•Kainene•
"Oh my gosh,my belly is still paining me" I breathed,one arm placed over the joining of my daywear,beneath which was my belly. "I swear" Daryl agreed from beside me as we retraced our steps slowly back to the class.
"Who was that sef? It sounded like Brother John" I questioned,thinking to a few minutes back,the person we seemed to have escaped. "If it was Brother John you think we would be here?" Daryl questioned sarcastically.
"Hmm,that guy would have chased us like this ehn" he chuckled,causing me to do the same. We were just about to turn into the class when I made out Jade's figure with the help of the corridors illumination,leaning on the rail at the very end of the corridor,her gaze darted to the floor like she was trying to take in what the person standing beside her but backing us was saying.
"Jade!" I called almost too fiercely,earning her attention as well as that of Yomi,who turned to me and Daryl. I looked between both of them,quickly realising that I was currently disturbing a very important discussion.
Swallowing my urge to take out my slight annoyance at her,I quickly brushed off my call. "Dont worry,later" I told her with a daring smile,wiggling my brows at her and earning a small chuckle from her. I noticed Yomi and Daryl exchange some signs I neither understood nor bothered to comprehend.
"They're finally talking after wasting all this time" I murmured under my breath as we walked into the class. "You think it's easy? It's not that easy oh" Daryl pointed out as he walked over to his seat,grabbing his school bag.
"What's so hard there?" I shrugged as I picked up my bag from my seat too,placing my textbook which I'd taken from Daryl earlier into my bag.
"What's hard?" He repeated my question,giving off a small laugh as I hung the straps of my bag over my shoulder "Have you ever been serious with somebody before? Like a real guy?" He questioned,not bothering to mask his curiosity.
"I dont know...not really. It doesn't look hard to me" I shrugged,giving it a bit of thought. "Let me tell Jade I'm going first" I stated before walking towards the door and peeping out of it.
"J..." the rest of her name got stuck in her throat,noticing how miniscule the space between her and Yomi had become as he engulfed her small figure in his embrace,whispering something that even I couldn't hear as tears continued to stain her face and her lids fell shut even though she wasnt reciprocating the hug.
"What happened? Let's go na" Daryl questioned,coming up behind me. Turning in a split second,I quickly placed my hands over his chest to stop him. I could be clueless,but I sure didnt want any other person watching my friend shed tears.
Even though she'd never talked about it for over a week and she tried to come off as strong,I knew it'd hurt her. I watched how her expressions morphed into unexplainable forms whenever she wrote in that pocket diary she loved to keep,she was hurt but I didnt want anyone to see that. Everyone else had exited the class even before the prep was officially over and we seemed to be the only exception.
"Nothing,let's go" I urged,taking his hand in mine and walking us out of the class. "Ahah,this one you're rushing me this evening" Daryl commented as we made our way down the corridors,heading for the staircase at the other side of the block.
"Rushing you like how?" I hissed,flinging his arm away from mine. "Cant you just be nice?" He questioned playfully. "I'm a nice person on a normal day,its just you that can't see that" I pointed out.
"Are you trying to say that everyday is abnormal?" He teased,mischief glinting in his orbs. "Daryl" I warned,sparing him a glare. "Sorry,sorry" he laughed.
"Was Jade crying?" He suddenly questioned as we exited the school block and turned into the slabways. "I doubt" I gave a curt reply. "I thought I heard someone sniffing" he told me earning a simple shrug from me.
"So that's why you couldn't tell me that time?" He questioned. "I told you to ask Yomi,at least I gave you a hint" I replied breezily. "I sha pity that guy sha" he added lowly.
"Why?" I was quick to question. "Kainene,its really not that easy" he pointed out again. "Abeg,why does everybody say this thing. What's hard there?" I rebuked.
"Because it isn't. You never know if you still have a chance with someone,especially when you know you fucked up" he expounded. "If you fuck up,then you apologise. Simple,problem solved" I shrugged again.
"That only works in a place where sorry can change the world" he told me with a chuckle. "Besides,I know some people who dont really rate apologies" he told me,his tone of speech and gaze informing me that I was the person he was possibly referring to.
