Chapter 39: Chapter 35 B- Ouch

Heyyyy 🤭 I'm back with part B (someone assist me with my load abeg) This chapter is one of those chapters that have been well thought of, and has existed in my head since the inception of the book, which is also one of the reasons I didn't want to make a mess of it by rushing it to fit in the last chapter (35A)

I noticed the votes of the last chapter are quite low 😩 oya if you're here and did not vote in the last chapter, please go back and vote for that one first. Thanks for your understanding and compliance 😗

Welcome my new readers 🤭 please take your seats and write your name down with my secretary so you can get first timer's package, my old readers (the realest MVPs), please move over to the VIP lounge 🤭

I declare this part OPENNNNNN

**

3RD PERSON'S POV

"Hey man" Noel calls as he walks towards the track captain

"Hey" Aidan replies in a low tone, completely dismissing the other at first sight

"Are you okay?" He takes his seat at the sidelines beside Aidan

"Yeah" he responds dryly, still scrolling through his phone in boredom

"You don't seem-

"Look" Aidan cuts in rudely "we are teammates on the field and on the track, also classmates, but that doesn't make us friends"

Noel is taken aback by the tone of the other

"Oh I just thought- I don't know" he says, at a loss for words

"I know you see the need to fraternize, maybe because of the little speech Idara gave last time, but please spare me the bullshit" Aidan says with a tone of finality, roughly grabbing his boots and heading towards the bleachers to put them on leaving a stunned looking Noel on the floor

"I knew this was stupid" he mutters to himself as he gets up, dusting dirt of his shorts

"What was stupid?"

He does a complete 180 at the sound of the voice that has become very much familiar to him. His expression automatically melts into a smile as he boyisly tucks his hands into the pockets of his Jacket

She has her school varsity Jacket on, hers being blue like the colour of her sports house, her prefectship and captain badges resting elegantly on the left side of her chest

"Looks like someone decided to break dress code today" he says, referring to the white track bottoms she decided to pair with the white sports bra she has under her jacket

"The dry cleaner made a mess of my uniform while ironing, I'll need to get a new one today"

"Oh" he nods his head

"What were you guys discussing?" She asks

"Nothing much, just competition stuff you know" he smiles stiffly

She nods her head even though she doesn't buy it

"Nancy, over here" Nkechi's voice calls from the field

"See you later" she bids Noel

"Yeah see ya" he responds, his eyes trailing as she runs over to the field to the rest of her team

"Let's take 3 laps around the field first then sprinters get ready" she immediately blows her whistle for the team to get in their places

She cranes her head around when she notices the absence of a teammate, she taps Nkechi's shoulder gently

"Where's Amaka?" She crosses her arms over her chest

An evil smirk forms on the other's face as she conceives an idea

"Uhm" she raises her chin, pretending to look around "just check for Aidan, wherever you see him she can't be too far off"

She watches the expression on Idara's face falter for a second, her smile becoming even more cynical

"Gosh those two these days, wonder what they could be up to all alone, probably in an empty class or something" she tuts while shaking her head "well, what's our concern we're simply third parties" her high pitched giggles ring in Idara's ears as she catwalks away, nearly deafening her

Idara scans the field for any trace of either of them but both seem to be absent. Her mind wanders to the words of the rather annoying sidekick of her 'rival'

"What could they be up to all alone? Probably in an empty class or something"

True or not the girl achieved her goal to spite her that morning

"Mirabelle" Idara calls the name of her assistant

"I'm here" she raises her hand so she notices her on the floor where she is seated cross legged

"Come and have the whistle, I have to go somewhere" she takes the whistle off her neck and hands it over to the girl who eagerly springs up on her feet to receive it

"Are you okay?" She asks with an extra sympathetic tone as usual

Idara simply awards her a nod before she skittles out of the arena

**

"Stop stop, 2 minutes 45 seconds" the coach sighs for the umpteenth time, massaging his temples with his palms

