Jeremiah
I had spent the entire night asking myself the exact same questions, thinking the exact same things, questioning myself, doubting my senses and their functions, questioning my choices.
Was it true? Was Kora really not who she said she was? Who was she, and why did she have to lie? Who on earth have I been talking to the past few months? The Kora on her display picture? Lilian, The married woman, Manny talked about? or the real Kora, her supposed daughter, the one that went to NAUN too?
I took a deep breath, shutting my eyes for a second. Manny's words still echoed clearly in my head over and over again, even as I stood right in front of that really transparent glass, watching all those students from inside the extremely large hall. My attention was focused on the particular student I was interested in. Kora.
The Kora Manny talked about. I could feel my heart race, and my head too, especially since I watched how happy she was, talking to the girl that sat beside her.
How could she be so happy? How could she even smile the way she did, after pretending to be someone else? After cat fishing? After deceiving me?
It all began to make sense now. The way she was always in my face. The way she always looked at me like she knew me. Could Manny's words be true? Was she really the Kora I had been talking to? God.
Thank God for the glasses at NAUN. You could see everything that happened inside the halls, but none of them could see you. I guess that was how the performance and coordination of both the students and lectures during classes was actually evaluated. Anyway it wasn't something old money was used to. Our privacy was ours and no one else's. You wouldn't know what happened within our walls if not for the CCTV cameras everywhere. Same cameras that were all around the school.
I drew a deep breath. I was beginning to get so upset. Really upset, especially since she wouldn't stop giggling. I was- irritated.
The entire hall went completely still when I walked inside, of course it was. It wasn't everytime the rest of the school actually got to see a member of old money walking down the aisle of regular halls, in the middle of a class session, plus, I wasn't just any random member of old money.
Funny how my presence brought about sudden whispers from every row I passed. I had that effect. I could hear people whisper my name behind me, not that I cared though, I just wanted to see for myself, to convince myself that Manny had it all wrong. Kora was real. She wasn't just some fake lady lying to me constantly to get my attention, she was real. I had to prove that to myself. I got to her table, and she didn't even notice me.
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Kora
"Oh my God it's Jeremiah."
I wasn't paying any attention to the people from the rows behind mine. Maybe if I wasn't too engrossed in the book in front of me, and my professor's voice, if I had just stopped for a second, If I had not ignored his scent, I'd have noticed he was walking right behind me, that he was getting really close to me, but I didn't, at least not until I noticed how really noisy the class had become. The class was never that noisy when professor Adams was in class, not even in the slightest, no one could dare disrespect him like that.
I could feel Grace pinch me from under my seat. I hesitated a while, before I turned to her. I could see how tensed she looked, how the sudden smile on her face changed to a huge frown, and she couldn't just keep her eyes from behind me. I didn't understand why, until I heard her whisper my name. A sudden look of fear mixed with surprise clouding her eyes.
What was it?
I took my time to turn. What could it have been anyway? My smile didn't wither, at least not until I saw him, not until I saw the frown on his face carving deeper when my eyes met his.
I swallowed hard on my saliva. From that moment, it was like I couldn't even breathe. I didn't know why, but I could feel this sadness and fear sweep through my skin. Something felt wrong. Why on earth was one of the country's most famous person standing a few feet behind me, staring at me like he wanted to pluck my eyes out? What did I do wrong? I looked around the class to make sure it wasn't someone else he was there for. It wasn't. It was me, he was glaring at me.
Why?
Was this about what I had heard? About what I knew? About what I saw the day before? It didn't even last long. I did what he asked, I didn't mention anything to anyone, so why?
I had barely said a word to him, I had barely put myself and my thoughts together, before I watched him look away from me, and turn to my bag. It was right on my desk.
I remembered I had picked it from the ground and dropped it on my desk, so I could get out my notebook earlier, the moment our professor had walked in, right before Grace had distracted me with a video of Bobrisky on her phone. She knew how much I loved all Bob's videos, and then we started to talk about a whole lot of irrelevant things, especially this movie she was in. He grabbed it before I could even say a word.
You should have seen him.
He stood right in front of my desk, and then he picked up my bag like it was nothing, and raised it up so I could see it, then he turned it over.
My mouth was still open from all that shock by the way, and before I could even say "Confiscate", he emptied my bag on my desk. It made Grace gasp. It wasn't just Grace, everyone else in the hall was just as shocked, especially since the hall was really quiet for a while. Me, on the other hand, I was numb. I couldn't move, and I wasn't even sure why. I just stood still watching all my items fall on my desk, and the really light ones, like my pen, roll to the ground. You should have seen the mess he made. My note book, my iPad, my Fenty powder, nude Kyle lipstick, my pens, lipgloss, and most importantly, my phone.
My phone.
I wanted to reach for it. I didn't know why, but my instincts just wanted me to pick it up so badly, before he noticed, but I wasn't fast enough. The way he grabbed it felt like that was what he was after. I could feel my heart skip lots of beats. What was he doing? For some reason, I was petrified and extremely embarrassed, especially with the way everyone had stopped whatever it was they were doing, to see what was going on.
