This chapter is a bit short. Sorry in advance 😪🤲🏾 but the next chapter will make up for it 🙂.

Chapter Twenty-two

CYNTHIA

I'm reminded that my parents will be back tomorrow as soon as I enter the car back to our home. And while Sam is super excited and can't wait for tomorrow to come, I'm pretty much anxious and dread its arrival.

For the rest of the day, everything I do is mechanical. My mind isn't in anything I'm doing so much so that I almost trip on the stairs when coming down for dinner and Nanny worriedly asked me to retire to bed early.

I lay down on my bed and for the first time since today, decide to look at my phone. I see messages from Grace asking if I'm alright after she also went all protective mode on me when school closed, asking why I went out of cafeteria like that during lunch.

There are also messages from John asking me questions of how I'm feeling and if I had eaten. He asks if I was really going to their secret room and I can't help smiling.

No wonder he looks like he has something to say throughout the time he sat with me today in class. This must be what he was wondering. He doesn't know that my parents are coming back tomorrow and he probably thinks I will be going with them.

I quickly reply him saying he shouldn't worry because I won't be going since something came up. Immediately, his reply came asking me what came up and I reply that my parents are coming back.

His response is just a simple, 'oh', as if he doesn't know what else to say. He is also aware of my relationship with them and knows my feelings might be all jumbled up. And then I look at the screen, expecting my phone to vibrate.

Not from John's message but from a call from them.

They've never called me on my phone or even sent me a single message since they have left. Can't they just make an exception today and tell me how happy they are that they will be coming back to us tomorrow?

My phone vibrates and my heart leaps but I'm quickly disappointed when I see that it is just a response from John.

'Everything is going to be alright.' He replies and I groan, rolling my eyes at the sentence. That's what everyone has been saying.

I don't text him back and just lay on my bed, waiting hopefully for a call from my mum or dad.

But I fell asleep while waiting.

***

I wake up the next morning with a start. I just had the weirdest dream of my life.

Well, since the ones I had when I was still hopelessly crushing in Michael back when we were in JSS2. 

And that's exactly the problem. 

The dream I just had was the type the Cynthia who had a crush on Michael in JSS2 would have not the one in SS3 who likes John instead. I mean I like John but I hardly dream about him so I'm really confused.

Why would I dream that I had almost kissed Michael? And why was the dream so detailed? Why did it look so real? 

Michael and I were sitting in the back seat of a car and I was confessing that I had a crush on him. I had even told him that he always looked sad and I wanted to help him fight his demons or whatever it is he was scared of.

Where had all that even come from? Why would I tell him all of those? I mean, I'm talking about the same cocky, egoistic Michael that acts like he controls the school who I definitely no longer have feelings for so what's the dream supposed to mean?

I suddenly remember the flashback I had gotten when he had almost kissed me in front of the Chemistry laboratory. I wasn't even thinking about it when I had fallen asleep so why did I dream about him in the same settings? And why does it look so much like it was a continuation of what I had seen back then?

Why does it suddenly feel like I am forgetting something? 

I close my eyes, trying to think of all the possibilities of something like that happening. What might have led to it if it had really happened, but nothing comes to mind. I just come up blank.

Deciding to let it go, I glance at my alarm clock to see that I'm already ten minutes behind my waking time and I'm sure Nanny will be on her way to see if I'm still asleep or awake.

On cue I hear a knock on my bedroom door.

"Come in." I yawn and Nanny comes inside with a smile.

"I was sure you were still on bed." She says, still smiling.

"Good morning, Nanny." 

"Good morning, dear. You are going to make Sam late and you are also going to be late if you don't go into the bathroom now." She complains and I stand up reluctantly, stretching.

"I'll lay down the things for you to wear so you can dress up faster." She mentions and I immediately smile. 

She gives me a wary look, "What?" 

"I like it when you help me dress up." I reply sheepishly and she smiles, shaking her head.

"You are no longer a child, you know." She chides but I say nothing and just hug her from behind making her chuckle.

"Thank you Nanny for being a mum to me." I murmur quietly, genuinely feeling appreciative of her and she stops chuckling.

She puts her hand on mine that are around her stomach and pats them, "Don't be like that, dear. You will always be precious to me but don't forget that I can never take the place of your real mother and she is coming back here today." She explains and I sigh.

