Dedicated to Emewata ❤️❤️

                                 ~Kunmi~

The new week started with the preparations of the Art and literacy week, that was Sophia's niche and she threw herself right into it. Everything about her now about the Art and Literacy Week, she skipped lunches for the preparations, hardly talk in class and she even stopped making all her silly jokes. This Sophia was even worst than the Sophia I met when I joined the school. At least, the Sophia then was always smiling and talking with Adam and Kunle, the Sophia now was basically non existent, she filtered in and out of the classes, her hands tucked into the pockets of her jacket and a blank, almost eerie look on her face.

Even if I wanted to ask her if she was okay, which was a useless question by the way because she obviously wasn't okay, I couldn't ask her because she was barely in a particular place for more than a minute. She kept to herself in class too and every time a teacher was in class, her eyes would follow even the smallest they were making, eyes fixed on the white board as if she was actively listening but I knew she wasn't, that she was barely in the class at all.

Safe to say I missed her, a whole lot.

Over time, I had gotten used to her extremely weird personality, to the way she talks and all that. I had gotten used to we'd be in the middle of one conversation and then, out of the blues, she'd divert all our attention only to say something totally stupid and unrelated to the conversation at all.

She was all shades of spontaneous and crazy and weird and childish and even stupid at times but that's actually the best thing about her. She is someone you wouldn't know how much energy she brings to the people around her until she shuts down.

Like these past days.

Maybe it wasn't just about Sophia's extremely bad mood, maybe it was all about the whole confrontation thing with Aminah that led to Kunle raising his voice at her and then subsequently led to both Aminah and Kunle skipping the hangout at her house. But then, Kunle ended up showing up that night and I honestly thought they'd be able to talk things through but coming to school the next Monday and seeing Sophia the way she was, I knew without a doubt that things definitely took a turn for worse that night.

And then, Aminah,

She hadn't been her usual chirpy self too, not the talkative and always carefree girls. She practically stopped initiating conversations with me, she kept to herself and wouldn't even talk unless talked to.

I did not even know what to make of that.

Kunle too, he just threw himself into practice that I did not even see him around anymore.

The only times those two appear perfectly normal was whenever they were together. It was only then that Aminah would be her usual self and Kunle would be the fun loving Kunle that I was getting used to.

At least, they both derived real happiness from each other, that's a sign of real love, right?

And then, there was Adam.

I was strangely getting paranoid and uncomfortable and the fact that he was now so busy with designing the school's hall and the placards and the other things that'd be used during the Art and literacy week simply wasn't helping matters. The more time he spent designing or drawing, the more I felt kinda detached from him and that was because of that night at Sophia's house when he locked his screen the moment I turned to look at it.

I've not been able to stop thinking that, about what that could possibly mean or be.

"Hey! Why do you look so gloomy?"

Aminah's chirpy and extra loud voice jolted me out of my reverie and I looked up to see her settling herself into the chair right in front of me. There was her usual Aminah smile on her face and I found myself smiling back, inwardly grateful that she was at least smiling now because it honestly felt like eternity ago when she was her usual self with everyone except Kunle.

"Hmm? Hmm?" She probed further and she leaned closer on my desk by propping her head on her raised hands so that her palms were cradling her cheeks.

"Why do you look so gloomy? Is something going on?"

"No ooo," I was quick to answer and I waved my hand dismissively in the space between us.

"Are you sure? I stood in front of you for like 10 minutes and you did not even notice my presence because you were lost in thoughts."

Hmm? Really? Was I that lost in thoughts?

"I've been worried about you," I found myself saying and for a split second, her expression changed from goofy to bewilderment and her elbow even slid from the desk and she almost fell off from the chair.

Wow.

"Worried. About. Me?" She enunciated slowly as if those three words shouldn't, couldn't exist together and because her eyes were still as wide was saucers, disbelief as clear as day in them, I was beyond surprised because I honestly had no idea what I had said that'd warrant such a reaction from her.

"Worried about me ke?" She repeated, her voice back to its usual chirpy form. "Why? What happened?"

For a minute, I said nothing, I just stared at her, searching for the traces of what's not obvious about her, for any similarities with Tara but she was just Aminah, the ever loving and jovial girl, nothing more and nothing less, right?

"What happened?" I found myself asking incredulously. "You've not been your usual self since what happened with Sophia so it's just normal that I'm worried."