"Gather around girls" he calls

The swim team gather around, the ones in the water get out, wrapping themselves in towels to dry off while the ones at the bleachers all get up and go to stand with their coach

"What the hell are you guys doing?" He asks, nobody replies, maintaining a pin drop silence

"Today's practice in general has been horrible" he says, accentuating the last word

"You" he points his index at Jenny "I thought you used to do 38 or 39 seconds? But 45?!" He exclaims, the girl in question stares at the tiled floors in fright

"You" he points towards Denaya "your worst before today was 35 seconds but today you decided to give 40, I hope you're proud of yourself" he claps sarcastically

"Both of you used to do 30 seconds, today I didn't even understand what was going on in that water when you entered" he says, his eyes fixed on the contrasting duo with the shorter one's eyes fixed on the tiles as she plays with her fingers while the taller one stands straight and confident, staring the coach dead in the eye

"You guys are dismissed for today but PLEASE" he puts his palms together in front of him to beg "please practice in your homes with timers, and try not to eat too much because some of you are adding weight and it is slowing you down"

Muffled giggles and whispers travel round the team as he makes the comment

"Or do you want me to mention names?" He asks, on a lighter note

"No sir" they chorus

"You're all dismissed, see you guys on Thursday"

They say their goodbyes to the coach and one another, disappearing in twos and threes to the locker rooms, noisy chatter filling the arena as they exit

The look on Trip's face shows she has something to say to her friend, her hesitation is due to how unwilling to talk the other one looks, not bothering to waste any time waiting behind at the pool side for a moment. The swim captain offers a tight smile and a wave- that seem genuine- towards her friend before quickly exiting

Amanda's words die at the tip of her tongue as she smiles back and waves shakily in awkwardness, her heart sinking at the expression of ease on Toke's face as she walks out on her without looking back. Maybe she didn't miss Amanda's company as much as Amanda missed hers?

She suddenly feels a wave of cold, causing goosebumps to rise on her arms, she unwraps the towel around her waist then holds it around her shoulders instead, exiting the pool to the locker room

"Hey" Idara greets as she strolls into the arena, beaming

"Hey bear what's up?" She asks as they share a hug

"Nothing actually, I calculated you'd be rounding off by now so I decided to snatch you before Erling does" the taller girl says

"Why would he?" Amanda says laughing

"You guys have been going to the cafeteria together all week and even last week, leaving me to walk all by myself" she clutches her chest as she feigns hurt

"So dramatic" Amanda laughs "we only go without you because most times our schedules don't entirely align"

"Today it does, he's at the library for the entire break so I have you all to myself" she giggles as she drags the other into the swim locker room

**

AMANDA'S POV

(Amanda Aderinsola Akinde)

I wait outside Nana's class as she tries to sort out her desk space and arrange her books and stationery in a memorised order. I roll my eyes hard when she fixes her gaze so close that her nose is almost touching the desk- she's overly these days organised and it's annoying

Not like she's ever been rough or unkempt, but lately she's stepped it up a notch, like Toke but a bit extra.

I wander a few steps away from her class doorstep and see Aidan walking towards our class with his usual jovial expression and music- probably- blasting in his ears through those airpods

He looks straight ahead to find me staring at him, he winks and wiggles his eyebrows, causing me to laugh at how comical he looks before he stops in front of our class

"Do you know where Erling is?" He asks me, taking one of his airpods out

"Library" I say, he nods his head without a response

"Are you guys cool?" I ask out of concern since I've been seeing how off their vibe has been lately

"Yeah we are" he says too quick for me to believe

Nana walks out, swinging her water bottle in her hand, they sight each other at almost the same time

"Hey" Aidan says, a small smile forming on his features

She stands awkwardly under his gaze, waving slightly before turning around to walk away, silently telling me to follow

"Bye" I say to Aidan who nods, plugging his airpod back into his ear as he walks in the opposite direction to the library

