< Love recognizes no barriers. It jumps hurdles, leaps fences, penetrates walls to arrive at its destination full of hope>

— Maya Angelou.

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                            Ivan
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"All right boys, hit the showers!" Coach Reyes ordered us players after an exhausting football game. I threw my phone inside my bag and grabbed my bottled water, heading to the boy's locker room. In there, my teammates were loudly singing because we won the game.

"Stand up, Stand up
For the champions
For the champions
Stand up...."

I joined them celebrate for a while before realizing I was 15 minutes late for my next class; Mathematics. I hurriedly freshened up and wore my uniform, then I dashed out of the boys locker room and headed for my class. I opened the classroom door, interrupting the teacher. Everyone's attention was directed to me all of a sudden.

"HOH. Welcome sir," Mr Akin said sarcastically.

"I'm sorry for being late sir, I had-"

"Just take your seat."

I sighed and walked over to my seat, ignoring the rude stares I was getting.
I sat down next to one of my best friends, Segun Daniel.

"Bro what's up?"

"I lost track of time after the big game. Have you written any notes?"

"Actually, I just got here too."

"What? Why?"

"I lost track of time because I was with my girlfriend, Makayla."

"This love you have for my sister eh, it will land you in trouble someday," I teased him and we both laughed.

"We need to borrow someone's note, else Mr Akin will embarrass us."

We already got ourselves in Mr Akin's bad books, obviously he wouldn't miss an opportunity to disgrace us further.

"Here, have mine,"  a feminine voice offered. I looked behind me and saw Daisy Oliver swooning over me.

Without thinking twice I refused her offer. It's a tradition I've gotten used to; having girls swoon over me is nothing new, even though they know I'm already taken.

"No thank you," I said clearly uninterested. Segun laughed at her, but I just rolled my eyes and faced the board.

The girls at WHA are all insane!

Thankfully, a guy offered us his note and we copied it immediately. When we were done, I closed the book and summoned the guy stealthily.

"Take, we're done. Thank you," I said to him.

"You're welcome. By the way, the book belongs to the girl at the back, I borrowed it from her earlier."

Just then my eyes fell on the name written on the book cover.

Damilola Oladele.

Damilola is a girl in my class who I've never really paid attention to. To be honest, she is weird. She seats at the fourth role of the classroom, probably why she doesn't really get much attention. While practicing on Monday, a ball was thrown at her by accident, that's when I actually noticed her for the first time. I was going to apologize on behalf of the guy who did it- me! It was an accident. She didn't seem to realize I was the one, and she muttered the words 'Idiot boys', before hissing loudly. Her gesture aggrievated me because I didn't expect that from a 'silent killer', so I decided not to apologize.

That was also the first time I've actually heard her speak, since she walks around the school quietly not speaking to anyone but her close friend, whose name I haven't really acknowledged.

"Please return her note." I handed the book to Segun.

"Why? What's the big deal?" Segun asked, but I didn't respond.

"Here, give it back to her." I handed the book over to the guy who I borrowed it from, but he refused to take it.

"Give it to her yourself."

I sighed and attempted to get up inorder to return Damilola's book, but I sat back down when Megan shrieked out loud, disrupting the class.

"Where's my smart watch? Someone stole my watch!"

"Megan, you're disrupting my class," Mr Akin hollered angrily. "What drama is this?"

"Sir, I'm sorry but I just realized my smart wristwatch has been stolen." I stared at Megan suspiciously.

"Check your bag, maybe you put it inside," Sharon added with her bad acting, prompting Megan to search her bag.

"It's not here," Megan declared, starting to tear up. "My dad got it for me as a birthday gift, he'll be so disappointed to find out I've lost it."

I know the kind of girl I'm dating, and I can tell when she's lying.

Mr Akin sighed, obviously frustrated. "Megan, please, we can look for your wristwatch later. My period is wasting."

"Class rep! How many minutes do I have left?"

"Seven minutes sir," Daniella Huggins, the class rep, responded.

"Ah, seven minutes? Oya let's quickly cover up." He faced the board and started writing down some assessments.

My girlfriend exchanged glances with her best friends, which raised my suspicion even more. Why was she disrupting the class?

"I'm leaving, excuse me sir," Megan voiced out and headed for the classroom exit.

"Where do you think you're going?" My friend go back to your seat!" Mr Akin scolded her sternly, which created some snickering from our classmates.

"I'm going to report this issue to the principal, I can't live without that watch," Megan cried out bitterly. Things got serious, and I wanted to walk up to her and ask her what was really wrong. But I'm not someone who comes to a conclusion without observing.

"Then go and die!" Damilola's friend stated, cracking others up even more.

Megan eyed her for a while, like they had some history and finally let out a hiss.

"If you don't see to this matter Mr Akin, I'll take it to the principal," she faced Mr Akin, ignoring that Damilola's friend.

"So what do you want me to do? Ask everyone to submit their bags for search? Come on, you guys are in SS3 naw, who would possibly do something so childish and bizzare?"

