That is supposed to depict one of the abandoned houses, probably Clover house.
Someone pops up in the doorway and whistles, Faye grins and shuffles away from the others to the doorway.
It was Soraya from dorm 1 Cortess delivering her dinning hall food. She walks over to them with a lunch bag.
" What did you do?" Veronica asks her like a mother who had just caught her kid putting on her makeup.
" Nothing, I just had my food brought to me." Faye shrugs like it's normal to do that.
" You do know that it is considered smuggling in this school, right?" Healenore emphasises, " You don't get to ditch dining and still get your food. You could get in trouble."
" Oh come on guys, it's Saturday. The only day we get served something as sensible as Jollof rice with chicken, nobody wants to miss that specialty." Kweiba says as she opens Faye's lunch bowl, then she gasps, " You got four drumsticks, how did that happen?"
" A senior at our table kind of tipped me on dinning hall details especially those on Visiting days." Faye begins, " Apparently relatively few people show up so there's food in excess. I bribed a girl at my table to smuggle some for me. Turns out only two people showed up at my table of twelve so...we shared it and even if she had been caught,it was all going to be her fault because I am not the one holding the evidence."
" This is one of the reasons why I am proud of you." Mae says and gives her a punch in the shoulder.
" Let's have a tournament for who can eat a plate of rice fastest." Sarah suggests and they all begin to laugh.
" I volunteer!" Ashanti's hand shoots up and Veronica, Kweiba and Heather also join.
" If this had been Waakye, I would have accepted the challenge." Ciarra grins.
" Kweiba put down your hand, you are the biggest foodie in the room so please don't compete. You're gonna make them lose." Efua utters getting everyone to laugh as Kweiba's expression falls.
" She's right you know." Sarah says, " I saw you eat Kenkey...and that was it for me."
" Oh! I have ruined my reputation." Kweiba shouts dramatically," All because of you."
She points at Faye's food.
" Chill, I wish I had your appetite. I mean I only ordered this because I had you guys in mind and also because I wanted the chicken." Faye pats her on the back.
Efua dishes out the food and Healenore sets her digital watch to Stopwatch mode. In twenty seconds Ashanti was done with three ladles of rice.
" She cheated, she didn't chew her food." Heather says with her mouth still full.
The others laugh as Veronica takes last position.
" It was worth the try." She says and takes a swig of water from her bottle as Healenore dishes out the rest of the food.
They had already finished everything including Ashanti's pizza so Faye's smuggled rice was the last meal on the menu.
" Hey guys, let's catch up!" Efua suggests.
" Catch up on what exactly, we're all in the same house remember?" Faye scoffs, " Unless you want to hear about what goes on in a Business classroom, then Veronica and I could tell you."
" Idiot." Efua says with a playful eye roll, " I am talking about your love lives and life in general."
" My mom says the house feels empty now that I am not home. She's only got my Grandma who's aging by the second." Veronica sighs shoving a spoonful of Jollof rice into her mouth.
She chews and continues, " My love life though as you all know is perfectly fine at the moment. He got me a rose last time...Hey, Ashanti has also received a flo...ouch." Ashanti slaps Heather upside the head as she tries to reveal her not so big secret.
" What was she going to say, why did you stop her?" Healenore asks eyes wide.
" We're sisters guys, no secrets. Heather, spit it out." Efua orders and Heather suddenly begins to feign a cough.
" I think I'm...cough choking...cough..on my words." Heather coughs and takes a long swig from her bottle.
" It's nothing serious guys, just a classmate who is thoughtful." Ashanti says in her defense.
" I don't see enough thoughtful guys without a motive Ashanti, or does any of you?" Sara asks and Faye and Kweiba shook their head in disagreement.
" There are a few who actually do though." Healenore points out.
" We hear you." Efua nods and turns to Ciarra, " What about you, what's going on with you and Prince Charming?"
Ciarra begins to pick at her food.
" I honestly don't know yet," She pauses and says then she turns to them, " Do you guys think I am being restrictive?"
" Depends." Efua replies, " What exactly are you talking about?"
" This morning when I told Mae we don't do a lot of things other couples do in a relationship, she seemed surprised."
"Oh come on, that doesn't make you restrictive as long as he is willing to go along with it." Heather also says.
