(045 - Secrets)

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All of you that want Chima to kiss you, he now has an official girlfriend o. So take your two left legs and leave this place. Unless you want Dawn to sit on your head😌🌚.

I'm sure y'all want to know how Aunty Kendra is doing 🥺❤️. Me sef I want to know. Simi will tell us.

P. S. Chapter 43, 44, this chapter 45, the next chapter 46 all happened on the same day. That's a sort of hint. I hope you guys pick up on the reasons why I'm telling you this as you read the book.

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𝐒𝐈𝐌𝐈𝐒𝐎𝐋𝐀
(Simisola André Jordan)

"Well done, sir,"

The security man hailed as soon as he saw that it was me behind the wheels. I smiled at him, reaching into the glove compartment of the car to fish out a few thousand notes I kept there solely for him and slipped them into his hand.

"Use it to buy something for yourself," I told him and he nodded vigorously, his smile widening almost to the length of his ear when he counted the money and saw how much it was.

"Thank you, sir! God will bless you, sir! You and your generation will not lack anything in this life o..."

He started praying for me and I chuckled, waving at him before driving further into the lot of the hospital, parking in the free, unreserved space I saw. Turning off the ignition, I took in a deep breath, turning the rearview mirror to my side to stare at my face, smiling back at my reflection.

I was in a rather good mood today. A very good mood.

Mum was getting discharged. Finally.

I've missed her so much. So, so much.

It's not like I've not been seeing her since she got admitted, but there's a huge difference between coming to the hospital every day after school to see her and having her at home with me or waking up to her voice every single morning. I wanted the latter more than anything. Especially since it's just me and Dad at home alone now.

Imagine the awkwardness.

Though he spends a majority of his time at the hospital, sleeping over most days of the week and on the weekends, the times Dad has been at home with me haven't been the most pleasant. Not like he did or said anything, it has just been weird.

We were like two strangers living under the same roof. We have drifted so far apart that we barely have something to talk about except my academics. Now that my academics was growing on a steady... and I mean very slow and steady, the only person we talk about is Mum's health improvement which was majorly a monotonous conversation.

If it had nothing to do with mum, then we weren't talking at all.

I don't know how it made him feel, not being able to hold a substantial conversation with his own son. But for me, not being to have a good conversation with a man I call my Dad was excruciatingly painful and unbearable.

I hated it, but there was nothing I could do about it.

But now that Mum was coming home, I wouldn't have to endure such travesty anymore.

My phone started ringing and I picked it up from the center console compartment. My lips twitched in a small smile when I saw who the caller was, and I picked up the call, bringing my phone to my ear.

"The rate at which you call me these days is alarming," I spoke before she could say anything to me. "Are you not supposed to be at work? Your parents should get your phone seized." I teased, my smile stretching further.

"Phone I got with my own hard-earned money. They even know they can't seize it sef," She scoffed, speaking of the noisy background and I chuckled. "Besides, I've been working my ass off since morning. I need to rest," She answered.

"Of course you do, Gloria. Of course, you do," I teased further, eliciting a laugh from her and I joined her.

I knew for a fact that she was just being lazy. Her parents were the owners of the restaurant after all, so it's not like she's going to get fired or anything for slacking just once. Gloria was hardworking, yes, but sometimes she took advantage of her privilege as the child of the owners.

Who wouldn't though?

"Simi please hold on - hey, can you cover my shift for a few? I'm on a phone call," She was talking to someone at her end, so I waited for her.

I couldn't hear the response but I guess the person agreed to cover Gloria's shift when I heard the shuffling of feet, followed by the sound of a door closing that indicated she might have left her initial location to a more private place, and from the quietness of the background, I could tell it was a more enclosed place.

Maybe the closet.

"Hey, are you still there?" She asked me and I hummed in response. "Where are you?"

"I just got to the hospital," I answered her, smiling when I remembered the reason why I was seated in my car in the first place. "Mum is getting discharged today and I want to be the one to bring her back home," I said.

"Thank God!" Gloria sighed out in relief and I chuckled. "I'm so sorry I haven't come to see her since. How is she? How is your Dad holding up?" She asked, the concern in her voice very evident.

I exhaled.

