I'm back again and I tender my utmost apology for going on an unexplained hiatus even if it's for a short while. I hope you guys find it in your hearts to forgive me 🥺😪. Ejo, e darijimi o, ikunle ni mo wa o 🙏🏾.

I planned a double update to make up for my delay in posting but I won't be uploading the second chapter until tomorrow. I'm still contemplating about something so that's why it has to be tomorrow. Don't worry, I won't fail to update this time, it's a promise.

Since school is on a break now hopefully, I will start updating according to the normal schedule after posting the second update tomorrow. Hopefully 😁😘.

On the other hand, how have you guys been? I'm not really the type to post on my message board and that's why you haven't been seeing messages asking after you 'cause I missed you all. I really did 😔.

My note is getting too long so I'm going to stop here and leave you to enjoy the chapter.

Happy reading!!!

***

Chapter Twenty Seven

MICHAEL

As soon as Cynthia leaves the rest of us to change her clothes, I feel the strange urge to follow her. It just feels like I should be with her instead of the guys.

The feeling must have been so obvious on my face because I receive a knowing look from Wole to which I raise an eyebrow defensively in question and he just shrugs. I also notice the intense look I'm getting from Peter, a look that is quite unsettling.

Come to think of it, he has been strangely quiet today, like on a whole other level of quiet. Yeah, he stays mostly silent in our conversations but he has not only said nothing since I've seen him today, he has been strangely just going with the flow.

On a normal day, he wouldn't have agreed to just sit at Cynthia's table just because I asked them to. I wonder what's going on in his mind.

Without thinking, I find myself speaking, "What other plans are you concocting in that devious head of yours?"

My voice sounds more bitter than I had intended but the way he had knew immediately that I was referring to him without mentioning his name and the way he had smiled, only made me wish I had spoken with more venom.

"What do you think?" He replies in his unbothered tone.

"I have no idea how a crazy brain like yours work so I wouldn't know. After all, it was that same brain that came up with making everything interesting and made everything complicated instead. I wonder why I agreed sef." I respond with annoyance.

"Oh, anyone can easily figure that out. You agreed because of your ego, making everything easy for me."

I think back to our agreement, wondering what he could mean by making everything easy for him.

Is he playing with me? Or is he just trying to make me annoyed on purpose?

"Do you think I would get annoyed because I supposedly 'made everything easy for you'?" I ask making an air quote while speaking.

He smiles his stupid annoying smile before replying, "I was only telling you the fact not trying to make you angry."

I don't even realise that my legs have carried me towards him until we are standing almost toes to toes.

"You don't even have to try, your face already makes me annoyed." I retort.

"It's an honour." He replies simply.

I clench my hands tightly by my side, wanting nothing more than to punch his stupid pretty face but before I can do that, Wole comes in between us and whispers in my ear, "Grace is watching and we might be outside the cafeteria but there are some students passing. We don't want to start any rumours."

"Like I give a fuck." I respond angrily, almost pushing him away.

But I soon realise that Grace watching means Cynthia might also find out about this and the last thing I want to do is paint myself as a bad person to her.

Giving him a slight shove, I head to the classroom to take my blue shorts and change quickly in the empty classroom.

When I arrive at the stadium, the first thing I notice is that St. James and St. Joseph are actually meeting opposite each other so I could see Cynthia from where I am standing on my team.

The housemaster of our team looks a little surprised by my presence and even more surprised when I tell him I want to run for our team. The team members on the other hand look really excited that I am on their team and even more excited that I am running for them.

I can hear them whisper to themselves that I must be a very good runner and they won't be surprised if I'm chosen to run the races for them. I can also hear some say I might not be a good runner since I have not taken part in the sports since I had entered senior secondary.

I smile as they debate amongst themselves, enjoying the fact that I'm their topic of discussion and at their very obvious hesitation to approach me.

Peter arrives not long after, also expressing his desire to run for the team. We both ignore each other, not even looking at each other's side and soon the debate shifts from whether I'm a good runner or not to who will be a better runner between Peter and me.

I'm suddenly annoyed at their discussion and wish that they will all just shut their mouths and stop talking.

As if that isn't enough to irritate me, I glance at St. James side of the stadium and my eyes immediately fall on Cynthia and John, both of them seemingly having a very serious discussion.

What could they be talking about so seriously? And what the hell is that John guy playing at?

He better not ruin my chance to get close to Cynthia. It's already sad that Cynthia even likes him in the first place.

If only she knows how much of a liar he is. If only she knows that how she thinks they came to meet is a lie.

How long do I have to wait for her to remember what happened that night? I know I was annoyed that she has easily replaced me in her memory with someone else but if I told her how I had saved her two years ago, she might begin to like me right?

The only problem is if she will be willing to believe me.

