CHAPTER
HEY.
He glanced eagerly at the message he had sent to the number Tito had given him.
He couldn't see her profile picture but he was sure she didn't give him the wrong number.
He checked his phone for the sixteenth time. No message.
Her Whatsapp status showed that she had been online minutes ago and because her read recipient had been turned off, he couldn’t know if she had seen his message or if she was simply ignoring him.
He had a sour taste towards those people who turned off their read receipts. He just wanted to know if his message had been received or not.
“What is wrong with you? How could you forget our anniversary?” His mother's voice broke gf his thoughts.
Tonight was one of the nights when his parents would argue and argue. This time, his father had committed the most grievous sin. He forgot that today was their anniversary.
“I am sorry. I had so much on my mind at work,” He heard his father say.
“Don’t give me that excuse. I am also working.”
He tried to blur out the sounds and began typing again as he settled behind his study desk. It’s Benjy.
Fortunately for him, her status flashed with Tito is typing...
His phone buzzed.
Benjy. I would have told you how happy I was to see your message but that would be a lie.
He almost jumped up in excitement. She finally replied.
As he was about to type in a reply, he heard the sound of someone walking in the hallway. His heart skipped a beat. His father wouldn’t be in a good mood after that argument with his mom.
He tossed his phone underneath his physics textbook and leaned forward, hoping he looked like a child engrossed with reading.
His door creaked open to reveal his mother.
Benjy let out a sigh of relief as he saw his mother’s face. “Ma. It’s you.”
“Yes, it’s me.” His mother grinned at him and closed the door. “You thought it was your father eh?”
He nodded, relaxing in his seat.
His mother ran a hand over his head. “I just came to check up on you. You haven’t had your dinner yet and it’s almost nine. Are you okay?”
"I was reading." He gestured to his sprawled books on the desk.
"My dear, you don’t have to overwork yourself."
"Ma, you know that's not true. This competition is very important."
His mother shook her head. "Competition is not the right approach to life. Read what can be read and let things happen naturally. If you win, you win. If you lose, I'll still love you."
He snorted. Too bad his father doesn't feel the same way. "Don’t let Dad hear you say that."
"Your father." His mother's countenance fell. "You know, he loves you right?"
He looked at his mother. "Ma, does he?"
"He does. I am telling you, he does. I remember the first time we had you, Grandma said he wouldn’t let anyone touch you."
He chuckled at the memory. When he was young, his father had been very sweet. He would play football with him and they joked as father and son should. But as soon as he entered secondary school, everything changed. His father became so conscious of his grades in a way that made him more of a manager than a father.
"But if he loves me, why is he so concerned about my academics and pays little attention to me? He doesn’t even try to know me."
His mother lifted his chin with her finger. "My dear, you know I never support your father. Yes, we are fighting our own battles too but I can tell he is trying. I don’t know why he is obsessed with you being so perfect and he wouldn’t even explain things to me."
The argument. His mother was talking about the argument. And now, looking closely at the lines on her forehead, his mother seemed unhappy.
"Is everything okay between you two, ma?"
She gave him a fake smile but he could read her well. "Well, we are coping."
"Ma."
"Your father is not the romantic man I fell in love with anymore but we will be fine."
Will they? He wasn’t sure but he hoped. Dare's parents were separated and he knew how hard it was for his friend to have visiting days and separate houses. As harsh as it would sound, he didn't wish that on himself.
His phone vibrated underneath his textbook and his mother gave him a knowing look.
“Studying eh?”
He chuckled. “I swear I was studying minutes ago.”
“Yeah. Yeah.” His mother moved to the door. “I give you ten minutes to get downstairs. Have some food in you at least.”
Benjy smiled. “Yes, mom.”
As soon as his mom left, he brought out his phone.
Tito had sent another message.
Just finished working on our study guide. Meet me in the library during break tomorrow. Don’t be late.
He found himself smiling against his wish.
See you there.
When the bell was rung, he packed his bag and began to make his way out of the class.
"Wait, you are not joking?" Dare asked, standing up to meet him.
"No. I am not."
“So she is tutoring you?” Dare asked again, giving him a look mingled with suspicion.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
He pursued his lips. “I told you, if I need to win this, I need her help. She is good, Dare.”
“Did you just admit that she is better than you?”
He winced.
Dare had a lollipop in his mouth and he made a loud suckling sound. “Okay. Okay, but why is she agreeing to this? That girl hates you?”
And she loves you, he wanted to say. He couldn’t, at least not without Tito's permission.
“Benjy?” Dare looked at him, shoving his hands in his pockets.
“Dude, I don’t know." He shrugged helplessly. "Maybe she just wants to help, I think.”
“Weird.”
He glanced at his leather wristwatch. He was running late. “I have to go.”
“To meet her?"
“Yes. She is waiting for me. I am sorry, dude.”
When he finally made it to the school library, he found Tito sitting on a chair, head down. She was reading a book.
The library was quiet and organized even with several students present. It was like everyone knew the rules and no one wanted to be the rebel.
As he walked gently to where she was seated, he couldn’t help but notice how her side profile was temptingly cute. Everything seemed to slow down at that thought.
Whoa. Where did that come from? He blinked away the thought. That was a really strange thought.
“Hey,” he said, standing beside her. He peeked at her book. She was reading a literary novel.
She didn’t even look up at him. “Sit.”
Okay, he mouthed and took a seat beside her.
Tito reached for her bag on the table and brought out a paper. She handed it over to him.
“This is the study guide?” He asked, inspecting the paper.
“Yes.” Her eyes flickered to his face. “Every day, during the break, we come here and practice. Each subject for a week, do you understand?”
“Yes, ma'am.”
She pulled up a scowl on her face. “Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Mathematics. Medunal uses those four subjects to set questions so read voraciously.”
“Thanks." He went through the paper again. "When do we start?”
“Tomorrow. Don’t make me wait," she said.
“I won’t.” And for a second, he stared at her. Was that all? Why was she looking at him like she was expecting him to do something?
Tito arched her brows. “So? What do you have for me?”
“Huh?” his mind went blank for a moment.
“Benjy, I am not doing this to help you so tell me what I need to know.”
Oh, Dare. Right. How could he have forgotten?
He leaned closer and caught a whiff of her perfume. The fruity scent threw him into a daze. Wow, she smells good.
“Erm...I...Have you ever spoken to him?”
“No." She gave him a look. "Why would I?”
“Why wouldn’t you? How would he notice you if you don’t talk to him?”
“I can’t walk over and just talk to him. It is insane. Besides, I don’t even know what to say," she said.
“Dare loves bold girls. He is not the shy type so it’s only reasonable for him to go for someone like him. So the first thing we will do is to put you out there.”
"How?"
"You are going to talk to him tomorrow. He can't like you if he doesn't even notice you enough."
“Okay." she mused, nodding her head in agreement. "When do we start?”
“We start tomorrow.” He stood up and clutched the strap of his bag. “Make sure to look less grumpy."
“Shut up, Benjy.”
And again, he found himself smiling.