"You guys are still not talking?" I ask her as we walk towards the cafeteria

"He should just leave me alone abeg" she says as we take a sharp turn into our destination

"What's going on at the library?" I ask as I wipe my cutlery clean with the serviettes

"Going on how" she asks, imitating my action

"Erling never goes to the library, neither does Aidan, Toke too- although she's a regular there- has literally been living in the library" I say, stuffing my mouth with some rice

"Oh that's probably cos of the competition coming up, they are doing quiz so they have to prepare extra hard, especially with those general questions" she replies, laying back in her chair a bit

My eyes expand in realisation I totally forgot there's some book part to the decathlon- not like it's ever been any of my business- I can imagine training for the swimming contest as well as piling some gibberish in my head for a competition, I sigh when I think of what Erling and Toke must be going through under so much pressure

"Oh gosh we're putting so much effort into this, I hope we win" I cross my fingers

"I hope so too, we won last year but the margin was rather slim, Middleton came a close second overall" she says, the tension oozing from her voice

"Yeah my former school was third because of the quiz, we won in basketball and were second in swimming and running" I say, reminiscing the old times at Bolton and how proud we had gone home that day for getting a sports trophy among 20 schools across the entire country

"The decathlon has ten competitions

Sprint, volleyball, swimming, basketball, relay, tennis, table tennis and uhm- I can't remember the other three" she looks up to think for a while "well each school picks any four, of which Sheffield picks the first four every year, we've never come second in sprints and swimming" she says with pride dripping from every word

"Wow that's amazing, you guys even won the last quiz but I know some other school from the North won the debate competition" I mention

"Yeah Savannah springs, hope not to see them this year" she says with a roll of her eyes

"Sheffield will wipe whatever school's asses clean, you have me now" I give myself a pat on the back for sounding more confident than I actually am

"Osheyyyyy" she says, causing both of us to laugh out loud and the teacher on duty to throw a mighty stink eye towards us

*****

At the sound of my mental whistle I dive into the pool, using my hands to part the waves in front of me as I give more energy to my breaststroke, reaching the end of the pool in record time and turning around to complete the lap. Although the pool size at home is small compared to the one at school, I know I'm doing a better job than I did at school today

The water slaps my skin for the last time as I prop myself up to the edge of the pool to stop the timer

Twenty eight seconds, standard pool size is extra eight seconds that's about thirty six seconds- oh my freaking days

Thank God the coach wasn't here to witness that embarrassment of the century, pretty sure he'd bench me till I graduate

I prop myself out of the pool and stand on the edge for the umpteenth time in thirty minutes

I should make 30 seconds or less- I say to myself as I reset the timer, pressing start then immediately diving into the water, swimming like my life depended it on it

Add 8 seconds, subtract the time you used to switch the timer on and off, that's like thirty four seconds- urghh I groan loudly as a pant, lying at the edge of the pool, all energy completely drained from me

"Are you trying to catch a cold? You've been there for four hours" my brother's voice yells through his window upstairs

I wringe my eyes open to surprisingly find the world already so dark- I only closed my eyes for a minute!- looks like I slept off on the ground

Cold shoots up from my toes up to my chest causing my lips to quiver and my fingers to form wrinkles. I sneeze violently as I try to fix my feet in my flip flops

No brother, I'm not trying to get a cold, I already succeeded

Another sneeze comes in as the thought comes in- I can't be sick, my mum will force medications down my throat

I almost gag from the thought of it- I'll be just fine thank you, a little sneeze won't kill

My mum had me make dinner for the house, they couldn't even say they wanted noodles or something simple- Aaron just HAD to remember it's been months since he ate swallow and soup, I almost fainted when my mum brought out all the ingredients for egusi then placed the wooden spatula for the semo where I could see it.

