“We are a team. Watch us build an empire together.”    

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•BOLU•

The first day of this term started out pretty well for me. After Assembly and all, I got to hype my friends with Jeremy. Safe to say Jeremy was a very good hyping partner and our combo was just the best but I think MJ is still our boss though.

We were so lucky he didn't meet up with us as we hyped Nina and Ayo this morning. MJ would have shut the whole place down. Either way, we would have left Ayo and Nina to solve the problem on their like we all did the other time. Lmaooo!

That day was funny.

We all got closer during the holiday after Ayo's birthday celebration/ New Year get together and it had been really fun. MJ created a whatsapp group for us and it always cracked me up.

It was the period just before break and civics was on the timetable. I, for one, always looked forward to civics class because I loved the teacher. She always made the class interactive and interesting. She'd let students give their own views on whatever topic we were treating and then she'd  bless us with her wisdom.

Today's topic was Dangers of Political Apathy. One that everyone would definitely love to contribute and say their own views and cast the Nigerian government.

We sat in class, as usual, with our seatmates. Ore was beside me, being his usual annoying and funny self. Ninuola in front of me and Nina at her front.

Ninuola made her seatmate, Jire Umubi, paint her finger nails...yes she made the poor boy do it while the teacher was in class. And the boy had no choice. Ninu was right, she could make him do anything.

That girl sef...

Nina was her usual self, all smiles and happy and all. Things were looking up and back to normal. I just absolutely loved this New Year and today.

And it felt like I would overcome my problem. Although I didn't sound so sure when Ore asked me in front of everyone what was up with the project. I kinda felt the pressure but I could actually say I was getting better.

I think...

Kinda...

Sorta...

*Shrugs*

"Y'all will agree with me that the political apathy of most Nigerian citzens is the government's fault, yeah?" Mrs. Obeng, our Civic education and class teacher, said as she walked round the class, gesticulating as she did, bringing me back to the present.

The whole class chorused "Yes!"

"Yes oh!"

"Honestly!"

And more and more murmuring...but she clapped her hands to gain our attention. "Okay, okay...but would you join them? Would you join those citizens to continue the trend? Wouldn't you want to change the way things are, or the way things would be?" She asked as she raised a brow.
 
The whole class broke into murmuring again.

I thought about this.

Would we continue the trend? Would I?

The fact that the Nigerian government has failed us so many times is one big discouragement! There is a 99.99% chance that us youngsters would continue the trend. We would.

Ninu raised her hand as Mrs. Obeng quieted the whole class down again.

"Yes, Ninuola, speak please," She said.

Ninu nodded and stood up. "Looking at the fact that getting a PVC is very stressful and going out to vote on election days is not even safe. An innocent person might be walking and suddenly...a straight bullet might hit that person. And then the person dies, for no apparent reason. Chaos and riots everywhere on that same day when in other countries, election days are very normal and school is not closed...or the fact that even when the election is over, we figure out that it would be very much rigged and when they do get in power, they make things worse by never fulfilling their promises..." Ninu exhaled and shrugged. "Why would we not continue the trend?"

"Seconded," Joy Anne said from where she sat.

That made me wonder if she agreed with Ninuola just to find favor or gain approval or something.

Ninuola just looked at Joy and managed a smile...it was forced 'cause I could tell. Joy smiled back at her genuinely. I could feel the tension between them.

Or the tension exuding from Ninuola.

Whichever it was.

And I still couldn't bring myself to comprehend the fact that Ninu liked Jeremy.

Why did I not see it before?

"Earth to Mama!" Ore said and snapped his fingers in my face. I blinked, turned to face him and glared.

"Stop doing that."

"You're not concentrating," he said. "What's on your mind?" The way he looked at me made me all warm again. I could not explain it. It was just there and it was getting out of hand.

I shook my head. "Nothing."

He smirked. Why did he smirk?

"You're lying..." He whisper-sang. "You're thinking about me, huh?" He wiggled his brows.

I resisted the urge to blush because he was kinda right. I rolled my eyes instead and scoffed. "You wish."

"I know I'm right."

"Are not!"

"Are too."

"Nope."

"Yep." He nodded like a child.

"Nah."

"Yah."

"Jumai, Jayeola! Is there something you'd like to tell the class about?" Mrs. Obeng said nicely but with a grim expression. We both turned to look at her. I sank back into my chair as I noticed others were staring too. My face was already heating up.

Ore just held a smirk on his lips.

"Is there?" She asked again when we kept looking at her.

"No ma'am," Ore responded. "Nothing to know here."

"Eh-ehn? Then tell me what we were talking about just now." Her eyes pierced through us both.

My eyes widened.

I af enter.

Father Lord!

The last thing I remembered about the class was Joy's response to Ninuola and that was "seconded".

I opened my mouth to actually say that, knowing it would be really stupid to do so but Ore beat me to it and spoke for both of us.

He explained what she just said the whole time I zoned out started arguing with Ore. I just stared, my mouth slightly agape in shock.

"Hmmmm, you're right head boy," Mrs. Obeng said and narrowed her eyes at us. "But you two should pay attention."