I glared at him for a while,stopping in my tracks as his smile began to widen with him being fully aware of his mischief. "Daryl dont talk to me again" I warned,the side of my lip curling into a smile no matter how hard I tried to keep a straight face.
"Ahah na,its not like that" he laughed,attempting to take hold of me but pushing him away,I brushed past him. "Leave me joorh,go and find people that rate apologies and talk to them" I told him,in my obviously feigned anger.
"No naw,Kainene..." he cajoled stepping before me again,making me step back. "I wasnt even talking about you sef,did I say it was you?" He laughed,trying to take hold of me again but I backed out each time,causing us to keep going in circles.
"Abeg leave me wo" I laughed as he finall took hold of my hands. "How can I leave you? My love from another star...my one and only...my only baby girl" he mused,causing me to roll my eyes admist my chuckles.
"Keep the flattery for people that rate apologies abeg" I told him as I continued my way down the slab,with him walking backwards before me so he still had my hands in his.
"Kainene baby...Kay-baby!!" He kept teasing,while I simply sighed even though the smile still played over my lips. "Daryl please leave me now" I beseeched. "How can I leave my baby girl? Do you want me to die?" He continued. "You know you're my baby now" he mused.
"Daryl please I dont know anything,do let me go to my hostel and sleep" I told him calmly,allowing my voice to dawdle to feigned tiredness. "Mhmm,my baby is tired" he hummed,making me roll my eyes again.
"Don't worry,I'll get your flight ready so that you can spend the night at Canada" he stated boldly,interlacing my fingers with his. "Canada ni" I scoffed. "Abeg,make it Korea" I told him.
"Korea what? So that you'll go and see all those nonsense boys...what do they used to call them..Lim Min what again?" He questioned,his distaste in the topic of discussion written all over his face.
"Lee Min Ho" I corrected. "Whatever.Oh God,please dont tell me you're one of them?" He grumbled. "I like their movies,what's there?" I questioned with a shrug. "Hey,God!" he grumbled again,his hands leaving mine and he interlaced them behind his neck in his out cry.
"Its not a big deal abeg,you guys just blow it out of proportion" I chuckled,watching his drama unfold. "Abi its you people that used to blow it out of proportion,shaking the grounds of our peaceful school whenever you people start with this nonsense boy" he argued.
"Because you've not seen what school used to be like when they are playing UEFA finals abi,abeg rest joorh" I told him. "That's a different thing abeg" he argued. "I'm not going to argue this topic with you Daryl" I submitted. "You'd better not" he told me.
"Kainene!" Jawal's voice drew me out of the conversation I seemed to engrossed in as Daryl and I approached the intersection. "How far? What's up?" He greeted as he reached where we stood,extending his hand to Daryl for a hand shake,their fingers making a snap sound at the end.
"We just dey guy" Daryl replied lowly,practically shrugging the shake off. "Are you going to hostel? I wanted to tell you something." He directed at me this time,before looking back to Daryl. "That's if you dont mind" he added. Daryl simply shrugged "What if I say I do mind?" He questioned back.
Even without contributing a word to their conversation,I could already feel the tension building between them. "What do you want to tell me?" I quickly intercepted,earning Jawal's attention and he smiled again.
"I can't tell you here" he told me. "Why didn't you look for me since na?" I grumbled. "I did,you were nowhere to be found during prep" he told me. "Oh..." I trailed off,recalling the reason for my absence.
"You can tell me another day abeg,today is already over. Tell me tomorrow" I brushed him off. I strangely felt indifferent towards anything Jawal would have to tell me,I mean,it couldnt be more important that the conversation I'd been having with Daryl,could it?
"But..." Jawal tried to protest. "Guy,she said tomorrow na" Daryl groaned,a grimace plastered on his face. "No wahala,later" Jawal greeted after a while of hesitation,forcing a tight smile unto his lips which I decided to ignore.
