< You know you're in love when you can't fall asleep, because reality is finally better than your dreams >

- Dr. Seuss.

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              Ivan
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I laid on my bed, boredom overwhelming me. I finished with practice already, and I was glad I was back home, chilling. For some strange reason, I just felt like doing something or inviting my friends over.

But Segun just got his heart broken, while Raymond on the other hand is - well...err. Nevertheless, I invited him.

In the meantime, I brought out my literature notebook, and decided to grab a few things before my next tutorial with Damilola.

Thinking about Damilola, I got upset about her not informing me about her absence yesterday. I was really looking forward to seeing — scratch that — tutoring her.

There was a knock on my door, I half-expected to see Raymond, since he's the only one I'm expecting. But it wasn't Raymond, it was Damilola.

"You?" I questioned, standing up from my bed.

"Hey," she waved at me, closing the door behind her and standing still at the door.

"Why are you standing there? Please sit," I gestured my hand for her to sit beside me. "What happened yesterday? Why didn't you tell me you wouldn't make it to school?"

"Umm, I was at school yesterday," she responded with an arched brow.

"No, you weren't."

"Yes I was, what are you yapping about bro?" I twitched on seeing Raymond beside me, instead of Damilola.

What the heck?

"Raymond? What are you doing here?" I abruptly stood up, and he reciprocated the gesture.

"Are you okay? You invited me over and you're asking me that?" He asked in an irked tone.

I rubbed my face and sighed. "What were you talking about sef?"

"I'm sorry, I...I don't even know what happened." Raymond narrowed his eyes at me before collapsing on my bed.

"So, what are you up to?" He took a glimpse of my literature notebook. "You're reading literature?" He chuckled, glancing at me.

"Well, I have to ease my tutor's stress," I grinned.

"Your room is too dark guy," he said, looking round my room. "I've told you to brighten it up a bit, it's too depressing."

I ignored his comment on my room, and sat down on my bed. "I like it like this."

He shrugged and brought out his phone, "Let's play call of duty."

After spending time with Raymond, he left and I was alone again. Thinking about Damilola, why do I keep thinking about her?

Is it because I love her?

I'm not one to ignore my feelings and emotions. I accept them immediately they give me a sign, and I'm not going to deny my feelings for Damilola. It just happened all of a sudden, I have never fallen in love with a girl before. Like I said before, Megan was a big distraction, no love.

Confessing my feelings to Damilola might backfire, after all I had told her to forget about me. Actually, anonymous tee told her that. I'm seriously regretting it now, I want her to like me back. What if she has ended her crush on me?

                   ─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ───

Today, Damilola came to school and some students who are interested in politics, congratulated her for her father's win.

She didn't even bother coming to apologize to me, instead she was busy feeling like a celebrity and gisting with her best friend. Lunch time came, and I strolled to the cafeteria with my friends.

After ordering for our foods, we sat at our usual table. "How are you feeling?" I asked Segun, still feeling guilty for what Makayla put him through.

He sighed, letting it slide, "It's all in the past bro."

"That sister of yours is hopelessly vain," Raymond remarked, and I didn't feel bad for what he said at all. Makayla was turning into something else and I didn't like the look of it.

Speaking of Makayla, she strolled into the cafeteria, holding hands with... Caesar Sam? Segun's gaze also landed on them and he was vexed. Just then, Damilola and Joy walked up to our table, acting all innocent, like they haven't been ignoring me since morning. Well Joy was walking, but Damilola was leaping.

Why was she leaping?

"Hey guys, do you mind -"

"Of course, sit. It's becoming a regular thing," Segun yapped, cutting Joy off. He still didn't take his eyes off Makayla and Caesar, neither did I. They both walked to the counter to order food, acting all gooey with each other.

Since when?

It was irking me, seeing that Makayla left Segun for someone like Caesar. "That addict," Raymond spat, staring at Caesar. I furrowed my brows at his statement, but before I could speak, Joy cut me off.

"What do you mean by it's becoming a regular thing?" She bawled at Segun's earlier statement. I've noticed she has a habit of not letting things slide.