I nodded and Ore smirked as usual.

I exhaled.

How was he able to do that?

"Close your mouth, mama. Except you want flies for lunch."

I swallowed and closed my mouth. He winked at me, then took my hand in his and squeezed it. "I got you," he said.

"Thanks." And I meant it but released my hand from his because that warm and tingling effect was taking its toll again.

The lesson continued as Mrs. Obeng continued the teaching, giving us reasons why we should not follow the trend of being apathetic but should rather show interest in the things that happen in our country.

More murmuring.

I just knew that with despite the advice she gave us, in the end, na wetin we wan do, we go do. Finish.

"Don't worry, I  support y'all who wanna stay and build this country," Fawaz said. "In fact sef, when I travel out, I'll be sending money for cement and blocks for those of you that wanna build it!"

One proof.

That got everyone laughing, even Mrs. Obeng.

"I'm so glad that amazing people will be around to take care of my beloved country for me," Josh added, dramatically placing a hand on his chest, feigning sadness.

"I'm gonna miss you all!" They said at the same time and started fake-sobbing, causing the whole class to crack up. I laughed and laughed and almost fell off my chair.

Mrs. Obeng held the door frame for support. It was that funny.

Ore leaned on me as he laughed and I was VERY aware of that. VERY VERY aware.

As the laughing died down, Fikayo Justice, Nina's seatmate and one of the hostel guys, said, "If I had the opportunity to leave this country, I'd forget every single thing about it, apart from my family."

That got everyone's attention.

"What about your friends?" Nina asked him, with an eyebrow raised. "I'm sure you'd miss the hostel guys na. And all your classmates too."

He scoffed, actually scoffed. "Who? I'd miss nobody. My classmates mean nothing to me." He rolled his eyes.

Was this guy being serious right now?

"Mad oh!" Ore said beside me.

"Ah!" Jeremy yelled from his seat.

Almost everyone was shocked and made surprised comments.

"Go sef! We don't need you. We won't miss you too!" Marybelle, the head girl said loudly and eyed him.

"Nope. He cannot leave oh," Ninuola started. Jire was filing her nails now. My guy was sweating. I wondered if the teacher saw that but chose to ignore it. "We need Fikayo."

Fikayo smirked like he'd won the lottery until Ninu's next words caught him...and everybody off guard.

"We need him because without him, there would be no foolish person in our whole set." Ninu said that looking as unbothered as heck. She didn't flinch.

"Eweleke!" Fawaz put his hands on his head and said.

"Obara Jesus!" Fred added.

"My Kidney!" Josh said.

That was how the whole class scattered in laughter. This time, I was so sure  I fell off my chair but somehow, I didn't because, Ore held my waist or something, preventing me from falling.

I saw Nina put an arm around Fikayo as he frowned, although she could not control her laughter.

Mrs. Obeng actually left the class to catch her breath.

"I shouldn't be saying this but that was absolutely right, Ninuola!" Mrs. Obeng said after she caught her breath.

Ninu looked pleased. I was still wiping the tears that came from my eyes.

"Don't worry Fikayo, take heart," Nina said, still holding back laughter, trying to console him. "Aunty doesn't mean that."

"Anyway, y'all should take my advice and be patriotic, okay?" She started saying again. "Believe in the best for your Country and its future and you know what's funny? You guys, y'all are the future." She ended.

Childera jumped from her seat after checking her watch and went to jingle the bell for break time.

The class groaned because we all didn't want Mrs. Obeng to leave. As much as I wanted her to stay too, I wanted food and I think that was my priority.

So when she left the class, I was happy.

No hard feelings.

Food gets me. I get food. We get each other. Finish.

Chidera skipped and hopped to our seat with Ashley behind her and engaged Ore in a conversation. He kept up with her energy today and that was a plus on his side. Ashley just leaned on the wall and stared at them or at whatever she was staring at.

Her facial expression was unreadable. I honestly couldn't tell what she was thinking. I moved my gaze away from her.

I tapped Nina who just watched sadly as Fikayo left the class.

"I feel for the guy, honestly," she said and sighed. "I somehow feel bad for laughing at him."

"Yeah, yeah whatever. You gonna get something to eat?" I said. "Let's go together."

"Sure!" Nina replied.and smiled.

After we came back from the tuck shop, Nina left me and said she had to meet up with her other group members and also try to make Fikayo appear as he was her seatmate and they could not afford to lose marks.

My class was almost empty when I got back and I figured they either went out for break had to do group work like Nina. When I entered the class, I saw Gift Eniola walk away from my seat. As she passed me, she gave me a tight smile and raised her brows once as a form of greeting.

I nodded and walked to my seat.

"Any problem with the project?" I asked Ore as I settled down in my seat.

He turned to look at me. "Nah, it's all cool." He smirked.

"Really? What did Gift come to say, then?"

"She just came to give me updates on what she'd done and what others have done too, as per, I be group leader, you grab?" He pulled up his collar and wiggled a brow, yes, a single brow.

I rolled my eyes but smiled, nonetheless. "Nah. I don't."

