Boma briefly considered telling Donovan the truth but she was sorely afraid of what he would do to her.
Her words came out in a rush as from a distance, she spotted the building that housed her lecture room.
"I was outside with...with Hilda and we were we went for dinner and... and.. "
She paused, lost for words as his eyes left the road and glanced at her.
" Are you lying to me? "
"No." she denied, shaking her head as he returned his gaze to the road.
"I'm not lying," she said.
The fear already gripping her slightly tremulous body was heightening with every passing second. Her lips were starting to waver. She was not used to lying but the fear of him was forcing her to try and learn.
"I'm not lying," she repeated.
"Then stop stuttering and speak clearly."
Boma managed to comport herself. The car was fast approaching her stop.
"I was... we were out to dinner and the phone was with me. It was in my pocket. I don't know how it happened. Maybe it fell out of the shuttle we entered. I don't know but when we got back in our room, I discovered it was gone."
"Really?"
"Yes."
"That's very unfortunate"
Boma didn't know how to respond to his comment. She was not sure that he believed her. She was glad she had at least explained before they were reaching the building.
Donovan nosed the car before the building and killed the engine.
She immediately reached for the door handle.
"Who asked you to leave?"
She paused and sat back, observing his stoic expression nervously. "Sorry I thought..."
"We have a few minutes to spare."
She settled back against the seat and tried to look comfortable.
"Now, look at me and repeat your story," he said, pinning her with a searching gaze.
She faced him, mesmerized by his sexy eyes. It felt like he was searching her soul as he observed her calmly.
It felt harder repeating her lie because she was facing him now. Still, she had to try and she could not stop her eyes from wetting up.
"I... Hilda and I went to read... I mean dinner and the phone was in my pocket and we entered a shuttle and it must have fallen off in the shuttle. I really can't say how it... how it got lost. "
He studied her silently for a few seconds, observing her fear, her nervousness, her fear so paramount she was almost on the verge of tears. He saw the tiny tremors rocking her lithe body.
All it told him was that she was spewing lies. She should be very afraid of trying to play him for a fool.
Donovan let his finger tap on the steering wheel as he controlled himself. She had a test coming up, otherwise, he would have backhanded her long before she completed her lies. But he didn't want her crying. Not when her test was at hand.
He considered his true feelings for her. Of course, he liked her. He liked her a lot. To be honest with himself, it was love at first sight for him. But he would not tolerate any nonsense. That was not his style. His belief was spare the rod and spoil your girl.
"I'll get you a new phone," he promised.
" Thank you. " Boma could barely breathe a sigh of relief. Tension still overwhelmed her body.
" It's okay. You can get to your test. I'll pick you up soon, okay?"
"Okay," she replied, opening the door and letting herself out.
He drove away as she joined the rest of the students going into their various classes.
Donovan's class was at the other end of the campus as most engineering matters were handled there.
She entered her class in time to receive her question paper from the lecturer. He was a stone-faced man.
Upon checking her question paper, she saw that the lecturer had indeed changed his questions. She had twenty questions before her.
She saw a few of what she had studied the previous night and quickly answered them but they were only five.
She needed the answers to the remaining fifteen questions. She saw about five repeated questions from the past question papers she had been studying, so she answered them as well. Now she was left to answer the remaining ten questions.
She had no idea about what to write. The lecturer was known for twisting his questions which made it harder to try.
The remaining questions were objectives where she had to choose among a, b, c and d.
She glanced around the class and noticed some students having a hard time like her. She also noticed others who were doing well. She turned back and spotted the bullies furtively using expo sheets. She wanted to accuse them of malpractice but ignored them. That was not her problem.
She faced her paper, dejected. She decided to tick whatever answer came to mind when she felt a tap on her leg.
It appeared that one of the bullies directly behind her was tapping her foot with hers. It was a simple nudge.
Confused, she turned slightly and the girl rose and started to leave but dumped the expo she had been using on her table.
Boma's reflexes swung into action and she slid the paper beneath her answer sheet.
The bully submitted her paper and left. Boma wondered why the girl was helping her. She wondered if it was a trap. So they would tell on her.
Boma dismissed the thought and decided to use the paper. Stealthily, she ticked the answers she saw on the expo paper. Then she rose and gathered her paper, at the same time, slipping the expo in her cleavage.
At the same time, the lecturer caught a cheating student and ceased her paper before ordering her to leave the class.
Then he told everyone to rise as he inspected their seats and surroundings for any expos while lamenting the lack of CCTV in the classrooms.
Boma hurriedly submitted her sheet to him during the commotion and exited the class, believing she had made it.