"Goodnight" I greeted back as he found his way around us and probably headed for his hostel. "Ehen,as we were saying" I stated,turning back to Daryl who seemed rather elated.
"Why are you smiling like that?" I questioned as we continued our slow threading down the slabway. "Nothing,I can't smile again?" He asked back. "Hmm,okay oh" I hummed.
"You just did that thing like my junior sister"he chuckled lowly as we finally reached the intersection and came to a stop. "Which thing? The 'okay oh'?" I questioned with a creeping side smile.
"Yeah,it reminded me of her" he stated calmly,his gaze darting to the floor for a split second,I could say I caught something close to sadness settle on his facial expression,his voice dropping a few octaves towards the end of his statement.
"What's her name?" I inquired. "Yemisi" he replied. "What class is she?" I inquired further. "She's meant to be in J1 by now but some....things are keeping her back" he explained in an even lower voice,looking everywhere but me.
"Why? She's not doing well at school?" I questioned again,earning a chuckle from him. "Yemisi that's even smarter than me,she's the brain of the family" he told me,a slur accompanying his words even though he tried to hide it.
"Then....why?" I dared to ask again. He gave a long sigh,folding his arms across his chest as he did,his gaze going back to the floor. I quickly pushed my curiosity away,realising that I was pushing him too hard over something that seemed hard to let out. He'd mentioned his family having their fair share of problems to me once.
"I dont even know why I'm asking all these questions sef..." I laughed,in my attempt to lighten the dampened atmosphere but to my great surprise he spoke up. "She has medical issues...." he told me,bringing his gaze to finally rest on me. "...They're kinda serious" he stated.
I gave a small smile,following my instinct and taking his hand in mine. "My mum....is a single mother" I told him,looking down at his fingers as I did. I didn't want to look at him,because I didnt want to see that familiar look of surprise or shock or in most cases,disgust I got whenever people found out about my situation.
Not having a spouse in our Nigerian society is more or less an abomination,a taboo. Being the daughter of a single mother,wasnt the easiest thing for me while growing up. Whenever we filled class registers and I had nothing to fill in the place of 'father's details',whenever I had to fill any academic form,whenever I looked at my birth certificate and found it blank. Dont get me wrong,my mother did know my father,but she refused to let me have any trace of him in my life,due to her own selfish reasons if you'd asked me.
Still,something pushed me to look up and when I did,I saw something different. Instead of pity,it was like he tried to speak comfort to me through his orbs,giving my hand a light squeeze where it lay in his. "Its all messed up right?" He questioned with a small smile.
"Yeah" I replied lowly. "Its all messed up" I replied. To my own astonishment,I felt good,opening up to him that is. Perhaps it was because we opened up to each other,it was like we'd formed a different sort of bond,the type that didnt depend on the bond type or bond forces,just the bond energy.
We stayed that way for a good while,neither say anything,watching students who were rushing here and there,others who were taking a stroll just like I could say we would,it was soothing. The bell went off and we were brought back to earth,signifying that we had to get back to our respective hostels.
"This nonsense bell now" Daryl groaned as the bell ringer walked by us,wringing his wrist in ever manner to ensure the sound of his bell was heard by all,I giggled lightly.
"We'll talk later" he proposed. "Yeah" I replied lowly,suddenly feeling sad at the thought of our parting. We agreed to leave,yet neither of us moved from our spot. "Bear hug" he broke the silence,with outstretched arms.
I eyed him skeptically,corking a brow up. "Ehn?" I questioned. "So you wont hug me?" He asked back. "No,why would I?" I chuckled. Perhaps this would be my mechanism of killing more time. "Ah na" he sulked feignedly.
I gave him a hard glare before finally giving in,not only to his request but to all my bones which had been itching me to do it. "Fine" I submitted,with a roll of my eyes and walking into his embrace.
"Awwwn" he cooed as I did,his arms coming around me subtly and his skin met the side of the face. It felt cool,probably because of the evening breeze but for some reason,mine had been hot the whole time. My head barely managed to hang over his shoulder,even though he'd leant down into the hug.