"Ohh, that?" She asked in a dismissive tone and a frown marred her face for a split second before it was replaced with a smile. "That's nothing to worry about. I'm sorry if I made you worried...I was just..." She trailed off again and she looked away from me to stare into thin air for a minute longer than usual before she turned to me again. "It's just one of those things but don't worry, I'm here now to scream and shout in your ears till you get tired of me."

She said the last part with a smile and I found myself smiling too. I wasn't sure if it was possible to get tired of her or her energy. How she even managed to be that energised was totally baffling.

"I can't get tired of you."

She looked startled for a split second again before she stood up and she beckoned to me to stand up too, I only stared at her, wondering why she'd be asking me to just stand up out of the blues.

"Why?"

"Let's get out of this class, it's boring here. I can't even survive a minute in this kind of stiff environment."

Well, I've gotten used to stuffs like this.

I looked around the class and it was indeed lifeless and boring, only few students were in class, students had gotten themselves busy with one thing or the other about the literacy week. And to think the class was that quiet even with Ezekiel in class, that was really unexpected. He was sitting on his seat, head buried in his phone and typing furtively on it, he suddenly looked up and my eyes met his and this guy actually winked before blowing a kiss at me before he returned his attention back to his phone.

Egbere ni bobo yii.

No doubt about that.

Aminah ended up dragging me out of the classroom with her arms latched around my elbow as if she couldn't bear to let go of me, she was talking excitedly about something. Looking back now, I did not remember a time when there wasn't an excited tone to her speech, was that even normal? To talk excitedly all the time?

We were still walking down the hallway when I saw Sophia walking towards us, shades on and hands in the pockets of her jacket. I couldn't even make out her expression because the shades she had on covered more than half of her face but I could definitely tell that her mood was a very soul one because when I raised my right hand in some sort of wave, she walked right past us as if we were thin air and her name that I was about to pronounce died on my lips.

Oh wow. What was that?

Aminah stopped walking and automatically, I stopped too because her hand was wrapped around her elbow and she turned back to catch a glimpse of Sophia before the latter entered our classroom.

"Do you think I should apologise?" She asked in a very small voice and she tugged at my elbows so we'd start walking again but I couldn't even move from where I stood because she seriously did not just say that.

But she just did and I could only stare at her, stunned and shocked to the state of immobility.

"I mean, I don't want to be the reason why she's like that..." She started to say again after seeing my expression. "Or the reason why Kunle is like that. I just... I honestly don't know... It's just..." She trailed off again and she breathed in deeply, so deep that I could have sworn that the sound vibrated through the entire hallway.

"What do you think I should do?" She suddenly asked again, surprising me because that was the last thing I expected from her, I mean, asking for my opinion.

"Do you think I should apologise or I should just allow things to be?"

"I think you should just allow things to be." I replied in less than a nanosecond, surprising myself by how quickly I answered and by the words I said. Aminah stopped walking and she raised her eyebrow questioningly in a manner that made me reconsider what I was about to say.

"I mean, you did nothing wrong. What you said was just because of what Sophia said and you shouldn't apologize when you did nothing wrong."

I liked Sophia but then, the way she treats Aminah is just nothing to write. What Aminah said wasn't even up to 2/100 of the mean things Sophia had said to her since I met them. And the fallout was just a clear case of someone being right and the other person being wrong.

The former was Aminah and the latter, Sophia.

"I don't think you did anything wrong," I repeated, enunciating each words, "So, I don't think you have anything to apologise for."

She said nothing for a while and she only stared straight ahead with only sound echoing in the hallway being our footsteps and the indistinct chatters from the classroom.

"Maybe... Maybe you're right, I guess I just don't want to be the reason why things fall apart."

I heaved a sigh because I understood her. The whole issue with Sophia and Kunle was a kind of huge thing. Watching your boyfriend fall out with his best friend wasn't something anyone would want to go through.

Especially if it was because of you.

Well, maybe not so directly.

Aminah and Sophia's issue was another thing entirely, something entirely different. Aminah was arguably the most popular girl in school, the A list girl who got invited to all parties, the one whom most things seemed to revolve around in school, she was the Queen bee who was loved by the whole student populace and who was simply adored by the whole school. It really made no sense that she'd allow Sophia to walk over her like that, it made no sense that it took that long for her to flip at Sophia and even if she was doing it for Kunle, it still made no sense. She did not strike me as someone who'd allow anyone, no matter how popular or successful or loved the person was.