"I think Dad is holding up pretty well," After mum regained consciousness, he has been a lot settled, compared to the day we brought her. "Mum is fine. She has improved. The doctor said it's fatigue and stress, calling it one fatigue disorder that I can't remember. But she's okay now, she just needed the rest and time off work." I told Gloria.

"I'm just glad she's finally okay. I was so worried." She said, and I could hear the smile in her voice, making me smile even wider.

"How's the boyfriend?" I asked, my smile turned into a smirk. Using my shoulder to hold my phone to my ear, I picked up the bouquet I picked up for mum and the box of chocolate with my right hand and opened the door with my left.

"He's okay," She answered, her voice in a monotone. My forehead creased in a small frown, wondering why she sounded that way.

On a normal day, whenever I ask Gloria a question like this, it was her cue to start ranting about something that happened between her and Kizito. Maybe a place they went to on a date, and how they spent their time together doing one thing or the other. And trust me, she was very detailed with her gist.

Too detailed in fact.

I have heard things in this life.

But now, she sounded off. Very off.

"Just Okay?" I asked, before getting down from the car and shutting the door with my leg because my hands were full. "Where is the gist? I was hoping to get some gist," I joked, my lips turned into a smile.

When I heard Gloria sigh from her end, the smile disappeared.

"I'm sure Kizito is fine," She rephrased, but her voice didn't sound any less monotonous. "But I haven't heard from him all day, Simi, so I can't tell exactly how he is." She stated and my face scrunched up in a small frown.

That's strange. And very unlike the Kizito Gloria rants to me about.

"You haven't heard from him all day?" I asked and she hummed in response, confirming. "I thought you guys usually have a thing most Saturday mornings. He didn't show up?" I asked, locking the door of the car with the remote after I got down.

"I called him severally when it was almost time, just to check if he'll still be able to make it, but he didn't pick up," My frown deepened. "Then he fired a quick message, telling me he was sorry and something came up. I tried to call him after that, but his phone was suddenly switched off." She finished explaining.

"Oh," I mumbled, securing the bouquet and box of chocolate in one hand and I held my phone with the other before I started walking towards the hospital building.

I wasn't sure what else to say except that. I was no relationship expert, not even the slightest, no matter how many books I've read about the subject so I wasn't even the right person Gloria was meant to be talking to. But then, I was her best friend... her only friend.

Who else will she talk to apart from me? I needed to think of something to say.

"Well, maybe he's really busy today," I finally spoke after a moment of silence. "Kizito has never been this way before, yeah?" I asked and she hummed again in response. "So, he probably has a good explanation for not showing up. At least he sent you a text message right?"

"This is not about him not showing up," Gloria stated, her voice controlled but I could still hear the edge in them. "If Kizito isn't showing up for a date, he lets me know way beforehand. And even if it's close to the meet-up time, he gives a more detailed explanation, not what he just sent to me. And now, his phone is switched off. It doesn't sit well with me, Simi." I could hear the little panic undertone in her voice.

Exhaled, I said, "Calm down, Gloria. I'm sure it's not the way you are thinking it is," I lowered my voice when I walked through the sliding glass doors of the hospital, nodding in greeting at a nurse I recognized.

I took a turn that led in the direction of my mum's ward.

"I know it's probably not the way I think it is," She agreed with me and I continued to listen. "I might actually be overreacting because this has never happened before and my paranoia is at work, but I just can't help the feeling. Is this how it feels when you are in a relationship and you don't hear your boyfriend's voice for almost an entire day?"

I laughed but quieted down quickly because I was in a hospital.

"Gloria, it's just 1:30 pm. We just passed the first half of the day," I reminded her, going into an elevator and hitting my mum's floor on the button with my elbow. In response, she let out a loud hiss.

"Same thing!" She snapped and I had to pause my lips together to stop myself from bursting out in laughter again. "The day is almost over and I've not heard Kizito's voice. It's excruciating." She whined and I chuckled.

First-time lovers. These ones are still in the honeymoon phase o.

"Calm down," I said and she whined, I could imagine her pouting. "Kizito loves you, Gloria and I'm sure he'll call you before the end of today. If this has never happened before, then I'm sure he has a very good explanation for it." I said.

"I guess you are right," She sighed. "This is why I like talking to you. You know the right things to say every time." I could imagine her smiling now. It made me feel better that she was calmer.

