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"I water you, you water me, we grow together."
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Dedicated to IRELAND572 she's amazing 😊😊

                   ∞ORE∞
It was break time and after break today, SSS3s were free ‘cause the next subject on the timetable which was Computer Science, was no longer offered by a single SSS3 student at RBA and it was a double period.

Amazing, if you ask me.

“Ore, are you gonna travel for Christmas?” Chidera asked as she laid her head on my chest.

We were currently at the school’s garden, which was located at the back of the Senior Block. I had my arms around her pretending to be so in love with her and I felt so guilty about that. I wanted to put my arms around a girl that I did not pretend to be in love with but rather, the one I was really in love with.

“Maybe,” I replied her shrugging.

“What about you, Jeremy?” She inquired looking towards his direction that was the chair opposite us. He sat with Joshua and Fawaz. Ashley sat on the adjacent seat with Halima, yes the one who was Jeremy’s talkative seatmate.

“I should travel to Dubai with my family, you know and visit that their tall building that resembles a boat.” He said smiling obviously whining everybody.

“Baba just dey whine,” I said laughing at the shocked eyes of all the girls.

“Ah, me I will travel oh, me ke? I will travel…” Halima started ranting when no one in particular asked her.

Halima was not originally a member of our group. In fact, it was just Jeremy, Fawaz, Josh and I. Yes, I was popular but I had my friend group too.

Chidera joined us because of our situation-ship slash entanglement and Ashley, being her friend, had to tag along. Halima just joined us this term, probably ‘cause of Jeremy and ‘cause she didn’t really have friends.

Jeremy sighed and rolled his eyes. He then gave me a look that said ‘see what I was saying?’ I gave him an ‘I now grab’ nod.

The term was running and we were very close to our first term exams. It was scheduled to take place two weeks after our mid -term holiday. People were seriously reading, stressing themselves out, making use of every single free time they had to study while I was here chilling with my friends. I was not worried ‘cause my brain was magnetic and could capture anything once I looked at it.

Sometimes I felt like I don't even deserve my kind of brain.

“GCE results don land oh!” Someone, probably an SSS3 student, shouted as he walked into the garden that afternoon and that was how the whole place scattered. Students scurried from their seats and ran to wherever.

Halima got up and started panicking too.

Jeremy and I rolled our eyes simultaneously.

“Halima Calm D na,” Josh told her coolly with a hand gesture.

She suddenly relaxed and sat down when he said that. I wonder why no one in our group except Halima was freaked out. Looks like they killed all their papers. The results were meant to be released about two weeks ago but it was postponed due to reasons I didn’t give a hoot about.

The main thing was that result should sha be released.

Period!

Chidera moved her head away from my chest and sat up straight with her phone in her hands. Was I the only one who found it weird that they allowed phones during school hours but prohibited it in the hostel?

I didn’t follow that rule anyway ‘cause I carried, no snuck my phone to the hostel.

Trust me, it was for a good cause. My mom or Aisha would want to communicate with me because of my upcoming wedding.

They had fixed a date but they hadn’t told me yet.

A very excited and girly scream broke me out of my thoughts and I looked to see it was Chidera. Darn, she has always had a deafening scream…geez.

Everyone’s eyes focused on her as she kept jumping up and down for reasons unknown to us until she said: “ I passed o! I made it mehn! I’m getting an Iphone 12 from daddy!” She screamed again.

“What did you make?” Fawaz asked her.

“I had six distinctions including math, English and biology; and three credits, all C4s,” she replied grinning from ear to ear.

I smiled.

“Wawu!” Joshua voiced. “Okay that’s a med result.”

“Aswear down…” Fawaz agreed.

“E make sense die,” Jeremy added.

“So cool, I’m proud of you, b,” Ashley commented and Halima, who already stopped freaking out, nodded in agreement.

“Thanks guys,” she smiled and then turned to me as if expecting something.

I quirked my brows and everyone was looking at me and I looked back to them, confused until Jeremy mouthed:

"Compliment her, Ode!"

Oh.

I quickly smiled, stood up and pulled her in a hug. That's what I'm meant to do, right?

She hugged me back and I whispered:
"You're not just beautiful on the outside, you've got an amazing brain too."

Does what I even said make sense?

"Thanks boo," she replied.

Well maybe it does.

When we pulled away, I kissed her forehead making her blush. It was something I rarely did. She always made the first move in our supposed relationship.

“Shey I will nor goan and carry my own babe bayii? ‘Cause this romance is blinding me. In fact, I can’t breathe sef,” Jeremy said and I knew he said it on purpose.

I face palmed mentally. He really should stop. I gave him the middle finger and he smirked at me.

“Abi o,” Fawaz said and then turned to Ashley. “Or Ash, shey you will be my bae?” He wiggled his eyebrows and Ashley just eyed him without saying a word. I threw an arm around Chidera as she laid her head on my chest again.

“You got shenked, you got shenked, you got S-H-E-N…” Josh started and then…

*WHACK*

He got whacked at the back of his head by Fawaz.

All of us except him burst out laughing.

“Guy now!" Josh yelled. "Bulldozer brain!” He rubbed the back of his head with a grimace.

“For your mind, you don talk be that?” Fawaz said with a feigned amused look.

“Yes. Forking moin-moin.”

Forking what?

“Olori four corner bi iposi Adelabu!” Fawaz told him almost immediately.

Lmaooooo!

Olori what?

Where did they get these kinds of insults?

“Anofia!”

“Monkey banana.”

And it was that last statement made by Fawaz that made everyone burst into laughter.

Monkey banana, seriously? Are we still in primary one?

"Oponu leyin mejeji," I said after our laughter.

A boy in junior’s uniform soon walked towards us and I recognized him as one of the boys who stayed in the hostel. He looked at me and then at my classmates with a scared look on his face.

