I stared out the window as the car drove past my sister's workplace. I couldn't help but remember the incident.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Looking at them, it seemed nobody wanted to answer me. They kept quiet. "I asked a question, and I demand an answer," I said, folding my arms.

"I would also like to know what's going on," Dylan appeared behind me.

Vivian and Charles exchanged glances, then looked at us.

"Uh, Susie..." Vivian slowly walked towards me. When she reached me, she pulled me out of Charles' office, leaving Dylan behind.

"Hey," I stopped her. "What's going on?"

"I bet you want ice cream. Let's go get one."

"Don't try to change the topic."

"What topic?" she asked, acting innocent.

"Vivian, there is something you're hiding, and I want to know."

"Wow, look at the time! I have to go; you know I have a modeling gig. Sooo, bye!" And with that, she left.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Sorry, miss, are you talking to yourself?" My driver brought me out of my thoughts.

"Uh..." Oh no, he's going to start talking about his village.

"In my village..." Darn it! "People who talked to themselves were considered mad." I lowered my head and shook it.

Thank God I wasn't born in this guy's village.

He dropped me off at school, and I ran to my class. I was already late and couldn't afford to get caught. I made it to my class on time—well, technically late.

As I entered, I got the usual noisy greetings from my classmates. I lazily walked over to my desk and sat down.

"Susan!" A familiar figure screamed in excitement and hugged me.

"Hi, Chioma, what's up?"

"Nothing ooo, no gist," she said, throwing her hands up dramatically.

"Well, I have some very juicy information," I whispered, creating tension.

"About who?" Chioma asked, but she didn’t seem too interested.

"Mr. Charles," I whispered again.

"What is it? Please tell me na," she immediately sat next to me, already losing her patience.

"But you didn't seem interested before."

"Sorry, that was a slip of the face."

"Fine!" I laughed at her remark, but before I could continue, someone entered the classroom, walked over to us, and started yelling at me. "Finally, you're in school. You’re always late!"

This guy again.

"So what if I came late?" I acted like a spoiled brat because, well, I am one.

"Can we leave the whole 'late' thing and get back to the gist?" Chioma said, losing her patience.

"I was waiting for you for two hours!" Dylan yelled, placing both hands harshly on the table.

"Oh really? Well, that changes nothing!" I spoke with arrogance.

"Okay, enough! Can I just hear the gist already?" Chioma said, noticing I had folded my arms and stared out of the window, while Dylan glared elsewhere, frowning. "Don't tell me you two are going to stop talking to each other now."

Silence fell upon us.

"Okay, fine, I'll talk." He playfully bumped my forehead.

"Ouch!" I placed my hand on it.

"I found out about them, but it’s not much," he continued.

"Really? What?" I knew who he was talking about, but Chioma didn’t, so I had to explain everything to her.

"I think maybe we should stop poking our noses into their business. It's their life, and they deserve space," I said after we finished talking. Everyone went silent for a moment, then Dylan and I burst into laughter. Chioma stared at us like we were mad.

"Their business is our business," Dylan added, gasping for air.

"Yeah, we have every right to know," I continued. Chioma understood why we were still friends—well, frenemies.

Class started and ended quickly. We were waiting for the next class, and I was busy reading... well, not my school book.

I turned to look at Dylan and saw that he was focused on his drawing again. He always concentrated when doing something important to him. He stayed quiet and had this gentle look. I stared and admired it.

I wish he was always this quiet and gentle.

"If you keep staring at me like that, you might fall in love," Dylan said in a serious tone.

"How did you know I was staring?" I turned my face in embarrassment.

"Are you seriously asking me that?" he replied, still trying to perfect the eyes of the person he was drawing.

"What are you doing?" I asked curiously.

"Practicing for the talent competition."

"I totally forgot about that," I said, frowning as I looked out at the car parked outside.

"Well, it's next year, so you don’t have to think about it now."

