Clubs day came too soon and Ifechi felt no enthusiasm for a day she'd so dearly expected before.

She'd already made clear her intention of not leading jets club before that day, to the surprise of many who found her to be the perfect fit.

Not many people knew why she'd abandoned the responsibility, except a few who knew of her "situationship" with their clubs President who ended up dating one of the meanest senior girls they knew.

The day was as uneventful as Ifechi's mood. It was a school event, meaning parents were not invited and students still wore their uniform despite going to spend half of the day in the school's mini hall.

Ifechi sighed as she stood by the door of the hall. Student's were sectioned according to their clubs and Ifechi didn't want to go to hers because of a specific someone.

As much as she tried to convince herself that she didn't care, she knew she wasn't over him. At least not yet.

Damien on his side fumbled with the machine on the display desk, Jets club was going to present first and the prototype his assistant, Dera had managed to wrap up didn't seem to be working.

He knew of a certain someone that could fix the issue, but after the way she snapped at him when he tried to talk to her that Tuesday, he knew better than to cross her path.

If only she didn't fall stupidly for him.

He wasn't oblivious to her feelings and of course he wasn't stupid to deny that he broke her heart, yet it did surprise him, how she acted towards him. He was just trying to be friendly, and prove that though they were not dating as their classmates and some other students had began to rumour, they could still be friends.

Ifechi thought otherwise.

While she stood there, arms closed, waiting for the event to begin so that she could slip into another club she didn't belong to, a female figure approached her.

Ifechi was surprised to see her after so many weeks.

"Charity?"

The girl smiled. "You remember my name"

It was Ifechi who had saved her from the hands of her worse bullies. They had been tormenting her ever since she tried to flirt with Josh, Grace's super hot and rich boyfriend,  but she wouldn't think of telling Ifechi that.

"Of course, do I look like I have amnesia" Ifechi raised an eyebrow.

"No, its not...It's not like that...I'm so sorry, I swear that's not what I meant... " she stuttered afraid that she may have offended her.

"Geez...chill out, I was just joking, I'm not angry"

Charity calmed down when Ifechi smiled, showing that she wasn't offended. "I was just surprised, yunno I'm like a nobody and you're very popular and cool"

If Ifechi was taken aback by such flattery, she didn't show it, she only gave her an encouraging smile and replied
"you're not a nobody."

They chatted for minutes after that, Ifechi was an easy person to talk to and Charity was elated to have a conversation with someone she'd admired so much not just because she'd saved her from the hands of her mean classmates, but because she was both very smart and very beautiful. Who wouldn't want to be like her?

"Are you and Damien quarrelling?" Charity asked out of the blue taking Ifechi by surprise. She blinked rapidly before replying.

"No..no, we are not, why do you assume So?"

Charity was shy to admit she'd been watching them closely for fear of being seen like a stalker. "You two used to be very close especially during meetings to the point where I thought you two were even dating, now you both act as if you're avoiding each other and it's as if he made you give up being our presenter today"

Ifechi was astonished by such observation, so her business wasn't as sleek as she thought it was and who knew that even junior students now noticed her cold attitude towards her former "lover"

She racked her brain for a suitable reply but she couldn't find any

"Not all friendships are meant to last" was her simple reply.

"Did you like him though?"

She faced Charity fully now, searching her face for any sign of mockery or fake sympathy like what some of the lousy C girls showed her in the past few days, but she saw none. All she saw in the girl's innocent but pretty look was pure curiosity and a hint of fear.

"Yes. Yes I did, but he didn't like me back so that's that. I don't want to continue this conversation" she said plainly crossing her arms underneath her chest.

Charity got the memo immediately and her face fell. A group of SS2 girls entering the hall turned to look at them. Many of them waved at Ifechi who responded with a nod, and they hissed when they saw it was she their senior was talking to.

Only Ifechi seemed to have missed the stink eye the girls gave the person beside her. Charity herself knew that her classmates weren't exactly fond of her, she was the class outcast, the "feeler monger" if you will.

She mustered up all the courage she had left and asked  Ifechi what she'd been dying to.

"Will you be my school mother?"

