"WHAT THE HELL?!"

Chapter 12 Josh

"Get ready Joshua, we're leaving in 5 minutes." Mum shouts as I race down the stairs.

She finally agreed to take me with her to Naira's house.

I get into my mum's mini.

"Please can you behave while we're there?" she says while driving.

"What do you mean?"

"Don't do silly things with your girlfriend."

"What the hell! She isn't my girlfriend! Why does everyone think that!" I yell with frustration.

"Honey, it's just... you're so close and... let's just say, people aren't use to boys being best friends with girls, especially at your age." She soothes.

I cross my arms and lean back.

We arrive at exactly 10 o'clock.

"Hello, Christina!" Naira mum cries when she opens the door.

"Lina!" mum shrieks and hugs her.

I've never seen my mum being so friendly with someone before, they've probably been seeing each other a lot in the past week or so.

"It's Joshua, isn't it?" she gives me a warm smile.

"Hello Mrs. Abiodun." I give a shy wave.

I look down on the floor and shuffle my shoe.

It's a bit weird talking to your crush's mum, especially when you know they'll ask loads of questions.

"Oh, please call me Melina!" she waves me into the sitting room as she and mum disappear into the kitchen.

The sitting room is quite spacious, but not as big as the one in our house.

Naira is no-where to be seen.

"Um, Melina. Do you know where-"

A pair of freezing cold hands cover my eyes.

"Hey!" I take the hands of my face and hold them tightly around the wrist.

Naira tries to escape but I turn her around to face me, I hug her.

"You're freezing!" I gasp when she puts her hands on my neck intentionally.

I try to jump out of her hold but she clings on tightly.

"And you're so warm, like the central heating." Comes out her muffled voice.

I slowly un-cling her from me, treating her like a delicate but irritating crab.

"NO!" she cries when I hold her on the wrists.

"Just sit down! You don't want your mum to hear, do you?" I drag her onto a sofa.

"Whatever." She grumbles.

"Why are your hands so cold anyway?" I ask, putting her hands in mine to warm them up.

"Because the weather is cold, and it's raining, and it's windy, and there's a storm." She replies bluntly.

I put my hand on her head and neck to check for a fever.

Bloody hell, is she hot!

"You're hot, not cold."

"I think I know my own body temperature, Joshua." She frowns.

I grab her hand and hold it on her neck.

"AH!" she pulls her hand back after 2 seconds of touching it.

"It's burning isn't it!" I cry.

"You have a fever." I say it as a statement.

The colour from her face drains, she looks this close to passing out.

"Are you OK." I say, putting my hands on her shoulders and turning her to face me.

I can see the tears forming in her eyes, what is wrong now?

"I can't have a fever." She sobs.

"Why not?" I say in the most soothing voice I can.

"I can't!" she cries.

I try to comfort her by hugging her, she cries on my chest.

"Is everything OK there, Josh?" I hear Mum's muted voice.

"What do you want me to say?" I whisper into her ear.

"I'm fine."

"Everything's fine." I shout back.

Naira sits up.

Her face and eyes are now red from crying.

"I don't want to miss the presentation on Wednesday. I can't afford to miss school, my grades are falling already!" she sobs.

I use my thumb to wipe a stray tear.

"You'll be better by Wednesday and your grades aren't falling, they're rising!"

"I got 89% on the maths test before the half-term, it's not acceptable." She sulks, covering her face with her hands.

"That was a hard test, I got 87%." That would surely make her feel better.

She takes her hands off her face, "Are you lying?"

"Nope."

"Then you're the best friend ever." She hugs me again.

"I thought Mason was."

She doesn't say anything, I guess they are in a fight then.

"Can you go upstairs?" I ask and break the hug.

"What do you think." She raises her eyebrows.

"I'm not going to carry you." I say, horrified.

"Please!"

I groan, pick her up and carry her up the stairs like a sack of potatoes.

"You're hurting my stomach."

I don't say anything.

"You don't want to be responsible for me vomiting down your back, do you?"

I switch to bridal style.

"Am I heavy?" she asks, looking at me sheepishly.

"No." I answer, telling the truth.

She looks bewildered.

"But I'm 50 kilograms."

"Where is your room?" I ask instead, looking down the corridor.

"The one at the end." She replies.

I reach for the door but she opens it first.

Her room is nothing I would have imagined a girl's room would look like.

I thought all girls had pink rooms with pink canopy beds, barbie dolls on the floor and makeup scattered everywhere, but Naira room is normal, almost like mine.

Everything is tidied away. There is a double bed in the middle of the room, the bedding is sky blue. The walls are a creamy colour and the carpet is the same as in the rest of the house. There's an en-suite bathroom on the far corner.

I place her carefully on the bed.

"I'll go get your mum." I put my hands in my pockets.

"No don't!" she cries, but her expression changes.

"Hi, mum."

"What's wrong sweetie? I saw Josh carrying you upstairs." My mum is in the background with her arms crossed.

"She has a fever." I explain.

"Really? Let me go and get the paracetamol." She rushes off and mum follows her.

"You'll be fine by Wednesday." I sit down on the bed and hold her hand.

"Stop treating me like a hospital patient. You're making me feel even worse!" she giggles.

I smile back at her, wishing her well.