And that made me think of a missing puzzle in this whole saga of theirs because no matter how much and hard I thought about it, it simply wasn't adding up.

"But then..." She started to say again, her voice unusually low and almost sad. "I've been thinking, if that's what will make everyone happy, why don't I..." She trailed off again, released a shaky breath before she wore her signature Aminah's smile, except that it looked almost sad now. "If it's going to make everyone happy, maybe... maybe I should just break up with him."

I stopped dead in my tracks. Disbelief came close to what I felt but what Aminah just said was totally unexpected. I would have never expected her to say something like this, not in a thousand years, not in a million years.

Break up with Kunle? Why? How? Because of what?

I opened my mouth ready to talk, to say anything but I only ended up closing it because my brain wouldn't form coherent words, couldn't form coherent words.

"I mean, they used to be so cool before we happened and I just... I don't..." She trailed off again and a frown crossed her face before it disappeared again. She crossed her arms over her chest and she started rubbing her elbows with her hands.

"I love Kunle too much but what's a little sacrifice if that's what will make everyone happy?" There was a sad, almost nostalgic tone to her voice and for a very long minute, we just stood there like that, in the hallway, me staring at her, not knowing what to make of how she has been acting and especially, what she just said. I finally reached out and I touched her elbow reassuringly. She looked away from the ground, that her eyes had been fixated on to my face and I almost moved back at how utterly dejected her eyes looked.

Oh wow, just wow.

"You like Kunle and he likes you and you guys are happy together. I think that's all that matters. I don't think you should put others before you."

I found myself saying even though I was thinking about Sophia, about how utterly dejected and sad this whole thing was making her. Aminah said nothing for a while and she just kept staring at me, as if assessing me or gauging me. It almost scared me for a minute when her eyes went from dejected to blank and empty and even angry in just mere seconds. Then, she smiled and moved away from me.

"Well, Maybe that's just it."

We started walking down the hallway again and my thoughts were in disarray, wondering what her eyes expression were all about minutes ago and then, she wanted to break up with up with Kunle because of Sophia? Something definitely wasn't adding up but what? Why exactly does she like Sophia that much even after everything?

"But why do you like Sophia that much?" I found myself asking without thinking twice and Aminah's reply was a smile, a small wistful smile that looked frozen on her face.

"I..."

"Aminah!"

The extra loud female voice interrupted her and we both turned back to see Tolase walking towards us carrying a huge carton that was bigger than her. It made her whole body to be tilted backwards that even something as light as an housefly should touch her, she'd fall.

"Guys please, I need you guys to help me with this." She said once she got to us and without waiting for us to say anything, she just dumped the whole carton on us.

"I just need you guys to help me drop this anywhere in the hall, please."

Aminah made to reply but the girl in question already turned back and was practically racing down the hallway.

"You seriously ain't sending me on an errand right now."

"I love you too babe," The latter replied just as she disappeared down the hallway. Aminah stared at the space she just disappeared too before her lips stretched into a smile and she shook her head.

"Don't mind that stupid girl, we can just drop it here for her, she'll know where to find it whenever she's ready to use it."

"No, no, let's just take it to the hall for her." I replied hurriedly when she actually made to lower the box to the floor.

"Are you sure? We don't have to carry this heavy thing all the way to the main hall, shebi Tolase doesn't want to have sense ni?"

"No oo, it's not even that heavy, let's just carry it for her, she's your friend, right."

She did not reply and she even said nothing till we got to the main hall which was quite a distance from the academic.

"Oh, Tolase? She's the closest thing that I have to a best friend."

She said once we were about to enter the hall and the box nearly fell out of my hands partly in surprise and shock because the question she just answered, I asked it like 15 minutes ago.

***********

Students were working in various parts of hall, they were either hanging something on the walls or painting some parts or drilling some things into other parts. Some of them were our classmates while most of them were our juniors whose faces I couldn't even place. Those close to the entrance we entered through paused what they were doing when they saw Aminah and they all started making Jokes together. Aminah joined them immediately and she fitted right into the conversation as if she had been conversing with them since eternity.