"Well, that's because I have more common sense than you," I teased and she burst into laughter.

"Well, I can't argue with that," She didn't argue as she'd normally do and I smirked. The elevator made a sound, indicating that it had gotten to the floor I selected before the doors slide open and I walked through.

"Hey, I have to go now," I told her. "Give me an update about the whole Kizito thing, will you?" I asked and she answered, promising to hit me up later before we finally hung up. I secured the phone into the back pocket of my jeans and kept walking through the quiet hallway, my mum's room at the end of the hallway in mind.

The private wards of this hospital were very much restricted to just anyone, except the families of the patient, which is why there was barely anyone walking around, just the nurses and doctors. I half expected to see Dad pacing in front of Mum's room, taking a phone call or something, but he wasn't.

I knew he was here, in the hospital.

Taking a deep breath, I walked further towards the room at the end of the hall. But when I got close to the room, I stopped in my steps, my brows furrowing in a small frown. I could hear my parents' voice, hushed but audible enough for me to hear. And from the tone of the conversation they were having, I could tell they were in an argument.

My frown deepened.

I moved closer, standing by the wall so that I won't be noticed. It was rude to eavesdrop, I know, but I wanted to find out if I was the reason for the argument. Our results for second test came out this week and when I gave Dad my results, he didn't say anything about it. If he was happy with the improvement or wasn't satisfied with it, he didn't say.

Was that what he was talking about with Mum?

I listened.

"...Do you think I like the fact that I'm here, Demilade?" That was Mum's voice. She sounded exhausted and hurt, and it made my ears perk up in both interest and worry.

What are they talking about? I asked myself, still listening.

"Kendra, I know," Dad replied her, sounding just as exhausted as she did, if not more. "But this is hard for me. It's h-hard..." His voice broke and my heart picked up the beat, anxiety washing over me like a wave. "It's hard seeing you this way, seeing you bedridden like this. Kendra, I cannot take it. I can't."

Can't take what? What is going on?

"Demi," I heard my mum whisper softly, and I swallowed inaudibly. Though I couldn't see what was going on inside, I was sure Mum probably cupped Dad's face in her hands. Anytime she shortens his name like that, she always says it like an endearment. But that wasn't what caught me.

It was the frailness of her voice, the slight shakiness I could hear. It could have gone undetected but I heard it loud and clear.

Mum's voice was naturally tiny and frail, fitting her small stature. But there was something off about this frailness. Something weird about it. She sounded tired... almost sick. This was the same person I spoke to early this morning and informed that I was coming to see her. She sounded so vibrant, and lively. But now?

Now?

I was confused. So confused.

"Demi," I heard her whisper again and I kept listening. "I understand how you feel. I feel a lot worse, you know that" She told Dad and I got even more confused, wondering what she was on about. "But this is the best solution for now. This is how we can manage the situation."

Manage what situation?

"But what do we tell Simi?" My heart jumped in my chest when I heard Dad mention my name. "How do we explain all this to him? He's going to be here in a matter of minutes. What kind of explanation do we give him when we tell him you are not getting discharged today?"

What! My eyes widened.

Before I could think things through or stop myself, I was already matching to the room. I didn't have to barge in because the door was open, so as soon as I got to the front of the door, my parents noticed my presence, every word coming out of Dad's mouth trailing off with his voice.

My eyes locked to his, and for the first time, I actually held his gaze for a good number of seconds... maybe minutes.

He was shocked to see me, shaken. He looked a little scared too as if I caught him doing... or saying something wrong. I held his gaze, trying to read him and decipher what exactly was going on in his mind, but I couldn't. I could only tell he was shocked. It was obvious he didn't expect me to walk in moments after telling Mum that I'd be here any minute.

Speaking of Mum.

"Simisola,"

She was the one that just called my name and I turned, looking at her very well for the first time since I stomped into the room. And immediately my eyes landed on her, I froze. A cold chill zapped over me like an electric shock, freezing me to the spot.

What the...

"M-Mum?"

I had to ask.

I had to call her name like that because the woman lying down on the bed right now looked nothing like my mother. She didn't look like the woman I spent my evening with just yesterday. She didn't look like the chirpy and carefree woman I spoke to just this morning, the woman that was so excited to leave the hospital and come home.

