Fatal Attractions.

Chibundu's POV 

Today was too dramatic for me.  I'm so used to drama in this school, even the ones worse than this. But the fact that all this happened first day of school was just too much.   

Prince has been quiet and moody throughout today.  The one that really surprised me was Luca.  I never expected him to even do anything due to the fact that he and Jasmine practically hated each other. 

Or maybe he didn't. 

I didn't see Luca after school, he just vanished into thin air. 

The bell was rung for dinner and everyone went to the refectory to eat. 

I went to Prince's bed and he was lying down. 

Sleeping maybe. 

"Prince you no go chop?" (aren't you going to eat?) 

He didn't reply me, then I tapped him on his shoulder. 

"Wetin?" (What?) 

"Are you not eating?"

"I'm not hungry."

I just rolled my eyes at him and walked to over to the other side of his bed. 

"Let's go and eat."

"Guy I'm not hungry now!" 

My God! 

"See sulking all day won't prevent what happened from happening today. You just calm down abeg."

"I should have done something. I was there!"

"There is nothing you would have done. Did you know Mary was holding milk? Or did you even know it was going to spill on her?  

Stop stressing yourself abeg. Let's go and eat."

He stayed silent for a short while then got up from his bed, wore his house wear, took his cutlery and we started going downstairs. 

"Is anybody else in the hostel?" Mr young, our hostel master asked. 

"No sir." I replied. 

We entered the refectory which was very rowdy.  Stories about what happened today was in everyone's mouth. 

We went to our table and met everyone there apart from Joan who is probably resting, Stephanie and Luca. 

The cooks prepared beans this night and the first thing that came to my mind were the kind of offensive odours that were going to fill the hostel this night. 

I would have to kill somebody's child this night! 

"Why is Steph not downstairs?" Tamuno asked the girls. 

"She's upstairs with Jo. Why are you asking?"  Bianca said. 

"Nothing." Tamuno quickly answered and continued eating his food. 

Hmmm! 

We all looked at him with that knowing look because we were all aware of how much he likes Stephanie. 

"Eh, wetin dey do una?" (what is wrong with all of you?) 

"See this one ohh! Which one is nothing?"  I asked, folding my arms. 

"See, there's no need to pretend. We've all seen how you look at her, like she's the only one in the universe." Sarah said.

"Na una know oh!" (That is your business) 

Tamuno never wanted to admit that he likes Steph, or maybe he did but tried to hide it from us. 

Luca came into the refectory and headed to our table. 

"Oh boy. Where you dey since na?" I asked. (Where have you been all these while?) 

He didn't give me any answer, he just sat down and started eating his food. 

"Just leave him."  Prince told me.   Luca was looked very cold and I'm very sure that he hated Prince right now. 

Then something or someone caught my attention. 

"Senior Bianca, Bibian said I should give you this book and collect the other one."  The girl standing at our table handed Bianca a book and I couldn't stop staring at this girl. 

Her voice when she spoke to Bianca, her flawless skin and she had it all. 

I must have been staring too much because someone pinched me from under the table. 

"What are you looking at?" Yuadoo mouthed to me. 

I just turned my head and continued eating my food. 

Bianca muct have noticed too because she told the girl to leave immediately. 

"Go, tell Bibian I'll give her the book later."  Bianca told the girl. 

"Come back." I called the girl back and my classmates looked at me like I had run mad. 

"Are you a new student?"

"No. I've been here since Jss1."

Jss1? 

I could swear that I had never seen this girl before throughout my entire stay in this school.  You can't blame me sef.  Our school is very big and populated. Its very hard to know all the students in the school. 

"What class?" 

"Ss1" 

"Wow, that's nice.  What's your name?"

"Prudence."

Prudence! 

That name sounded familiar. 

"Do you have a sibling in this school?"

"Yes. Ezekiel is my elder brother."

Now I knew where I heard that name from. 

Ezekiel is our senior and on one or two occasions, he had mentioned her name before. 

"Wow that's good. Nice name."

"Thank You." She said and smiled. 

My eyes roamed her body once more then I dismissed her. 

"What was that for mr man?" Bianca asked. 

"Nothing now. I've never seen her before so I decided to talk to her. Is there anything wrong with that?" 

"Your mouth was saying one thing and your eyes were saying another.  Chibundu!  You have a girlfriend oh!"

I got a little bit pissed off when she said that. 

