Life Of Jiji

All Rights Reserved

2020 ©Tena Ifiemi

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"ЏФU GUЏS, ł'M SФЯЯЏ." I said quickly and Ayo narrowed her eyes.

"For?"

"Its my fault that Reya punished you and..."

"Did you tell her to punish us?" Nengi asked and I shake my head. "And even if it was you who told her, we totally deserved it."

"But see what happened." Amarachi piqued in. "Chisom told me, Dami, Katherine, Nengi and Zainab to come to your room. At first we were talking about regular things and I swear what you heard was all she said about you, I promise. I'm not trying to defend Chisom. She was the one that brought this upon us after all. I just want you to know that we wouldn't have stood for it if she said anymore."

"And Zainab would never be part of something like this." Nini added hastily. "That girl adores you. Chisom called her to dress her bed that's why she was there. She'll probably come and talk to you later today. She couldn't come now because she hasn't completed a Government note. You know how Tokumbo can be. Please don't be mad at her, the poor girl is killing herself over this."

"Aw, Ejiro!" Ayo groaned as she rushed towards me swiping my cheeks with her thumbs. "Don't cry please, I already feel awful."

"We!" Katherine corrected from behind her and I couldn't help smiling between my tears. I didn't even know I had started to tear up and now I'm a sobbing mess on Ayo's shoulder.

"I know Ovieya said you shouldn't see us as your friends," Ayo started saying. "But we're sorry, we really are. Its all Chisom, I swear. We were talking about the Kardashians and Chisom just started talking about you! Out of nowhere!"

"Should I come back later?" I know its Mitchell immediately I hear the voice so I release my self from Ayo's grip wiping my cheeks before I look to the door where he's standing very awkwardly.

"We'll see you later Ejiro." Nini says immediately she catches a glance of his face and soon all the girls filed out after her and Mitchell came in. I couldn't help but notice the way Nini violently brushes against him as she passed the door.

"What was that all about?" I asked him as he pulls a chair to the bed and sits down.

"What's this all about?" He retorts gesturing to my weak form while tactfully dodging my question.

"Something called Malaria." I tell him and he shakes his head.

"Are you okay, Jiji? I mean, besides this malaria...what's going on? I've been hearing some very unpleasant things." He says and I narrow my eyes but this only makes my head hurt more.

"Did you just call me Jiji?" I arch my left brow as high as it could go.

"Sorry, its what Ovieya calls you and... Never mind." He scratches his head and I frown.

"You want to know my problem? Its you! You're obviously keeping something from me. Something that might have to do with all this!" I practically explode.

"Hey, calm down." Mitchell begs looking uncomfortable. I feel the moisture on my cheeks again and curse. I hate being a crybaby but life is not fucking fair is it? And my head hurts so much! "I think you need to rest Ejiro. I'll see you later and I swear I'll tell you when you're feeling much better." He promises.

"I'm sorry, I'm very embarrassing." I say wiping my face. The way I'm acting, he's probably saying we can talk when I'm more 'sane'.

"You're not. See you later." He says and leaves.

I feel strong enough to go to class a few hours later but since I didn't want to face anybody yet, I just sat back and stared at the wall. Sitting in one place drives me crazy so when the bell goes off indicating that school is over I spring up, grab my bag and start moving almost bumping into Zainab as a result.

"Oh, hey Zainab." I greet acknowledging her presence. Zainab smiles nervously.

"I heard you were sick."

"Yeah, but I'm okay...for now."

"See, about-"

"Zainab, its in the past. I don't even remember what happened, really." I assure her but she still refuses to look at me.

"How was class today?" I asked desperately trying to lift the mood.

"Annoying as usual." She complains and I laugh. We had left the sick bay area by now and we were heading to the cafeteria.

"Who's annoying?" I turned to see Damian walking towards us.

"Uh oh." Zainab says. "Bye, see you later." She starts leave but I hold her back.

"Where are you going?" I whisper. There's something about Damian that gives me the chills and suddenly I didn't want to be alone with him.

"To catch up with my classmates! Sorry my child, you have to deal with this alone." She smiles and runs off.

Her child!? Did she just call me her child though? Children these days have lost their manners.

"Hey Ejiro." Damian said placing his hand on my shoulder.

What is with him and shoulders?

His hand then left my shoulder, moving upward to rest on my neck. What is he doing? I'm holding my breath right now! Damian then leans in and whispers into my ear,

"You can calm down Ejiro, I was only checking if you still have a fever."

My chest heaves as I release the breath I've been holding. I raise my head to see Damian smirking at me. I've only pictured people smirking in my head when I read books but I know Damian is smirking right now because he has this weird smile and its annoying. Don't tell me I'm wrong cause I don't care.

"I feel like you blush more than you breathe." Damian suddenly says and I blush just before giving me my best 'really?' face. He just shakes his head and continues walking.

"I'm saying that if your skin was lighter than this you would be a walking tomato."

"Damian!" I cry, punching his arm.

"I hope that wasn't supposed to hurt." He says following a light chuckle.

"Why?" I frown, tilting my head.

"Because it was pathetic." My frown deepens and I start to walk faster, leaving him behind me. He reached my side again in two seconds. Throwing his hands over my shoulders and drawing me closer causing me to tense, he whispered, "But its probably the malaria. I'll make sure to avoid your punches when you get better."

I give him a shaky smile and he releases me. How can I pass the message that I'm not comfortable with people being too close to me across? I can barely endure hugs and even holding hands for longer than necessary freaks me out. Its like a phobia. My heart actually races and it feels like everything is closing up around me. Making up my mind to google it later-see if there's actually a name for it-I follow Damian to the cafeteria.

~•~•~•~•~•~

I finished lunch fast and went to the hostel because everyone still had large mounds of food on their plates and waiting for them would take forever. To be fair though, I was only able to finish that fast because of my poor appetite which made it impossible to eat more than five spoons of my jollof rice... And my meat. Everyone eats their meat no matter what. Its the first rule of dining!

Lunch was normal today, in case you're wondering. I mean, it was like yesterday night never happened and I was grateful for that. Even the boys were nice. It didn't look like they had anything against me. Richard even volunteered to walk me to the hostel gates when I said I was leaving. The walk was quiet as usual but it was a comfortable type of silence. It was an 'I understand Ejiro likes it this way' kinda silence.

On getting into the gates, I wave goodbye to Richard and walk the remaining distance to the hostel. Boys were not allowed past the gates. It was a strict rule. I greeted the hostel staff as I passed the common room and collected my freshly washed clothes from the shelf of laundered clothes before moving on. Now all I have to do is take off my clothes and sleep. Even though I practically slept the whole day, I still feel exhausted and trust me when I say I'm not proud of that. Pushing open my room door, all hopes of a good afternoon nap were cut short when I saw Chisom standing in front of my wardrobe.

What on earth does she want with my wardrobe?

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My loves!

This book is going faster than I anticipated but with all the motivation I receive from you guys, how can I dare disappoint?

I hope you liked this chapter cause I'm not so sure. Another cliffhanger, sorry but I like them😉

And what do you think about the length of my chapters? Too short? Or just right? Cause they're definitely not too long, that's for sure.

I shall see you in Chapter 14!

Toodles...

Tena!