This woman on the bed looked sick. Really sick. She was pale, her lips looking dry and chapped. She looked thinner than when I saw her yesterday, stricken. She had a nasal cannula connected to her nose and a monitor tracking her steady heartbeat by her bedside.

Jesus Christ...

These things have never been here before. They were not here yesterday. And seeing them here, seeing her attached to them scared the living daylight out of me.

My mum was the one attached to them.

Something was off. Something was terribly wrong.

"Mummy,"

I was trying to gather my jumbled-up thoughts and construct them into words but I couldn't say more than that. I wasn't looking at Dad but from my peripheral vision, I could see his gaze alternating between me and Mum and I could smell the anxiety oozing from him.

"Simisola," Mum whispered again, mustering a small smile as she beckoned to me. "Come," She said, that smile still playing on her lips.

But I didn't move. I couldn't move.

"What's going on?" I asked, my chest rising and falling at my rapid breathing, my heart thudding heavily against my chest like a drum. "Mummy, why are you looking this way?"

She sighed, stretching her hand to Dad to help her sit up and he quickly held her, propping her pillow up for her so she'd be able to rest her back. And I watched quietly, waiting for them to explain what was happening. And while I waited, I prayed. I prayed so desperately that it wasn't as serious as it looked.

God abeg.

"So, you are not going to come and greet me abi?" She completely ignored my question, speaking with a smile reappearing on her lips. "When I spoke to you this morning, you were very eager to see me," She teased, wiggling her eyebrows weakly.

I didn't smile back. I didn't find anything funny.

"And when I spoke to you this morning, you were not sounding this way, Mummy! You didn't look this way yesterday, Mum!" My voice came out edgier and harsher than intended.

"Simi!" Dad snapped, definitely taking offense and I kept quiet. "Don't ever speak to your mother like that again! Watch your tone!" He warned, every trace of initial anxiety gone from his features. I flinched, trying to stop my rapid, yet irregular breathing. I was literally on the verge of crying out in frustration.

And I will if someone doesn't tell me what the hell is going on!

"It's fine, Demilade," Mum told Dad, not losing the smile on her lips for one second. If anything, her smile even widened. It almost looked like she was amused by the squabble, looking between Dad and me before her eyes finally settled on me, her soft gaze holding mine.

I almost burst into tears right then.

Something was wrong. I could feel it in my guts.

"Mummy," I called pleadingly this time. I just needed her to tell me what was going on. Whatever it is, I'd be able to handle it. I can handle it.

Right?

"Wá ná. Ma bò," Come first. Come. She beckoned to me, her eyes also pleading and her voice.

In a way, I calmed down a bit but my heart didn't stop beating fast. This time I couldn't say no to her so I heeded her request and started walking toward her bed, keeping my eyes on her frail form lying on the bed. When I got close, Dad stood up and moved away for me to sit down and I did, shifting closer to Mum.

"Baby Boy," She sighed out when I was settled beside her, reaching out with both of her hands to cup my face as she smiled at me. I forced a small smile back, trying my best not to think of the fear in my heart.

Trailing one of her hands up from my face to my hair, she ran her fingers through the bushy locks and pouted her chapped lips.

"You need a haircut," She commented, and I couldn't stop the slight chuckle from escaping my lips. She has been telling me this all week. But what time do I have to go and trim my hair when my mum is in the hospital.

And now that she wasn't getting discharged anymore? What now? Why was she not getting discharged anymore?

"You are not getting discharged anymore," I stated, catching both she and Dad unawares.

"How much of our conversation did you hear?"

It was Dad that asked, the anxiety from earlier back now. Even though I wasn't looking at him, I could hear it as clear as day in his voice. Mum was trying to maintain her composure but I could see that she was a little unsettled.

They obviously didn't know how much of their conversation I heard, but the truth is that I didn't hear anything substantial. Just bits and pieces that my mind was trying to fix up but couldn't. But with this reaction, it was easy to tell that something was amiss.

Seriously amiss.

But I wasn't sure how to act.