My mind races as I add more water to the soup but it still seems to be burning at the base of the pot, I say a quick prayer to my ancestors before stirring it for the last time then switching the fire off

Turning the semo is a totally different story from the soup, at a point I didn't even understand if I was the one handling the stick or the stick was turning me, all I know is that I was trying my best to make it successfully without lumps- for the first time- and it worked!!

With excitement buzzing in my chest, I take my phone out and take close shots of the food, good food like this can't go without any memories

"Ahan, the great chef" my mum says as she walks into the kitchen

A proud smile forms on my face as she tastes the soup and nods her head, impressed by the taste

"This is good, very good" she places the lid back on the pot "for a moment I was scared of the outcome when I told you to go for it, but this is good"

My head swells in pride and my stance automatically changes to that of a chef with two Michelin stars. I pick a napkin up and start to wipe the surfaces clean

"Don't worry rest, Tomike can do that" she smiles at me "Tomike!" She yells

"Yeah?" He replies from the living room, probably from his phone

"Come and tidy this place up"

"Uh- okay" he says lowly, his reply showing his reluctance but at the same time him not wanting to grumble

I take the apron off at the same time he walks into the kitchen, sticking my tongue out then smirking confidently at him

"Ouch" I wince hard from the pain of him stepping on my toes deliberately "mummy!"

"It was an accident, wasn't watching where I was going" he says to my mum who has turned her back on the both of us again, serving the food into plates

I sneakily pick the table napkin and whack him behind the head with it, bolting out of the kitchen as I do so

First to do no dey pain na

I post the picture of the food I prepared- the picture that came out best- and post it on my WhatsApp status. I hardly do anything there anyway, I start to scroll through the status updates of others but I get bored and decide to freshen up before going downstairs for dinner. I get rid of the black overall gown and white top I'm wearing and dispose them in the hamper, sighing at the amount of laundry I have to do as the hamper is almost spilling over.

I pack my braids in a knot then cover the entire hair with the shower cap- I even need to get my hair done this weekend- I step into the shower for a brief clean up

Poop face 😑🤢

"Did you make this or you stole this picture from somewhere"

7:03pm

I almost hear his mocking tone through the phone as I read his reply to the photo I posted on my status

Me

I made it duh

Don't play wih me oh I'm a five star chef 😌

7:03pm

Poop face 😑🤢

😌cook for me tomorrow, I'll judge the taste

7:03pm

Me

Send funds na, just send money I'll cook the unimaginable for you

7:04pm

Poop face 😑🤢

I've sent it, check your account balance 😌

7:04pm

Me

Bros how far na? I've not even sent my account details 🙄

7:05pm

Poop face😑🤢

Na you know oh, I've sha sent it😂😂

7:05pm

Me

Haewww 😭😭

7:05pm

Poop face 😑🤢

Keep playing😂😂

(😂) 7:06pm

Poop face 😑🤢

So... what's good?

7:15pm

And that's how the unending conversation starts, two hours later I'm still typing on my phone furiously and trying to stiffle my giggles so the rest of the house doesn't hear it. We've talked about literally anything and everything, from school to sports, to animals and having pets- I didn't fail to mention his resemblance to the donkey family, he just had to know. Apparently the vicious beast always barking and growling at their house's name is Leo and he's actually very friendly- his words not mine. Friendly German shepherd, wonderful

"I gotta go now, got some errands to run, talk to ya later, don't fall asleep oh" he says in the WhatsApp audio

I hit the button for the audio to play again, his voice sounding even more gruff than the first

A small smile creeps up to my face at the 'don't fall asleep' part- why?

It's not like I'm doing anything

My eyes go through our chat and my cheeks can't help but light up again- Jesus what am I doing?

Men men! Fear opposite gender! Aderin see your life, smiling because of man shioor!

I clear my throat- try to clear my head of stupid thoughts as well- and type the best, most neutral reply ever

Me

Yeah whatevs men

9:20pm

The second I hit send is when I realise how cringe the message sounds, the same time he reads it. I consider deleting it for a second- and maybe lying the message was for someone else- but then I really want to know what he's been typing for close to a minute. I close his private chat and scroll through my chats list, just so he doesn't think I was waiting for his message when it comes in

New message from Eddy 💕

Hey

Are you busy?

