“We go together like copy and paste.”
^°•^•°^
•ORE•
"Did you hear what I just said?"
I blinked.
"Hey, Ore!"
My eyes focused and I figured it was Childera who was talking to me. I then remembered what was going on, where I was and what I was doing.
It was the Friday of the second week of resumption and we were in the basketball court, seated on the bleachers. The basketball team was practicing for a match that would come up during the interhouse sports.
Yes, we still had the biennial interhouse sports competition to partake in. Most of the SSS3s were taking part in it because it would be our last before we graduate.
I would take part in most of the track events — 100metre, 200metre, hurdles, 400metre, relay — except the endurance races which were 800metre and 1500metre. I would also take part in the football match — I was the captain of the team and easily the best player in the whole school.
Not bragging though, it was true.
Currently, we were seated in the basketball court because our friends were here. Every other team was done with practice except them. Let's just say basketball-ers at RBA took their practice to the extreme extreme.
RBA made it an almost free day and I say almost because after the first three periods, classes stopped and we all got out for sports.
"Are you okay?" Chidera asked me, a worried look taking over her facial expression. She touched my arm softly.
I smiled. "Of course, babe. I'm okay."
"Oh, that's great!" She chirped. "'Cause you looked really out of it."
I inched forward and kissed her forehead. "I'm fine, I promise."
Was I?
Maybe I was, maybe I wasn't and maybe I was staring at someone else, a person — girl — as she played basketball.
Trust me, it's not who you're thinking.
Or maybe it is...
Chidera blushed.
I winked at her, then placed my arm around her.
How long would I keep this up? Chidera was good and all but...
Maybe until the wedding?
Speaking of the wedding, the days after Liyah got kidnapped were so weird, in my house, I mean. Things changed so much. The house was so quiet.
Dad was either on the phone or in his study. Never came out except he wanted to eat and the dining table was just so quiet. Nobody stomped my foot or tried to tell me off for using my phone.
It was like they ignored my existence on that table. My sisters didn't even try any stupid attempt to make me look like a girl like they always wanted to.
Mom on the other hand, paced up and down the house, muttering incoherent words. Her face had turned several years older. It was funny but I didn't dare laugh, not in front of her.
Aisha didn't say anything either, didn't try to annoy me or anything. Everyone kept to themselves and it was beyond weird. Too weird.
But it was good for me 'cause I went in and out of the house anytime I liked, made small talks with the maids, security guards, gardeners and even the drivers. I did all the fun things I could and I was so happy.
I'd never felt so free in my life. I did what I wanted whenever I wanted. No one noticed. No one complained. No one scolded me or tried to stop me.
But deep in the back of my mind, I knew it wouldn't last long. I knew that someday, Liyah would be found and all my freedom would return to captivity. And I wished so much that she would not be found. No, no I didn't wish her dead or anything but...she could just go and never come back so that I'd never have to marry her and live my normal life— as normal as it could be.
It wasn't the best thing to wish a person, considering the kind of human I portrayed myself to be, but would anyone blame me for thinking like that? Would you?
I wished her safe and all — I didn't even know her — but she should not just bother to show up at all.
I watched as Ayo dribbled and then dunked, scoring a goal. The people in the court, on the bleachers cheered so loudly. Ayo Balogun was good. An amazing basketball player. Even though he was shy, he went all out when it came to the things he loved, like basketball, being on the track and his girlfriend, Nina.
I knew he loved that girl.
With the little time that I got to know him, I could tell that about him. He was a low-key extremist.
As much as that was an advantage, it could be a big disadvantage too. But I'm sure Ayo could handle it, no biggie. He was a good guy. Too good, if you asked me.
Beside me, Chidera kept chatting with Ashley, who was holding a book, but listening, or trying to. Chidera held on to my arm as she talked.
I turned my attention to the game going on and the same girl who had my attention at the beginning, caught my attention again.
Boluwaji Jayeola.
I watched how she dribbled with skill, even dancing with the ball. She was so focused, smiling and making sure she passed the ball swiftly to another girl on her team. That girl then passed it to another boy, who in turn, passed it to Kathy Alero, the female sports prefect and she scored.
Loud cheers erupted.
They kept playing and I kept watching Bolu. Looking at her right now, one would think she was so sure of herself all the time. If only she'd realize how much better she could become if she just believed more in herself.
She'd actually improved, compared to before. I continued tutoring her in physics and I saw that although she was getting better, she still struggled with the voices in her head.
She still struggled with believing she could get a problem right even when she was right.