"I didn't hear much," I answered instead, trying to keep my voice as calm and as controlled as possible. "But you don't want to tell me something and I don't know what. Like the reason why you are not getting discharged anymore. Does it have anything to do with the fact that you are now being placed on oxygen therapy?" I asked, tugging lightly at the cannula connected to her nose.

Dad and Mum exchanged a look I couldn't decipher before they looked back at me.

"Did something happen?" I questioned further when they didn't reply me, focusing more on Mum than Dad.

I wasn't used to him speaking to me or confiding about anything to me, and he wasn't used to it either. So I don't expect him to be the one to explain things to me, even though I knew for a fact that he was the only one that would say the plain truth without mincing words.

Mum would just sugarcoat it to appeal to me.

But why do I want to hear the sugarcoated version more?

"Mummy," I pressed on when no one was answering me. I kept my eyes fixated on Mum, but she was looking at Dad. I knew they were having some kind of communication with their eyes, but I could read it.

"I had a relapse," She finally answered, looking away from Dad to look at me.

I frowned.

What she just said didn't make any sense to me at all.

"A relapse," I repeated and she nodded.

"Yes, baby," She answered, mustering back a smile to her lips. "But don't worry, I'm fine now," She was trying to assure me but I wasn't getting assured. My frown even deepened.

It still made no sense.

"Everything is stable now," She went on. "They are just keeping me here for a few weeks to run some tests and observe," She said to me like I would understand better.

But I didn't understand better.

I wasn't getting it. I wasn't getting anything at all.

None of it made any sense.

The doctor said she collapsed because of fatigue and stress. In layman's terms, it means she overworked herself to extent that her body couldn't take it anymore and her systems shut down. So all she needed to do was take some time off work to relax and fill herself with the nutrients that would help her regain her strength back.

I'm no medical personnel but I can say for a fact that Fatigue has absolutely nothing to do with relapses. There was no relapse in Fatigue and Tiredness. I mean, do people just get tired again all of a sudden after weeks of doing nothing?

Does that even sound right?

"I don't understand," I voiced out in confusion, keeping my eyes steadily on Mum to watch every single expression that goes through her face or flashes in her eyes. "The doctor said it was just fatigue and stress, didn't he?" I asked her and she nodded slowly.

"Yes, but-"

"There is no relapse for tiredness, mummy" I cut her off. "Especially since you haven't been doing anything stressful in almost a month.-"

"-Simisola-" Mum called softly, but I wasn't listening.

"-You were fine throughout this week, mum-"

"-I know, Simi. It's just that-"

"-You were perfectly fine yesterday! This makes no sense!" My frustration was getting the better part of me and I was raising my voice already.

"Simi," Dad called my name in a warning tone, and though I couldn't see his face, I could feel his glare burning holes into my back.

"It's okay," Mum held her hands up, indicating for Dad to calm down.

I inhaled deeply, averting my gaze from mum to the ground as I tried to calm myself. It was hard not to get frustrated, especially when I can feel things were not adding up. There were just so many loopholes in everything mum was saying, too many. And though I couldn't connect the dots and make sense of it, I could feel it in my guts that a lot of things were off.

When I overthink things like this, I'm never wrong. But still, I prayed that for once I was wrong. Just this once.

"Can you excuse us?" Mum asked. I sighed, thinking that they wanted to discuss without me, again. But when I attempted to stand up, Mum held me back down.

"Demilade," She called Dad's name instead, and immediately, I knew she was talking to him and not me. I finally turned around to look at him, wanting to see his reaction to that. And yeah, he was shocked.

"You want me to leave?" He asked incredulously, turning his eyes away from Mum to look at me. I quickly looked away before I could lock eyes with him, looking back at mum who had her eyes fixated on him.

"Please," She pleaded with him. "You know I'm the only one that can talk to him. Let me talk to him," She said. I heard Dad exhale, before hearing his retreating steps out of the room, leaving just Mum and me.

I sighed for the umpteenth time, feeling a lot more settled than I did when Dad was here. Having him breathing down my neck just made me so uncomfortable.

"Baby Boy," Mum whispered, bringing her hand under my chin to tilt my head up so I'd look at her. She was smiling again, and I almost asked why she was smiling, if there was something funny about this whole situation because there was nothing.

But I decided to put my mind at ease and listen to her. Mum might sugarcoat the truth but she won't lie to me.

