───※ ·DAMIAN· ※───
I wasn't sure why I decided to help Nsikan to the nurse's office, it just seemed like the right thing to do. Aside from that, I was starting to see her as more than that weird girl at the back of the class that does nothing but smile and act goofy all day. All this while, I thought she was average with little to no care of the world but now I got to realize it was all a facade. Behind her smile, was a fearful soul. And I knew all that based on the time she'd opened up in my room.
I shook my head slightly to focus on what was happening here. In front of me was Muller; the head boy, the head girl, Stella; the female social prefect, the male social prefect, Chloe; the female sports prefect, and then me. Queen was present but her presence wasn't needed. She was the assistant female social prefect and having Stella was enough for me.
I had gathered them because I wanted to talk about what the coach was planning on doing. They all stared, waiting for the reason for the meeting.
"Muller has been briefed and that's why he helped called this meeting," I started, pointing at Muller with my free palm. We'd chosen the greenhouse as our meeting place since it was less tense and we can talk at a normal volume than at the library. "The swim team is having a tryout this Friday to recruit new members. Yesterday, the coach suggested we'd make it fun and wanted the prefect in charge of those posts to know about it."
"It's fine," Queen said smiling, attempting to lean closer to me. "Anything for you, Damian."
"God," Stella groaned in annoyance. "I get why Muller's here, he's the head boy, same with why the head girl is here. They are the head of the school and need to be present at every prefect gathering. Official or not. I get why Chloe's here, she's the sports prefect, same with Damian. They're in the sport aspect and irrespective of being in different teams, they're needed. I get why I'm here, I'm the social prefect, same with Dunamis here. We are in charge of every social gathering for this school. Do you see what all of us have in common, our assistants aren't here."
"And?" Queen arched her brows while looking at Stella. "Isn't my fault they're incompetent. I'm competent enough to be in this meeting."
"I can see the competency," Stella hissed, then turned to me. "Damian, sorry but we have to be professional about this."
"It's fine," I said quietly, avoiding Queen's body that was slowly leaning closer to me. "That's why I called the meeting."
"Okay," Dunamis cleared his throat. "How big is this party man?"
"True," Stella nodded. "It's not officially authorized by the school to have its fixed day. People will be learning on that day and we don't want something destructive."
"It's not big," I said to her. "And the tryout will commence after school hours."
Stella nodded, then brought out her notepad and pen. "Okay. We'll work with that. We could take little money from the school's sports budget and little from the social budget."
The social prefect was more or less the event planner at Greenville High. The school has a budget for every segment which was held by the bursary.
"Maybe ribbons, snack table, and live Dj," Stella said, writing each word down.
I gave a silent nod and looked elsewhere. The meeting was right about done.
"Isn't Benji good at Dj work?" Muller asked, pulling my attention back to the small group.
"A student?" Queen asked with a scrunched face. "God, no. I'll tell my daddy to bring in the best of the best-"
"I don't need the best of the best," I cut Queen off and turned to Muller. "Benji sounds nice."
"Okay, Dj Benji..." Stella gave the tiniest smirk as she wrote that down. "How big do want the snack table? Will there be spectators?"
"The arena is open for everyone and anyone," I answered. "Coach wants everyone to just have a lovely Friday."
"More like a freaky Friday," Muller laughed.
Stella chuckled too, then got up and closed the notepad in her hand. "We can work on this. Are we done?"
I nodded. Stella stretched, then waved goodbye before leaving. Dunamis and the head girl also did the same. I was ready to leave too since Queen and Chloe were still seated.
"Damian," A hand wrapped around my wrist after Muller and I took a step. We turned together to see it was Queen and she'd left Chloe on the bench.
"I got you something," Queen smiled brightly, before reaching for her skirt pocket.
Muller leaned in, "Watch her get a knife."
"Don't say things like that," I scolded Muller but he cared less and just laughed at his own joke."
Queen pulled out her hand, revealing a small white case, and shyly opened it. Resting in it was a thin golden chain, shining in all its elements.
"My Dad just flew back from Japan and got this for me, based on my request." She said quietly, smiling softly.
"And why are you giving it to me?" I asked, landing my gaze on her.
Queen tucked a loose hair behind her ear and shyly diverted her gaze elsewhere. Muller kept frowning at her present behaviour. "I realized how beautiful it would look when you wear it with your uniform. Just have it, Damian, it's a harmless gift."
"I don't think it's harmless," I said almost immediately. Though my voice was barely above a whisper, I knew I stood my ground. "We both know there's an intention behind this gift. No one's dumb, Queen."
Queen's lips tightened with disapproval as she closed the case with a sigh. Muller wasn't helping matters with the chuckles he made whenever he looked at Queen's face.
"Thanks for the gift," I said to Queen, my voice probably the same as my facial expression. Cold and void of every emotion. "But I don't need it."
"Let's go, man!" Muller exclaimed, putting his hand on my shoulders. "I feel so cold standing close to the ice queen."
I turned with Muller, leaving Queen and Chloe behind us. I kept walking with Muller, even after we've gotten to the main building. Some girls walked passed us in the hallway with googly eyes and Muller winked at them.
