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My soul made love to your soul
long before our bodies met.
-Anita Krizzan.
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♠︎ Toviella ♠︎
I was still sprawled out on the floor when I heard quick footsteps advancing towards me.
A wince escaped my lips due to the throbbing pain in my knee that only intensified when I tried to move my legs.
I think I'd dislocated a bone.
In a bid to find out who was moving towards me, I raised my head up slightly. I blew out a breathe I hadn't realized I was holding when my gaze set on Samaira whose eyes widened in suprise and realization as her pace quickened.
"Ya Allah! Tovi, Are you okay?" She asked, crouching down and stretching an arm towards me, a look of confusion etched on her face, probably wondering why and what I was doing here in the first place.
When her hands pulled me up, I realized that none of my bones were out of place which I was very grateful for.
"Yeah, I guess so." I replied, reassuring her with a smile, the worried look on her face dissolving into that soft, beautiful smile that narrowed her slit eyes even more and as if just remembering that we hadn't seen each other for a whole month, I squealed and latched onto her small frame.
A marigold scarf held her thick, dark hair in a high ponytail and the tendrils left at the sides tickled my cheeks.
She giggled in my hold and I pulled away to see that her smile had widened, taking me aback for a moment at how pretty this girl was.
Muslim girls were believed to be one of the prettiest and Sammy didn't disappoint. She was easily the prettiest Muslim girl I'd ever come across with this placid aura and delicately enthralling features that didn't need much effort to be noticed.
She took my hand, giving it a light squeeze, dark-brown orbs twinkling in excitement and adoration. "I'm happy to see you too, Tovi." She expressed, "How were the holidays?"
"It was okay." I casually shrugged, "Uneventful, but okay."
In which world is being locked indoors, beaten up more than once and bawling your eyes out like a child in the middle of the night fun?
Shut the fuck up.
No, you shut up!
You don't get to talk to me like that.
Oh yeah? Since when did you start calling the shots? Pathethic. Little. Girl!
I felt a sharp sting and I looked down at my palms to find that my fingers had been digging into my skin, turning them an irritating, light red.
"Tovi?"
My head flew up to meet Samaira's worried, slightly confused gaze. Her thick brows were furrowed and a crease marred her forehead.
I unclenched my teeth and forced a smile, hoping she hadn't noticed what had transpired.
How could she when it's all in your head? Or you're now dumb too?
"Tovi?" Samaira's perturbed voice cut through again, her hands reaching out to shake my shoulders this time.
I stopped her before she could shake me again, raising my hand up to hers and bringing both our hands down gently, keeping it by her side.
I gave an apologetic smile and said, "I'm fine. I'm sorry, I was thinking about something."
She nodded her head slowly, obviously not believing my dig but chose not to question further and I couldn't have been more grateful.
She cleared her throat a bit and shifted her balance to her other foot. "So what brings you here? It's definitely not me 'cause we would've still seen each other in class."
I facepalmed myself as a groan eluded me. How could I forget my sole purpose of coming here? Heck, I could get punished for taking so much time.
Samaira chuckled at my display and I puckered out my lips in a pout, folding my arms across my chest. "It's not funny!"
"I know it's not." Samaira managed to say in between bouts of laughter and soon enough, I found myself joining in too.
A staff had sent me to summon her yet here we were, laughing our asses off like hyenas on crack.
"E don do, abeg." I wheezed, taking her shoulders and pushing her towards the exit of the clinic, "Go and answer Sir Godfrey."
She halted in her tracks and turned to face me. "You know you have to stay here while I'm gone, right?"
"Ehn? Why so?"
"Because a junior student is currently in there." She said, gesturing towards the door.
I arched a brow at her, "So?"
"Calms," The olive-skinned girl giggled, "She has a fever and I can't prescribe drugs without supervision since I don't know the exact sickness she's suffering from."
"How can she be sick on the first day of resumption? Why didn't she just stay home?"
Samaira punched my arm playfully, a short laugh escaping her lips and I couldn't help but wonder why she was in an extra good mood today.
Yes, we were really close friends but there was no denying the fact that she rarely ever smiled this much with me and the rest of our clique. She was this calm, reticent person that said a thousand things in only a few words.
She observed more than she spoke and I greatly admired that about her.
"Come on, Tee. Don't be like that." She said. Her tone was more serious now. "She'll need someone to be there when she wakes up. You don't have to do nothing more than just sitting down and watching her and that'll be only for a few minutes 'cause I will be back before you know it. The nurses might even arrive before I do. Please?"
No, I couldn't do it. Or maybe, it was just the thought of being in a room with Aldric.
Alone.
I couldn't stop the words before they flew past my lips. "But Aldric is in there."
She arched a brow at me, her head tilted to the side in question, eyes trained on me, observing. I was trapped in her elliptic gaze, my eyes refusing to pull away from hers no matter how hard I tried.
We were in this mini stare-down for a while and for a split second, I thought she had me all figured out.
Maybe she had realized that I was spying on them earlier. No, that wasn't possible since she had her back to me the whole time and in my defense, I wasn't there on my own accord. My plan was just to pass the message and leave. Catching them in that position, so close to each other disrupted the whole thing.
And for the life of me, I couldn't decipher why seeing them like that bothered me so much.
"You know what?" I gave a nervous laugh, cutting through the tension I had carelessly created. "I'll stay with the girl, go ahead and answer Sir Godfrey. Just be quick, okay?"
"Really?" A small, almost unnoticeable smile graced her lips. "Thank you so much, I really appreciate this. I'll be back before you know it."
"It's nothing, what are friends for?"
After she left, I braced myself, taking some minutes to calm my racing thoughts that were all over the place for some reason.
I puffed out a breathe and went in.
Aldric was seated on the bed nearest to the door, one leg pulled up to his chest and the other dangling from the bed, eyes glued to phone in his hands.
Maybe it was because of the airpods he had on or my shoes that barely made a sound against the tiled floor as I walked in, or maybe it was just me, trying to bring up an excuse as to why he didn't acknowledge my presence. He just kept typing away on his phone.
We weren't anything more than classmates to each other, I knew that, but couldn't he spare just a short glance? It wouldn't hurt and his eyes would definitely not roll out from their sockets.
How rude!
I scoffed audibly and walked past him, eyes ahead, not regarding him too.
The girl I was told to be a watchman to was still fast asleep. I reached out to check her temperature. She stirred to the other side of the bed as soon as my hand came in contact with her skin, a snort-like sound escaping her lips. I withdrew my hand quickly.
"Okay, keep your damn temperature to yourself then, sheesh." I huffed, backing away from her bed and going to sit on the one opposite hers.
It was the one next to Aldric's but a measurable space divided both the beds.
I shifted into the bed some more, my hands serving as a prop to the rest of my body as I stared at the ceiling above in utter boredom.
How had my life gotten to this? What was I thinking agreeing to do this? Had I known, I would've carried my phone along to ease the boredom.
Subconsciously, my gaze flickered down, and I found myself focusing on the boy beside me, who had his back to me. His head was bent, meaning he was still on his phone.
From time to time, the grey airpods inserted into both his ears would gleam a dull green and go out and I would stare at them in curiosity, wondering what song he was listening to. That is if he was actually listening to music.
All of a sudden, he straightened up, stilled for a second and started adjusting, turning to face... me?
A/N:
Hello everyone!
What was/were your highlights in this chapter? Mine was when the junior stirred away from Tovi's touch. Guyy, Tovi wanted to swear for her😂
Looking forward to seeing your votes and comments. All these ghost readers come out oh😪
See you in the next chapter. Take care and always remember that our Daddy in the sky loves you very, very much.
Much love, stay serene!💛