"Mummy, what's really going on?" I asked her and pleaded with her. "Please tell me the truth."

"I'm telling the truth, Simi," She answered me, holding my gaze. I searched her eyes, looking for any element that she might be lying but I found none. "I had a relapse this morning after we talked on the phone." She maintained.

"A relapse how?" I had to know.

"I wasn't just diagnosed with fatigue and stress," She said, and I sat up. "The doctor called it chronic fatigue syndrome. Can you remember when he said that?" She asked and I nodded. That was what I couldn't remember when I was speaking to Gloria earlier.

"I've had accumulated stress, Simi," She told me. "I don't usually have time to rest, so when my body shut down, it shut down almost completely. I just need a while to recuperate, that's all," She said.

That's it? That's all? I wanted to believe but I was so uncertain.

"Are you sure?" I asked. Mum chuckled, holding my face in between her palms.

"I'm fine, Simisola," She answered, and I could hear the sincerity in her tone. "As I said earlier, they just need to keep me here for a few weeks, do some tests and observation to make sure I'm medically fit to finally come home. Soon, I'll be back on my two feet, okay?"

I exhaled, not knowing what else to say.

"I miss you at home, Mum," I whispered. "It's been so different without you and I don't think I can handle it anymore. I just need you back home," I told her.

"I know, Baby. I know," She sighed, taking her hands away from my face to hold my hands. "I miss home too, but we have no choice here. I'll be back soon, I promise. But promise me you won't worry about me too." I looked away from her when she said that, shaking my head.

I can't promise that. Why won't I be worried?

"Simi," She called persuasively. "Promise me,"

"Okay," I finally gave in, nodding. "I promise."

I said it just to fulfill all righteousness. Because God knows I'll keep worrying till she's finally out of this hospital and I am certain she's finally okay. But I only told Mum what she needed to hear, and the satisfied smile on her lips told me she bought it.

"Are those for me?" Mum asked, nodding towards something on the bed with a smile playing on her lips. I followed her gaze, my eyes falling on the bouquet and box of chocolate settled beside her. I even forgot I brought them along with me.

"Yeah," I reached over and picked up the box of chocolate while she picked up the bouquet, bringing it to her lips to inhale the scent and humming in satisfaction, mumbling about how nice the scent was.

Despite my inhibitions, seeing her like that made me smile.

Then, I remembered Dad was still outside and my smile faltered.

"Should I call Dad back in?" I asked her. She quickly shook her head.

"Not yet," She answered. "Stay with me for a few and feed me chocolates please." She added and I smiled, nodding. I tore the wrapper of the box open, opened the box, and began to feed her the balls of chocolate.

"I looked through your test scores," Mum spoke again, chewing on the piece of chocolate I just fed her. "You are really improving and I'm so proud of you," She sounded so impressed and it made my lips stretch wider in a smile.

"It's slow and steady-" I shrugged, trying to downplay it, it mum cut me off.

"But it's an improvement nonetheless," She said and I chuckled nodding. Chemistry and Physics were still a problem, but my maths was getting better.

"Hilary has certainly been doing a great job with the tutorials, hasn't she?" Mum added, her head cocking to the side with a teasing smile playing on her lips.

My lips twitched and I quickly bit down on my lower lip to stop myself from smiling. But as much as I tried to pause my lips and stop myself from smiling so hard, I couldn't help it. Especially not with her image conjuring up in my mind as soon as Mum mentioned her name.

Hilary.

"She's definitely doing a great job," I answered mum, stuffing two chocolates in my mouth to stop the smile that was slowly creeping up my lips. Mum must have picked up on my attempt because she just giggled and asked nothing more, thankfully.

Hilary has really been taking her time to break things down for me in a way that I would understand. And even if she has to explain things to me more than once so that I'd get it, she does it without complaint.

I was in awe of her patience with me. It was something else, something that left me awestruck every single time.

She's been doing the most since the confirmation of my reading disorder. One time, she came with printed materials that would help me learn more about Dyscalculia. She'd research and forward sites to me about the learning disorder, get learning materials that would help me improve, and use them to teach me during our tutorials.

I don't think I have ever had anymore so invested in making me better academically like Hilary has. Every single gesture moved me to the core, gave me more reasons to be... attracted to her,

More reasons to... WANT her.