Immediately, Megan brought out her phone and started scrolling through it. "I linked my device with my watch, so I'm going to track it down," she announced.

Why didn't she just do that in the first place? What was she trying to prove?

"Then why didn't you just do that without disrupting Mr Akin's class?" Damilola's friend groaned and facepalmed herself. "She's so dumb"

"Hey, who are you calling dumb?" Sharon barked. Damilola's friend rolled her eyes at Sharon and faced her front inorder to speak to Megan.

"Servant at your service," she said, gesturing her full hand at Sharon

"Stop calling me a-"

"I won't tolerate this rubbish in my class! Megan track what you want to track and go and sit down," Mr Akin yelled.

Megan flinched and nervously gulped, beginning her tracking journey.

Beep!

The device kept beeping, as Megan walked closer to that girl's direction; Damilola.

It got louder and louder, until she stood in front of Damilola. Damilola continuously shook her head with her mouth wide open.

"What's happening?" Segun muttered.

Megan reached for Damilola's bag and unzipped the small pocket attached to the bag.

"Have a look everyone!" She raised the watch in the air and waved it. "Turns out she's not just an examination malpracticer, she's also a nasty theif."

Megan's remark, caught everyone off guard, including Mr Akin.

"Damilola, stand up!" Mr Akin ordered her, in awe. Damilola slowly stood up, still shaking her head in disapproval.

"I don't know why, but I think she's telling the truth." Segun nodded at my statement.

"That means Megan is lying."

"I never said that. She might be telling the truth, but it didn't have to happen this way. Megan is fond of escalating the smallest matters, it's probably embarrassing for that girl."

"I-I d-didn't- " Damilola waved her hands frantically, trying to defend herself, but unsure of her words.

Mr Akin asked her to come stand in front of the class. Was it necessary? Mr Akin was obviously doing all these to please Megan inorder to stop her from reporting him to the principal.

Damilola walked past my seat with her head lowered, as a tear drop fell from her eyes. She was hurting and I could see it in her eyes. She fell at Mr Akin's feet, "Sir please believe me, I-I'm not-"

"Shut up there, thief!" Megan lambasted her. Everyone started laughing and pointing at Damilola.

All these was too much to bear. Damilola was already hurting so much, and Megan just kept adding fuel to the fire.

"Brush your teeth with hypo before accusing my best friend, so that your teeth will actually be white and you'd stop lying through it," Damilola's friend said to Megan, with an attitude.

I stared at my girlfriend's face, it screamed rage!

"I won't tolerate stealing in my class! Damilola, report to the principal's office now."

Damilola cried profusely. This wasn't right!

"Sir, at least hear her out na!" Joy yelled with a cracked voice, like she was about to cry.

"Will you shut up! Stop interfering in what doesn't concern you." Mr Akin's rude remark forced Joy to reluctantly keep quiet.

"Just go to the principal's office already, theify theify!" Sharon mocked her.

That was the last straw that broke the camel's back!

I stood up from my seat, gaining everyone's attention.
"Don't go around pinning false accusations on others." I said to Sharon, maneuvering out of my seat and walking to the front of the class.

"Is there prove?" I asked calmly, looking at the faces of everyone in class. "Any?"

No one had anything to say, because they don't know what happened exactly, but just chose to laugh and point fingers at Damilola.

"I thought as much," I said dryly, since everyone kept their mouths shut. "So why are you pointing fingers at her?"

"Because she's a theif, she's a freaking theif Ivan!" Megan blurted out. "If she isn't a theif, then can she explain what my watch was doing in her bag ?"

"She might not be able to explain it, but she didn't do it."

"Exactly!" Damilola's friend agreed with my statement and walked over to Megan. "She can't explain it because you put it in her bag to get her framed."

Megan chuckled, pointing to herself, "Moi?"

"Yes you! You've done it before so why does it surprise you?"

"Joy, don't pin the blame on me!" Megan retorted angrily. That's when I realized Damilola's friend's name is Joy.

"Dosen't feel so good to be accused, right?" I glared at Megan, while she huffed at my statement. I directed my attention to Mr Akin, who was now seated on his desk, massaging his forehead.

"Sorry for all the drama, sir, but this is not a serious case."

"Theft isn't a serious case?" I heard Sharon speak.

"If there's no prove, then no," I replied coldly without sparing her a glance.
Since Mr Akin's period was over, I walked out of the class, headed for my next agenda.

                    ─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ───

Our Maybach Benz, pulled over under the tent in our compound. Makayla and I stepped out of the car and walked into the mansion side by side.

"School was," Makayla started, sighing heavily. "It was just crazy mehn."

I stared at her with a bored expression, not really willing to start up a conversation. Whenever I return home, I feel clouded by foggy clouds. I keep getting reminded of what my life is actually like, a sad one.

"Why are you so dry?" She spat after sensing my cold attitude, barging into the front door and slamming the door at my face.

