Joel's POV

"I called you all here because the Annual Lagos State interschool decathlon competition is approaching and we need to start getting ready to drill you guys." The Science HOD, Mr Patrick stated and I felt my lips stretch into a smile.

Well, it's about damn time.

Since the day I came into this school, I've been craving for this kind of competition and now it's finally here. The Principal had called some SS2 students' name, including mine, Zaria, Lyla, Charles and Ada's names on the assembly this morning and she asked us to wait behind while everyone went to class. Now, the Science Teachers Head of Department was addressing us.

"What has got you so excited?" Zaria whispered beside me and I looked at her.

"I love interschool competitions. I used to represent my school back in Abuja." I replied, the grin still on my face. She rolled her eyes and smirked at me in response.

"And let me guess, you used to take the trophy." She stated, sarcasm dripping in her tone. I realized what she just did and smirked back at her.

"Ha ha. Very funny. Stop being a hater." I shoved her playfully with my elbow. She rolled her eyes at me again, a small smile playing on her lips.

"Well, the Lagos state competition is said to be the toughest among all competitions in the country. So I guarantee this might not be as easy as you think, but I trust you can handle it." She threw me a smile and I winked at her.

"I appreciate your faith in me." I joked and she chuckled.

"Mr Bamidele, Miss Coker..." Mr Patrick called to us and we looked at him, startled. Everyone had their eyes on us. "Would you like to come up and tell us what the both of you are talking about?" He asked. Charles was smirking at me and I fought so hard not to laugh.

"No sir." I replied for both of us.

"Good. Then stop talking till I'm done." He said.

"We are sorry sir." Zaria chipped in.

"Good. As I was saying..." He took his attention from us and back to other students.

Zaria and I exchanged a glance and bursted into a fit of soft giggles. I felt someone watching me and looked to my side, only Ada's eyes on me. She had no expression on it, her face was just blank. She held my gaze for a moment before looking back at the teacher. I looked ahead and let out a breath.

Mehn, things might get a bit complicated.

****

"Which of the following is a substance formed by the chemical joining of two or more elements in definite amounts? A. enzyme. B. nucleus. C. isotope. D. compound?" Mr Tayo, another chemistry teacher asked.

We have started the drilling and coaching. Right now, all hands were scribbling something in their books, trying to get the answer. Lyla was the time keeper for this round. Zaria quickly raised her head up from her note.

"Atoms. Atoms are the basic unit of matter. Knowing the properties of atoms and the various elements allows scientists to observe and predict how they interact with each other." She answered speedily and I looked at her in awe.

"Very correct. How many seconds was that, Lyla?" He asked her.

"Twelve seconds. We are still behind sir. Our aim is eight seconds." She replied, dropping her watch and jotting down in her note pad.

"That's what have been saying since morning. The answers need to come fast and sharply, especially with questions like this. Don't give room for slacking." Mr Tayo said. I looked at Zaria and saw her jotting down on her note pad.

"Okay, I agree. This is pretty harder than Abuja." I whispered to her and she chuckled, not taking her eyes off the book.

"I told you." She said, her fingers twirling her hair.

"Calculation questions on moles, mass and molecular mass." Mr Tayo announced and we got set, pen ready to scribble down on book.

"There is a pure NaOH bottle which contains NaOH as crystals. Some NaOH crystals are separated from the bottle and measured the mass using a balance. Then mass of separated NaOH was 2.2 g. How much NaOH, in moles, is separated?" Mr Tayo's lips moved so fast I could barely hear him. I began my calculations.

This means Na equals to 23 , O equals to 16  and H equals to 1 ...

"0.055 moles." I replied the exact same time Charles said.

"0.056 moles." He said. We looked at each other and burst into chuckles.

"Alright, both of you." Mr Tayo said and our laughter subsided. "Joel is correct. Charles you were very closer." My Tayo said and Charles nodded.

"That was nine seconds, guys. For calculations, it's expected." Lyla said with a smile before jotting down again.

"Great work guys. Moving on, next question is a calculation on decomposition of compounds." Mr Tayo announced again. And everyone got ready.

"A mixture of 1kg of CaO and MgO..." We immediately got into writing.

*****

"I swear, I don't want to go for this thing again. Wetin!" Charles lamented as we walked out of the chemistry lab after another round of drilling. This time it was physics and further maths.

"You better don't be lazy. At least we don't have to go for classes." Lyla said and I scoffed.

"We move from one class into extra class. The questions are for university students. My brain cannot take any more of this." I groaned and Zaria nudged me.

"After all the mouth you were making about loving decathlons. You two better suck it up and read." She replied and I pouted. Ada who was unusually quiet spoke up.

"Mr Idris said we should team up for group study sessions outside school. I think we should be in pairs." She said, looking directly at me. I knew what she was trying to do.

"I'm just a time keeper. That leaves the four of you." Lyla said. Ada looked at me again, a smirk evident on her lips.

"Joel, will you..." She started but Charles interrupted by running to her and throwing his hand around her shoulder.

"Looks like I'm partnering with you, Ada." He said, a goofy smile evident in his lips. Ada hissed and removed his hand from her shoulder.