I've been trying to downplay it for a while, telling myself I was only caught up in the moment the first time I told myself that I wanted her. But deep down, I knew that wasn't the case, not with the way things between us seemed to have evolved in just a matter of weeks.

Hilary has made it impossible to not think about her for one second. It was like everything I did or anything that goes on around me whenever she's not around made me think about her. Against my better judgment, I was slowly getting addicted to her presence... even to her voice, that I just have to hear her speak at least once a day.

I'd involuntarily pay attention to every gesture she makes, even as low as noticing how she bites the cap of her pen anytime she's trying to concentrate on solving an equation, or the way she always taps her foot on the floor whenever she's impatient.

Heck, I even noticed that she laced her sneakers in a specific way that took an awful amount of time to do, but she does it anyway, taking her sweet time. And I'd watch her attentively.

I notice literally everything about her and memorize it like I was preparing for an exam.

I've never had someone invoke a whirlwind of unnameable feelings and emotions in me before as Hilary does. It was crazy. It almost felt like insanity of the highest order.

It was supposed to scare me. Things like this were supposed to terrify the living daylight out of me. Things that made my thoughts all jumbled and made me feel so many emotions all at once. Things that caused my heart to skip thousands of beats in a second, to the extent of almost having a cardiac arrest. It was scary as hell and it was supposed to leave me shivering in fear.

But it didn't. Because these feelings were also beautiful.

These feelings made me all shades of happy, the happiness I have never felt in years. These feelings excited me beyond measures and made me smile at nothing just by thinking about her. Whatever these feelings were, I welcomed them. Wholeheartedly.

I want them.

And I want Hilary.

I wasn't sure what exactly I wanted her for but I know I wanted to have her around me at all possible costs. I just want her in my space. She was the one that made me feel these things and I wanted to feel more, just from her. No one else.

But does she feel the same way?

Do I make her feel these things too?

I couldn't answer that. I didn't know how to answer that. There was no way I'd know the answer to that. And the last thing I wanted to do was scare away the one person that made me feel these things.

My phone started vibrating in my pocket, alerting me back to the presence. I reached in and brought it out, looking at the screen to see who my caller was,

And my eyes widened in shock.

What is this witchery?

"Is she the one?" Mum spoke and I looked up, suddenly remembering where I was. Mum was smiling, glancing down at my ringing phone briefly before looking back at me. "Hilary is calling you," She noted.

Hilary is calling me. I could only think that because suddenly, I couldn't find my voice.

"You better pick up before it hangs up,"

Mum spoke again, nodding at the phone again with that smile still playing on her lips. I quickly collected myself, standing up from the bed and moving to a corner of the room to pick up the call. When I picked up, I brought the phone to my ear, my hands shaking involuntarily.

The first thing I heard was her soft breathing, followed by an even softer, "Hey, Simi," in a whisper.

Jesus. My heart picked up the beat in that instant and my mind went completely blank.

Say something, Simi. Say something.

"H-Hi,"

Fück! I sounded like a broken record. Mum was even laughing at my expense.

"Hi," Hilary answered, the laughter in her voice indicating that she heard my stutter. "Why do you sound so nervous?" She asked, the laughter still evident in her voice.

Because you are talking to me. I almost blurted out, but I held myself.

"Sorry," I apologized and she chuckled lightly in response, the beautiful sound causing my lips to stretch in a smile. "I'm just a little... tensed-"

"Don't be," She cut me off softly. "It's just me," She added and I exhaled, my smile widening a bit.

"It's just you," I repeated, more to myself than to her but I knew she heard me anyway, the soft giggle that escaped her lips proving that.

This girl has absolutely no idea what she's doing to me, does she?

"I went by the bookshop earlier today," Hilary started and I listened, shoving my free hand into my pocket. "And I saw this chemistry periodic table for beginners. I thought of you immediately I saw it and I got them," She said.

She did what! My mouth dropped open in shock.

"Hilary," I breathed out, almost speechless. "You didn't have to,"

"Are we really going to do this?" She laughed and I chuckled. "You know you can't talk me out of doing things like this no matter how much you try. Besides, it's just a paper poster periodic table, it's not like I'm sponsoring your whole learning therapy. I just want to help in every way I can too," She said to me.

