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TAMMY:
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Since the exams commenced on Tuesday, I've been too busy studying to be around anyone at school.
It was either I was reading early in the morning before the assembly and the one hour we had to study before exams, after the assembly or I was stuck in the library with a truckload of books, mostly re-reading the books I read at home and at my previous stays in the library.
My friends hadn't had time to see me either. Amorette mostly spent her study time with her friend, Maidaki, trying to help her catch up to certain topics at the last minutes.
Ayomide, too, had been studying for the exams, but he decided to start with his at the dying minute, of course.
Mandel. I sighed just thinking of her. I had no idea if she studied at all, all I noticed throughout the week was how she had tried telling and explaining to everyone that she hadn't been the person responsible for posting that article on the senior students' WhatsApp group. No one believed her, of course. Even I had my doubts. For one, it seemed like something she was very capable of doing. Secondly, she wrote her name just after she ended the article.
Eventually, Daniella had come up to everyone in the middle of the exam week, making a sudden announcement that she had been the one to post the article, talking about how all she wanted was a 'little drama' and fun.
Mandel wanted to put up a fight with her, hearing that, but Daniella must've thought things through before suddenly coming out to admit she did something that could attract punishments and negative behavior from the students.
She dared Mandel to speak, reminding her and everyone else how much her Dad contributed to the school and how she could get her way, making her seem like the victim instead. Then, she waltzed away like nothing had ever happened.
After that day, I barely saw Mandel. I would never see her before the assembly or even the one hour before exams, but once the exams begins, I would see her in the classroom, writing her exams like everyone else. Immediately the exams were over, she would disappear again, and no one cared enough to know. She fell unusually quiet during the exam week too, but none of that stopped her from being mean, and cruel to everyone.
Lastly, Aidan. He was busy too. Aside the exams he had to study for and write, he kept going to the music studio and taking up rehearsals with two guys, one of them who was an SS 2 student.
He refused to let me in. In fact, he refused to let anyone in to watch them rehearse and it bothered me, it got me even more curious, but each time I tried to watch or listen to them secretly, I would end up getting caught.
My thoughts went back to the last time we were together and I found myself feeling giddy inside. I laughed at myself.
In all honest, I was happy, I was still in disbelief, I was touched. I felt so many things at once when he...
I smiled.
When he confessed his feelings to me.
The way he described me, gosh! In my head, I did see a beautiful strong goddess, but that wasn't me, I refused to believe it.
I blushed like crazy at everything he said and did. When he took out that inhaler and showed it to me, I suddenly realized how totally different he was from Joel, and I felt disappointed in myself for ever thinking that in the first place.
"Tammy!" Someone yelled, shaking me out of my thoughts.
I widened my eyes, realizing I had zoned out. Ayomide looked back at me with widened eyes, mirroring mine and a questioning look.
I looked around the table and saw everyone else staring at me with confused looks.
It was the last days of our exams and it had already come to an end. So, to celebrate the effort we put into studying and relax, we decided to hang out after school at a small restaurant called Sweet Chops. I felt excited about it and out of generosity, I decided to invite Tihana and Amaya, the girl from the slumber party. Unfortunately, Chloe found out about it and decided to tag along since her best friend also would.
Now, we all sat together at a table, taking in our smoothies, milkshakes and drinks as we talked and laughed with one another.
Ifeoluwa seemed to have picked up today. He acted more lively and laugh at every single joke we made.
"Oh, My gosh!" Chloe exclaimed. We all turned to her direction at once. She held up her glass cup of yoghurt, scrunching her nose and frowning deeply.
"This stuff tastes horrible!" She said. Tihana sighed in frustration.
"I told you not to order it."
She said.
"Ha!" Ayomide let out and they both looked at him in confusion. He tossed a cookie in his mouth, smiling at them mischievously. "Give it to me, I'll take it no matter how bad it."
It was my time to scrunch up my nose and frown, looking at him in disgust. "Eww."
Chloe handed it to him quickly, without hesitation and Ayomide, being Ayomide, took it from her with the brightest smile ever.