"I was going to get partnered with Joel." She said, looking at me. I shook my head.

"Actually, I'd go with Zaria. We stay in the estate so it's very easy for both. I wouldn't want you stressing yourself coming from the mainland every weekend." I said good naturedly and she frowned as if she realized something.

"Both of you stay in the same estate? How come I didn't know this?" She asked, hands akimbo. She was speaking like she was entitled or obligated to know. Zaria exchanged a confused look with me.

"Well, it's not all that important. Is it?" She shrugged. Ada made to speak but Lyla interrupted.

"Okay, it's been settled. Zaria and Joel. Ada and Charles study session. You people should time yourself because I won't be there to call a time out." Lyla stated authoritatively.

"Midget." Charles muttered but we all heard him, making us burst into laughter while Lyla shot dagger at him.

Midget is a less offensive way of calling someone short.

"So you are insulting my height, abi? I'd have you know that Kelvin loves me like this." She folded her hand making her look even funnier.

"Oya, y'all should stop. It's okay. Lyla, don't mind them jare. We short girls are cute." Zaria said, wrapping her hand around Lyla's shoulder and walked away with her. Charles subtly looked between Ada and I and whispered.

"Fix this." He said and walked away with my note pad. I sighed.

It's now or never.

"Ada." I called her before she could walk away. She turned around and flashed me a toothy grin. "Can we talk for a minute?" I asked her and she nodded.

"Sure, what's up?" She asked, leaning on the wall. I exhaled again.

This is going to be hard.

"I gave you the wrong idea about something and I'm sorry because it's totally on me." I told her and her forehead creased into a slight frown.

"I don't understand." She said. I sighed again.

"I gave you the idea that we might be a...an item. A couple." I said and her eyes widened in realization before her lips spread in smile.

"Oh that. Don't worry about it." She said I stood shock.

Wait, what?

"Are you serious?" I asked her and her smile widened.

"Of course. There is nothing to be scared about, Joel." I frowned in utmost confusion. "The girls told me you might want to take it slow so I decided not to pressure you or anything." She said and I almost groaned in frustration. She wasn't understanding me.

"Ada..." I called her but she kept rambling on.

"At first, I was really worried when you didn't ask me out on another date after our first date. But I decided to relax and try to take things slow as well. Although it was pretty hard, since I'm not the kind of girl that takes things slow..." She blabbed.

"Ada!" I called a little louder and she stopped talking, looking at me with a questioning gaze. I took a deep breath."You seem to be misunderstanding me." I told her.

"How?" She asked.

"I don't like you...like that." I said in the most delicate way I could. Her face fell immediately.

"Oh." Was her only response. I felt really bad.

"I'm sorry if I led you on in anyway. I didn't mean to." I told her.

"Is there someone else?" She asked immediately and I frowned. Am I that easy to read.

I doubt it.

"No. I'm not just ready for a relationship. It's not about anybody."I told her even though I was only lying. She nodded and gave a sad smile.

"Okay then. It's all good." She said and walked away, leaving me in my heap of thoughts.

I tried to be calm and nice.

*****

"Ada told us you said you don't have feeling for her." Zaria chipped in suddenly in the middle of our drilling and I groaned.

We decided to stay back after school to do some studying and we have been here for almost two hours. In the course of our studying, she muttered something about she'd rather study than go home any day. I wanted to ask her what she meant but I decided against it.

Now she was asking this.

"We agreed that no Ada discussion would come up anytime we are together." I told her and she shrugged.

"That was before you broke my friend's heart." She said and I scoffed.

"I didn't break her heart. I tried to be as  calm and as nice as possible. She was the one that kept assuming we were something in the first place." I defended.

"Then you shouldn't have led her on." Zaria whined and I shot her a mock glare.

"And whose fault was that? I'd have put an end to this since if not for your demand for me to take her out on a date." I retorted and she smiled.

"Touché." She replied and I chuckled.

"I didn't mean to hurt her feelings but it had to be done. I apologized severally." I said and she nodded. We were silent for a moment, solving equations.

"She kept saying she feels there is someone else. Is there?" Zaria asked and I looked at her to see her staring at me. I ran my tongue across my suddenly dry lips and looked back at her.

"What if there is?" I asked her. She mustered a small shrug with a smile.

"You said you were not ready..." She started but then I shifted closer to her and her voice trailed off.

"Well, I changed my mind." I whispered back, my head close to hers now. I could feel her heavy breathing fanning my face and I was sure she could feel mine as well. She licked her lips and my eyes involuntarily followed the movement.

"Does she know you like her?" Zaria asked, her voice low and I smiled.

"I think she does." I replied and she smiled back.

We stayed that way for a while, faces closed in, breathing each other's air, hands touching, wrapped in our own little bubble. I saw Zaria's eyes flicker to my lips before she looked back at me.

"We should get going. It's pretty late." She said and I nodded. It took a moment before we could disentangle from out little chemistry bubble to pack our stuffs. Through out, a smile stayed on my lips and I knew right there.

I'm falling for Zaria Omolara Coker.