She removes my hands from her stomach and turns to me, patting me on my cheeks.

"I know you are anxious to meet them because of how you parted ways the last time they were here, but I assure you everything will be forgotten as soon as they lay eyes on you. I know you miss them and they miss you too." She says with a reassuring smile and I give her a small smile in return.

"I really hope so, Nanny." I respond sadly and she nods her head.

"Now, go and take your bath. I will help with your things quickly and then check up on what Sam is doing. For some reason, I don't trust him to be alone by himself unless he is asleep." 

I chuckle at that and head to the bathroom to take my bath as fast as I can. I come into the room later and smile when I see that my uniform, underwear, socks and shoes are already laid out on the bed.

I dress up as quickly as I can and go downstairs into the sitting room to find Nanny with a guilty looking Sam.

"What did he do?" I ask, knowing he has definitely done something.

"He went to the fridge to probably drink some of the orange juice out of the pack without us knowing but he ended up spilling it on his shirt." She explains as she starts to unbutton his school shirt while he grins sheepishly.

"You really shouldn't be smiling." Nanny scolds and his grin fades and is quickly replaced by his guilty look.

I laugh at his change of expression but say nothing more as I go to eat my food while Nanny changes Sam out of the uniform he is wearing into another. She keeps on repeating how disastrous it would have been if he didn't have another uniform to change into or if the other uniform is dirty.

Soon, we are out the door bidding Nanny goodbye and we are on our way to school.

Sam is unusually quiet on our way to school and I know he is still reeling from the scolding he got from Nanny. He had even carried a stool so he could take the juice, I smile at the thought.

We get to our school, having dropped Sam already and I get out of the car. I look around, half expecting to see Grace but she is nowhere to be found. I thank the driver and after searching around for Grace and not seeing her, I join the assembly resignedly.

She arrives not too long after the morning devotion and I give her a questioning look as to why she is late. She gestures with her hand that we will talk later and I nod.

After the morning devotion, it is time for the Principal's announcement and she announces that the preparations for our Inter-House Sports Competition will start the following week.

The whole school breaks into murmurs at that announcement but the teachers around are quick to caution everyone. She continues by saying we will practice for two weeks and we will hold the competition the third week from now.

We are only in the first week of resumption and we already have to start preparing for the competition and it makes me wonder why we are having our Inter-House sports early this year. Apparently, I'm not the only one wondering because the whole school goes on full chatter mode.

The principal silences us this time around and then tells us that from next week, all lessons will be held till lunch break and after that all students should head towards the stadium for proper preparation of the competition. This is a normal routine during the preparation so we aren't surprised but of course, we cheer happily because there will be less work to do as of next Monday.

We march to our classes and I bade Grace bye before heading to my class. I sit down and wait for the first period to begin. My seat partner is absent but his bag is already on his seat. I look around for him but he is nowhere to be seen. While I'm looking for him, my eyes meet John's and he smiles at me. I return his smile before my mind begins to wander back to where Michael could be.

But then, it's only a matter of time before I start to think about my parent's arrival and the different ways it can play out, my mind undecided on how I even want it to play out. That's until someone loudly clears his throat, interrupting my thoughts and I frown, knowing who it is already.

"Good morning, Cynth." He greets cheerfully. The giddiness in his voice makes me turn towards him and I see that he even has a smile on his face. He seems to be in a good mood this morning.

"Good morning." I reply and start to remove my textbooks and notebooks for our Biology class. It isn't long after that the Biology teacher enters the class and after exchanging greetings with us, he writes the topic for the day on the board which is 'Energy flow in the Ecosystem."

Biology is easily one of my favorite subjects and we have a really funny and amazing teacher, Mr. Olaleye, but he is also very strict so no one likes to get on his bad side. I don't want to miss any of what he is going to say so I direct all my attention to him.

"So..." Michael suddenly whispers, his voice sounding closer than I thought he actually is, startling me and I turn to glare at him. It doesn't phase him though as he continues to talk. "...are you ready to spend some time with this guy later in the evening?" He asks, pointing a finger at himself with a cocky grin. 