Damilola on the other hand, groaned and face palmed herself like she was tired of her friend.

She's cute.

She noticed me staring at her, so I quickly averted my gaze. She took a seat next to Raymond, since Raymond sat next to me. While Joy was left with no other option but to sit with Segun, again.

I wanted to tell Raymond to sit elsewhere.

The most intriguing question I avoided asking, was why are they befriending us all of a sudden? Why was Joy tolerating all of Segun's shit?

My instincts told me, it's probably because Damilola still has feelings for me. Although, I want her to say it first, because I don't like embarrassing myself.

Makayla walked past our table and Segun made an infamous remark, "Cunning witch." That statement made Makayla turn back to our table with Caesar holding her hand.

"What was that?" She questioned Segun, while the latter feigned ignorance. "You're so pathetic, you can't just move on."

Segun seemed hurt, watching her intertwine her fingers with Caesar's. I felt bad for him, and felt like scolding Makayla. But I decided to butt out, it's their personal matter.

"I have moved on without you in less than a week, and you can't do the same," Makayla laughed.

Segun mustered enough courage, not letting her see how weak and pained he felt. "For your information, I have moved on."

"Oh really?"

"Yeah, really?" I creased my brows, peering at Segun.

"Oh yes, really," He forced a smile. "Don't you know?" I shook my head implying a big fat NO.

"Who's the unlucky chic then?" Makayla cussed.

"Oh, you don't want to know," Segun grinned at her. "She's way prettier than you, and seeing her will make you feel unlucky."

"Puhleez, she can't be as beautiful as me," Makayla bragged.

"Why don't you take a look for yourself? She's sitting right next to me," Segun grinned.

What?

Everyone directed their gaze to Joy, who was busy pressing her phone. She didn't hear what Segun said earlier, not until he grabbed her wrist and landed a peck at the back of her hand. "Joy's my babe."

"What?!"

"WHAT?!" Joy shouted, withdrawing her hand from Segun's hold. Segun didn't stop right there, he grabbed her hand again.

"I'm sorry for not texting you last night babe, I was really busy. I know you're still mad at me, which is why I'm apologizing to you," Segun continued with his convincing act, planting a soft peck on Joy's lips. Joy's eyes widened in shock, and she breathed heavily.

I took a look at Makayla's face, it read JEALOUSY. I know Makayla is my sister, but I'm also a guy, and I can tell when a girl is pretty. Joy is way prettier than Makayla, and that's the raw truth and fact.

But Damilola is prettier than her, to me though.

"Whatever," Makayla sputtered, flinging her hand in the air. She stormed off, leaving Caesar behind. I thought Caesar was going to trail behind her, but the guy just shrugged and strolled back to his seat where his guys sat.

"What a boyfriend," Raymond laughed.

"What was that? Are you stupid?" Joy yelled at Segun, standing up from her seat.

Segun actually calmed down for Joy, "Listen, I don't know what came over me."

"Do I look like I care? What you did is unacceptable!"

"I'm sorry," Segun apologized on his feet. "It won't happen again." Joy hissed out loud and stormed off.

Damilola chucked nervously, "I'm sorry about that." She stood up and trailed after Joy.

                 ─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ───

I waited for Damilola patiently in the library, but she was late. I groaned, taking glances at my phone to check the time.

Why was she making me wait so much?!

"Hey," I turned to look behind, there Damilola stood with a sheepish smile. "I'm sorry for being late, my bad." She walked - scratch that - she limped towards me.

I brushed off her apology and stared at her feet. "First, why are you limping?"

She chuckled nervously, scratching her elbow. "Erm, I had a little accident with my foot. But it's all good now, see," she wiggled it, then yelped.

"What kind of accident?" I asked, holding her hand inorder to assist her.

"I, umm, I fell." I glared at her suspiciously and wanted to dig into the matter, but I didn't want it to seem like I'm nosy.

"You're late, so you'll be punished." Her mouth opened in surprise, slowly curving into a smile.

"Oh, no you didn't just use my -"

"Yes, I did," I grinned.

"What's my punishment then?" She asked, placing her books on the table and taking a seat.