Was there really anything exciting in my life? Loosing our dad five years ago, is enough reason for my life to be dry. My mom had been the one raising us, all these years, irrespective of her widowhood.

I've been a good son to my mom and a protective brother to Mak, just so they don't feel lonely at the top.

And more importantly, I've been my own man!

I don't like sharing my life trials with anyone, I don't want to be labeled as a weak person. Which is why I keep searching for a distraction, e.g; dating Megan.

Segun and Raymond are the only ones who really understand what's going on in my life, but I never mentioned anything to Megan. Probably because she's never asked about my feelings. Often, she overshadows my feelings with hers.

Speaking of Megan, I reminded myself to call her later. She's probably still mad at me.

"I didn't know you two arrived already." I looked above the staircase, to see mum getting down elegantly. She walked over to us, embracing us warmly. "How was school today?"

"Usual." Mom stared at me, not satisfied with my response, but she let it slide because she knows I wouldn't speak further.

"Is my boring son hungry?" I creased my brows, glaring at her.

"Boring?"

"You never tell me anything. I like to hear gist sometimes, it'll make me feel less old." I chuckled a bit at mother's statement.

"I'll come down when dinner's ready." Mom nodded at my decision with a small smile.

"Omo, me I'm hungry oo." Makayla tossed her bag to the ground and skipped into the kitchen with mom.

I walked up to my room, and saw a maid in there, washing my bathroom. She acknowledged my presence and bowed her head.

"Welcome sir. I just finished up with your bathroom."

"Thank you ma'am." She dismissed herself from my room and forgot to close the door. It's not her fault though, she's really forgetful because of her age.

She's an elderly woman who has been working for us for years— Ms Simi.

I walked over to the door and shut it. Then I quickly freshened up and put on something more comfortable.

I'm not the type that loves to read, so I grabbed my phone and started scrolling through IG. I came across an interesting video and was surprised to see....

Damilola.

I never knew she had a social media handle. Who doesn't though?

I'm just surprised that a shy girl like her, would showcase herself on social media.

I scrolled through some of her contents and they weren't that bad. Turns out she's an artiste, and her singing is melodical. After all, I am a singer myself.

Her voice is a spicy mix of Tems and Ayra Starr- black girl magic! She has an amazing voice, I could listen to her sing all day- I'm just saying, her vocal range is incredible....

She has a unique singing style that sets her apart from other artists and she conveys the emotion within the lyrics so well.

Damilola is talented as fuck! It's just a decent admiration, no feelings attached. She seems interesting but only has 1.9K followers- 1,999

Ouch.

I think I should follow her on IG so I'll be her 2000th follower. She's probably trying to reach that goal.

No!

If I follow her, she'll start thinking something else. I mean, I'm Ivan Kingsley, a really popular guy at WHA. Also, Megan has a little beef with her now, so I don't think it's right for me to follow her.

Or....

...I'll follow her with another account, she'll never know it's actually me. I quickly drafted another IG account, username: Anonymous Tee, then I clicked on the follow button.

2K followers!

With this account, I can spy- I mean learn more about her. Again, it's a decent admiration, no feelings attached— at all!

I got bored of my phone, so I opened my school bag to grab my mathematics notebook, since Mr Akin gave us an assignment. While digging for my note, I found an unknown notebook inside my bag!

"Shit!" I mumbled to myself, staring at the name on the notebook- Damilola Oladele! I must've forgotten to give it back to her because of the commotion that happened in class. Probably, when it was closing time, I packed up my books from under my locker and mistakenly packed Damilola's note along.

I sighed, flipping and glancing through the pages. Some of her assessment, were undone and most of them were failed. I thought she was a nerd? I didn't know she was an average student struggling with mathematics.

At the back of her note, I saw some writings that dosen't have anything to do with math.

***
I know, I saw him today.
***

There was another handwriting, probably responding to the previous writing.

***
Did you speak to him?
***

I glanced through every message on the notebook, some were weird, some were lyrics to songs, and some were gossips.

***
I don't think Michelle brushed her teeth today.
***

That part got me, I chuckled a bit. I closed the book and started with my Logarithm assignment. It was really tough, but I managed to finish it.

*Knock* knock*

"Come in." I ordered. The door opened, and our cook poked her head in slightly.

"Dinner is ready sir. Your mom has called for you."

I closed my book, getting up from my study chair to go have dinner, but my gaze fell on Damilola's notebook.

She won't be able to do her homework because her notebook is with me. Mr Akin loves humiliating students who fail to do their homework, so he won't let the opportunity of humiliating Damilola, slide so easily.

The poor girl has been through enough embarrassment this week. Firstly, the ball incident. Secondly, I caught her crying in the garden. Lastly, the accusations Megan pinned on her today. It's just too much.

I turned to the cook, "Tell her I won't have dinner, I'm not really hungry."

"Okay sir" The cook left my room and closed the door.

I sighed, sat back down, and grabbed her notebook to help her with her mathematics homework.

I believe it's the right thing to do.