Also judging from the way she acted during group meetings for our project, it was clear she was still very much uncomfortable with the fact that I gave her what I gave her to handle.
At first, she was angry about it, tried to avoid me lots of times but I still told her what I did.
I could also tell she was scared. Scared of the unknown. In spite of all the times I'd talked to her and tried to cheer her up and encourage her. She was scared of it... whatever it was.
And the funny thing about life is, if we don't take a step to do what we wanna do all because we are scared, we'd never actually get to live.
The practice ended and each team gathered together to listen to their captains.
At RBA, basketball teams were mixed with boys and girls. Nah, I shouldn't be the one to explain that, I'll let Bolu do it for you. I wasn't a basketball person but I played sometimes sha...just for cruise.
Anyway, the group meeting was over and Bolu and Ayo walked towards us.
"I feel like a rag doll," Bolu complained as she finally got where we sat. "I need to wash up."
"See that stream behind the school?" Ayo said as he cleaned his face with a towel.
"What happened to it?" Bolu asked and gave him a suspicious look.
He hid smile as he said, "Go jump in it."
Bolu rolled her eyes and groaned. "I don't know how you can be this quiet and at the same time be like Ore."
I smirked and lifted two fingers in the air, showing the peace sign. "That's how we roll."
I leaned forward and did a bro's handshake with Ayo. "Nice one there, bro. You play fire."
"Thanks, man," Ayo grinned as he shook my hand.
"Boys..." Bolu mumbled, shook her head then exhaled. My smirk only widened.
"Are the best of the best!" I completed for her.
She rolled her eyes at me and took a seat beside Ashley.
"Boys are okay but my boyfriend is the best," Chidera jumped in. I managed a smile.
Nobody replied her.
She didn't seem to mind so she kept talking. "You two play basketball so darn well." She gestured to Ayo and Bolu, smiling.
"Thanks Chidera," Bolu said.
Ayo just nodded as he took a full gulp from his bottle of water. Chidera didn't stop talking.
"If Nina wasn't his girlfriend, I'd have said you guys should get together, you'd be so cute," Chidera gushed excitedly, placing her head on my shoulder.
Everyone was dumbfounded. Bolu had a shocked look on her face, her mouth hung agape. Ayo had an unreadable expression.
"Shut up, Chidera!" Ashley said sharply and I wasn't sure what surprised me more, what Chidera said or the fact that Ashley just actually spoke to her best friend like that for the first time ever. At least, since I've known them to be friends.
Childera's head jumped from my shoulder. "Ashley, did you say something?"
Ashley's face was stoic. "Nope." And she went back to reading her book.
"Okay," Chidera replied and placed her head back on my shoulder.
Bolu, Ayo and I, exchanged glances. Like we communicated the unspoken... whatever that was.
Well, that was awkward.
As if on cue, Nina walked to us, looking exasperated and stressed. Ayo stood up immediately. Won ti get omo yii. Aswear.
"RBA should seriously delete sports!" She said when she finally got to us, throwing her hands up in the air, as she spoke.
"Ah, ahn...aunty. Wetin dey sup na?" Bolu said with a smirk.
"Yeah babe, what's the problem?" Ayo asked.
"Sports! That's the problem!" Then mumbled, "I hate sports." She sighed. "Sports are dark spots that create pot holes and pot holes are bad!"
We threw back out heads and burst out laughing.
"What the heck are you saying, b?" Bolu said, almost choking from laughter.
Nina frowned. "I don't know jare! I'm tired. Too many people got hurt or rather, pretended to get hurt during practice today and the way students demanded for glucose ehn, it was as if it was oxygen, I swear."
"Sorry babe! It happens," I said and patted her arm.
"Yeah," Bolu agreed. "But you signed up for this though."
Nina glared at her playfully.
Bolu stuck her tongue out.
Ayo pulled Nina close and kissed her forehead. "I'm sorry you're so exhausted. I wish I was there to help." He kissed her again.
"E choke!" Bolu yelled and held her neck dramatically.
"Pele oh, Choker," I said, using Bolu's scheme against her.
"Choke Slam! Hiya!" Ayo added, with the gesture of a Kung Fu master and we all burst out laughing. Even Ashley cracked a smile.
Another thing about Ayo was that he had a stupid sense of humor, like me. Funny how we were somehow alike.
She glared at me and Ayo. "Wehdone, be giving me my own medicine oh, sheybi we are still seatmates, Ore."
I grinned and winked at her. "Sure we are."
She dragged a long hiss. Ayo looked at both of us and smiled like he knew something we didn't.