I bet that's the reason she even began to like him in the first place. And why the hell did he lie to get close to her? Why couldn't he just approach her without having to lie? He probably did that with a hidden agenda.

And knowing how dangerous he is, only God knows what he plans to do with her.

'Look at you thinking about someone approaching her with a hidden agenda. Aren't you both the same?' Those words from my subconscious evokes a feeling of guilt within me but despite that, I can't help disagreeing with its statement about the both of being the same.

Especially not after all the shit he has done to Wole and his family. The guy probably needs mental help.

"Michael!" A male voice shouts my name, startling me and I look up to see the housemaster standing in front of me and looking at me expectantly.

"Yes?" I answer unsurely.

"I've been calling you for a while now. It's your turn to run." He explains and I smile apologetically.

"I'm sorry. My mind was somewhere else." I reply quietly and remorsefully.

"It's okay." The housemaster dismisses lightly and points me to where I'm to stand.

I hear some subtle 'awwn' from the ladies in our team and I can't help chuckling a little at them. It's really not easy to be so good looking.

I glance at the people I'm running against and I almost breathe a sigh of relief that Peter isn't one of them. Let's just say running with him would mean no one will be sure who the winner is. I can end up winning or he can end up winning.

And with the possibility of Cynthia watching, I don't want to run in a race that I won't be sure I am going to win.

"On your mark. Get set." The housemaster calls and the words are followed by the sound of a whistle.

I immediately start to run.

Running has always been a sport I really enjoy doing, that thrilling feeling of continuously pushing yourself until you reach the finish line, and finally getting announced as the winner has always been fulfilling to me.

And not so surprisingly, I end up as the winner. In fact, I cross the finish line way before the person who is second did and I can't help smiling at that thought. I can hear the chants of my name from my teammates name and I'm still trying to catch my breath when I'm suddenly lifted from the ground and unto someone's shoulder. The grin comes automatically to me and I can't help chuckling at everyone's excitement.

Surely, Cynthia and her group members must have seen the race right? My group members are making enough noise to catch everyone's attention so she should definitely be watching too.

I'm however disappointed to discover that I am wrong when I turn towards her and find that all their team members are listening to something their housemaster is saying.

So she didn't even get to see me run?

I fight the urge to scream her name and wave at her so she will see that I'm being carried. How do I impress her if she won't even look at me? And what's that guy still doing next to her?

When their housemaster is done talking to them and she is finally looking here, John just had to say something to her and

I tap the guy carrying me to let me down and he does. The housemaster already asked all of the other members to keep quiet so the next group can also run.

Peter is among the next set of people to run and that's the only reason why I decide to watch their race but he isn't even trying.

He could easily beat all the people he ran with but he only beat the person who came second by probably three or five seconds.

Everyone applauds for him and he gives all of them a fake ass smile. He doesn't even try to put any effort in anything. Not in the race and not in socialising with his members.

He just really gets on my nerves.

After that race, I pretty much lost connection with everything happening around me and pay all my attention to the team tryouts across me.

John and Cynthia are still having this intense conversation and my eyes almost budge out of their sockets when he pulls her close and kisses her head.

Then he looks up at me and smiles, a totally smug and cocky smile. His eyes taunting me. He whispers something to Cynthia while still making eye contact with me and I immediately know the guy isn't normal.

I stare at him, wondering if he had known that I am looking at them from the beginning because he sure as hell didn't glance my way since they have been talking.

And like he had not just smiled at me, he makes a straight face faster than I can blink and pulls Cynthia away from him, then he brings out a flower from God knows where and places it in her hand.

A few of the guys in our team comes to surround me, trying to introduce themselves to me while making funny comments. I pretend to laugh when I hear someone laugh and reply absentmindedly to whatever they ask me.

I watch as Cynthia stare at the flower with a sad expression, like she's having an internal battle.

And for the first time since I've been on the stadium today, I see her start to look in my direction but because I don't want her catching me looking at her, I quickly look away and pretend to laugh along to what they are saying.

When I'm sure she isn't looking my way, I glance at her again and see her looking at John, a small smile on her face.

I feel my heart break a little as I see the tender smile on her face that is directed to him. She must really like him a lot.

Do I even stand a chance against him?

Not feeling like being in the stadium anymore, I contemplate leaving since I've already been picked to run for our team. But then I notice that the members of the St. James team are still running and the next group that's running includes John.

I don't know what made me decide to stay back. Maybe it's the fact that I want to see if John is a good runner or maybe it's just the need to see with my eyes that I'm better than him at something. I do know that I end up watching him run and I don't feel too happy to discover that he is in fact a good runner.

At this rate, he might end up representing their team and running against me on the day of the competition.

Of course, that doesn't mean I'm scared of having him as a competitor. I probably can't wait to see the look on his face when I finally win against him on the day of the competition.

