been a while? yes, definitely😭 but i'm back now though :) sorry, this chapter is a little bit rough.
btw, i realized i didn't add something to Ameenah's aesthetic moodboard, goodluck finding it out in this chapter :)
~K O M I S O L A~
The whole student body present in the bus got pumped up just by the announcement of Truth or Dare.
They were about to commence too, but, that was until Dabirah deprived the atmosphere of its liveliness.
"Y'all should find a way to keep quiet for goodness' sake. This is a bus trip not a class event."
In silence, I watched the scene at my front, waiting to see how my already pumped up classmates would react to Dabirah killing the energy they were feeling.
"Dabi..." someone started, but a hand raised up to interrupt the person. That hand was Ameenah's.
"Don't contradict her words. Not everyone is a fan of Truth or Dare. Please, just shut your mouth till we get to Abuja."
"Sorry oh, madam fencer." That was Yusrah who commented, eyeing Ameenah before sitting back on her seat.
The disdainful reply Yusrah received was heavy enough to make one think about his or her life for days.
"Sorry for your generations."
My eyes widened, mouth hanging open in shock. No one expected that harsh comment from Ameenah of all people.
Tiamiyu stepped in before any one could say anything. "Biko, I'm sorry for whatever is wrong with you right now. Don't insult my girlfriend."
"You and your girlfriend are lacking in all aspects of common sense, I can see," Dabirah said, glaring at Tiamiyu and Yusrah straight in the eyes.
"What the fuck...?" someone muttered. The air was suddenly solemn, awkward silence louder than words anyone could utter right now.
"Y'all, it's okay. I can sense an argument coming up. Sit down everyone." Ibrahim tried settling the situation. One thing I noticed about him was the peacemaker aura he subtly gave off. He was the type of person that hated engaging or intruding in heated arguments or conversations, but if necessary he would join in and make things right.
"Somebody with common sense is telling you, please listen to him," Dabirah added, smiling in a sickly, sweet manner.
"It's okay Dabi, just leave them alone."
Tiamiyu let out a loud hiss and held his girlfriend, dragging her back to their seats.
"I wonder what's wrong with the best friends today. Ameenah is never this rude," beside me, Hanniel commented.
"She's your best friend too, right?" I reminded him. "Then ask her. Don't rant about Ameenah to me at all."
I looked away, feeling annoyed at Hanniel for no reason. He knew I and Ameenah were nothing close to friends. Yet, he always managed to sneak her into our conversations each time.
I felt his gaze on me, sharp and intense. Then, from the corner of my eye, I saw him open a bottle and slowly start drinking from it. The only disturbing thing was that, the liquid he was drinking was coffee brown in color.
"What are you drinking?" I asked him.
Hanniel shrugged, "coffee, I always drink it every morning."
Coffee?
"You know it's unhealthy, right?"
"What?" Hanniel looked at me, a confused expression on his face. "Coffee?"
I nodded in reply. "Too much of caffeine is not good for the body. If you so badly want to drink coffee, then try jiggling the type of coffee you drink. Caffeinated or decaffeinated coffee."
"If it's decaf, then it's not coffee, duh," Hanniel said. "And some of us have our reasons for drinking so much coffee."
"What are the reasons?"
"I won't answer that because you already know too much about my life, while I don't know anything about yours."
I paused, not having anything to say in response.
Hanniel was right.
He was.
I knew so much about him, but he didn't know anything about me. However, I was sure our classmates would've told him anything he asked of them. Infact, if he wanted to know anything now, they'd probably tell him in a heartbeat.
"Just ask our classmates, they'll tell you everything," I said, with a tone of dismissal.
"Y'know the mates don't fancy you, right? That's why you aren't even free to go to the cafeteria."
"That cafeteria thing is not because of them. Do you even see me eating in school?"
Hanniel threw me an unsure look immediately, facial features clouded by judgment.
"Believe me if you want to." I almost huffed.
I heard him chuckle, a sound which I had to admit was strangely pleasant to my ears.
"Do you listen to music, by the way?"
To say I was surprised to hear Hanniel ask me that question-obviously absurd to me-would be an understatement.
I decided to go with one word, "no."
"Then listen with me," Hanniel offered. "I have only K-pop and Christian music on my phone though, but recently I found some music that I have been listening to nonstop. One, Atlantis by Seafret."
"Thank you Hanniel, but I won't like to listen," I politely declined his offer.