He moved closer to me, locking eyes with me and giving me that look that made it feel like it pierced through my soul. "Are you sure you don't?"

My body started becoming warm again but I controlled myself. "I'm freaking sure." I pushed him away from me. "I'm sure."

He smirked. "Well, even if you wouldn't admit that you grab what I'm saying, you're the only one who hasn't given me a feedback concerning the project. How far have you gone?"

"Well..." The words got stuck on my throat.

How far had I gone?

As far as I knew, I'd read as much as I could. Read physics like I never did before in my life. Especially since that day Ore and I talked at Ninu's house.

Suffice it to say that for the first time, I started to understand what I read without much interruption from the voices.

They were still there, of course but they were low key now. No more prevalent. At least, the negative one was surpressed.

What kept me going was that I remembered Ore's words which kept going ad nauseum in my mind.

I also remembered how Nina had encouraged me when I finally told her
I would be speaking for our group the time we actually discussed the physics project together.

That alone made me regret my decision of lying to her (them) about my GCE result in the first place. I felt so guilty.

But... honestly, I was scared and my mind still wandered around, wondering if the other group members thought I'd fail or something.

I was scared of messing up in front of them.

I remembered Ini's look of disapproval, Gift's tone of disbelief and Nonso and Alvin's shocked looks of doubt.

"Knock, knock Waji, anyone home?" Ore's voice called me out of my reverie again.

I blinked and shook my head.

"Stop zoning out na."

"Sorry," I mumbled. "I'm...I... it's just..."
I sighed and ran my hands over my face

Ore watched me quietly, his gaze not leaving my face and a small smile playing on his lips.

"Why are you smiling?" I asked, furrowing my brows.

"You're cute."

"Uh..."

"But before you feel yourself, remember I'm cuter."

I glared at him. "Cocky goat!"

He grinned. "I'm the goat you can't live without."

"So you admit you're a goat?! Hah! Finally!" I pumped my fist in the air, grinning.

He only shook his head at me. "Now that you're smiling, tell me, what's up with the project?"

We still had to talk about that?

My smile dropped slowly.  "It's better. I mean...uh, I'm trying to do my best."

He turned to face me  directly and took my hand in his, squeezing them gently. Apart from the fact that it made feel those tingling effects, it made me feel assured and safe and sure of myself. So sure.

"Remember what I told you the other day, at Ninu's house?" He quirked up a brow.

I nodded. "Yeah."

"So... don't doubt yourself."

"Okay."

"You sound doubtful," he stated.

"I certainly do not!" I snapped.

He smirked and patted my shoulder. "Now that's the spirit, comrade!"

I giggled. "Comrade ko, Commando ni!"

He laughed too. The deep, rich sound, resonated in my ears, making me feel all jittery and stuff.

After our laughing fits he said, "Don't think I forgot about the tutoring oh. I did not forget and we have to continue...when you're ready though. Funny how Mr. Noah hasn't even asked me for feedback."

"Mtchewww. Does he even care?" I rolled my eyes. "All he wants is the stupid compensation — money — he'll get if all his students make complete distinctions."

"Like seriously. That man needs something that'll teach him." He stroked his chin like he had a plan making me giggle.

"Sha don't goan put yourself in trouble oh. You have a reputation, head boy."

"Yes mama," he said and winked at me.

I bit my lips into a smile and he smiled back at me. We locked eyes for a while — I don't know how long — until Chidera shouted:

"Boo!" As she skipped happily into the class, grinning with Ashley behind her.

That broke us out of whatever connection Ore and I almost established between us — whatever that meant.

I loosened my hand from his soft grip and turned to face my table.

I waved at Ashley and she smiled back while Chidera, after kissing her boyfriend, squealed my name. I smiled back her in response.

Just then, my friends walked into.the class, ending whatever was going to sup.

👀👀👀👀👀

Who dey???!

What's up??

How's your life??

Hope y'all are good?

So... another chapter for us oh!😩😩😩😩 Finally!!😩😩😩 Took me days to write.

Writer's block is sooooo😩😩😩😒😒😒😒😒😒😒

It's not funny at all!!!

And that's why this chapter came late. Forgive me...again😩🥺

If not for the good people around me and God, I might not have gotten out of this writer's block 😩😒

So...what do y'all think about this chapter??

Tell me! I miss y'all's comments like seriously 😩😩😩 please comment nau!

And I appreciate your votes! Those who vote, please don't stop! I see you! And one day, you'll be given a chapter dedication — watch out!👀

This book has come a long way and I have you all to thank for that. Imagine, we have over 1.5k reads now!!!!! Thank you guys sooo freaking much!!!

So...I wanna let you know that this book still has a bit of a long way to go... anticipate! As this is just the beginning 😏😌

MWAHAHAHAHA!!!

Okay😂😂😂 let's be calming down😂😂😂😂

Just keep reading because I have wonderful plans for this story😌😌😏

Before I go, lemme ask: what have you been up to lately??

Me, I started Harry Potter and I'm so pumped about it😁😁😁 even though Percy is still my crush 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

With that being said, bye bye!

I love you❤️❤️❤️

Peace, y'all!✌️

~Ife😎🥰