"Do you really want to know?" I leaned behind her and she shivered. I let out a small laugh, noticing the look she had on her face.

It was cute.

"Yes, I-I want to know."

"You'll have to do an extra assessment after the tutorial. I want it to be submitted first thing tomorrow morning, " I sat down.

"What?" She sputtered in shock.

"Why are you surprised?"

She folded her arms and avoided looking at me in the eye. "I-I just thought -" she trailed off, exhaling.

"You just thought what?" I asked her, flipping the pages of my mathematics textbook.

"I thought maybe you'll let me off the hook today with a final warning. I did that when you came late the other day," she ranted, while I jotted down some things in my notebook.

"Well, after what you did on Friday, I can't let you off the hook."

"B-but, I didn't get a final warning. And also, I forgot to call you on Friday, it slipped my mind."

"Which is why you're being punished now. Your cup is full."

"Hmph," she huffed. "It's not like I have your phone number anyway, how was I supposed to reach you?"

"You could have at least said so on Thursday, nevertheless you have a point."

"Which is?"

I face palmed myself and leaned on the table, with my elbows as my support system. "We don't have each other's numbers, which is necessary."

She nodded her head and I did the same. A fraught silence fell in the room, it was an awkward moment. "So..." I dragged.

"So? Go ahead," she ordered.

I furrowed my brows at her, "What do you mean by go ahead?"

"Are you seriously asking me that?" She let out a chuckle, "It's not logical for me to ask you for your number, that's a guy's duty."

"What?" I spat in bewilderment. "Who made that rule?"

"Isn't it a norm? It dosen't need to be created, it's should be implemented. So go ahead and ask for my number."

Okay, when I said Damilola got more confident, that was an understatement! She's a full time talkative around me. She's probably talkative mostly when she's comfortable with someone, judging by the way she's speaking to me.

"Fine, give me your number."

She scrunched her face up, "Who asks for a girl's number like that? Definitely not the guys I've met. They're always like, how far fine girl, can I get your number?"

That statement, guys I've met, got me angry. What does she mean by that? Only road side Romeos speak to girls like that, I'm certainly not some road side Romeo.

Does that mean, when all those agberos - Roadside Romeos - ask for her number, she'll give it to them? Just because they asked her like that?!

"How much more will you ask? Should I get on a kneel and propose for your phone number?" I vented sarcastically.

She smirked and shrugged her shoulders, "You can do that."

I was taken aback by her statement, my remark was pure sacarsm. "There's no way I'm doing that, forget it."

I thought she was going to just lower her head after my rude remark, instead she said, "There's no way I can give you my phone number then. The next time something comes up and I miss our tutor sesh, I guess you'll just get info from Joy." She opened her math notebook and jotted down today's date, while I glared at her in astonishment.

When did Damilola become like this?

"F-fine," I sputtered. "We need each other's phone numbers, it's necessary since we're each other's tutors."

"Mhm," she nodded. "So what are you going to do about that?"

I sighed, getting up from my seat and taking a step closer to where Damilola sat. I got on one knee with my phone in my hand, then I gestured the phone to her saying, "Wassup fine girl, can I get your number?"

She jokingly blushed, fanning herself with her hand. "Yes," she squealed.

I handed the phone to her, like a ring, then she jotted down her phone number in my call pad. I didn't know when I laughed at our foolishness, I've never acted so weird in my entire life.

"Now let's get serious, please." She nodded her head and saluted.

"Aye aye captain!"

"What topic are you finding difficult currently?" I asked her, sitting back on my seat.

She groaned and laid her head on the table. "Pythagoras theorem," she mumbled. I opened the topic on my textbook and jotted down some examples for us to solve together.

"Before solving this, I'll briefly introduce you to the topic. Pythagoras' Theorem, a fundamental concept in geometry. Pythagoras, a Greek philosopher and mathematician, is credited with discovering this theorem around 500 BCE. However, evidence suggests that Babylonian and Egyptian mathematicians knew similar concepts before him.

"In a right-angled triangle, the square of the length of the hypotenuse -" I trailed off, noticing Damilola had dozed off already.