I start to give him a sharp reply before realising that I never got to tell him that I won't be able to make it because of my parents. I begin to feel bad because he even left early to get the room ready for us when we won't actually be there.

"Actually, I won't be coming." I tell him and he automatically raises his head, creating more space between us.

"Why? We went through a lot to make the room more accommodating for you and now you are saying you can't make it? Do you hate me that much that you wouldn't want to spend time with me?" He asks, looking very disappointed but I can't help rolling my eyes at the last sentence.

"Stop giving so much importance to yourself. I'm not going because of personal issues." I try explaining to him. "And I'm sorry I didn't tell you earlier on."

"Hope it isn't something serious? Is it something I can help with?" He asks, surprising me.

I don't reply at first, watching him intently to see if he is actually serious. But there isn't any sign of him joking so I conclude he might actually mean it.

"No, it's not something you can help with but thanks." I reply and he gives a dramatic sigh.

"I guess we will be hanging out some other time." He adds gloomily, sulking and pouting.

Is he trying to look cute on purpose? It's kind of working though.

"How about I make it up to you? You can decide how." I blurt but then his face lights up and I don't regret saying it.

"Really?!" He asks a little too loud.

"Yes."

"We are cool then." He replies with a grin and I smile at him. 

We fall silent, just looking at each other until I notice that the whole classroom is also silent. There is no voice of the teacher in the background and not a single word from the students. I look up to see what is happening and discover that the whole classroom is looking at us, including the teacher.

Shit.

My eyes widen in panic and I glance at Michael who looks considerably calm but confused.

Mr. Olaleye has his attention on us and I groan, knowing I'm very much in trouble. I hadn't been listening to what he was saying and I will be dead meat if he asks me what his last sentence was.

"Cynthia." He calls and I almost whimper.

Why me?

I slowly stand up from where I'm sitting and look straight at the board, refusing to meet the gaze of the teacher. I already know what his question will be and he doesn't disappoint me.

"Tell the class the last sentence I uttered before I called you." He orders and I groan.

Kuku kill me. 

Michael, see what you've caused now.

I glance down at him, desperately looking for an hint from him but he only shrugs. 

What was I expecting? He was also not paying attention.

"Cynthia. You're wasting my time." Mr. Olaleye says flatly.

"I- I have no idea, sir." I reply quietly and take in a huge breath, knowing what's to follow.

He's going to send me out of the class.

"Get out of my class." He pronounces as expected and I can't help giving Michael a nasty look. It was all his fault. He couldn't have chosen a better time to ask if I was coming to his stupid secret room and now because of him a teacher is going to send me out of the class during a lesson for the first time.

I'm almost at the entrance of the classroom when I hear Michael's voice.

"Sir, she wasn't discussing with herself. We were discussing together. You can't send her out of the class alone when it was obviously two people involved." He complains and pretty much all the class starts to murmur.

I stare at him like he has grown two heads. Does he not know that he is only implicating me further? And who talks to a teacher like that?

Mr. Olaleye smiles at him and raises an eyebrow, "So you are saying I should send the both of you out of the classroom together?" 

"Exactly." He replies like he is glad he has gotten his point across and stands, ready to leave.

God. This guy can be so dumb sometimes.

Mr. Olaleye suddenly turns to me, picking up his cane, "Who told you to stop walking? Get out of my class!" He shouts, causing me to flinch and I hurry out of the class, the fear of getting hit by the cane paramount. He only carries the stick around to scare students but I don't want to be the first person he will use it on.

I go to stand by the window and hear him address Michael, "Now, young man. I'm going to ignore what you just said and tell you to sit right down and continue to listen to what I'm teaching you. I'm only giving you this warning because you are a new student and because I know you only want to continue your discussion with her outside the classroom. Cynthia, on the other hand, has been my student for a while and already knows the dos and don'ts of my class. She is lucky I'm only sending her out of the class."

As if he knows I'm still watching him, the teacher raises his head to look at me standing by the window, "I don't want you near this classroom at all, Cynthia. Go and find something else to do." He warns and then turns to the class.

Now what?

I can't just hang around on the corridor because if I get caught by a teacher, I'll get doubly punished or get dragged into the staff room. That second option is not even to be considered.