What was going on?
My palms became sweaty.
He couldn't. I had to make sure he couldn't hold on to my phone for so long. My whole body was shaking terribly, no matter how hard I tried to hold myself down. There was this cold chill that passed through my spine every five seconds. I watched him take one last look at me right before he turned to his phone in one hand, while mine was in the other, stretched it out to the level of his eyes, close enough for him to see. I didn't know what exactly he was doing. What on earth was he doing?
Churn!
I had a text message, and then it came, his eyes. The shock in his eyes, like he had just seen something, and it was that moment- at that very moment I knew what was going on. I knew why he was there, and why he was after my phone. He knew, or at least he suspected, and wanted to know.
He had sent me a text message and my best guess, it had appeared as a notification on my phone. Just the words "Jeremih ❤️" since I usually blocked all my messages from appearing on my locked screen. I stretched myself towards him and grabbed my phone, before he could see anything else. Not like he could open my phone or anything. I was just- you know, scared.
I held on tight to my phone, not daring to let it go. Hugging it tightly on my chest. He couldn't know. Not at that moment at least. I knew it was my chance, my chance to just come right out and tell him, but I didn't even know how to start, and with the way he looked, it was like he didn't even want to hear it. Like I didn't have to explain anything, because he knew everything.
"What's going on?"
I could hear the girls from in front of us whisper among themselves.
"Who's that girl, and how does Jerry know her?"
At this point, no one cared about the class or the professor standing in front of the large projector. I wasn't even sure if he cared about the class. Everyone had their eyes on him, on us, and from the look of things, he-just-didn't-care.
I wished for that second. Just for a second, he could at least turn to them and focus on the rumors, instead of my face, just so I could make a run for the door, because on my father, that was all I wanted to do, but no, he didn't. He just stood there, his eyes still focused on me, his entire focus.
"Jeremiah-"
Thank God for Grace stepping in. She must have figured that I needed someone to just make the atmosphere less tensed, and had come to the rescue with the way she pushed herself closer to us with a huge smile on her face. Grace was really good at distracting people. That was her charm.
"I don't think this is the right time for this-" She told him trying to get him to stop for a second. "There's a professor in class."
Likeeeeeee?
Did he forget the part where he just interrupted our class? He had my professor standing there looking so confused, and obviously feeling like a fool.
"Get your phone out." He told me. I raised my head to his, he didn't blink for a second. I could barely even think.
"Mr Ozor," my professor started. "What on earth do you think you're doing in my class-"
"Get your phone out now!" He yelled at me, totally ignoring my professor. His voice echoed around the large hall, and believe me, it shook everyone. He wasn't playing. I looked at him, he wasn't playing at all, but whatever this guy thought he was, I was more. I wasn't going to let go of my phone, not even if my life depended on it.
The thought of him finding out like this- I just wanted to leave, to run, and I didn't know what was stopping me. He knew I wasn't going to succumb. He got out his phone again. He was tired of watching me hesitate.
Fireboy's "like I do" started to play. That was my ringtone. My phone was ringing. Was he calling me?
I took a deep breath as I watched him take a step to me. I took two steps back, holding on tightly to my phone. I didn't stop cringing, and he didn't stop getting closer. My whole body was getting so weak, and I felt so faint. The look on his face, I could see the fear in his eyes. We were both scared.
"Please." I whispered to myself, hoping he heard me. There was no where left to run to. All those students were standing right behind me, and he got even closer. "Don't do this." I kept whispering to him. I was so scared. "Don't do this Jeremih-"
He pushed his hand to mine and grabbed my phone from me, and at that moment, I felt helpless because my phone was still ringing.
I watched him raise it to his face, and then look at it. He staggered back. I could tell his heart was breaking into bits with the way he couldn't keep his eyes away from my phone, especially since his name was boldly written as the caller ID. His lips were shaking, like he wanted to say something. He didn't. He was just too surprised to, and I couldn't blame him. That last part, the call part proved everything. He knew, my lies were found out. I was exposed, and there was nothing I could do about it. I pushed myself closer to him.
"Jeremiah I can explain-"
He looked at me.
"What is the meaning of this?" Disappointment in every look in his eyes.
"Jeremiah-" I continued. I was almost starting to cry. "I swear, it's not what you think. I was gong to tell you."
I was trying so hard to explain myself, hoping he could just let me. He wanted me to. I could see he was listening, but I wasn't really sure I knew what to say. Ehen?
"Who are you?" He asked me. "Who the hell are you to deceive me like this?!" He yelled on the top of his lungs.
"Mr Ozor, can you get yourself out of my lecture room this minute-" my professor wanted to be heard so badly, but no one literally cared about him, or his boring class. Especially with the hottest boy in school, no, in the entire country around, a member of old money. You could see how the other girls in the classroom played with their uniforms and hair, just to get his attention, even in the middle of all that mess.
