"Jellyfish," I hiss out as the ball flies past me. "Benjamin, you be jellyfish".

He jogs to me. "What happened?"

"I said pass the ball to me. You no dey hear word," I say and use my hands to shade my eyes from the sun. "You should have passed it to me".

He nods. "Sorry! Maybe next time".

School is over for the day and the football team of Prime High College are having their practice for a game tomorrow. It's just a simple, entertaining match where different classes compete. I'm in SS3. Yep! You heard me right. I have WAEC, NECO and JAMB knocking at my door and they don't look happy with me. I jog around the field trying my utmost best to get the ball. I'm the only girl in the football team. My school is the most expensive in our local government area. It's actually for children from wealthy family. We have politicians who happily pay their kid's school fees just to boast that they have a child in this great citadel of learning.

For me, I believe my school is like any other secondary school. We use the same WAEC syllabus like them. The difference is that we pay big fees because the school building, cafeteria and sport center are huge. That's all oo.

"Sam, catch the ball," Benjamin yells and passes it to me. I effortlessly stop its movement with my leg and begin to dribble other boys as I run to the goal post. With one shoot, the ball flies in and everyone in the field screams, "Goal!"

I bask at this feeling and smile as our coach, a bulky middle-aged man, Mr Balogun by name, gives me a thumbs up. I smirk.

"Pass the ball to me," one of my team members yells to me.

I nod and send the ball to him with a high kick. He notice the speed at which the ball is flying and dodges it. My eyes goes round as it heads out the field to the part where most students are. The ball hits a boy and he drops to the ground. I gasp and we all run to him.

It turns out to be Mr I-am-too-fine. I don't think you know the guy. His name is Daniel and he is every girl's crush— except me, of course. God forbid I get infatuated with such a proud boy. He is the most brilliant boy in our class. I'm sure the school will give him Head boy. For me, I don't see him as a hottie but a weird science freak. He is always in the science lab and he is always building robotics. I just feel the guy knows he is handsome and so I'm sure that makes him proud. I know he wants me to like him but never. I can't like a guy like him. He is not even my type sef. Taarrrr! I don't even date sef. Football and games are in my heart right now.

He rise from the floor. "Ouch! That hurts," he mumbles. Girls appear from nowhere and start to hug him. They tell him sorry and use the opportunity to touch him.

"Who kicked the ball?"  Nora scowls. Do you remember my cousin that is the queen bee of her squad? Yeah! She dates different guys but unfortunately for her, she has this big crush on Daniel that she can't overcome.

"I did," I reply her. She narrows her eyes at me.

"Are you blind? Why would you kick the ball like that?"

I shrug nonchalantly.

"I've told this school to put net around this field. You all are just too rough. You want to injure your spectators".

I shrug again.

"You can't say sorry"

The boys in the football team chorus "Sorry" but my mouth are still sealed.

She cocked a brow at me as if daring me to go against her. "What happened to your mouth? You can't talk? Apologize to Daniel jor".

I glance at Daniel who is nursing the little bruise on his arm. I roll my eyes. "I will apologize when I want. You have no right to force me".

I hiss and walk away. I do feel bad for Daniel though. He got hurt. But the fact Nora is forcing me to apologise just made me determined not to. She can't boss me around. I'm the boss around here.

Practice ends after two hours and the school is mostly empty. I go outside and meet my driver waiting patiently for me. I get into the car and soon, I'm on my way home.

The next day, bright and refreshing, I head to school. After assembly, as I climb the stairs to get to my class, I see Daniel descending.

"Hey, good morning," I say to him.

His eyes literally light up as he stares at me, from above. Literally! Apart from the fact that he is taller than me, he is three stairs above me. "Good morning," he replies, a cheeky smile on his features.

The next words I want to say get stuck in my throat. I am getting the feeling that Daniel likes me but I'm not sure. Don't mind me. I'm the kind of girl that can sense if someone likes me and when I do, I either gently or heartlessly break their heart. I'm not interested in a relationship. That's my own.

"Sorry about yesterday," I say and start to move up.

"Wait!" his husky voice booms. I stop and we are two stairs away. "No problem. I'm not mad at you".

"Did I ask you if you are? You can be mad at me if you want. E no concern me"

"Hmm...." he chuckles. "I know. I'm actually surprised that you are apologizing".

"Oh! I didn't know oo," I say dramatically. "I didn't know you don't want my apology. Sorry oo. I no blame you. I blame myself. Na me dey follow you talk". I move up again. We are one stair away and I move to his left so I can easily walk away. He slides to his left and he is in my way. Bullshit!

"Mr Man, what is it?" I snarl.

"It's just that this is the first time, since the past three months, you are talking to me. I'm happy about this".

I eye him. "I'm out of here. Excuse me. I'll push you oo".

"Wait!" he begs. "I just have something to say".

"You have one second to say it"

"Okay! It's just that— "

I cut him short. "One second is over".

"Please give me a minute"

"Oya! Two seconds"

"Tow seconds is too short"

"I'm leaving"

"Wait! Okay! I just wanted to say you are beautiful and have always been," he flashes his white, gleaming teeth at me.

You need to see the way I just pause. My right leg is in the air since I was about to take a step higher. My eyes are wide open and my lips are apart. I unfreeze and go to his right so that we are standing on the same stairs.

"I know I'm beautiful. Stop wasting my time. Bye," I hiss and walk away.

Sometimes people call me rude. I won't blame them. When I'm complimented, I tend to go into the defensive mode so that I won't get too touched by their words. The moment you get too touched, you might be deceived that you are cherished until they break your trust. Stay wise!

I don't fancy my female friends. The only friends I keep are males. They may be a handful but they, at least, make you feel welcomed.  They don't judge me.

As I walk away, I shake my head but I couldn't help glancing back and our eyes meet. He smirk and I wish the ground had open and swallow me. Curse his pretty face! I should have know this famous Hot Nerd is a player.

                          ×

Thank you for reading. God bless you all. I hope you enjoyed this chapter. What's your opinion?

Do you agree that Daniel is proud?

What do you think of Sam?

Vote and comment. 🥺♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

          Yours faithfully,
       Naija Writer, Mabel. ☺️❤️