I groaned and tapped her lightly. "Huh! I'm up, I'm awake," she flinched, narrowing her eyes around the library. She noticed the way I glared at her, "I'm sorry," she apologized gloomily, staring at her notebook. "Please don't give up on me, I know I'm impossible to teach, but please don't give up on me."

While pleading, she grabbed my hand unknowingly, staring at me with tear filled eyes. "Please."

I exhaled, placing my other hand on top of hers. "I'm not going to give up on you, not now, not ever." She sniffled, blinking back tears.

"I know all this is overwhelming for you," I said, glaring at the textbook. "So I'm going to make it easier."

"How? Maths can never be easy," she said in a hopeless tone.

"Well, let's make it easy," I leaned closer to her. "How about this, if you pay attention and get one equation right, I'll take you to the mall."

"Really?" She arched an eyebrow.

"Yes, I'll buy you whatever you want, just please pay attention." She sighed before nodding her head. We let go of each other's hands and got more serious.

"a² + b² = c², where:
- a and b are the lengths of the two sides forming the right angle
- c is the length of the hypotenuse (the side opposite the right angle). Understood?" She nodded, creasing her brow.

"I hope I'm not being too fast?" She shook her head, implying no. I felt relived and continued with the explanation.

After explaining things to her, we did an example, which she said she understood. But when her gave her an assessment, she failed it.

"I'm sorry," she apologized. "I'll try again." She attempted it like five times before finally getting the answer right.

Goodness, I didn't know when I stood up happily, shouting yes! The librarian shushed me and shot daggers at me with her glare.

"You did it, Dami! I'm so proud of you," I beamed, squeezing her hand in excitement. "I'm such a good tutor."

She giggled, playfully slapping my hand. "Thanks though. I never imagined I'd ever solve this devilish Pythagoras equation."

"Hey, there's no need for that. Just get ready, after school, me and you, at the mall, like I promised." She bit her lower lip, smiling sheepishly.

Closing hour arrived, and Damilola met me at the driveway. Ramson showed up all of a sudden, which made me groan inwardly.

"What's up Dami, let me drop you off," he offered.

Couldn't this fool see that I was already with her? Wasn't it obvious I would take her home?

"Actually, I -"

"We're already going somewhere," I cut Damilola off. "Let's go," I grabbed her wrist and walked her to my car. I opened the door for her to get in. She didn't bother questioning me for my behaviour towards Ramson, she seemed thankful.

We arrived at the mall and Damilola was busy glancing at everything here and there. I left her to do her thing, and went over to an ice cream kiosk, to buy us ice cream. I went back to Damilola with the ice cream in my hand, and I handed it to her, but she refused to take it. She paused, staring at the ice cream for a while before snapping back into reality.

Weird.

She said she was on her period and was avoiding sweet things, so I decided to give her ice cream to my driver.

I glanced at some books on a shelf, searching for Invisible man. Yes, I know I hate the book, but I need it now. When I found the book, I also came across an Harry Potter book, which I've seen Damilola reading before. So I took the book along with my Invisible man.

I met up with Damilola and we strolled to the counter for payment. I was surprised by what she picked. Instead of picking some materialistic things, she picked a book.

Invisible man!

"Is this what you really want?" I questioned her and she nodded.

"We'll need it for our literature sesh, so I want it."

What sort of girl is Damilola?

She thought about my literature problem, instead of thinking of herself. She's selfless!

"Well, I already got the book and I got you this," I handed the Harry Potter book to her and she snatched it from me immediately.

"Omg, Harry Potter and the chamber of secrets!!!! Thank you so much!" She squealed, squeezing me in a hug.

An unconscious smile fell on my lips, and I hugged her back.

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A/N

Awwieeeeeee😭🥹❤️

I'm loving Davan/Ivami/Ivola/Damivan sha😭❤️

The ship names are plenty 😂😂

Omo, the chapter just dey sweet me to write, I no know when I write 3,000+ words oo😂😂😂

Abeg, make una no vex 😂
Shebi you enjoyed the chapter sha?

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CiCi 🌹