CHAPTER NINE

Ethan

I honestly have no idea of what is going on with me, I've never felt this way before, the feeling is strange, Patty is totally not my type of girl but I'm drawn to her.

After I dropped her at home, I thought of her till I got home, I couldn't get her out of my head, the image of when she was mad at me and when she was laughing hard at my jokes kept popping in my head, I was even finding it hard to do things right, when I tried to make another coffee when I got home, I poured salt in my coffee instead of sugar accidentally.

After having my bathe and getting prepared for school, I found out I wore the other side of my cloth, I have no idea of what was going on with me.

I don't even know why I didn't tell her the truth about me, that I'm the heir to Wellington groups, ever since I told Layla that, she has been clingy, I know patty isn't that kind of girl but it's best I don't tell her, that might scare her off, she might think I want to take advantage of her and I'm also sure there's something she isn't telling me about herself and I'm determined to find out.

I ate breakfast and hurried out, I must see her before class started and make sure she was okay.

When I got to school I bumped into Layla or let's say she intentionally bumped into me_ again.

"Sorry," she said as she gave me a seductive smile, she used her fingers to brush her hair behind her ear. So not working on me, I thought .

"Patty is your cousin, right? " I asked out of the blue as I put my hands in my pocket, I wasn't even planning to ask her that

"Who's Patty? " she furrowed her brows

"Bianca... I mean Bianca "

"Oh! Why are you calling her Patty? "

"Is Bianca your cousin?" I asked ignoring her dumb question

"Y...ye... Yeah" she replied reluctantly

"Your mom... " I stopped. "Never mind, can you do me a favor? " I asked

"Yeah sure"

"Don't tell her or anybody about me! About my identity, I don't want her to know, about the reason why I'm in Nigeria I don't want her or any other person to know that too, it's only you that knows about me and I want it to remain that way, can you do that for me? "

"I've told you before that my lips are sealed but why do you desperately want to hide your identity from her? Is there something between the both of you? " she asked out of curiosity

"Layla, you ask too many questions, please do that for me"

"Okay, fine! Do you wanna hang out with me tonight?" She asked.

"Err...e rm...the thing is I have a lot of things on my mind and a lot of things to do, so maybe some other time"

"You've been giving me that excuse for three weeks now Ethan and yet you are seeing other girls, what's wrong with you Ethan? Am I not good enough for you?" she said as she teared up

"Layla, you need to stop this, I can't do this anymore! We were never a thing and we are never gonna be, I need to go to class" I walked away

"You are an asshole!" she cursed out but I didn't care. I've heard that numerous times from girls.

I went to the locker room, I walked towards my locker to kill time and to avoid that boring assembly thing and I was glad to see Patty there, I was glad she could make it to school

"Hey," I said as I smiled

"Hey" she answered coldly

"Did everything go well at home? I asked hoping that's the reason she was cold.

"Yeah, everything's fine" she answered without sparing me a glance, her attention is on the book she pretends to be reading.

"O...Ok... Okay" I dragged it because I was out of word, everything I planned to say to her had vanished when she became cold, I looked at her face, it's all swollen, it looked like she has been crying, I know she doesn't trust me enough to tell me what is going on with her but i know the person that would tell me everything_ her best friend, Chioma.

"You wanna hang out after school" i said and she shot me a cold glare and I changed what I said "for the project of course, to complete the project you know" I said awkwardly, no one has ever looked at me that way before, it was frightening.

"If it's for the project, sure I'll be in the library at lunch, meet you there," she said and walked away

I sighed and headed to class, after class on my way to practice I saw the cheerleaders and I spotted Chioma, I walked towards her.

"Hey Chioma, Can I see you for a second? "

She was surprised that I was talking to her and other girls stared at us, especially Layla.

"Yeah, sure!" she answered and we walked outside, I took the lead and walked towards the terrace and she followed me, when we got there she asked me

"Why did you call me here? "

"Erm, I'm Eth...."

"I know you are Ethan, everyone knows that..." she rolled her eyes

"Well, I want to ask you some things about Patty, I mean Bianca"

"If it's not too personal, I'll tell you"

"It's a little personal, from what I observed, it looks like she's being maltreated at home but she won't tell me anything"

She looked at me for a while, guess she was thinking if she should tell me or not, she sighed.

"She's going through hell in that house Ethan, they don't feed her well, she does all the chores, she treks to school and they never give her allowance and I'm really sad that as her best friend, there's nothing I can do to help her out of there, she's literally a maid in that house"

"What! Do you mean Layla and her family are treating her that way? "I asked and she nodded. We heard the alarm for the assembly period.

"I have to go, the assembly is about to start and since I'm the prefect, I have to be there," she said and left

I knew there was more to what happened last night!

"Hey, what's up man? " I heard David's voice

"Hey Dave" I answered in a dull voice

"What are you doing here?" He asked

"Just wanna be alone for a while"

"I saw you come here with a girl, What does she taste like? Strawberry? " he teased

"Dude!" I exclaimed as I glared at him.

"Woah, chill dude! What's wrong? You've been cold for some days now?"

"I don't know, I don't understand myself," I said calmly shaking my head

"What is it you don't understand? " He asked paying his full attention to me

"I can't bear seeing her like that! She's suffering and all alone and... " I trailed off

"What the hell are you talking about Ethan?... Wait, are you talking about Patty? Your imaginary girlfriend?"

I faced him in shock

"How did you know about her, I didn't tell you about her!"