Yes I have a girlfriend. Aisha. But she's too dull and quiet for my liking. 

Funny enough it was her quiet nature that made me drew my attention to her. I didn't know that dating her was going to be a different ball game. 

"Ehen, must you na rub it in my face? Aisha is too dull for my liking.  She acts too innocent, like she doesn't know anything.  Just the ordinary peck on the cheek everytime. Abeg which kind of boring relationship is that one sef?"

I expected like more from her. Aisha is a naturally endowed girl, but what is the use when you can't even kiss the girl properly. 

Yeah, I'm that kind of guy. 

It really pissed me off. 

I needed change, and Prudence is that change I need. 

Stephanie's POV

"Jo, Jo. I'm going downstairs oh." I told Joan who was lying down on her bed, resting. 

"Ok no problem. Greet the boys for me oh." She replied. 

"Sure." I replied her and I went downstairs to the refectory. 

On my way I met Tamuno, he was coming out of the refectory. 

They always said he likes me, but I seriously didn't see it.  We just talked like Normal classmates. 

"Steph, hey."

"Hi." 

"You missed dinner." 

"Yeah, I was with Jo and i'm not hungry."

"Okay.  Are you coming back out?"

"do you want me to come back out?" I said giving him a side smile. 

I knew he wanted to talk to me.  He just laughed a little and used the hand that wasn't In his pocket to rub his cheek. 

Or maybe he likes me! 

"I just want to talk to you. Its been long since we really talked."

I and Tamuno were very close in Junior class.  He was my male best friend until I have no idea what happened. We drifted apart. 

"Sure no problem. Let me just let them know I'm downstairs."

"Okay. I'll be here." 

I went inside to greet the rest and deliver my message from Joan then I came back outside. 

I met Tamuno sitting down on a bench outside the hall and it was kind of dark because the lights didn't really illuminate that part. 

"So Mr T, what's up with you?" I asked him, sitting down. 

"You're back.  i'm fine oh. Just small problems at home.  My parents are becoming unbearable."

"How?"

"My dad's drinking is becoming way too much. My mom's constant nagging is seriously frustrating me.  And Kevwe is just something else. I feel like I'm the only sane person in that house." 

Yeah, he had family problems. I was aware of that. He shared everything with me. 

What really baffled me was when he said his elder sister Kevwe was becoming something else.   I didn't understand. 

"What do you mean by Kevwe is just something else?"

He looked really sad. 

"During the holiday, she got pregnant."

Kevwe!  Pregnant!  

Is it Kevwe I know or another one? 

"Ah, ah. Pregnant?"

"I don't know Steph, I don't know. She wasn't like this before."

"So what did your parents say when they found out?"

He just scoffed at my question.

"Found out?  They never found out. She aborted the pregnancy!"

Ehn! 

I looked at him in shock. 

I never knew Kvewe to be a wayward person, so it was really a big shock.

"Wow!  how long has she been behaving like this?"

"Sincerely Steph, I have no idea. she just changed, and its really affecting me because  i have no one to tell all these to."

The feeling of guilt came over me.  

I had not been there for him when he needed me most.

"You should have told me all these earlier." I said .

He gave me a little smile and I knew the meaning behind that smile.

"Well you seemed occupied and busy and you've obviously out grown me, so what's the need?"

Ouch! 

I don't even know what happened, we just stopped talking.

Sincerely, I felt I was bothering him at a point. Anytime i talked to him, he acted as if i was being a pest so i stopped talking to him.

After all, it was the beginning of our new lives as seniors.

He had new friends and a new life and I didn't want to be the one to ruin it, so I decided to move on with my life.  after all, we're still classmates.

"I'm sorry if I seemed occupied or busy or whatever.  its actually not my fault. Honestly, when we got into ss1, you seemed to have drifted away.  anytime I talked to you, you seemed uninterested and you acted like I was bothering you.  i didn't want to be the one to spoil your new life as a senior." I told him.

I was looking at him and there wasn't any sort of expression on his face, and it bothered me.

He turned to face me. 

"That is exactly what I thought too."

What?!

"When we came back from the holidays, you had grown so big.  you should have see the way you carried yourself as a new senior.  i felt that you had found your levels now. no more "small boy Tamuno" to bother you."

Wow!

I'm definitely not like that. I was never like that!

i just raised one eyebrow at him.

"So it was my size that was intimidating you?" I said and he laughed making me laugh too.