My only other option is the empty classroom down the corridor and with a huge sigh, I head to the classroom, hoping it will be empty or at least there won't be a couple making out in it.

When I finally open the door to the classroom, I'm not prepared for the total darkness that greets me. But it makes me breathe out in relief because the darkness in the class can only mean that it is empty. I lock the door from inside because I would rather be the only one in the classroom and walk to the windows at the opposite side of the classroom, opening them to allow light into the classroom and fresh air too.

I sigh contentedly, leaning on one of the desks and admittedly liking the fact that I'm able to skip a class and not have anything to do at the moment. I try not to think about the fact that I had turned John down in this classroom only few days ago and I had almost had my first kiss in it too. My heart starts to beat a little wildly at that thought and I raise my hand to chest, feeling my heartbeat.

If thinking about my almost kiss with John can get me all excited this way, I guess I really do like him. I remember the chocolate he had given me, Sam and I had shared it and I had made him swear that he wouldn't tell Nanny about it. I honestly wouldn't want to get interrogated by Nanny about it when I can avoid the situation altogether and thankfully, Sam seems to have even forgotten about the chocolate.

John had said he was going to court me but apart from the note and the chocolate, he hasn't really made any more attempts. Is he no longer interested? Or does he not know what he's supposed to do?

Well, he had mention something like that in his letter. I'm still waiting for the things he will do in the name of courting me. Maybe there will be a day he gets to do something that would make my whole body tingle like it had when Michael had kissed my palm.

I gasp dramatically at that thought, wondering why it had just crossed my mind. Where had it come from? And why the hell would I compare those situations like that?

I turn and my eyes meet with clearly amused ones and as someone who had thought she was alone in the class until now, I yelp back in surprise and scream, "Oh My God!"

The other person smiles at me, clearly enjoying the whole thing but I'm still trying to control myself from the feeling I have from getting surprised like that.

Then I gain composure and look at the person who is crazy enough to have sat alone in a dark classroom and has clearly watched me display as I was thinking earlier.

I do a double take when I realise who it is. Squinting, opening and closing my eyes to be sure that I'm seeing correctly. I mean why the hell is he even here? Sitting alone in the darkness and watching me right now with a small smile.

But then it really shouldn't have been surprising. He has always been weird and right now, we are both eyeing each other. But he is eyeing me with a smile, something I don't know how to react to.

He is resting against the wall with one of his knee up and the other leg lying on the table he is sitting on, his hand is lying on the knee lazily and the second hand on the other leg is clenched, like he is holding something tightly.

My eyes fall on the hand, my curiousity getting raised and he clenches it harder before he finally puts the hand in the pocket and it comes out unclenched.

"What was that?" I blurt out, asking about what he had put in his pocket. But that is actually none of my business though. I shouldn't have asked.

It's not like he's going to answer me anyway, I've never heard him speak since I've known him which might be for just only a while but that doesn't change the fact that the guy hardly talks.

"Nothing to worry yourself about." He replies, still looking amused and I'm too shocked to even come up with a reply.

Did he-

Did Peter really just talk to me?

***

Imagine thinking you're the only one in a classroom and you are doing something stupid like twirling around or doing a break dance, only to find a pair of eyes watching you with amusement. I can relate to the level of shock she must be feeling right now, even though she wasn't really doing something embarrassing.

Anyways, from this point onward, we will be seeing more of our silent character, Mr. Peter and oh, I can't wait. *grins evilly*.

I know some of you might be wondering about Grace and Femi too and I'm sorry their part is still not being actively involved. I promise you I'm getting there and I have a whole lot of thing prepared. And like I explained in the beginning of the book, you'll be getting their POVs so it's going to end up looking like you are reading their own story. Like a two in one story. Yeah, I know, I deserve a lot of love for that 😌😂😂😂.

And as for the problems of each of the guys. I feel I'm already dropping hints about Femi and some people can also guess what Michael might have gone through but doesn't know to which extent. Don't worry, you will see. *another evil grin*

I feel like I'm already saying a lot in this Author's note. Lmao 😂😂. Lemme just end this here.

Don't forget to share, vote and comment. Please, biko, you guys should be voting and also recommend. Na beg I dey beg o 😥.

So then, until the next update.

I love you guys 😘😘❤️.