"Speak!" Chidera commanded and he flinched.

The thing is at RBA, juniors give high respect to their seniors. Only SSS2s try to prove they can be rebels.

“Senior Ore!” He said sharply but his voice quivered a little exposing the fact that he was still scared.

“That’s me,” I answered coolly. “What do you want?”

“The principal...em... wants you in his office right now.”

“Okay then,” I said and stood up. I followed the boy to the principal’s office once I excused myself from my friends.

                       ∞BOLU∞

It was a free period for all SSS3 students, two periods in fact. Nina had gone to the library saying she had a reading date with her fellow male health prefect, Ayo.

She did not exactly say it was a date but Ninu and I called it that anyway.

Speaking of Ninu, she disappeared with Fred to God knows where and I was headed to a spot I found comfortable for me to read.

It was a certain hollow space under the staircase in the senior block where nobody ever stayed and I found it.

Exams were fast approaching and everyone was reading like crazy even though it was not for WAEC. It was going to be our last First Term Exams at RBA.

I got to my ‘spot’ and surprisingly, it was not empty. All those annoying SSS2 students who weren’t even reading occupied it; they were gisting and laughing and making noise.

I attempted to ask them to stand up and leave, you know, use my authority as a senior, but then I realized I wasn’t a prefect and that they’d probably just shenk me (SSS2 students get mind gan!).

Therefore, I turned around and decided to head to the junior block to see if anyone would have occupied their hollow space in their staircase.
I got to the junior block and decided to climb up when I heard voices.

Yes, the block was noisy as hell but the voices I heard felt like they were being directed at someone. I went further up and got to where the voices emerged. Three short girls were tongue lashing a tall girl.

What?

“See, Rose, you are just tall for nothing! If you wanna be my friend you have to do what I tell you!” One yelled. “You are not allowed to talk with any of the guys in JSS3 B.”

The other girls who crossed their arms agreed nodding their heads at what the other one said. Maybe she was their geng head.

“I…I’m sorry…I… I didn’t know_” The tall girl, probably Rose, started but was cut off by the supposed geng head.

“Sorry for yourself! I thought maybe with your height, you’d even have sense, tsk, tsk, tsk …but it seems like your height is inversely proportional to your sense. The taller you grow, the dumber you become!”  The mean girl spat at Rose and I could see tears forming in her eyes.

The other girls cackled hard with laughter. What's so funny?

That was it! I was going to have to do something about it. I couldn’t stand seeing Rose that way because I was once like her.

Instead of me to bully short people, I was bullied by them and I became so self-conscious because of my height. I started bending each time I walked, thinking I was too tall until my mom spoke to me one day and told me; “People out there, boys and girls, would kill to have your height.”

Safe to say that day my brain reset and I really began to love my height.

Long story short, nobody bullied me again.

I walked over to where the girls were and I cleared my throat. “And did you know that too much talking makes short people retarded forever? Both in height and in sense?” I asked them with a very serious face although my eyes met the girl who was the geng head.

Her eyes dimmed and she became overwhelmed by my height and so she moved back. Her minions did the same. I looked at Rose who had red eyes and then directed my gaze back to them. I raised an eyebrow. “Did you?”

“Uh…senior Bolu, hi,” the geng head said and smiled nervously.

“Oh, so you know my name?” I asked not really expecting an answer.

“Yes…I_”

“Very good. Now if you guys don’t want to be retarded forever which you clearly are…” I paused, shifted my weight to the other foot and continued. “You should stop talking. What you girls say can’t even be processed into a sensible piece of information by anyone or any computer in the world. Trust me darlings, it would save the world a whole lot of stress if you stopped talking. That way, even if you don’t want to, you’ll end up being short for nothing.”  I finished with a very calm but firm tone.

I raised an eyebrow at three of them. “Does anyone have anything to say?” I asked and there was silence. “I thought so.”

I bent to their level and said. “If you people have nothing better to do with your lives go and read your book and stop competing for the last position. Now get out!”

Without hesitation they ran, literally ran away from me and I turned to Rose who whispered a soft “thank you” to me before bowing her head and walking away.

“Wait!” I called out and she stopped. I walked over to where she stood. “Are you okay?”

She sniffed and nodded. “Yes senior, I am.”

I took time to examine her and realized she was tall but not as tall as I was although she’d probably be at my age. She had big eyeballs that you couldn’t but notice and her lips were black while she was brown. Any sane or insane Nigerian would kill for a skin like hers.

“Look…Rose.” She nodded. “Short for Rosella or Roseline, which one?”

“Rosella,” she confirmed.

“Look Rosella, being a tall girl is an extremely rare gift. A gift most girls and boys, yes boys, would kill for. You should be proud of your height, never wish to be short because it means you are telling God He made a mistake when He created you. Stand tall with your head up high and be yourself. You do not have to follow those wannabe girls to have an identity. Define yourself and create your own identity instead and you’ll see that you’d be a happier and better version of you, is that taken?” I exhaled.

Wow! I suddenly feel like a motivational speaker.

“Yes,” she answered.

I smiled and then placed my hand on her shoulder. “If you ever need anything, don’t hesitate to come to me, okay? My class is SSS3 Science 1. Come meet me anytime.”

She smiled for the first time since she’d been with me. “Really?”

I nodded.

“Thanks Senior Bolu,” she said and surprisingly pulled me into a hug. I hugged her back and then we pulled away.

With that, she walked away and I returned to the spot under their staircase to face the real reason I came in the first place. To read physics. Maybe if I tried a different location, it’d stick.

Hey guys!

Next chapter coming up in a bit!

I split it 'cause it was too long.

Full Author's note coming up in the next chapter too!

Meanwhile, vote, comment and share.

~Ife✌️