"Huh?" Ifechi who had zoned out snapped back to reality.

"Pls be my school mother" Charity repeated fighting  the urge to back down from her request.

"School mother?" Ifechi asked surprised. Of course she knew what a school mother was. In her former school, it was the senior whom you fetched water for, made their beds and washed their clothes, basically an SS2/SS3 girl you slaved your entire school year to. But what does a school mother do in a day school? Buy snacks? Help with homework.

Lol. She chuckled in her head.

"Yes

Before Ifechi could speak, she added. "I just...I really admire you and I want to be like you when you grow up"

A puzzled Ifechi looked around briefly before pointing to herself. "Me?"

Charity gave a shy nod "Yes.. You are my role model. Apart from saving me that day, you're very kind and pretty and extremely brilliant. I heard how you beat those royal college wizards at the competition, pls be my mentor"

After much hesitation, Ifechi shrugged.

"Fine."

Charity looked like She had won a lottery.

...........

"You're unbelievable"

"Excuse Me?"

Chidera, or Dera as most people called her wasn't one to go around raising her voice. But something Ifechi had done really irked her.

"How could you abandon your club like that, just for your own selfish reasons?"

Ifechi stopped the calculus equation she was solving and looked up.

It was the day after clubs day. Jets club had flunked their presentation thanks to a malfunction of their working project. Arts and Cultural club ended up taking the title for "Best club" after wowing the entire school with their musical dance presentation.

"Jets club have always won best club of the year, it's our thing! And we should be the ones with that plaque now"

"Ok?what does that have to with Me?" Ifechi scoffed. Dera stared at her in shock.

"Are you kidding Me? You literally made up flop, if you had finished building the prototype like you ought to, things wouldn't have messed up in the machine"

"Ehen....and so?" Ifechi said not having it. Sure she left her club because she didn't want to breathe the same air as Damien, but how was it her fault that their tech project misbehave before their presentation. Dera said she could handle it when Ifechi dropped the lead position, so why was the girl now barking at her.

"What do you mean and So? You came up with an exciting project all by yourself and left it mid way, how was I supposed to know how to complete it?"

"You said you could handle it when I dropped"

"I meant the presentation, not the building of the machine...Gosh What is wrong with you?"

"It was a simple prototype of a bubble machine, I showed y'all the plan, even a baby could have done that..You're just looking for someone to blame your losses on, and sorry but that's not me. So if you would excuse me, I have a book read."

Their classmates could only watch the scenario, some anticipating Dera's reaction to Ifechi's nonchalance while others watched with mischievous smiles hoping for a fight to unfold.

"You know what?...keep living like the selfish fool that you are. Just because you got heartbroken doesn't mean everyone has to suffer for it, I hope you're happy we lost"

And she walked away leaving Ifechi dumbfounded and on the verge of anger.

Just because you got heartbroken doesn't mean everyone has to suffer for it.

The words ached, not because of the way Chidera said it in front of her classmates  including Aliyah, but because she knew it was true.

Her new attitude towards her surrounding was not the same. She was no longer the sweet, cheerful Ifechi people knew her to be. She had become more distant, sarcastic and impatient. Her class boys could barely even talk to her.

She glanced around, most of her classmates gave her ugly stares, including Anita.

"You just have just helped them" she muttered.

Ifechi grabbed hold of her math book, her calculator and her jotter with her pen in it and left the class.

The road to physics lab was weirdly long today. It had rained that morning and the muddy sand on the interlocked ground made her shoe sticky.

She suddenly felt irritated.

"Fine girl"

"Hello, fine girl"

"Our math queen"

"Ify!"

" ah ah Ifechi now !"

If she had a stone, she would have thrown it at the owner of the voice, but when she turned, she regretted her proposal when a smiling Korede came hopping towards her.

"What's up"

"I'm good, how are....ah ah this one you're frowning, are you angry or something?"

She hissed.

"Ah ah..is it me you're hissing for? What's going on now, did I offend you?"

"I'm not in the mood" she snapped and truly she wasn't. Maybe for someone else, but not friends of the person who had  basically played her and left her shattered.

Kods stared at her and shook his head. Another reasonable person gone because of foolish romance.