"Well, when you got drunk at Sean's party and I was driving you home, you kept telling me about her, long black curly hair, brown eyes and other features I can't recall, the next day I looked for anybody with the name but no one bears the name, the closest connection to the name Patty in this school is Patrick and he's a guy, you are not gay, are you?"

"You deserve a purple eye," I said and he chuckled

"You mentioned her name in your sleep four days ago man, what's going on? Is she that hot?"

"Yeah, she is_ I think I like her! I_"

"More like you love her"

"Come on! don't say that, why will love feel this way? you don't even know who she is!"

"Because your definition of love is flirt and bang!" He said and I rolled my eyes.

"You don't even know who she is," I said in a whisper

"When I didn't find anyone with the name in school, I just assumed, she's in America"

"No, she's here, it's_ Bianca" he stared at me for a while

"Is there any other Bianca apart from your project partner?"

"No! Not that I know of, it's her!"

"That nerd! " he exclaimed

"Don't call her a nerd Dave, she's cool"

"She doesn't even talk to anyone, she only talks to that pretty girl who just walked out" he grumbled

"She's Layla's cousin, her parents are no more and her Aunt maltreats her, she's going through a lot Dave" he stared at me weirdly and I thought he was going to say something reasonable until he bursts into laughter.

"I can't...belie...ve you are in love Ethan! Should I call your mom, she has always wanted that for you! " He said amidst laughter

"Why did I even tell you all this in the first place!" I said as i hit my forehead in frustration and turned to leave.

"Wait for me! Mr Ronald actually sent me to get you!" He ran after me and we went to the gym class to meet Mr Ronald.

Bianca's POV

I kept thinking of my conversation with Layla at home.

"stay away from Ethan, he's mine" I scoffed as I thought again.

"He's not a thing anyone can own," I said to myself and thought again.

"so he's dating Layla and showing interest in me, unbelievable!"

The alarm rang and I checked the time, it's lunch period, and I walked into the library. I sat and waited for him, I kept glancing at the door but no image of him, after waiting for a lifetime, I decided to pick some books around that I might need. As I was going through the books, I noticed a presence behind me, I looked back slowly and i saw Ethan, standing there smiling sheepishly like a eight years old boy that's waiting to get scolded. I glared at him and opened my mouth to say something but he covered my mouth with his palm, he smelled nice and had a soft palm compared to mine, rough and dry.

"Please don't say anything, I'm sorry for standing you up" he said and slowly removed his hand. I didn't bother to say anything, i just stood akimbo.

"Do you wanna go somewhere? It's gonna be fun I promise" he said

"Hmmm, more like do you wanna sneak out of school? I promise you are gonna get into trouble, right?" i asked sarcastically as i raised my brows.

"Do you trust me?" he asked as he looked straight into my eyes, i nodded after a while.

"So come with me," he said

"I'm not going anywhere with you" he took my hand and dragged me along as he ran. I kept telling him to let go as I laughed but he didn't listen.

"Okay, where are we going?" i said trying to lighten the mood, he smiled and he held my hand as we ran out, we managed to sneak out and we entered his car and zoomed off. It was easy cos his car wasn't parked in the school premises.

We were breathing heavily as we entered. He looked at me and i looked at him and we burst into laughter.

There was silence after a while and i pressed the radio button and luckily a song was playing, i sang along with it.

Where are you now

Atlantis

Under the sea

Under the sea

Where are you now

It's like a dream

Monsters running wild inside of me

I'm faded!

I'm faded

So lost

I'm faded

Where are you now

"I'm right here" Ethan interrupted and I stopped

"What?" I asked

"Nothing" he said and pulled over, he rushed down and came to open the door for me, he brought out a blindfold and i gave him a confused look.

"A surprise should remain a surprise," he said and I rolled my eyes. He blindfolded me and blocked my hearing with a headset.

He held my shoulder and he guided me to wherever he's taking me to, after walking for a while, I felt movement like we are in an elevator, i felt him standing in front me.

"We are here," he said

'Thank goodness, so can you get this thing off me" I pointed to the blindfold, I'm very curious and can't wait to see where i am, i tried to smell the place or feel it but i still don't know where i am.

"Calm down, I'm gonna take it off now" he said and he moved closer to take it off, his cologne filled my nose and i inhaled as much as i can. He untied the blindfold and i opened my eyes slowly, i was shocked at what i saw, we are on a yacht.

"We are on a yacht?" I asked as I stammered. It wasn't the movement of the elevator I felt but the movement of a yacht.

"Obviously," he said and he held my hand.

"Wow, this is real! I've only seen this in pictures and movies" I said in awe as looked at my surroundings.

"You are seeing it live now, I love boat cruise so I thought I should bring you with me, didn't know you've never experienced one.

"I'll always remember this day," I said and he held my hand and faced me

"Me too," he said, I stared into his emerald green eyes, I couldn't help the burning sensation in me, I had to do what my heart wanted me to do and I hoped I wouldn't regret it later, yeah! I flung my hand around his neck and kissed the hell out of him, I felt him surprised but he responded to the kiss as he held my waist pulling me closer to him, it was intense, I've never felt that way before, it started the day I set my eyes on him, even though he is a jerk and a man whore, the way I feel for him didn't change, I tried so hard to avoid any further feelings but I can't help it, I think of him every time, this guy... This guy in front of me, in my arms, I love him.

I pulled away and we held each others eye, the way he looked at me melted my heart and my soul, I've only seen this look in my father's eye. He caressed my cheek and pulled me for another kiss that gave me an impeccable feeling.