" Have you ever considered asking him his view on those decisions?" Healenore asks setting her fork down.
Ciarra is silent for a few seconds, " I've never thought of that because he seems to always want to go with what I say."
" Well that's a relationship that has already started off on the wrong foot." Ashanti cautions her, " He will go with what you are okay with because he really likes you but he will find another means of getting what he wants from you that you are not giving him and trust me, you're not gonna like it."
" Kobby wouldn't do that," She says in a tone that sounded as if she was trying to get herself to believe in it.
" Listen Sister, this is Kobby Johnson we're talking about and the fifth for that matter. He is the youngest of that lineage and they are all known for their inability to stick to one girl and you think you're going to be different?" Veronica spells out to her, " Look, I know he might have assured you a lot of things but let's be realistic here...it will take an extreme amount of effort to keep one girl and to be faithful to her."
Ciarra was stunned for a moment as realisation dawned on her.
" Your man is suffering Ciarra, because he is tied down to you...so loosen up for him a bit. He's sacrificing a lot because of you." Faye adds before drinking from her bottle.
" I guess so." Ciarra deflates with an innocent aura surrounding her.
" Hey so what exactly makes you think you are being restrictive, I mean the guy adores you." Kweiba asks scooping rice from her plate being the last to finish eating.
" We don't do a lot of stuff that other people do in their relationships." Ciarra begins.
" Like..." Sarah probes.
" Kissin..." She didn't even finish her sentence when Kweiba snorted almost spitting out food from her mouth and Faye begins to choke on the water she had been drinking. Mae pats her on the back till she stops.
Ciarra was surprised by their sudden reactions.
" So let me get this straight, you're in a relationship with a guy and you don't allow him to kiss you...and you think he's okay with it?" Faye asks and Ciarra nods, " Oh let me rephrase what I said previously, ...Kobby is in love with YOU."
" She's right you know," Efua nods in agreement, " He is okay with just holding hands and embraces, your relationship is practically platonic and he's still not asking for more, that is definitely Love at work and the fact that when you dumped him he still came all the way to get you back just proves it because he had nothing to gain in your relationship but a lot to lose instead."
" I don't think we know the magnitude or the real meaning of love at this age so it's not a subject I am comfortable discussing." She tells them and they all go silent for a while until Sarah speaks up.
" So let me get this straight, you've never had a first kiss?"
Ciarra nods.
" Oh this is sick, but why?" Healenore wonders, " Because unlike the rest of us you are in a relationship."
She refers to herself, Mae, Faye, Efua, Sarah, Ashanti, Heather and Kweiba.
" Because I know Kobby and how he behaves. If you introduce him to somethings, he'll want to take it to the next level so I like to be on the safer side so he knows I am not one of his other girls."
" That's logical, but at least try. Just make sure to set a limit to everything." Ashanti says.
" Wait, did you just say 'other girls?', who are they?" Veronica asks.
" I don't know how to say this without sounding crazy," She begins," But sometimes I let him date other girls so he can get what he can't get from me."
They all look at her with horrified expressions.
" You what?!" Faye asks in astonishment, " Hey lord, who gave this girl dating classes?"
" Do you know any of these girls?" Heather asks.
" Relax guys, she's dating a complicated guy so things are obviously going to get complicated." Ashanti reminds them, " Look, just as you all said, a guy like him loves attention and Ciarra isn't ready to give that and yet he still wants to make it official with her so he'll have to find a solution to his other problem."
" Then my only advice to you is to also go out with someone else once in a while with his permission just so he knows how you feel." Veronica tells her, " We know the guy has issues but sometimes you have to let him know when it hurts. It's a way of taming him. Tame him till he's wrapped around your finger and guess what, you already have a chance of winning because he loves you."
" He's still going to be your boyfriend." Faye adds.
" We don't do labels." Ciarra discloses and they give her dumbfounded looks.
" You two are seriously complicated." Efua utters.
Ciarra couldn't believe she was taking advice from a bunch of teenagers, her father had always warned her not to. He said it always led to peer pressure and he was probably right but the irrational part of her heart was yearning to go ahead with what they had said.
So she takes its side just like she did when Kobby had first asked her out. What was that saying again...
It's wrong but it feels right!
" Hey, can I borrow a pair of denim shorts?" Heather whispers to Ashanti.