"Goodnight" he stated lowly as I pulled away from the hug. "Goodnight" I replied even lower,taking steps away from him. He raised his hand in a wave as I walked backwards for a while,mirroring his smile at me as I walked down the slabway.
Smiling,I turned on my heels and walked to my hostel,taking a stop when I got to the porch. He still stood there,watching me. He waved at me again and I emulated his action. With an even wider smile,I walked through the doors of my hostel.
***
I'd just emerged from the bathroom and changed into a pair of night pants and a free shirt when Onome and Jade strode through the doors of the room,Onome's hand hanging over Jade's shoulder.
"One thousand years oh,both of you" I told them as I came to the front of my bunk,hanging my towel on it. These were the pros of not having a bunky,I got all the space to myself.
"Is it because you reached here before us? You think we didn't see you" Onome fired at me as she they both took a seat on her bed. "See me doing what?" I questioned with a shrug as I adjusted my pillow to serve as a back rest before taking a seat on my bed.
"You were with Daryl" Jade pointed out with a weak smile. "And you were with Yomi" I told her. She shrugged,lying down on the bed,her gaze darted upwards. "Yeah I was" she sighed. "At least I'm not like you guys that came back during lights out" I told them,as the lights had been turned off and junior students had been called out to the square for the evening prayers.
"Mhm,na so"Onome mused,making me chuckle,crossing my legs over the bed. "Did anything happen?" Onome questioned before I could.
"Well...." she trailed off,giving off another sigh. "Why are you people looking at me like that?" She smiled,turning to us and seeing how much of our attention she'd earned. "We are waiting for you to talk na" I told her.
"If I talk,you'll talk" she proposed,turning over on the bed so she lay on her belly. "Yes yes yes!" Onome cheered,bouncing in her spot and turning her full self towards me. "This is why I like Jade" she praised,running her hand over Jade's hair.
"Talk about what? What do I have to talk about?" I questioned,my lips curling into a smile even though I didn't will it to. "Kainene,we want to hear about Daryl. What's happening between both of you?" Onome stated daringly,folding her right leg and resting her elbows over them.
"What's happening between us?" I repeated their question with a shrug,acting oblivious to their question. "Kainene" Jade called,making me laugh lightly. "Nothing is happening seriously. You people know I dont even have the time. But if you want to hear..." Onome cut me off.
"Ehn yes,we want to hear it" She told me. "Okay,no problem. So Jade,back to you" I redirected the conversation,feeling that familiar heat flank around me at the thought of everything that had happened between me and Daryl. I was still telling myself it was just normal,but whenever I was confronted about it this way,I wondered why it was hard to tell them about it if it really was normal.
"Nothing much happened oh,what even happened sef" Jade started,picking at her nails as she did. "We were just talking majorly..." she started,giving off a sigh. "I was climbing the staircase to class when he called me and was like,if we could talk and all" she narrated.
"I was confused because I passed him when I went downstairs but he only called me when I was coming back up" she chuckled dryly at the irony. "Anyway sha,he was just explaining himself,about how he knows he's wrong and how he over reacted and how he doesn't want us to be over like this" she told us.
"He doesn't want you people to be over when nothing has even started" Onome contradicted with an ear-itching hiss. "He talked about that part too sha" Jade added.
"Wait,so he asked you out?" I questioned. "Something like that" she replied,looking back to her nails. "Why were you now crying?" I questioned,earning a sigh from her.
"Abeg,you know how I am with all these things,I was trying to explain what happened that day and everything,but talking about it again plus in front of him just....brought out the tears" she expounded.
"Ehya..."Onome sympathised lowly,her gaze not leaving Jade,who simply gave off a smile. "What did he now do as you were crying?" I questioned.
"I was even pitying him. I was surprised I was the one who even cried because he looked like he was going to cry. I pitied him sha,when he wiped my face,when he hugged me,his body was practically trembling." She explained.
"Chai ehya,so Yomi is soft like this. Later he will be forming hard guy,hard guy. Him and all his guys. Only Temi that used to do like he has heart" Onome commented with a shake of her head. "Ehen!" She suddenly exclaimed,making me flinch in my spot.