"Ooh! It's closing time! Gotta ring the bell! Buy guys! Come on, Ash!" Chidera said at once and kissed me before she left, dragging Ashley with her.
I moved closer to Bolu and nudged her. She gave me a look. I wiggled my brows and she started laughing.
"Go away, jhor! I'll still get you back," she said.
"You sure about that?" I raised a brow.
"Yes."
"I doubt that."
"I'm very sure."
Nina cleared her throat. "Nawa oh! Tom and Jerry. E don do abeg. Get yourselves back at the same time so that y'all can be even and we can rest."
We both laughed.
Ayo just kept smiling and looking between Bolu and I.
Okay...
"Mr. Noah said we are presenting next week oh!" Nina announced. "My group has been able to finalize the whole stuff. Thank God." She waved her hands in the air. "Fikayo came to his senses... mostly."
I looked at Bolu. She looked back at me for three seconds and looked away.
"Can we talk about how hungry I am, huh?" Ayo said and pouted at his girlfriend.
"Yeah! Food!" Bolu exclaimed. "I want. I'm hungry!" She stood up.
"Whoa," Ayo said as his eyes widened.
"What na?" Bolu asked. "I'm hungry na."
"Geez," Ayo said again, shaking his head and smiling.
I laughed also. Bolu and food, 5&6.
"Sit!" I said, firmly gripping her wrist.
She looked at me and my hand holding her wrist then pouted before she sat back down.
So cute.
"Babe, be calming down," Nina said to Bolu and chuckled. "Ayo and I will get something from the tuck shop before it closes. Abeg, Ore, help me hold my best friend and tell her to calm down." She laughed again.
"Sure," I said and watched Nina and Ayo walk away, leaving Bolu and I. Not many people were left in the court since the game was over and since Chidera rang the bell for closing, few minutes ago.
"Foodie oshi," I told Bolu.
"Puh-lease! Food is life!"
"Yeah, yeah. You're a cute foodie though." I winked at her.
She tried to hide the fact that she was blushing by sticking out her tongue at me.
Too cute.
"So...hope the only voice you can hear right now, is mine?" I asked as I raised a brow.
She shifted uncomfortably, removed her hand from my grip - I didn't even realize I was still holding it - and cleared her throat. "Uh..."
"Huh?"
"I think so?"
I chuckled. "You're funny."
"Yeah. Haha..." She said humorlessly.
"C'mon mama. Tell me. Whose voice can you hear right now?" I took her hand and looked her in the eyes.
"Um..." She cleared her throat again and looked down.
I made her look at me. "Tell me."
"Um...yeah. I can hear you clearly."
"And the voices? They aren't tryna stop you from listening to me, are they?"
"Well..." She drew out. "Trust me, the voices are suppressed. Emphasis on the suppressed." She nodded slowly.
"Hmmmm. Just don't ever forget that I believe in you and that you can fight this, whatever it is, okay?" I assured her.
She tried for a smile. "Yeah. But I'm not sure if our other group members think or feel the same way."
"You're scared that they think you'd fail?"
"Yes!" She threw her hands in the air. "I've been reading, honestly. Researching, practicing but each time I remember how they looked at me the day you chose me to speak, I just...I don't know, grow weak?"
"I know you hate me saying this but..."
"It's all in my head? Right?"
"Exactly!"
"But guy, it feels so real! So freaking real!" She sighed. "Sometimes I feel so confident in myself when I read and then I suddenly remember how amazing you and all those students are at Physics...and I...I just lose it...the confidence." She sighed again. "I lose all of it."
I squeezed her hand in mine.
This thing with self esteem and negative voices.
She continued. "Last week, when we talked about this, when you told me I shouldn't doubt, I felt so confident. So...so sure I could do it but the way Gift presented her stuffs during the last group meeting and the way Ini acted as that scientist, or the way you proved the theory with ease...it made me feel low, like I didn't or don't know anything."
"Waji, listen." I held her shoulders. "You're a very intelligent, smart and beautiful girl. Everyone can see that and they know it too. Only you can't. You need to open your eyes and begin to focus on your strengths rather than your flaws. Admit you have flaws, I mean, who doesn't? But focus on strengthening your strengths and dominating your flaws with those strengths too!"
See how I'm sounding like a motivational speaker.
Two cheers for Ore Jumai.
Lmaoooo.
"O-okay..." She said. "Thanks Ore."
"Sure...what are friends for?" I said and added, "And after this, would you admit that I'm indeed fresh and a spectacular spec?"
She eyed me and hissed. "Cocky goat!"
I laughed and she joined in later on. After we laughed, we looked at each other again.