I roll my eyes so hard in their sockets- now you remember me shebi? After almost two weeks of acting like only your girlfriend existed. Please go and talk to her I'm sure  she's not busy, T for Thanks

I ignore his message, I'm in a good mood right now and I'd like to keep it that way

New message from Poop face 😑🤢

Pfft a sticker? I waited three minutes for a sticker

I react to his message, not actually replying

Serves him just right

My tummy rumbles in a very unladylike manner

This people couldn't even come to check if anything has happened to me, they didn't even bother that I've not come downstairs to eat the food I made

****

"Oh my friggin days its three days till we travel" I shriek as I flip through the pages of William Shakespeare's 'Othello'

Omo Art students are trying, what is this king James English?

"I can't believe I feel a little nervous" Toks says as she takes a deep breath in and lets it out

"A little? I'm sooo scared and I'm only doing volleyball" Espn says, whimpering like a child

"You're the sports prefect, the one officially representing the entire school of course you'd be scared" I mention, grateful I'm not in her shoes

"Yeah and Edmond" Toke adds "where is that boy sef? I've not been seeing him" she cranes her head around

My mind traces back to the last time I saw him outside class, the day he looked half dead. Guilt engulfs my heart as I remember how I waved it off like a minor issue that day- wait what if that was what he wanted to talk about yesterday?

I look up to find Espn staring at me, she sharply looks elsewhere when I catch her looking at me, causing my nerves to kick in and my palms to sweat. I pull back on my knotted tie to free my neck a little and also crane my head around to see if Erling made it to the library today- not like that's the main reason I came or something

My eyes meet Toke's, who also averts her gaze when they meet with mine. Her amber lenses focus on the textbook in front of her like she's not been staring at the same page since we got here this morning. I see her withdrawal, I see how closed off she's being lately, like she wants to talk to me but not talk too much, smile and laugh but put a limit to it

Like she's rebuilt that cage around herself

I don't even know if I need to apologise or try to speak to her about it because I don't even know what the problem is, I don't know if she's angry, sad, disappointed or she's past it already. This Toke is even worse than the first Toke I met- at least I knew the first one hated me- now she's just, different

"Tada!" Espns exclaims, beaming at everyone and drawing our attention

"Finally done with the compilation, a total of thirty five of us are going for the competition" she announces "4 students for the sprints, 8 for volleyball, 10 swimmers, 10 basketball players, two instructors and 1 teacher or admin officer, luckily for us, our dancers and singers are also sportsmen so no need for extra load"

"10 basketball players? I thought the standard was 12?" Denaya says, blowing a piece of gum bubble

"Yeah but we have limited space and don't actually need more than 10" Espn explains, folding the list gently into two halves

She hands it over to me to hold it for her, I willingly take it from her in excitement

"We will get to school through a chartered jet, sponsored by our very own-

My inner 'reading' voice blocks out the rest of the chatter as I read every line of the neatly written document, about to be scanned and printed.

QUIZ COMPETITION

Erling T. Kingston

Adetoke K. McAnthony

Aidan T. Aniye

Espn J. Young

Three science students and one art student- don't see how that's fair

DEBATE COMPETITION

Nancy I. Damijo

Noel M. Jordan

Aww

BASKETBALL TEAM

Edmond Thompson C

Kylian M. Stevenson

Hassan Abubakar

Hakeem Abubakar

Oluwateye Ajulo

Nathan K. Ose

Denola Mike-Bamidele

Jahdiel P. Eromo

Mikel N. Nduka

Amir R. Ishola

The big, bold 'C' at the right side of Eddy's name makes me assume it stands for captain

"No female basketball team?" I ask without taking my eyes off the sheets

"No, it was cancelled for some reason last year" Denny chips in with a grunt

"Oh"

SWIM TEAM (MALES)

1. Justin I. Lane C

Ehn? Erling is no longer captain?