"Seriously? You can't do this one thing for me?"
"Why do you want to listen to music with me?"
"Why can't I listen with you?" Hanniel retorted.
I sighed, shaking my head. He wasn't going to give up on this.
"Fine. As long as it's good."
The bright smile that I was used to seeing on Hanniel's face came up again, almost contagious to me.
Except, I wasn't one to smile that way.
He gave me one of his air pods and I silently watched him as he played music from his Spotify.
The rhythm of the song started on a slow pace, sound of waves in the background, playing along with the gentle tune that soothed me with a cozy and feathery feel.
To be honest, the song was actually nice.
I closed my eyes, giving into the subtle temptation of sleep.
Minutes later, I felt a finger tap my cheek repeatedly. My eyelashes batted as my eyes fluttered open.
I fell asleep.
"You're awake," Hanniel stated. I looked up at him, but then an excruciating pain shot through my neck.
"Ow," I groaned, holding my neck with both hands in a bid to massage them.
"I still can't believe there is no teacher guide for this..."
I didn't pay any attention to what Hanniel was saying. All my focus was sadly on the pain in my neck.
Why did I have to throw my head back and rest my neck on the head of my seat?
"What's wrong with you?" Hanniel asked, sounding concerned and worried.
"My neck hurts," I told him, groaning once again in discomfort and inconvenience.
"Could've rested your head on my shoulder."
I whipped my head to look at Hanniel, not surprised at the casual yet smug look on his face. I caught him just in time, shrugging as he completed his statement.
"You're an idiot."
The expression of utter speechlessness and hurt on Hanniel's face was more than amusing to me. I fought back the smile at the pained look on his face, and when I couldn't hold it in any longer, a snort escaped me.
"Your face..." I pointed at him.
Throughout the whole trip, Hanniel surprisingly gave me a cold shoulder and I didn't bother indulging him in conversations, not that there was any to make.
Hours after, we finally arrived at a tall and wide glass building, with the name Jacqueline Hotels & Suites on the highest floor in big block, fancy style of letters.
Right.
This was the biggest hotel in West Africa.
And we were going to be staying here for a week, living free of all expenses and accommodation fees.
"WOAH," Hanniel gushed as he sat next to me.
I was getting used to him being by my side all the time. What I wasn't sure of now was if I wanted him to stay by my side all the time like this, or let me be by myself.
Either way, I just wanted to leave now.
"You can all step down from the bus now, in one line and please restrain from making noise," the bus driver said to everyone.
We all stood up, falling into a line starting from the person on the first seat to the last seat. As soon as I stepped out with Hanniel at my back, cool breeze swooshed against my skin, refreshing my whole being as I inhaled and exhaled the goodness of the atmosphere that clouded the bounds of this hotel.
"This is luxury on another level to be honest."
"Let's go inside, people."
SS3 arrived on cue, and we all entered inside. Standing a few feet away from me was Amyra Abdelnour, and her brother, Ibrahim was right at my front.
"MISS EVA!"
You should already know...
This conference trip was something I hoped would be worthwhile. I had been chosen as a paramedic for the trip, so it was sort of obvious I was close to irrelevant here, just for emergency purposes.
"Welcome to the International Jacqueline Hennessey Conference, everyone!"
~¤▪︎~¤▪︎~¤▪︎~
third person's pov
She wasn't sure of making it to the conference. Infact, her mind, body and soul only focused on that one thing that disturbed her peace.
The day before, she tried exposure therapy- touching dirt everywhere she saw it in her house, acting all courageous and tough, but even after she did that, the urge to wash her hands was adamantly taking a hold of her.
She remembered when Komisola had walked in on her in the restroom at school. Thankfully, Komisola wasn't the type to notice anything.
If there was one thing Ameenah discovered, was the fact that Komisola paid little to no attention to her surroundings.
She wondered however, if Komisola was aware of her feelings for Hanniel.
She hoped not.
Lowkey, she didn't want to attend this conference. She had been so excited, but now she had a lot of things on her table, which canceled out the conference trip as irrelevant.
Maybe laying low was the best thing, since she had always done that.
a/n: SO... I HAVE BEEN WAITING TO WRITE THIS END OF CHAPTER A/N
how are you all? happy new month btw <3
what do y'all think is Ameenah's problem? i mentioned exposure therapy so... idk😂
anyways, bye luvs <3 take care of yourself and listen to good music! <3