I end up staying and watching all their members run instead of focusing on our members. And I won't deny being very impressed when I see Cynthia come first in her group. I guess she's a really good runner too.

I notice that she dropped the flower John had given to her when it was her time to run but what's even more satisfying is watching her forget all about it.

Even when the last group for their team had their own race, I couldn't help looking at her. She seems to have something brothering her and I really have to control myself and stop myself from going over to meet her and ask her what's wrong.

When they are finally asked to disperse, she immediately turns around, being one of the first few to leave the stadium while the rest of them stay back to hang around.

Whatever seems to be bothering her is still clearly doing so as she takes her time to walk, almost as if she's just doing so absentmindedly.

I glance back to where she had dropped the single rose flower that had been given to her, considering helping her bring it to the class and use that opportunity to find out just how much she's really into John. But just before I can reach a conclusion, I see something that only helps confirm the fact that John might indeed be going crazy.

The flower can be seen in his hand and with a blank look on his face that is directed at Cynthia who has no idea of how she is being looked at, he begins to pluck the petals on the flower one by one and drop them on the ground.

I stare at him with confusion. What the hell? Why did he just do that?

Is he being like that because she forgot all about the flower? He is not going to harm her or anything right?

I suddenly feel the urge to be with Cynthia and protect her. Who knows what that psycho might be planning.

But when I will turn towards Cynthia direction to see if she's still in the stadium, I find that she's no longer there.

I look at John and see that he's still rooted to the spot, still staring at where Cynthia has just left.

Hopefully, I will get to her before he does.

***

CYNTHIA

I'm beginning to develop feelings for Michael.

I can't seem to get that thought out of my head.

We haven't even become classmates for up to a week and I'm already developing a crush on him.

How could it be so easy to fall for him again? Despite knowing how much of an egoistic person he is?

It doesn't make sense, right?

Or is it just my feelings for him that are being reawakened? I was crushing on him back then in JSS2 so maybe it's plausible? But that is almost four years ago.

No matter how disturbing I might find it that I can develop a crush on him this quickly, what doesn't really change is the fact that I'm attracted to him.

Yeah, there's no denying that.

But what about John?

I enter the class and find it almost empty. I go straight to my seat and with a groan, I put my head on the table to rest a little. The running exercise was a bit exhausting too.

Maybe I shouldn't think too much about my feelings for the both of them. I've liked John for more than two years now and I'm sure my feelings for him won't just die because of someone that just came along.

I should stop spending much time with Michael and try to spend more time with John instead.

Being in John's company is surely better than being with Michael. Michael does nothing than get on my nerves while John is always so sweet to me. The flower he gave me today is proof of that.

Oh my God! The flower! How can I forget about it?

I sit upright immediately, thinking of going back to the stadium to get it but I'm startled to see Michael sitting on the table in front of me with his legs on the chair. He is smiling to his phone and I assume he is texting someone. When he looks up from the phone and sees that I'm sitting upright, he grins.

I give him a wary look. What's with him?

"Hey Cynth, dreamt about me?" He asks playfully.

"I wasn't even sleeping." I reply with a roll of my eyes.

"But you do dream about me at night, right?" He asks, wiggling his eyebrows and I just sigh.

"I'm really tired and I don't need you to add to the exhaustion. And I need to get back to the stadium."

I don't know if I'm reading too much into his body action but I notice how his body goes stiff when I mentioned going back to the stadium.

"Why?" The playfulness in his voice is totally gone.

"I forgot something there and I have to get it." I reply unsurely.

"If you are talking about the flower that was given to you by John, don't bother."

I blink up at him in surprise. How did he know about the flower?

"Why shouldn't I bother?"

"Because someone else already took it." He explains while looking down at his phone.

Well, that's really not surprising. I am the careless one for forgetting the flowers.

I give him a skeptical look, "How did you know about the flowers? And how did you know someone else took it? Were you watching me?"

I don't know what I was expecting as a response but it's definitely not what he says.

"Yes." He replies simply.

"You- you were watching me?" I ask again, suddenly feeling a bit flustered.

"Yeah." He says again with a shrug and smiles down at me. "By the way, you run really well. I was actually surprised."

So he was really watching me?

Why am I happy that he did? Isn't it supposed to be creepy or something related?

"Thanks." I reply quietly, trying hard not to smile.

"And you look good in your sportswear. You have such long legs and they look smooth too." He adds and my smile disappears immediately.

He just had to ruin it.

"I didn't know you were a pervert." I respond bitterly and he only chuckles and wiggles his eyebrow.

"Jerk." I mumble then pull my bag from inside my locker and drop it on the desk. I remove my school uniform from my bag and consider changing back into it in the girls' restroom but I drop it, deciding that I'm too exhausted. I will just go home in my sportswear and have Nanny get it cleaned before tomorrow.

"Remember what I wanted to ask you this morning?" He suddenly asks.