My eyes scanned the entire length of the hall searching for Adam but he was nowhere no where to be found. It was Sophia who I found standing at the far end of the hall, back to wall. It was surprising that I could easily tell that it was her even with the distance between us and despite the fact that she was facing the wall but then, no one would stand all regal and poised like that.

I started to walk towards her before I stopped to look at Aminah, she was now standing in the middle of some SS2 boys and they were laughing excitedly after she made a joke about them painting something the wrong way. She was so engrossed with them that I concluded that she wouldn't even notice if I was gone so I walked off to where Sophia stood. Her left hand was crossed over her chest, I noticed that from the way her left palm was pressed against her right side, her right hand was raised up in a sort of way that it was pressing against her ears and shoulders at the same time.

I moved even closer to her only to stop dead in my tracks because in low whispers to the wall. She was talking to the wall.

She was talking to the wall? My heart jumped to my throat.

"Oh come on, George, I really need you to do this for me. The whole school is counting on me for this, I can't just tell them no when the this thing is just in four days."

I took just two steps closer to see that her right hand was pressing her phone against her ears. I relaxed visibly and I released a breath I did not even know I was holding.
For a minute, I honestly thought she was talking to the wall but she was actually on a phone call.

"Come on, there's nothing you can't do, it's just for a couple of hours... I know, I know she's a very busy person but I really need to get her on board..." She trailed off again and I contemplated turning back and returning to Aminah or to class but I really wanted to talk to her, to see if she was fine.

"I know, George, I know, I understand, we already have other writers on board for the literacy week but we just feel like students will be able to connect more with her since she write for our target population or something like that sha. Do you want me to tell the board of committees that I failed to get her on board? Do you have an idea how much they respect me in this school?

My like stretched into a smile at her last words and the no nonsense tone she used to say it. Respect who? Someone that Adam and Gab will call senseless anyhow and any time they deemed fit.

"Alright dear, I'll be counting on you, thank you, kisses."

She removed her phone from her ear and she started to press kisses against the speaker. That sheer stupid act made me laugh and then, to tense up afterwards because immediately she ended the call, I suddenly became lost of what to say and then, I remembered they she actually ignored me just less than an hour ago. Maybe coming here was a mistake after all. What was I planning on saying to her in the first place?

I turned back.

"Oh oh, you can't just sneak off after listening to privy informations like that."

I stopped. My feet just stopped moving by their own before I turned back slowly to look at girl standing behind me, hands folded on her chest. Looking at her up close now, her expression wasn't blank, it was just neutral.

"You came here to check up on me so why are you leaving without doing what you came for?" She asked before walking past me to sit on one of the chairs. I just stood there for a minute longer than usual and I contemplated if I should just walk away or follow her.

My foot did the lather and soon enough, I was sitting beside her and we were both looking at the students working in various parts of the hall. We both did not say anything for a long while which was puzzling because I thought the reason why she made us to sit down was because she wanted to talk but now, she was just staring at the hall and drumming one of her fingers on her crossed legs. Her stance, the way she was sitting down, with her crossed legs and folded arms over her chest gave me some sort of eerie vibe that made me conclude that she must have forgotten that I was even sitting beside her.

"Are you okay?" I asked and the speed at which she turned towards me almost made me fell out of my seat. She was smiling at me, a very huge smile that seemed eerie and I found myself inching slowly away from her.

"I was starting to think you weren't going to ask again."

Oh oh.

So that was why she did not say anything? Because she was waiting for me to talk?

"But I'm fine now, it's just the stress of this Art and literacy week that's draining. I'm this close to losing my mind and my teammates are not even doing anything to help the situation." She paused suddenly, her eyes fixated on mine and it took me like less than a minute to realize that she was waiting for me to reply her.

"Okay... Well done."

"Thank you and I'm sorry for ignoring you earlier, I was just out of my mind and I had already walked before I realized that the person I just ignored was Baby Kay... Oops," She stopped suddenly and she covered her mouth with two of her fingers and a somber look crossed her face,"sorry, I figured out you don't like me calling you Baby Kay."

"Noooo, it's okay, you can..."

"I can call you Baby Kay?" She replied in an overly excited manner that not only shocked me but nearly made me out of the seat. "Now, that's amazing, you can come up with a nickname for me too, I don't mind, no, I'm actually looking forward to it."