A few of her course mates also submitted their papers and hung around outside the class.
Once she was outside the class, she saw the bully hanging around. Boma walked up to her.
"Thanks," she said.
"You're welcome."
"Why did you help me?"
"I saw you struggling."
"Yeah, but you hate me."
"I still do."
"But why?"
"I don't know. Maybe because you're pretty."
"But you're pretty too."
"Yeah, with makeup."
Boma was speechless for a while. Then the girl started to laugh.
Boma could not find anything amusing.
"What?" she asked.
"Did you copy those answers?"
"Yeah."
"Wow. You're dumber than I thought."
" What are you talking about? "
" Didn't you notice that everyone's question was different?"
"No. "
" Well, you came late. The lecturer told us but seeing as you were late, I had to seize the opportunity and make a fool out of you. "
"But why?"
" Because I can, bitch."
Boma was still frozen in shock as the girl laughed at her.
The lecturer poked his head out of the classroom and called in the students hanging outside in the corridors.
Boma slowly joined the others in the class where they stayed silent as the lecturer marked their sheets.
When he was done, he handed the papers to the course representative and left.
The class representative gave everyone their marked scripts and while some students were happy, others wore long faces, among them, Boma. She scored 45%.
Her heart sank as she stared at it. The bully had not been bluffing. The sheets were all different and she failed all the objectives she had copied.
All she could think about was Donovan. God, she was in trouble.
She folded the sheet and stuck it in her jean pocket.
She stared at the three bullies who were rejoicing, eyeing her, and laughing at her.
Anger rose within her.
She found herself storming up to them, kicking at them in an out-of-control manner, enjoying their screams, the commotion, the blows she rained on the one who had given her the expo, her fear-filled eyes as he stamped her feet on her heavily made-up face, bashing it and drawing blood as her face was disfigured.
Boma's brain slowed down, reminding her that she had just been imagining the revenge scenario.
She didn't think she could ever be that brutal.
She left the classroom as she recalled the last message she had gotten from Fidelis:
WARM REMINDER, MY FRIEND. THE OFFER IS STILL ON. THREE DAYS TO GO. IF I DON'T GET A RESPONSE, I WILL ASSUME YOU'RE HAPPY WITH THE PATH YOU'RE ON. TAKE CARE.
Boma responded immediately:
THANKS. I WILL GIVE YOU MY ANSWER BEFORE THE END OF THE DAY.
But she was yet to respond and by her calculation, she only had a couple of days to do so.
She walked out and stood in a corner on the terrace as she waited for Donovan.
The sun outside was starting to shine, presenting the promise of a warm day. But she wasn't feeling warm. She was feeling cold with fear.
She sighted Donovan's car approaching.
Seconds later, Boma slid into the back seat beside him because Phillip was the one driving this time.
"Hi." Phillip greeted.
"Hello," she responded. Her voice sounded muffled because of nervousness.
"How was your test?" asked Donovan.
"It was fine." Boma didn't know what else to say.
"Good to know. Where is the score?"
"They will... the lecturer said he will give us the results on our next lecture day."
Boma was shocked at her lie. She had not even thought about it. She guessed she was learning to survive.
"I see." Donovan replied vaguely. " Anyway, won't you ask about mine?"
"How was it?"
"Great," he answered. "Ours was online." He showed her a screenshot of his score. He had scored 20 over 20. No wonder he was a four-pointer. She was impressed.
"Congratulations." Her voice was weak with the feeling of doom hanging over her.
"Thanks," he replied. " And you must follow in my footsteps. Now tell me, where is your script? "
"I already told you. The lecturer said... "
"It's okay. " he interrupted. Then he dialed a number and her heart began to thud anew. She didn't know what to expect.
"Hey, what's up?... yeah I'm good too... yeah it was good. How was yours?.. Hmm. I trust you... so you got your scores upfront too huh?... great. congrats again... Talk later. Don't forget the meeting for Harry's projection. He has to be the SUG president... Me? No. You know I like to run things from the background... next time, maybe. I don't really care... see you. "
As he ended the call, Boma shifted away from him until she was at the window.
He stared at her for a while. She kept her gaze on her lap, unable to look at him.
"Where is the script?" he asked quietly.
She quickly retrieved it and handed it over to him.
As he set his eyes on the script, she started whimpering. He saw the score and his jaw tightened. He hadn't expected to see anything good since she had lied about the script. Still, it made him furious, especially with all the lies she had been telling him since daybreak.
"Come here," he said, one impatient finger beckoning her closer.