"Over to you Kainene" she announced,wiggling her eyebrows at me. "Wait first na" I told her. "So did you accept to date him?" I directed at Jade. "I told him I'll think about it,I'm already too much in an emotional slump to enter a relationship today abeg" she told me.
"But do you want to date him?" I reconstructed the question. "I really dont know sha. I like him,yes,but dating is another level and I want to be sure I'm ready for it" she explained and I nodded in agreement.
"Oya na!" Onome nudged me again. "Calm down na,abi I said I'll tell you" I laughed. "Wait,Jade!" It was my turn to exclaim. "Why did you deceive me today?" I questioned.
"Daryl begged me now. He said he really wanted to talk to you and that knowing you,if you knew it was him that was calling you that you wont answer him" she chuckled. "At least he knows who he is dealing with" Onome laughed.
I simply looked away,thinking about everything that had transpired between both of us the whole day. "You guys..." I started lowly. "...what do you think about Daryl?" I asked after a while,looking back to them.
"Like how?" Jade questioned. "Like generally. Just be honest" I told them. They went quiet,looking between each other before giving off small laughs. "Honestly ehn,I wouldn't say he is my best type of guy. I mean,everybody knows it's like his hobby to play girls" Onome shrugged.
"Some mumu girls now still used to rush him,like girls really dont have sense oh" Jade added,making chills run through me. Their words made me realise that I'd actually let my guard down unknowingly,I'd forgotten everything and acted whimsically.
"I even heard something happened between him and one SS2 girl before we went home for long holiday,what was that her name again..." Jade quickly stopped Onome,giving her a light tap on her knee and gesturing towards me with her chin.
I found myself trying to force a smile back to my lips. "What? It's not like it's my business" I tried to laugh,but it'd stung,the information stung. It made me wonder yet again,was I just another pawn in a game? Was I being used to pass time? Was I really going to allow myself be like my mother?
"Kainene" Jade called softly. "Seriously,there's nothing between us. We were just talking,he taught me how to play the badminton during evening prep that's why we were together. There's nothing there" Something in my words had my heart clenching,a reaction I was hating on myself for having.
"Ah na,Kainene I didnt mean it like..." Onome tried to take back her words. "Its fine really" I forced laughter out of my parted lips even though nothing amused me,I felt something quite opposite to amusement. We all went silent,the silence threatening to bring the conversation to an end as I looked away.
"Kaine,I haven't even said what I think" Jade pointed out. "Does it make a difference? It doesn't change the fact that he's a playboy" I replied lowly,my gaze resting on the space behind me through the window as I knew my emotions had clouded my orbs now.
"I actually feel like he really cares about you,sincerely" she told me,making my gaze dart down to the floor. "The way he always asks about you,the way he looks at you,the way he always tries to make sure you're okay,its different Kainene,trust me" she tried to assure.
"And you should listen to Jade,she has Yomi after all so she understands how playboys work" Onome added after a while and a slap reverberated to the room which made me chuckle. That only meant Jade had beseeched Onome to add a word of encouragement but she'd added nothing close to that.
"Its okay Jade,I get but..." I sighed heavily,turning and laying flat on my bed. "Its really not my business and there's nothing between us" I clarified finally before pulling my peach floral blanket over myself and turning the other way.
"Chai,why does it have to be that group of guys for both of you ehn?" I heard Onome murmur but I did well to ignore.
And to think I was happy,to think I'd been elated,exhilarated. Suddenly,thinking back to the events of the day seemed to tire me,almost feeling stupid in my own actions. I mean,I threw myself at him. And I couldnt understand why it felt like I lost control of myself whenever his name was thrown into the picture. Whatever it was,it had to stop. I couldn't go on like this,else I get myself into some precarious situation or worse.
Hey! Yhup,certainly didnt finish the story but I hope you enjoyed it. Please dont forget to vote and comment!!!
-Thoughts on Onome,Jade and Kainene's conversation?!
Please comment guys! Thanks for reading 🤗💕.