuss with you regarding the -" She looked around at some other students who'd joined them in the elevator. "- you know."

Ifunanya nodded. Of course she knew what they were referring to. The challenge hadn't been far from her mind even with all the busyness of the past few days. She sighed and held her school bag tightly to her shoulders as she rested her head on the wall.

"We can talk during lunch unless Priye has other plans." She replied, looking at Priye with a teasing look and trying to stifle another yawn. She knew exactly what she would need to do if she was going to survive being in school today.

Priye made a face and nodded, "Sure. Let's talk during lunch."

~~~~

"That'll be all, Mr. Oyi." Mr. Elvis said as he handed over the list to him. "I've given copies to some of the other AS and A'levels teachers as well. And I think you will benefit a lot from this trip since this will be your first time going with the others."

Gabriel momentarily stared at the list of names in front of him, willing his mind to disregard any thoughts of finding a particular name on the list.

And when Mr. Elvis cleared his throat, he looked up from the list.

"Sir?"

"I said I will give out the updated list once Friday afternoon comes around. I'm sure some more students will pay the registration fee."

"Of course, sir." Gabriel nodded.

"Excellent. That'll be all for now." Mr. Elvis said before dismissing the teacher.

Gabriel decided to head straight to the library after leaving Mr. Elvis's office. As he walked along the study floor to one of the study tables and chairs located at the corner of the hall, his eyes caught a figure sitting at a desk facing the window and away from the rest of the desks in the library.

Without stopping to think, he approached the student who seemed to be sleeping with her head resting on the table and her face turned to her right side. He swallowed a lump and squinted his eyes, wondering why she would be sleeping in the middle of the day when classes were still in session. He checked the time on his wristwatch.

This was definitely weird.

Throwing caution to the wind, he drew closer to find her fast asleep snoring lightly with her school bag nestled on the floor by her left leg. He moved around so he could get a better view of her face, but her face was facing down. Gabriel's gaze then landed on her legs, and he frowned slightly when his eyes fixated on her right leg that had her skirt pulled all the way above her knee and exposing her thigh. He tried not to think about how thick it looked.

He stayed standing, staring for a minute, wondering what it was that was making him look at her this way. It didn't seem normal. And it wasn't like he taught the girl or that he knew anything about her. Dismissing the strange thoughts, he cleared his throat and decided to wake her up. Better to not leave her here to miss any more classes. Who knew how long she'd been sleeping here.

"Ifunanya." He called out to her, but there was no response.

Deciding against his warning thoughts, he tapped her lightly on her forehand that was resting above her bowed head.

"Ifunanya." He called again, and this time she stirred up from her sleep and made an inaudible sound that made Gabriel narrow his gaze. He waited as she finally raised her head up; and that was when he noticed her glasses next to her other arm. He stared into her eyes and watched as she squinted. Clearly, she hadn't recognized his face yet. 

"Are you okay?" He asked the only thing his mind could muster up in that moment.

"I'm - I'm sorry, sir." She began to say quickly after placing her glasses back on her face.

She then smoothed her uniform blazer and the wrinkles on her skirt. Gabriel still noticed the sight of her thigh. Apparently, she was still oblivious to that.

"Are you okay?" He repeated, and this time she nodded, "Yes. Yes, sir. I'm fine." She sat uprightly and continued to stare at him. "I had a free period, that's why I'm here."

"Oh, I see." He replied, realization dawning on him. Why hadn't he thought about the possibility of a free period?

"Right." He cleared his throat and nodded. 

"When is your next class?"

She looked around for a second before cautiously bringing out her phone. And at that moment, her phone vibrated. "It's time for lunch break so after lunch I'll have my next class which is Physics."

"Okay, good." He replied. And when she finally picked up her school bag and stood up, he drew back a little bit. He noticed at that moment that she couldn't be no more than 5'4" or 5'5" as she stood in front of him.

"Well, you can go have your lunch now." He finally said.

"Yes, thank you, sir."

As she turned to leave, a smile escaped his lips as he called out to her again. "Ifunanya..."

"Sir?" She abruptly turned to face him again.

"I hope your nap was helpful." He said.

She pulled her bag straps closely against her body as she nodded, unable to hold back a smile as she answered, "It was. Thank you, sir." She said, following it with a greeting as she bent her knees slightly forward to demonstrate. And again, Gabriel was taken aback by that one symbol, wondering why that action alone was enough to send his thoughts flying into different directions.

~~~~

"The one and only Prince Chinedu -"

"Shh." Gabriel hushed Roland as he pulled out an empty chair between his friends and sat down, resting his back against the chair and releasing a puff of air.

"Are you okay? This one that you look like you just ran your way here." Steven asked, shaking a small bottle of orange juice with pulp.

"I'm fine." Gabriel answered, quickly glancing around before returning his attention to his friends. "Just - please don't call me that in public, Roland. You know the drill."

"Right, right. Sorry. But sometimes, man, I can't help it." Roland replied before opening his own plate of food. 

"Sorry we couldn't wait for you. What was even holding you up sef?" Roland asked. But before Gabriel could answer, Anita walked into the cafeteria. {=>Sef - an emphasis<=}

"Ouuh look who just made her appearance known." Steven announced, and Gabriel followed his motioned gaze to find his girlfriend now approaching their table.

~~~~

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Love,
Pri. xoxo.