As I kept staring at her beautiful, brown eyes, melanin face and disturbingly attracting lips, I had the urge to lean forward and just kiss her.
The hormones -stupid hormones- kept telling me to do it. I wanted to do it. I noticed her backing away from me, asking, "what are...you doing?"
Ignoring her question, I smirked and leaned closer, hormones and all taking over.
I swear I would have done it if two junior students, both girls, didn't walk towards us, yelling, "Senior Ore!"
I cussed.
I looked at Bolu, who was staring wide eyed me, at what I was about to do.
I almost laughed at her expression.
It was priceless.
"Hello senior Ore!" One said. She looked very familiar but I could not remember her name. In fact, they both looked familiar. I didn't just store their names in my brain.
"Hello. What's up?" I answered, smiling.
"You remember me? I'm Shane! Jeremy's sister. He's your best friend," she said.
I remembered. No wonder she's looked familiar.
"Oh, okay. Hey Shane and...?" I pointed at the other one, dark in complexion, slim like her friend, but shorter.
"Mide! Ayomide! I'm Ayo Balogun's sister."
Ayo had a younger sister?
No wonder she looked familiar too, she did resemble Ayo.
"Okay, Shane and Mide...why did guys come here?" I asked, nicely.
"The hostel bus would arrive soon, my brother said to come and call you," Shane said.
"Okay. I'll come soon. Thanks my dears," I said and winked at them both.
They ran off giggling and squealing.
Bolu laughed beside me but I turned to look at her, she turned away, playing with her hair, blushing and embarrassed. I leaned back on my seat and held a satisfied smirk on my face. Just then, Nina and Ayo arrived.
They held nylon bags containing stuffs. Bolu didn't wait for them to reach us before she stood up and ran to them, grabbing one nylon.
When three of them finally got to where I was, Nina handed me my pack and said, "I told you to hold her, na."
"Sorry," I laughed. "You can't hold a hungry woman for long."
She rolled her eyes playfully.
Then, some boys entered the basketball court. The boys that every single soul at RBA feared.
Sukky and his geng.
I watched as two people who were about to leave the court, made way for them to enter. The distance was much.
I related with everyone on a normal level and had deep connections with my friends but these guys? Nah.
As much as I nodded at them each time we passed each other in the hallway and corridor, I never wanted to have anything to do with them.
Never.
They had a terrible reputation. I didn't want to soil my perfectly built reputation with theirs. And the reason RBA hadn't expelled them yet was just beyond me. With all the terrible things they'd done?
The terrible things they'd done...
That story is probably not mine to tell.
They walked towards us, with Sukky holding that permanent, hardened glare on his face. I swear I almost gulped...or maybe I did?
They got to us. Nodded at me and I did the same. Bolu looked uncomfortable. Nina had a questioning look on her face. Ayo took in a sharp breath as Sukky smiled down at him.
"Balogun, how far?" He said.
Ayo grunted in response.
"Um...hey guys!" Nina said nicely but it was forced. "Nice to see you?"
Sukky smirked at her. Jare and Kome crossed their arms identically, wearing the same expression as their leader.
"Nice to see you too, sweetheart," he replied her.
Ayo's eyes turned ten shades darker. It was almost scary. Sukky smirked like he knew he was taunting Ayo.
Okay, what the heck was going on here?
"We came to compliment you na, huh, Balogun. You sabi that basketball wella. E be like say you don sabi am pass us," Sukky said and chuckled humorlessly. "Better no sabi am pass us oh, our main gee." He nudged Ayo.
Ayo inhaled sharply and when he looked at them, his eyes were almost red.
Sukky smirked and then gave me salute sign, so did Jare and Kome, before they left. I returned their 'kind' gesture and they walked off. Thank God.
But what was that all about?
Why would they just come and then call Ayo their main gee?
Whatever it was, I was certain that a whole story was behind it.
When I finally left my friends, I left with one thing on my mind only.
Something I was so sure of.
I was beginning to see Boluwaji Jayeola as more than a seatmate, more than a friend.
Guess what that calls for?
Wahala!
Hi!!
Okay, in all honesty *sighs* I deserve to be flogged. Y'all can flog me, seriously.
I AM SUPER SORRY!!!!😩😩😩😩😩😩😩😩😩😩😩😩
I just stalled for no reason. No exact reason.🙈🙈🙈 I'm covering my face ohhh😩😩😩😩😩 but after the flogging, I hope y'all sha forgive me😩😩😩😘😘😘
Anyway...😁
Dun Dun Dun!!
Wetin dey sele?
Who knows what's up?
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