"Must you be a womanizer?" I commented, resting against a wall. Muller stopped and did the same since we had no class.
"I'm leaning more on the romeo side," He winked, with an amused smirk. Placing my hands in my pocket, I noticed some girls walking and waving at us while giggling.
"More reason you don't have a stable girlfriend," I said, ignoring the girls while Muller kept building their hopes with the way he responded to every gesture from them.
"At least I've had what we call a girlfriend. You?" Muller tapped my shoulder twice. "Can't say the same for you."
I fell quiet. Not because I had nothing to say to Muller, but because I didn't want to dwell deeply on this conversation.
"Come to think of it," But Muller had other plans, as he kept the conversation going. "You and Nsikan. What's going on between you two?"
"What are you on about?" I sighed, knowing Muller won't stop now.
"Haven't you noticed?" Muller peeled himself off the wall so he could face me directly. "You haven't been reading your novel that much in class."
Was that a big deal? "What has this got to do with Nsikan?"
"Cause she's written all over it, man!" Muller exclaimed, spreading his arms wide. "You stopped when you got attached to her-"
"Muller," I leaned away from the wall and turned over to my best friend, making sure he listened to every word I was about to say. "I'm not attached to Nsikan."
"Why are you so defensive?" Muller laughed awkwardly, then pulled me closer to him with his hand on my shoulder. "Let's go find Thompson."
The rest walk consisted of Muller talking nonstop about some Ss3 girls he found attractive, placing them in four categories. Face, body, brain, and character.
───※ ·❆· ※───
I walked into the living room feeling exhausted as one of the workers rushed toward me to help with my backpack. I wasn't in the mood to go upstairs yet, so I sat on one of the couches in the living room and then turned on the television. A programme was showing on the TV but I wasn't really paying attention.
"Welcome, young master." I turned to Chisom who was standing beside the couch I was seated on. "Um... What would you like to eat, young master?"
"Can you do away with the young master?" I got up from the couch. I wasn't planning on getting interrupted and now that I was, it was best I go upstairs. "It's beginning to sound annoying."
I let my legs carry me from my current position and toward the stairs. "Yes young-I mean sir."
It wasn't like the 'sir' was any better, but it wasn't just shorter but something I was used to. I wondered how she continued with 'young master' for so long knowing it wasn't just an earful to me, but also a mouthful to her.
I got to my room and pulled on my sneakers right after I'd passed my room door. I walked in and sat on my bed while looking at my white socks. My eyes diverted to my reading table. On it was the romance novel I always take with me to school. Not wanting to rethink Muller's words, I got up and head into the shower.
───※ ·❆· ※───
Strolling down the stairs after taking my shower, I noticed how calm I was. The cold and soothing water calmed whatever thought was in my head. The workers just like every other day were busy walking in the house. I moved over to the dining room and noticed my meal was already set. I sat on one of the dining chairs and opened the lid to reveal well-cooked porridge yam.
"Hey," I called to the worker closest to me at the moment, then gestured to the bracelet resting on the dining table which belonged to mother. "Is my mother back?"
"Yes sir," The worker nodded. "She just came in and was having a headache so I sent Chisom to help take her upstairs and to inform you about it."
With this new information, I closed the lid and pushed the chair back a bit, to stand properly. The workload must have been too much on her. I head upstairs and opened mother's room door once I got there and came face to face with Chisom.
"Um... S-sorry sir," She excused herself by moving two steps back. "I was about to go to your room to inform you that your mother is back."
"It's fine," I moved further in to see mother sitting on her bed while resting her back against the headboard.
"Damian," Mother smiled while spreading her arms wide to welcome me in a hug. I sat beside her to closely look at her current state.
"Are you alright, mum?" I asked, placing my right palm on her forehead and my left palm on mine, so I could feel her temperature and compare it with mine. "You're not running a fever."
"I'm fine love," Mum smiled. "It's just a headache. I just asked chisom to fetch me a glass of water so I can take some painkiller."
As if on cue, Chisom walked into the room holding a glass of water.
"You're really reliable," Mother smiled gently at Chisom, as she gulped down two tablets. "Thank you."
"You're welcome, ma." Chisom took back the glass. "Should I get you your meal, ma?"
"Yes, I'd love that." Chisom beamed, before turning and heading out. "I'm fond of that girl."
"She sometimes overdoes it," I frowned, remembering the time I caught her sniffing my shirt but all she said was she was looking for an outfit for me. Mother gave a slight chuckle at my earlier word, which made me less worried about her present state. "Do you need anything from me? If the hospital is draining you so much you can just-"
"I just want you to go have dinner, love." Mother waved her hand. "I saw the food they kept for you downstairs."
"You sure you'll be fine?" I enquired one last time.
Mother instead leaned in and pecked me on my forehead. "It's just a headache, I'm not having cancer or whatnot."
"That's not funny," Mother sighed at that. Still hesitating, I knew it was best I don't treat it as a big deal so mother won't get uncomfortable. Mother was overstressing herself and there was nothing I could do at the moment.
───※ ·❆· ※───
What do you think about this chapter?
The ship names you guys made for Damian x Nsikan were funny and nice at the same time💀❤