"I get that you're angry at a certain someone. I won't call his name but I know for sure that it's him"

She gave him a once over,  staring straight into his eye, her already bad mood turning sour before deciding she couldn't handle the stress.

"See...I don't want to say anything I'd regret later, I'm already having a bad day, I'm already going somewhere, see you later"

He watched her in amusement as she slid past him and walked a few steps. Suddenly she turned and walked up and he raised his eyebrows, genuinely concerned.

"You know what, you're right.. I am angry, very angry, furious if you may at your friend but if it isn't clear, I'm also angry with you and Thomas and Charles"

She had purposely  skipped P.G because she didn't want to get more annoyed by merely saying his name.

"Haaa! Angry with us kwa, what did we do?"

"You're for real, you're seriously asking me that?" She berated him while he just shrugged.

"Yes, I don't see how any of this us our fault."

Ifechi scoffed. "Really?"

"Hm"

"Okay then, explain to me how your friend would be aftef two girls at the same time and all these while, you guys knew that I was just the side chick, the one he was using to catch cruise 'the toy'...." She said making air quotes with her free hand "....and none of you said anything, not even a single warning to me, oh how very nice of you" her tone was dripping with sarcasm so bitter than Korede almost flinched.

"Who said we knew?"

"Please save me that crap,  boys always know.. girls can get away with that kind of thing, but you guys are all together, you're all the same...you always know what's going on in each other's lives"

"That's a very bold claim to make" he said chuckling but stopped when he noticed her heated glare on him.

"See...Ifechi, how do I put this?..."

She folded her arms waiting for him to begin his mini lecture.

"First of all, not all guys are the same, sounds cheesy but it's true. We may be friends, but it doesn't mean that we knew what our friend was doing. Even if we did know, it doesn't mean we supported him or intentionally hid it from you to hurt you. Secondly, lets say we knew and decided to tell you...if any one of us had walked up to you to say that Damien was simply playing you, would you have listened to us? Be honest with yourself..would you?"

Ifechi caught herself thinking against her own will. Korede was right, she undoubtedly would have refused to accept. Sure she knew that attractive boys like Damien had play-boy tendencies, her naive, sensitive heart would rather stick to believing the lie that she was 'special'

She bowed her head finally seeing things from his perspective.

"No"

"Good, so how can you blame us?" He said raising his shoulder and spreading his palms for emphasis.

"Ok ok fine, that may be true, but when he started talking to another person, you guys should have known something was up, you could have told me then and I would have reasoned it" she added lamely, Korede looked at her as one would look like a little child trying to justify his mess.

"We are all in the same so you don't expect us to be playing watch man on your crush, I believe you you are not blind, you should have been able to notice when things had started to get fishy too"

She frowned as his words hurt her ego.

"I was indeed blind" She moved back and started to walk away but he called her back.

"Oya oya sorry, that's not what I meant, I'm just trying to say that it's not our fault and we have no hand in what lover boy did. Is that fine?"

She stared at him for some seconds before replying.

"Yeah I understand"

"Just let go of the past, move on. There are other guys in our set that are probably crushing on you like mad. You're smart and beautiful, you can't let one small heartbreak disturb like this na"

She smiled genuinely for the first time that day.

"Thanks"

"And I'm sorry on his behalf, he's a mumu, big olodo."

She chuckled.

"Its okay, you don't have to. I'm apologising for misjudging you and being rude" she said solemnly.

"That's fine...who am I to vex for her royal highness, the queen of maths, lorde of numbers...I hail you o!" He joked and she shook her head laughing.

She suddenly felt lighter.

"Thanks, really..for this conversation. I really needed it."

"Sure anytime"

She smiled and waved good bye but he stepped in and started walking beside her.

"So where are you going to now?"

With a much lighter heart and a big smile, she replied. "To read more maths"

"Osheyyyy! Einstein!"

And she burst out laughing feeling much more better than she'd felt in days.

Finally, I posted 😂

If you've been waiting for an update, I'm sorry for keeping you waiting for So long.

So they've helped reset Ifechi's brain 😂, lets see her the rest of the term will be now.

Pls vote and comment and share.

God bless you