" Sure what's the occasion?" Ashanti whispers back.
" It's for the dance, we have a dress code. White tank top plus denim shorts and a flannel tied around the waist. I didn't bring enough clothes but I do have a tank top I usually use as underwear and I wore a flannel to school on my first day here but my sisters couldn't make it with my shorts."
" I'll get you one but are you sure it's gonna fit?" Ashanti asks her.
" I have a belt, why do you think it was invented?" Heather asks and Ashanti chuckles whiles the others argue about who is the weirdest senior in the dorm.
They set out to get the place back in order before the seniors return. The show was going to begin in thirty minutes.
The power suddenly goes off just when they are done cleaning their supposed dinning room. So many people hadn't even ironed their Sunday attire and others like Ciarra were not comfortable with their new hairstyle from the runway and really wanted to change it too.
" I hear the classroom blocks are connected to a different power plant, let's go to my class." Faye offers and they all agree and begin to go through their stuff for their clothes.
" I might have to take a raincheck on that, I have a dozen biological classifications to stick to every table in my class, so I might as well get it done as well." Ciarra informs them as she picked up her supply bag.
" Heather and I will join you guys later." Ashanti informs them too.
" No worries, but if anything, you know where my class is right?" Faye asks and Ciarra grins, " Let's go, it's starting to get cloudy outside."
They all vacate the dorm, Ciarra was the last to leave down the seemingly empty street towards the Science Block. The clouds begin to darken so she begins to quicken her pace but you can't ran away from an impending rain when your classroom block is still several yards away.
Steady droplets of water begin to free fall slowly out of the sky and an aggravating fit of thunder clapped, suddenly startling her as a heavy downpour begins. She was just fortunate she was athletic enough to run unto the porch of the ground floor of the Science Block before she could catch a cold from the excess water pouring down violently. Her clothes were wet and soggy whiles her hair dripped with water. Her supply bag was wet but not it's content because it was a leather bag.
She went up the stairs and turned towards her class. The building was very silent and had a calming effect. The temperature was starting to drop as the clicking sound on the aluminum roofing sheets intensifies.
Ciarra steps into the warm dry empty classroom and sets her bag down as she pulls off her T-shirt leaving her in her black sports bra and squeezes out the water outside the doorway before hanging it on the teacher's desk.
She unzips her bag and brought out her Sunday attire, an iron and her hairdryer.
After ironing her clothes, she slipped hangers into them and placed them in a clear plastic bag before hanging it on the windowsill.
She was starting to feel cold as the rain intensifies and roars louder than before. She attempts ironing her wet P.E but it wasn't working, it was still irritably damp so she tries drying her hair instead. The lights flicker and soon go off when it had just warmed up.
She gave up and went through her bag for her purse full of classifications cut out in forty eight rectangular strips for each table with her sticky tape and started from her column which was the first when you walked into the class. She pasted a sheet on each table. It was getting colder and colder by the second as she walked down the aisle sticking the papers to each table.
She went back to the teacher's desk for her Tshirt and slipped it on even though it wasn't that dry. But it was better than being without it. She pulled off her running shoes and took off her socks which were making her feel extra cold. Stepping unto the cold smooth terrazzo floors of her classroom sent chills through her body but she couldn't go out,it was a storm out there. The classroom was actually warmer so she shuts the doors and windows leaving only one set to bring in light.
She returned to her boring assignment until she got to she and Kobby's table, he sat at the edge whiles she sat next to the window. She looked intently at his table whiles pasting his classification. Somewhere at the centre of his desk were the carvings Kay❤️Cee inside of the wooden desk. The heart was shaded out with red pen and she smiled to herself recollecting the ship name their friends back in junior high had formulated, it made her see Kobby all over again in her minds eye with his infectious smile. She absentmindedly ran a finger across the heart.
Was it true that Kobby was in love with her?
Then it occurred to her.
Why had he looked so down and broken and as if he really had something to tell her?, something must be up with him. If the rain subsides, she'll have to talk to him about whatever was going on.
A hand grabbed at hers on the table and she screamed but it was muffled out by a crack of thunder.
The person would definitely be under the table or lying on their seats.
He got up with an evil grin plastered on and winked at her sending a warm fuzzy chill down her spine. The dazed glimmer in her silver eyes seemed to convey to him the fact that he had frightened her.