I felt my lips starting to stretch into a smile. Come up with a nickname for her? This girl really has no idea the number of names I call her on a daily basis.

"Now, what's that smile?" She asked, leaning her elbows on the armrest between us thereby leaning closer towards me, "That smile is telling me that you already have a very fine nickname for me, tell me."

I shook my head and I started to lean away from her. Queen Weirdo, Psycho, Witch and the likes, none of them sounded like a name any normal person would want to be called.

"Eeh, come on, tell me, pretty sure they're adorable names."

"They're anything but adorable." I replied in less than a nanosecond and her smile sort of vanished from her face. I instantly started to feel bad but then, what's this obsession with nicknames out of the blues? "I mean..."

"No, it's okay, you look at me as if I ran away from a mental asylum so I already figured out whatever you call me in your head would be something along that line. It's okay, it's fine, anything is fine as long as it's coming from you."

Wawu!!!

I said and did nothing, I could only stare at her and she stated right back at me. Then my shoulders quaked and my stomach vibrated and before I knew it, I was laughing uncontrollably. From the look of things, it seemed like even Sophia found herself funny because she joined in too and before we could hear pimm, we were both laughing uncontrollably that the juniors close to where we sat had to turn and look at us and I could that they were probably wondering why the most popular face was laughing that much with one of the least popular faces in school.

Except I wasn't that unpopular again, judging from the stint faces I had been getting our female classmates and even juniors.

Our laughter trailed off and Sophia threw her head against the backrest of the chair, an hearty, almost contented smile on her face.

"Don't mind me, I just say most things without thinking."

"Thank God you know that."

Her head jerked up immediately and in an attempt to get words out, she burst into another fit of laughter that she had to grab her stomach and to cover her eyes with her free hand to stop the tears from spilling out.

Yeah, she was laughing that hard.

I subconsciously looked up at Aminah and she was still talking and gesticulating at the wall and laughing at something funny that the junior boys were telling her.

"Wow, that was exhilarating."

That jerked my attention back to her and the laughter had now diminished into a toothy smile.

"I should return back to class since you must be very busy."

I attempted to stand up only to pulled back to my seat by her

"Eeh, come on, I'm not that busy and class must be boring by the way and besides,", She leaned in even closer and she wriggled her eyebrows together suggestively, "Adam should be here in 10 to 15 minutes."

"Ok. ay." I replied slowly and I tried to relax fully on the seat but I failed miserably because the girl beside me wouldn't stop looking at me. She was looking at me so intently that I had to move back.

"What..."

"So, how does it feel to like someone who likes you back?" She asked all of a sudden with a serious expression that shocked me. She was back to doing that thing, going from jovial to this extreme seriousness in less than a second.

Well, how does that even feel like?

She was still looking at me, eyes intent and eager and definitely waiting for me to reply. I wriggled my fingers together.

"You don't have to..."

"No, let me..." I interrupted her only to be interrupted by the sound of her phone vibrating on her laps. I watched as she swiped the screen up and after reading what I assumed to be a text message, she threw her head backwards against the headboard and she sighed contentedly.

"Oh wow! Finally, I can now relax."

There was this kind of contagious contented smile on her upturned face and before I knew it, I was smiling too.

"What's that about?"

"Oh that?" She asked again as she sat up, "It's a surprise." Then she winked at me before she stood up and she started to walk away as if she wasn't the one that asked me to stay, as if she wasn't the one acting all serious just before she got that text messages.

Who knows? Maybe she suffers temporary memory loss too.

"Where are you going?"

"I'm leaving." She replied without even turning back and she actually started to climb down the stairs in the middle of the auditorium.

Wawu!

I started to stand up too.

"Don't bother standing up, I'm leaving because I don't want to be the third wheel, Adam is already behind you."

Then she raised up her right hand, made a curt wave before jamming her heads into her blazer's pockets.

Sophia ehn 😂😂❤️ God! I sha love that girl ni

At the very least, Sophia and Kunmi's ship seem to be sailing successfully, I'm still thinking of a ship name.

How would y'all describe Aminah's character?

Have you ever liked someone, not necessarily someone of the opposite sex, not necessarily a romantic kind of likeness and the person does not necessarily reciprocate your feelings? Have you? That thing can actually be very very destructive tho 😪😪😢

Love you guys and see you when I see you ❤️❤️❤️