"What shall we talk about here?" Ifeoluwa asked. "Let's do something fun."
Everyone nodded.
"Let's play Would You Rather." Ifeoluwa said. I nodded in agreement, some others did too but the rest still felt confused.
"It's a simple fun game, really." He said. "The concept of the game is straightforward: players are presented with two options, and they must choose which one they would rather do or have happen to them."
The confused ones nodded in understanding. "For example, you could be asked "Would you rather drink toilet water or let yourself be kidnapped?". No matter how hard it is, you have to pick one."
Everyone nodded their heads at his words and he took that to mean they all understood him.
"Since we're already seated in a circle, let's take turns in a good order. We'll start with me and then, to Ayomide who's seated beside me, next to the person beside him. Got it?"
Everyone nodded and I smiled, deciding to be the one to question Ifeoluwa. "I'm asking, Ife. Read?"
His lips went up in a daring smile, taking a sip of his milkshake, I laughed. "Ready!"
"Would you rather be in jail for five years or be in a coma for a decade?" I asked. Ifeoluwa choked on his milkshake immediately, eyes bulging wide. After taking water to stop choking, he looked at me with an unbelievable expression.
"Yeee!" I rolled my eyes. Trust Ayomide to take part when people are yelling or reacting to something.
Aidan chuckled. Amaya scoffed. Chloe's interest piqued and she wanted to hear an answer from Ifeoluwa. Tihana giggled.
"What?" He asked. "What kind of a question is that?" I burst out laughing.
"Aren't you the one that was forming big boy just now. C'mon answer joor."
He thought for a while, stroking his chin and looking upwards. "I guess it'll be... be in a coma for a decade. Like, do you know what Jail can do? Some people don't even last those five years."
Aidan and I laughed. I turned to Ayomide who was too busy slurping down Chloe's yoghurt to realize it was his turn.
"Your turn, Ayo." I said. "In fact, I might as well ask everyone."
He dropped the yoghurt cup and smiled. "Hit me with it."
"Would you rather have everyone you know be able to read your thoughts or for everyone you know to have access to your Internet history?"
He laughed. "Omo, Tammy."
I laughed. "Answer joor."
He took a sip of his yoghurt. "It's for everyone I know to have access to my internet history."
Then, he tapped the side of his forehead with his fingers. "My mind's private property."
Next in our circle was Chloe. "Would you rather give up air conditioning and heating for the rest of your life or give up the Internet for the rest of your life?"
She gasped, putting her hands over her mouth. She glared at me playfully. "I love both, everyone does." Then, she sniffed dramatically, placing a hand on her forehead. "Obviously, I would rather give up air conditioning and heating?"
Everyone groaned at her dramatic acts with smiles still on their faces. I turned to Tihana.
"Would you rather loose your sight or loose your memory?"
She smiled, sitting up straight. "Oh, that's easy. Loose your memory."
I raised a brow. "Why?"
" 'Cause most blind girls don't date or get married, at least, if you loose your memory, you would still be totally physically abled." I nodded at her words.
I turned to Amaya. She blew a gum and it bursted but it didn't get splattered all over her lips, it went straight in. She looked at us with a 'can we get this over with' look, a smile tugging at her lips.
"Would you rather have universal respect or unlimited power?"
She laughed but it sounded more like a scoff. "Universal respect." She said.
She placed a balled fist on her chest and made the peace sign afterwards.
I asked Amorette next. "Would you rather spend a week in a forest or a night in a real hunted house."
"Oh, my gosh!" Chloe exclaimed. "None of it sounds good."
Amorette flipped her hair, smiling. "A night in a real hunted house."
My brows shut up at that, everyone seemed surprised at her answer too. She only laughed.
"You guys underestimate me."
The last person to be asked was Aidan and I looked at him, I noticed he was already staring back.
"Would you rather have a sing - off with Ariana Grande or... " I smirked. "Partake in a trash talk contest with me."
Ayomide laughed. "I already know the answer."