"Who are you?" He asked me again. "I'm asking you!" He yelled at me, and then threw both our phones as hard as he could to the wall. Everyone shook when it made a crashing noise, right before they both shattered on the ground. I could barely even see a thing, but I knew my phone was broken. Really badly.
"I'm sorry." I whispered. I couldn't even speak properly. I couldn't even look him in the eye.
"Jeremiah." Grace rushed to stand in front of me. She stood there to hide me. She could probably see how broken and scared I was. "Listen to her." She looked at him. "Before you get upset, just listen to her."
"Shut up." He warned Grace.
"Mr Ozor, this is the last time I'm going to warn you and ask you to leave. If I have to say it again, strict disciplinary actions would be taken without regards as to who you are." Our professor said yet again through his microphone. "I won't be insulted in my own lecture room."
Jeremiah scoffed. I could see how frustrated he was, especially since he flickered his tongue around his upper teeth.
"I can't believe this." He whispered to himself, and then brought his face back to mine.
"What on earth is going on?" The students continued to ask within themselves. "Who is she? How did she deceive him?"
The murmurs were getting too loud, even for him. He was so embarrassed. I mean who wouldn't be? I watched him nod twice, and then slowly turn to my desk, and then turned to the door. I watched all the students that had gathered, give him space to leave.
Jeremiah stormed out of the hall without saying another word, and that was it.
The day of reckoning.
It was over. The epic Jeremiah and Kora chapter was over.
Lady K
You know what happens next in a book or a movie, after the male lead character, who has a girlfriend who is a big part of the elite club in the school, meets and gets mad at the female lead character, who was only a minute part of the elite club in the school, especially if the school ran under a segregational administration, AKA, separation of class administration where the rich and popular kids didn't stay with the not too rich kids like NAUN for example, and somehow, the rich kids don't know what was happening at the other part of the school, since they are always so busy with- you know, being rich to care, there was always that one class amebo, that one gossip that would somehow, "coincidentally" rush into the classroom to spill the beans, and then the girlfriend of the popular guy would somehow catch on to this news, yes, that was exactly what was about to happen.
Oma could have sworn she didn't care about all that was happening beside her, with the way she had her eyes glued into the book on her glass desk. That was one thing about not being too many in a classroom. You could just exist and forget that there were people existing with you, especially if those people were somehow supposed to exhibit some kind of class among themselves.
"Oh my God! You won't believe what just happened in YMNYM BUS one-oh-one class just now" the really tiny girl that had just rushed into the midst of two other girls on the table beside Sonia's, said as loudly as she could.
Even though it looked like she just wanted the girls in front of her to hear, you'd almost think she wanted Oma to hear too, with the way she was intentionally raising her voice. She was referring to young money and new young money introduction to business studies class.
"I swear, you'd go crazy if I tell you."
"What happened? Did someone get caught faking to be young money again?" One of the girls asked her.
"Even better." She said "Jeremiah just had a one off with one of the students there. A girl."
Oma froze.
For a second, she stopped reading her book, but kept the same position, like she hadn't stopped, holding on firmly to her pen, hoping the girl could say more, something else about what had happened.
"What?" One of them asked.
"Really?" The next one went next.
"No cap." The first girl explained. "No one really knows why he was so upset, and shouting at her, but they think she must have done something really bad to upset him. He just walked in, in the middle of their class, pulled her out, and then began to yell."
She demonstrated to explain every detail. It was epic. Fun fact was, she wasn't even there. She had just heard the news on her way to the school's general library.
"If you see the way he was just shouting at her In front of everyone, you'd think she stole something from him."
"Are you sure?" The girls sat up. "Did something like that really happen?" They tried to keep their voices down, even though they were too anxious to hear the rest of it.
"Of course. Why would I joke about this?"
"Were you even there?" Queen had to ask her. "How are you always updated with everything, even when you weren't there?"
She turned to look at Queen, and then eyed her.
"And so? I got it from a very reliable source." She defended herself. "I wasn't even talking to you." She whispered, tucking strands of her water curl wig behind her ear, and then clearing her throat. She turned back to her girls. Oma exhaled, and then sat up. She reached for her phone. She dialed his number.
It was switched off.
"Don't bother trying to call him." The girl said again. "He smashed his phone on the wall. Him and hers, so you won't be able to reach him. Maybe he left with her sef, who knows? No one has seen any of them since then."
She gasped, and then turned to her friends.
"What if they went to a hotel room next?"
They all chuckled at their stupidity.
"Is that even funny to you?" Queen asked them, and that brought them back to not laughing at all.
Oma was barely even looking at them. That was one thing about her. She barely ever let anything anyone said bother her at all.
"What are you going to do, Oma?" Sonia whispered to her, concern laced in her voice. Oma took a deep breath, and then got up from her chair. She grabbed her bag. She was going to go find him. That was exactly what she was going to do.
She walked out of the room.