“Who is the girl that broke your heart?” he looked at me in that pitiful manner I hated. “Did she cheat?” he sighed wistfully and dropped his hand off my shoulder. “That's just heartbreaking.”

❦︎

~[JASON]~

“You should really stop glaring at her like that.” Jude almost licked my ear all in the name of whispering to me.

I slowly took my gaze of Victoria who was seated in the bleachers on the other side of the court and looked at him, raising a brow at him. “And what is your business with who I decide to glare at?”

“With the way you look at her like you can throw her in hot oil, it’s my business.” His lips puckered as he eyed me. “But what did she even do to you?”

“Mind your business.” It was now his turn to be glared at. “I’m really not in the mood for your senseless talk.”

He clacked his tongue and looked away from me, to Victoria who now had company. “She’s friend with Del?” he tapped my thigh. “When did they become friends?”

“For goodness’ sake, Jude, I don’t know.” I slapped his hands off my thigh, sending a scowl his way.

“I want to be her friend too.” He pouted, not getting the hint that I did not want to be involved in a conversation with him, nor anyone else at that moment. “You think we can be friends?”

I remained silent. Maybe that would give him the hint he needed.

“Why are you like this?” he pressed his palm on my shoulder and I looked at him. “You confuse me, I swear.”

“And what am I supposed to do about that now?” I made to shrug his hand off me but he squeezed harder. “Please, respect my personal space.”

“Who is the girl that broke your heart?” he looked at me in that pitiful manner I hated. “Did she cheat?” he sighed wistfully and dropped his hand off my shoulder. “That's just heartbreaking.”

What's wrong with this one?

“Nobody cheated on me, Jude.” I shook my head. “I just don’t want to talk at the moment.”

He tilted his head, looking behind me. The terror he must have been feeling reflected in his brown eyes. “That might not be possible right now.”

I whipped my head back. Chris was furiously marching towards us with Jemima struggling to keep up with his pace.

Oh shit… our project.

“Why didn’t you remind me we were supposed to meet him earlier?” Jude was almost crying. “We’re doomed.”

“Jason Chibuike Ugonna!” Chris roared my name, attracting the attention of a few people on the bleachers. “You had just one thing to do!”

“Jeez! I'm sorry. It was an impromptu call from coach, okay? She would not be able to make it tomorrow.”

“Yes oo,” Jude was trembling at that point. “You know I cannot forget such an important thing, right? Mima?”

Jemima looked at him in confusion as if to say, ‘Dude, since when?’

“Training’s done, isn’t it?” Chris was still seething. “Let’s head to the garden to figure something out.”

“But the garden is all the way in the academic gr—” Jude’s words got stuck in his throat when Chris raised a brow at him, daring him to finish that sentence. “L—let’s go. What are we waiting for?”

°°°°°

~[VICTORIA]~
                                    

                                                            
I would be dead if eyes could kill. With the way Jason had been glaring at me, I would have been lifeless already. I did not even dare to meet his eyes; heaven knows I could not even try even if I wanted to. So, I scrolled through Pinterest since there was nothing else I could think of doing. I could have gone to meet Tracy but she was still in Geography class.

“You play B-ball, Bubbles?” someone plopped on the chair beside me and I knew it was Fidel. I was accustomed to his voice already.

“Yes.” I looked up from my phone and graced him with a small smile.

“I didn’t know.” He mirrored my smile and his dimple–which I always seemed to notice–made its appearance. “You played really well.”

“You were watching?”

“Yeah.” He rested his elbow on his knee and placed his chin on his fist. “How long have you been playing?”

“About eight years.” I shrugged.

“Whoa!” he straightened, his eyes widening. “How come I haven’t seen you in any tournament? What was SLI thinking?”

“It’s not their fault, it’s because…” Mom didn’t want me to play. “I was too busy with academics.”

He scoffed. “And you're not too busy here?” he raised a brow at me. “I don’t buy that shit but I’ll respect your privacy.” He shrugged and leaned into the chair.