"Yeah, I guess." Seeing that car reminded me why I was both happy and upset today.

"You must really love having a cousin," I blurted out without thinking.

"Eh... yes, I do. Why wouldn't I? It's like having a brother."

More like having a goat.

"Yeah!... No," I shook my head in disagreement. "What if the person is annoying and likes taking what's yours?"

He stopped drawing and started examining his work.

"Well, I do have another cousin, and she is annoying, but I guess she'll always be my cousin," he added some details to the eyes.

"Oh! Cousin for life, eh?" I rested my head on my hand, looking disappointed.

"You could put it that way."

"Well, in that case, you'd better get ready. We have a new student." I smirked and glanced at the door as it opened, and two girls entered.

They were strangers. They stood at the front of the class, and everyone stared at them like they had entered the wrong room.

Anna stood next to a tall girl, and Anna wore—

Our eyes met, and she glared at me.

The class buzzed with excitement; everyone wanted to welcome our new "victims" to the class of horrors.

"OMG, this term is just getting sweeter and sweeter," someone remarked.

Not for me.

"How did you know we were getting new students?" Dylan asked, his eyes shifting from the newcomers to me. I just smiled and shrugged.

The new students introduced themselves, and everyone welcomed them. Denzel offered Anna Ifenna’s seat so she could sit next to him, and everyone quickly teased him, calling him a woman-lover.

"Your cousin is coming to this school?"

"How did you guess that so quickly?"

"I don't know. It's called sense, you should try it."

I chose to ignore Dylan's direct insult and looked over at his drawing.

"Hey, how does this shading on the eye look?" he asked.

"I don’t know," I said, though his expression faltered. I felt a little bad and quickly added, "Actually, it's fine. Maybe just add some shading here."

"Thank you! I was thinking the same thing." His mood lifted instantly, like a happy child.

"You’re so weird," I muttered, trying to hide the way his valuing my opinion made me feel something.

"Says the weirdo."

At that moment, I noticed my gullible friend Chioma chatting up my stupid cousin. Our eyes met briefly as my cousin made her rounds, introducing herself to everyone in class. She eventually reached Dylan, who was last on her list. Trying to create some tension, I began playing with his hair create this tension she didn't buy my antics. She kept talking, unaware that Dylan wasn’t one for introductions. He just kept drawing, nodding slightly, but never looking up.

She seemed a bit awkward, her smile faltering as she finally turned to me.

I knew how she felt, this idiot ignored me like that, too but I couldn’t stop the satisfaction from creeping in.

"Let me apologize for him," I said, giving her a fake smile. "He doesn’t like talking to b**** oh, I mean strangers."

She smiled back, just as fake, though I could tell she was annoyed. She probably thought Dylan was my boyfriend or something.

"Well mother said..." she began.

"My mother..." I echoed, mocking her.

"... said that from now on, I’ll be coming to school in our car."

"You mean my car?" I smirked.

"The one you’re using," she shot back.

"So, my car," I insisted.

She didn’t want to admit it. "Whatever. I’ve told you. That’s all I know."

As she walked away, clearly irritated, I giggled to myself. Dylan, still focused on his drawing, didn’t even look up when he asked, "So... what was that?"

Our eyes met, and I realized I was still toying with his curls.

"Nothing," I said, quickly pulling my hand away.

"Really?" He leaned closer, his voice dropping. "I felt like I was being used. I don’t mind, but if we’re going to be like that, shouldn’t I get some benefits? You know, friends with benefits?" He smirked, like he had an idea I definitely wouldn’t like.

I turned away, my face flushed as I looked out the window, trying to keep my cool. "I wasn’t using you, and " I babbled on, hoping he wouldn’t notice my shamelessness.

He stood up, leaning in to whisper something before heading out of the classroom. As I watched him leave, his words echoed in my mind.

Why does my face hurt?

"Between you and me," he’d whispered, "I think I kind of like it."

*************************