"But you already doing enough," I told her. She was doing more than enough.

"And I want to do more," She said and I smiled, letting out a sigh.

This girl. This beautiful girl.

"Do you mind me coming over to fix it up?" She asked.

"Of course not. I don't mind at all," I quickly said and her laughter was my response. "I'll let you know when I'm on my way home, okay?"

"Okay," She replied. Even after we hung up, I just couldn't stop smiling at my phone. I bit down against my lip to stop myself but it was working. It never works.

"You are blushing o," Mum's teasing voice rang out and I spurned around, throwing an exaggerated glare her way, eliciting a laugh out of her.

"I'm not blushing, Mummy," I countered defensively. "Men don't blush," I added in a mumble and she laughed again.

"Man indeed. You are still my baby boy sha," She said and now, it was my turn to laugh and she joined me.

The laughter, however, was short-lived when Dad walked back into the room. But that wasn't why our laughter seized. It's because he walked in with a doctor. The doctor I met the day we wheeled an unconscious mum here. The doctor that said he was Dad's friend.

Doctor Desmond. That same doctor.

And he was surprised to see me there. His facial expression said so.

"Simi," He called my name, mustering a smile. "I didn't know you were here," He looked away from me briefly to my parents before looking back at me. The little exchange was sketchy, and my initial fears began to sip in gradually.

Don't overthink it, Simi. It's probably nothing. I told myself.

"I thought mum was getting discharged today, so I came to pick her up," I answered the doctor. He nodded in understanding, still smiling.

"I sure your parents have explained the new development to you then," He stated and I nodded. "We just need to keep your mum here for more tests and observations," He repeated what Mum said. For some reason, it made me frown slightly.

Suddenly, that sentence was starting to sound like a rehearsed line.

I tried not to think about it as much as I could.

"I understand," I said, looking at mum who flashed me a small smile of appreciation for my understanding.

"Speaking of tests," Doctor Desmond spoke, turning to my parents. "We have to do one right now, Kendra," He told mum and she nodded in response. The man turned back to me. "Simi, you'd have to excuse us," He said, and my frown deepened.

"I should wait outside?" I asked incredulously. I can't be here for the test? It was a little absurd. I've been here for every other test in the past weeks. Why is this different?

And just when I thought I had heard it all.

"Go home, Simi," It was Dad that spoke this time, and I turned to him, my mouth slightly a gap in shock. His face held no readable expression, his eyes trained squarely on mine as if he was daring me to argue otherwise.

Something was definitely going on.

"It's okay, Simi," Mum said softly and I turned to her. "You should go and see Hilary. I'll call you." She added, giving me a reassuring smile. A reassuring smile that did nothing to reassure me at all.

But I nodded nonetheless, not wanting to cause any trouble.

"Okay," I whispered.

Doctor Desmond saw me to the door. But when we got to the door, he closed the door as soon as I walked out. It was a weird action. A very weird action. Because that door has never been closed before. So why were they closing it now? When I was leaving.

Except they wanted to make sure I wasn't eavesdropping. They didn't want me to hear whatever they were saying in there. And that was enough to confirm my fear.

My parents were hiding something from me.

Mum was hiding something from me.

𝐀/𝐍

What is going on o 👀? What is happening? What are Simi's parents hiding from him, because I'm just trying to brainstorm and figure out but I can't 😭💔? These people haff gbe mi ni handicap.

It is well with Aunty Kendra🤧.

Simi is so adorable tho🥺, thinking about Hilary like that. I don't know if you guys noticed the lack of experience in the way he's thinking. The way he couldn't pinpoint what exactly he's feeling. It's obvious he has never felt this way before and it's so overwhelming for him. And Beautiful too😭.

This Chapter was meant to be the first swim lesson between Hilary and Simi, but this scene became quite wordy so I had to remove that part and put it in the next chapter... which would be a lot more, you know, romantic than this 🌚. I mean, when has a swimming pool never been romantic?

It will be a little sad too though 💔.

Who will tell Gigi that her boyfriend is with another girl o👀 because it cannot be me abeg. Someone else should do the honors, biko. I cannot comman die an untimely death💀.

Till the next update, kisses😘.