“Our project… which topic do you think we should present?” I asked, in an attempt to strike another conversation.

“Which subject is common for the technical and science departments?” he struck the thinking pose, maintained it for some seconds before he said. “Math is a no, I hate English… how about Economics?”

“Economics is fine.” I shrugged. “We can do demand and supply?”

“Too long.” he shook his head. “Basic Economic Concepts sounds better.”

“So, we’ll head to yours once school’s over?”

“I’ll be waiting in the parking lot. Look for a silver Mercedes, the plate number has my name.” He got up and dusted imaginary dust off his butt. “I have to go now. See you later, Bubbles.”

“Yeah.” I waved and watched him saunter towards the exit.

                                  °°°°°

“Make sure to give me the dets tomorrow.” Tracy nudged me as she walked me to the parking lot.

“There would be no details to give.” I rolled my eyes. “We are only going to work on our projects, nothing else.”

“I doubt that.” She grinned, wiggling her brows at me suggestively.

“Get your mind out of the gutter, Tracy.” I shook my head. “A boy and a girl can relate without anything happening.”

“I also doubt that.”

“Coming from someone that has three male best friends, that’s invalid… or have you done something with one of them?” I cocked a curious brow at her.

“Uh… look! Del’s waiting already. Come on, go!” she pushed me slightly but that did not hinder me from noticing her attempt in avoiding that question.

“Don’t stand there looking at me! Go, he's waiting!” she pushed me again, harder this time.

“Fine! Jeez! Don’t push me to the floor.” I surrendered and began walking towards Fidel’s silver Benz which was just a few metres away.

“Don’t forget to call me when you get home!” she yelled behind me, causing me to chuckle.

°°°°°

~[JASON]~

“What did I just say?” Chris snapped his finger right in front of my eyes. “Are you even listening to me?”

“I'm listening.” I adjusted on the bench. “I heard everything."

“Then what did I say?”

“That… we—the—uh—” I did not hear a single thing he said and my futile attempt in coming up with something almost made me cry for myself.

“Has the parking lot now become more important than our project?” Chris crossed his arms and pointedly stared at me.

“It’s that girl he’s looking at oo.” Jude scooted forward beside me. “He looks at her like he wants to kill her. Please, warn your friend. She’s someone’s ch—”

The spank I gave him up the back of his head did not let him land.

Chris turned around to look at the parking lot which was not too far from the garden that was just a few metres away from the school’s gate.

“Which girl?”

“Victoria.” Jude tsked and shook his head. “Jay, don’t hurt that girl oo.”

Chris turned to us again, closed his eyes and massaged his temples. “I’ll repeat myself…” his hard gaze landed on me. “And listen this time.” I nodded. “Jay would handle the camera; Jude will edit and then Jemima can help me with the costumes.”

“And our model?” I asked.

“That’s the issue…” Jude scratched his chin. “I have no idea who can be our model.”

“Tracy can help us.” I shrugged, confident in my idea.

“No, another group asked her already.” Chris sighed tiredly. “Any other ideas?”

“I would say Victoria but…” Jude not so subtly glanced at me.

“You think she can help?” Chris’s face pinched as he looked down at Jude.

“You're seriously considering it?” I gazed at him in incredulity.

“Why not?”

“Well, she—I don’t like her!”

He crouched down, smiled up at me and said, “Then that’s your problem, Jay.”

“But—”

“It has been decided. We know our roles and I’ll talk to Victoria about it tomorrow.” Chris announced in finality and even the others seemed to be okay with the decision he had made.

And that was when I realized that the project would be even harder than I thought.

•
•
•

A/N

WemsEdema here you go♥️.

Did y'all notice anything about Jude? If you did, tell me what it is.

Victoria and Jason working together, how do you think it'll go?

Chapter 13 might take a while, I'm occupied with very important things at the moment. Please, bear with me.

I love you, stay safe😗♥️.