Aidan smiled. "You know I can't trash talk you." He said. "I'll die with a single word you'll say."
I smiled. And that was how the game went, taking another rounds of questions, someone else deciding to do the asking.
It was really fun. I hadn't had that much with my friends in a long time.
~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~
I was supposed to be asleep, everyone was but I had just remembered I hadn't told Ifeoluwa about Aidan's confession yet and I found myself knocking on his bedroom door by 1 AM in the morning.
A sleepy Ifeoluwa came pulling the door, rubbing his eyes and yawning. "Tammy, go to sleep."
I pouted. "I forgot to tell you something really important."
He groaned. "And the best time to do that is now, at 1:00 in the morning?"
I nodded. "Yes." And I led myself into his room. I heard him sigh in frustration as he came to sit with me on the bed.
"I deserve a special day of celebration, Tammy." He muttered sleepily. "For all the times you interrupted me when I was having a good time."
I sighed, shrugging my shoulders and standing up from the bed, walking slowly towards the door with my hands placed at my back. "Oh, well. I guess you don't want to hear about Aidan confessing his love to me."
His eyes widened, sleep immediately disappearing from them and he pulled me back by the arm, sitting beside me. "Stay here as long as you want. What were we saying again?"
I laughed at him. My little act did the trick. Eventually, when I stopped laughing, I told Ifeoluwa everything that had happened, recalling the rumors and articles that he had also seen.
I told him about how I had been avoiding him and I went up to confront him in the music studio. Lastly, the confession... and the kiss on the cheek.
"So, you like Aidan?" He asked. I smiled.
"Yeah."
He nodded slowly, smiling and I knew he didn't have a problem with the both of us anymore.
He continued nodding slowly, then, he looked at me and smiled. "Okay, goodnight! You can go back to your room now. Good talk."
He pushed himself deeper into his bed, covering himself with his duvet, he shut his eyes and laid down.
I pouted, moving to lay down on the other end of the bed, close to him. "I still have something to talk to you about."
He groaned, his eyes still shut. "Is it important?"
I nodded. "Very important."
He opened an eye and took a peak at me. I wore a serious face and nodded. He sighed, sitting up again and turning to me, urging me to speak.
I smiled at him, turning to face him and tucking a leg under the other. I took out my phone, tapped on it for a while and quickly showed him the phone screen.
"Which outfit do you think is better for the Christmas party?" I asked.
"This?" I asked, showing him a picture of my red long sleeve off-shoulder body con that I was sure stopped below my knee and the knee-length black boots.
"Or this?" I asked, swiping at the phone screen to show him a picture of a black baggy sweater with matching black joggers, a white sneakers and a black bucket hat.
He shut his eyes and groaned, falling back on the bed on his back, putting a duvet over himself.
"Tammy, I swear. You'll be the death of me." He said. I laughed, hitting him playfully.
"Answer me joor." I said. I heard him sigh under his duvet.
"Wear the baggy clothes."
I frowned. "Why?"
"Because." He pulled down his duvet and looking at me. "Do you think any brother would sit comfortably and let some randos check their sister out and start asking stupid questions?"
I opened my mouth to speak but he didn't even let me utter a word.
"The answer is no. Wear the baggy clothes." He said. He turned to the other side of the bed, switching of the lights immediately. "Good night."
I pouted and glared at him. "But—"
"I said goodnight. Go to sleep."
I scoffed at my brother and rolled my eyes, sashaying out of the room.
"Whatever." I said.
___________________________
There wasn't any drama in this chapter for a reason. These characters have been through a lot in this book... let them catch cruise a bit before the next chapter 🌚👀
Somethings or thing might or might not go wrong, something else might or might not happen right 😂 Y'all should just get ready.
Thoughts on this chapter?
Oh yeah. I would love to hear your answers on Otamayomi's questions for the Would You Rather game😂😂
My answers are most of what the characters picked, except Amorette's, God knows I avoid anything terrifying 😭😂
Expect another update tomorrow. The last chapter 🥺
Enjoy the rest of your day,
Benzita13 ❤️