Apparently, he had been lying down on the two chairs the entire time she had walked in.
She slapped his hand off as he laughs at his successful scare.
" What is wrong with you?!" She panics.
" Nothing, just wanted some alone time and my house wasn't the best place." Kobby shrugs sitting up in his chair.
" Okay, so you knew I was here the entire time?"
" Duuuh, I just wanted to hear you talk to yourself, you know... just incase you're thinking about me." He says egotistically brushing imaginary dust off the shoulders of his house shirt, " But I was disappointed."
" I like to talk to myself in my head. I am not great at soliloquies." She informs him and sat opposite him on his desk.
His smile soon falters and she reaches out and ran a hand through his slightly overgrown coiled dark bristle-like hair.
" Something going on?" She asks.
" Not really." He replies folding up his hands.
" What's up then, feeling nostalgic?"
" Uh-huh." He disagrees then took her hand that was still in his hair in his.
" I really have the feeling you wanted to say something to me back in the quad."
" I wanna go home." He finally sits up and whispers almost cracking into tears.
Something was definitely wrong.
" I think that's the definition of nostalgia unless you wanna go home for another reason. Did something happen?"
" Wait...is she sick?" She whispers referring to his mom.
" Worse...she's in an asylum." He replies in a frustrated tone.
" Mid-semester holidays are only two weeks away. Can you wait until then or do you want to leave now?" She asks in a comforting way that always made him realise how precious she also was to him.
" You're the rational one here at the moment so you tell me."
" Well, I would say she wouldn't want you to abandon school because of her. She will feel even more depressed if she finds out you did that. So do what you know she would have expected from you."
" Why do you always have to be logical, if I had asked Lejandro, he would have told me to fake a sickness and get an Exiat signed for home." He says referring to the school's card that had to be signed by your house mistress or master at every instance where you really needed to go out of the school.
Just to be clear, it was hard to get your Exiat signed on frivolous reasons so before you apply for a signature you should have found a serious reason that will compel your house master or mistress to sign, like a serious sickness confirmed by the school nurse.
" That is why he'll forever remain Lejandro, he's just that unbelievable." Ciarra says with a smile to herself.
" Let me help you with what you're doing." He says and takes the stack of cut out sheets from his table he glanced through a few and turned to her ," You really worked hard on this thing; Specie, Class,Phylum and Kingdom,you might as well become the assistant class president."
" I don't want that, it's a lot of responsibility." She informs him.
" Hey, aren't you feeling cold in this?" He refers to her damp shirt and she keeps mute, " I've got a couple of my stuff from gym in the cupboard, come on."
He takes her by the hand and practically drags her to the lacquered wooden cupboard at the back of the class where some people kept their books and stuff.
The lock was broken so he just pulled the double doors open and carried out a hunter green duffle bag. He unzips it and went through his gym stuff, everything was either sleeveless or just a typical basketball gear. After taking everything out he saw the new transparent plastic pack.
" Hey you can try on my shirt, I just got my Outing attire on Friday. I kept it here so I'd take it home later but I guess I forgot." He says as he lifts up the sticky opening of the packaging and retrieves his shirt leaving his neatly folded grey slacks and necktie, " They said the blazers aren't in yet. It's going to come when the girls get theirs."
He unbuttons the shirt and hands it to her before turning around. Ciarra chuckles.
" What?, I am not a pervert." He says in his defense as she took off her T-shirt and slipped it on.
It was a tad bit bigger and longer. Long enough to obscure her P.E shorts which was pretty short for most girls in the school.
She taps him on the shoulder and he turns and begins to laugh at the oversized crispy white long sleeved shirt she had on.
" Stop laughing, it doesn't even have cufflinks." She grumbles.
" Oh, yeah. It comes with the blazers so I guess we've got to wait." He explains," Come on, let's finish this up so we can get some time together." He urges and picks up the sticky tape and follows her around the class sticking each classification she put on a desk into place.
Ciarra suddenly felt warm again, not necessarily from the clothes but from the fact that he also had his problems and still always had her in mind when making decisions. It felt exciting to know that someone valued you that much.
She spontaneously hugged him and he smiled ecstatically, running a hand across her back in a reassuring way. He also thought so too.
*********
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