My eyes quickly scan through the list once, twice, three time, four t-

"Uhm- you omitted Erling's name on the swim team" I say unsurely

Everyone pauses with their chatter to look at me, Espn takes the list from me and looks at it by herself, exchanging glances between the sheet and I

"This was the list given to me- I don't know if- or maybe I should ask again if they made a mistake- or the coach didn't remember" Espn rushes, stuttering as she speaks

"Erling was the one that compiled the list" Toke says quietly, an expression of realisation worn on her face

"Oh God" she mutters, rubbing her temple and her eyes at the same time .

"Maybe you should ask him?" Denny says to Toke who makes it obvious through her expression that she won't be doing that

"I'll do it instead, minor mistake or something I hope" I say as I grab the list on the table, a feeling inside tells me I'm wrong

I rush out of the library and head to the classroom to meet his seat empty. I immediately assume he's at the shed, he says he likes to cool his head there.

I sight Erling in a conversation with Aidan who looks furious as he speaks to his friend who's barely responding. I don't catch anything asides a disgruntled sigh that erupts from Aidan as he walks out of the shed, leaving Erling all alone

"Hey" I say as I approach him

He looks up for a minute then averts his gaze again

"Hi" he says dryly

I take a seat at the other end of the bench, stretching the file I have to him to take a look at it

"What would you have me do with it?" He says after taking a brief look at it, not collecting it from me

"Your name's not on the swim team list" I say softly

"I'm not swimming" he says

"Why?"

"I can't"

"Why can't you? You already said your arm is fully healed"

"Yes it is" he sighs

"Then what the hell?" I swat his arm with the file

"I just- can't" he says

"Why can't you? Have you even tried?" My voice goes a hitch higher

He doesn't respond to my question

"Have you even been in the water since then?" I ask, irritation seeping through my voice

He ignores me again, getting up from the bench, standing with his back to me

"You don't get it" he responds

"Don't get what?" I stand up too, getting aggravated by his nonchalance

"You had an accident, big deal" I throw my hands in the air "you want to throw all this away because of ONE tragic event? ONE?"

"Mind your damn business Amanda" he yells as he abruptly turns around to face me, his eyes spitting fire

My breath hitches up at the intensity of his tone

"All of you should leave me the hell alone! I made my choices so let me deal with them" he yells even louder

"You-

"Stop acting like you understand" he cuts me off harshly "you think giving up what I love the most hurts you more than it hurts me?" His voice breaks, his expression looks even more deadly

"So don't stand there and give me the pep talk or try to motivate me, I've heard it all" he says lowly, moving closer and slowly cornering me

I instinctively move back, the back of my legs hitting the brick walls of the shed

"So all of you should stay out of my business and LEAVE. ME. THE. FUCK. ALONE" he growls aggressively

Ouch

"Okay" I say with a croaky voice, my eyes stinging with tears already building up

I lean down to grab the file on the rafia bench, a lump forming in my throat. I don't bother looking up to see whatever expression he has on before hurrying out of the scene, beads of tears starting to run down my cheeks

That hurt, badly

****

Somebody say yeee 😂😂 all I can say is gbas gbos

I saw it coming when she started speaking, I wanted to warn her that Erling has small craze in his head but she no hear 😭😭

Okay sooo... Erling is not swimming 🥲 and we aren't sure he'll ever be swimming, just like he said one time, the accident wasn't about his arm alone, it affected his mind even more

Amanda was tryna help tbh 😪 she literally just started falling... maybe she read the wrong signs sha 😕

Omo Toke and Eddy sha want to be mysterious 😂😂 we'll see how that'll turn out

My babies are travelling on Sundayyy (next chapter), Lagos here we come 🤭🤭

Read, vote and stay tuned for the next update

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