I munched on my last Snickers as I waited patiently for Alan and Nicole, hoping he read the tiny piece of paper I slipped after class and also prayed Nicole had not left our group.

I smiled when I saw Nicole smile shyly then head towards me.

"I'm so glad you came. So you're not leaving?" I asked to which she just shrugged before replying "I guess not"

I smiled before returning my attention to the assignment I was completing.

Several minutes into my work, then I felt eyes boring into me and the hairs at the back of my neck stood.

On impulse, I turned my eyes to the right and couldn't help the smile that broke on my face. My breath hitched and my smile faltered as he kept staring intensely at me all the way from where he stood across the room till he got to where we sat.

He spared Nicole a glance before returning it to me "so I'm here", his gruff, bored voice brought me back to reality.

I should be mad at him for being 20 minutes late but I am not, I decided to take my advice in maturity to make this work out.

I cleared my throat before starting "okay so I'm glad you both came and about last time, let's say I hope it won't happen and-"

"-Cut the fucking sermon and go straight to the point" I was slightly pissed for the interruption before I reminded myself; maturity Raven, maturity.

"So we were given 3 choices of specimen and I feel using a toad is best or do you have any opinions?" My eyes drifted from Nicole who kept her eyes down to Alan who was too engrossed in his phone making me roll my eyes. This was gonna be harder than I thought.

"In the absence of any opinions, I suggest we raise money to buy a toad and also..." I was cut short again but this time by Nicole "a lizard is better" she looked unsurely between Alan and I before explaining "I mean it's more convenient and way easier especially since we have to take pictures of the mating processes. All we have to do is get an agama colony and our work here is done" I returned her tight smile with a smile of my own, glad she actually came up with something better cos let's face it, I wasn't even sure of what I was saying.

"Cool, so what do we require in this colony?....."

We kept discussing, okay more like me listening to her opinions since she knew it better and no response was gotten from Alan except for a few nods when we asked for his opinion.

"Alan, I would appreciate if you'd actually put some effort in what we're doing" I was annoyed with his attitude but I still tried controlling it.

He looked me dead in the eye for a few seconds before returning them back to his phone "I'm not deaf" groaning out loud, I almost pulled out my hair. I'm losing it.

"See Alan, I'm trying my best to tolerate you and be the bigger one, I really am and I'd like if you'll at least pretend to contribute"

"No can do" he continued tapping away on his phone and I wondered who he was chatting with, whoever that is could most definitely wait till later.

"So um.. I'll get the camera and the aquarium while the both of you get the lizards" Nicole spoke up, cutting short an upcoming argument and as what she said processed in my head, I asked suspiciously "why can't you get the lizard?"

She blushed lightly before whispering, "I'm herpetophobic"

"Herpetowhatnow?"

"Afraid of reptiles"

**

"Hurry up Liv, it's connecting" I hollered at Olivia who was in the bathroom, making her run as fast as Usain Bolt before jumping on her fluffy bed making me bounce softly as a result of the impact.

"Chill girl, ya gonna throw me out this bed" giggling, she nudged me slightly as we did a roll call on all the snacks and drinks we had cos this is gonna be a long talk.

"Hi there pipsqueaks" a cheerful voice resonated in the room as it's owner came in view in the screen of the laptop.

"Bonsoir Lenny"

"Bonne nuit Lenny" Liv and I spoke at the same time.

"It's bonsoir not Bonne nuit" Liv corrected

"You said good night was Bonne nuit and it's night already!" I interjected, defending my point making her face palm.

"Of course it isn't, it's just a few minutes after 5. All those Spanish you do is taking up all the language space in your brain" I stuck my tongue at her after her taunt and faced a laughing Olena.

"Bonjour to both of you, it's morning here and you guys haven't changed a bit"

If you must know, Olena is Liv's elder sister and just by looking at her dirty blonde hair and baby blue eyes, you can tell they are but she's far away at college in Paris and we haven't seen her since Thanksgiving last year and it's safe to say I miss her terribly. She's the sweetest person you'll ever come across and not your cliche blonde bitch. She's more of a down-to-earth funny girl and considering she's a billionaire's daughter, you have to give her some credits cos that's something you wouldn't have the pleasure of coming across everyday.

"So how's your hot boyfriend?" I asked, after many conversation topics.

"Oh Gabrielle is cool and still hot as ever" she gushed over her boyfriend making us roll our eyes. Don't get us wrong, we're happy for her and it'd only make sense if someone like him got paired with Lenny, I mean she is quite a package in looks and character in the good way and he seems so too.

"You guys need to see these pictures me and Gabrielle took just yesterday..."

"Aww.. this one's so cute" this time I was the one gushing at the picture where they were both kissing on a boat and from the angle taken, the Eiffel tower that was lighted up in the background made it even more aesthetic.

"I know right? We took it one of our romantic get aways" she showed us many other pictures, some crazy and funny making us laugh and others really cute especially the ones with Gabrielle.

"Gabrielle is one lucky guy and I see why they call Paris the city of love" Olivia wiggled her brows making Lenny blush.

"Okay so enough about me and my life here, how's things going over there?"

"Just as you left it, same ole boring l'ecole stuff" I replied making Liv and Lenny burst out in laughter and me pout.

"No way did you just say that"Liv said between laughter making me slap the back of her head.

"Ow! What was that for?" My attempt to make her stop laughing worked as she held the place I hit.

"That's for laughing at my french" I grinned at the glare she shot me and was about saying something when her phone lighted up as a message came in.

I was able to see that it was from an unknown number but couldn't see what it said as she quickly picked it up.

What made my eye brows knit in confusion was when I noticed the panicked look on her face as she quickly removed it from her home screen.

Should I be worried about that? But the speed at which she removed it from my sight alarmed me as it has never happened before but I didn't question her as she pushed it aside and pretended that didn't happen as we continued talking to Lenny.

Even throughout the conversation, I was restless and really bothered as one thought kept coming up in my head.

Is Olivia hiding something from me?

Any herpetophic reader in the building?? *Wriggles my eyebrows

Don't be shy, I'm shit scared of reptiles too 😂

What do you think Liv's hiding? Wild guesses 😏?

Xoxo Ruth.