"No." I reply, not really paying attention.

"What I was going to tell you before the teacher entered the class this morning."

Oh, that.

I will be lying if I say I'm not curious.

"Yeah, what is it?"

"So, I was actually thinking, since we're on different teams, why can't we just make the competitions interesting by getting something out of it ourselves." He replies and I give him a confused look.

He smiles before continuing, "What I'm saying is that we should probably make -

"Cynthia! I've been looking for you in the stadium. I just thought to check the class and you were here all this while." Grace calls out from the window, cutting of Michael, before running into the class.

I glance at Michael and almost giggle at the look on his face. He doesn't look too happy that he is unable to complete his sentence again.

Grace sits beside me and then glances at the both of us before narrowing her eyes at me.

"What are you two doing alone in the class?" She asks me and I roll my eyes.

"We are not even alone in the class." I respond drily.

"Really?" She asks and something about her tone makes me glance around. The class was truly empty except for the three of us. That means Michael and I were alone in the class before Grace arrived.

My heart skips at that discovery.

"Why are you even asking?" Michael asks Grace and she glares at him before ignoring him.

"Cynthia, let's just go. Femi is waiting for me by the entrance of the school and he wants to collect my number." She tells me instead and starts to pull me from the seat.

"Alright. Let me just take my bag." I reply and she releases me. Michael also stands up and takes his bag from his locker. Grace gives him a weird look.

"What now?" I ask her.

"Don't tell me he is following us." She utters without hiding her annoyance.

"I'm not following you. I just happen to be going where you girls are going and besides my friends are there so stop putting so much importance on yourself." He says with a roll of his eyes.

I groan as Grace glares at him again.

What is wrong with her? And why is she suddenly practicing her glaring intensity on him?

"You guys should stop and let's just go." I say to the both of them and walk out of the class. I turn around to see them still glaring at each so I go back to pull Grace away.

"Since when did you start disliking Michael?" I ask her as we approach the stairs at the edge of the corridor.

"Since he acted that way towards..." She trails off and then starts again, "Since he reacted with dislike when you mentioned that I was in the same team with him." She says with distaste but I can't help thinking that wasn't what she was going to say.

Michael is walking behind us but he has his headset on his ears, he seems to have tuned us out.

"But you do realize you like his friend, right?"

"Actually, his friend is nothing like him. You know, I've just come to realize how conceited Michael is, he always feels like everything should go his way and throws a fit when it doesn't." She replies and I raise an eyebrow.

Okay? I agree with her but she has always literally fancied him even though she had a crush on Femi.

And isn't it Femi who doesn't always seem to believe it whenever we refuse to hang out with them?

"I hope you get over your dislike for him soon though."

"What does it matter to you whether I dislike him or not?" She asks, narrowing her eyes at me and I roll mine.

"Disliking someone doesn't suit you." I reply and she thinks it over before shrugging.

"I doubt I'll be getting over my dislike for him soon." She glances back at him with a glare again as we descend the last stair and walk out in the open.

We walk towards the gate and we see the guys talking to each other. Well, from what I see, Wole and Femi are doing the talking while Peter is just listening.

"Hey, guys." Grace greets, calling their attention to us.

"Hey, ladies." Femi is the first to reply with a wink and I smile. Grace is looking at him like a lovesick puppy with a dreamy smile and I just had to pinch her.

"Aw!" She shouts and rubs her arm then glares at me. I only give her a sweet smile in return.

A horn in the distance diverts our attention and I realize it's my driver waiting for me.

"I'm guessing I have to go now." I tell them and they nod in understanding. I hang my hand around Grace's shoulder and pull her away.

"What's it?" She asks.

"I just want to remind you that you're going to tell me whatever happens on your date with Femi." I tell her.

She smiles knowingly, "That's still tomorrow."

"I just want to make it clear from the onset that you'll be telling me everything in details." I say again and she chuckles.

"No problem." She replies and I remove my hand from her shoulder. We walk towards the boys and they all say their goodbyes to me, except Michael who is still yet to get to where we all are standing.

I start to walk to the car but I quickly steal a glance at Michael and see him resting on a wall, his headset still on his ear. He is also looking at me and I wave at him with a small smile. He doesn't wave back at me but he returns my smile.

And somehow that small smile he gives me is better than all the goodbyes from the others.

I must really be attracted to him.

***

Another chapter that I hope you guys enjoyed.

Our main characters are coming to terms with their feelings but do you guys see something forming between them soon or do you think it's going to be far away?

The second chapter I will be updating tomorrow has a new POV that I'm pretty sure you will like but will leave you with mixed feelings. Guess who?

Don't forget to share, vote and comment.

Until next time.

Wait, next time is tomorrow 😂😂, so until tomorrow.

Take care of yourselves.

❤️❤️.