"I never felt that way Tamuno, i never got tired of you.  You  were the only one i could tell anything and everything to........well except the Jasmine and co, but seriously i really needed you.  Especially the time i liked Tomi, i needed you bad at that period."

I didn't want to mention my brother's death to him.  He knew about it but I didn't want to make the whole thing awkward. 

He was quiet for a what seemed to me like an eternity. 

Please say something! 

Finally he spoke. The silence was killing me. 

"I guess we both assumed." He said shrugging. 

"Yes. Assumption can really be a bad thing." I replied him. 

Suddenly, he took my hands and felt this tingling sensation that surprised me. 

I had never reacted to his touch in any way before but I was reacting now, my hands were tingling. 

I looked down at my hands and looked at him. 

His eyes were full of sincerity. 

"I'm really sorry Steph. I'm sorry I wasn't there for you when you lost your brother. I don't know.  I felt so devastated, seeing you struggle and all.  I knew I was supposed to be there for you, but I don't know why I wasn't Steph. Please forgive me. I'm so sorry." 

Tears were threatening to fall out right now and I struggled so hard to hold it back. 

He really should have been there the whole  time.  I wanted to just die.  I had lost my brother in a plane crash and my best friend, the one I really needed wasn't there for me. It hurt like hell.  I didn't think I could ever forgive him. 

"I've forgiven you T, long ago." I said with tears in my eyes. 

My voice was quivering. 

"I'm not holding anything against you.  Never." I told him and the tears began to fall. 

I felt My brother's death wasn't fair at all. 

He was studying arts abroad and a very famous Hollywood actor had already noticed his talent.  He was given a role in a movie.  We were all happy when we heard this.  

"My own brother is going to be a famous Hollywood actor like Chris Hemsworth!" Those were the words I told my classmates. 

One morning, he called that he was coming back to Nigeria that same morning. 

Then few hours later, I'm crying on my bed because Richard is dead. 

The plane crashed few minutes after take off.  My Parents received a call from over there that their son is dead. 

It wasn't fair at all.  He wasn't supposed to die. 

"Steph please don't cry." Tamuno said bringing me out of my thoughts. 

He used his hand to wipe a tear away from my face. 

"He wasn't supposed to die T.  He wasn't!"

I said and the tears fell out more. 

I was angry and sad and frustrated at the same time. 

"Steph please stop. Don't cry." Tamuno said and held my face in his hands. 

"Look at me Steph.  Look at me."

I looked at his light brown eyes.  I had never noticed the colour of his eyes before. 

"Don't say that again. Yes, he had a whole life ahead of him and yes he wasn't supposed to die, but God knows why it happened.  Its painful but God knows everything. He has a reason for allowing Richard die. So please stop crying.  I hate seeing you cry." 

Was it my best friend talking? 

Was this really Tamuno? 

There was so much sincerity in his voice.  So much certainty, and I believed him. Maybe God had a reason why Richard died. 

I held his hands which were still on my face with both of my hands and smiled through the tears. 

"I will. I will stop crying. Thank you." I said and hugged him.  I've never felt so safe and secure in my life before. 

I was happy. 

He broke the hug and smiled. 

"Its okay. I'll always be here for you. I'll never leave you again."

"We'll always be here for each other T."

I said and smiled. 

Oh well!  That's enough emotional stuff  for this night.

I used the back of my palm to dry my tears then he gave me his favorite bandana! 

Tamuno never joked with his bandanas, especially this one.  And he was giving it to me to dry my tears. 

Of course!  You're his best friend! 

"You're giving me your bandana to dry my tears?" I asked him very surprised. 

"Of course. Is there anything wrong with that?"

"No!  Nothing at all.  Its just that you never joke with your bandanas." I said and he laughed. 

"Well, you're my best friend. I have every right to give you."

I was really surprised.  Even when we were in junior class, Tamuno never gave me his bandana, he never allowed me to even touch it.  The day I touched it, this boy almost buried me alive.

I finished drying my eyes and gave it back to him. 

"Keep it."

"I should keep your bandana?"

I looked at him like he was not alright. He was definitely not alright. 

He's even dashing me the thing. 

"Are you serious right now?" I asked to be sure I heard well.

"You can keep the thing Steph." He said with a small laugh. 

"Wow, thank you." I smelled the bandana and it smelled exactly like him. 

Strawberry! 

It wasn't Strange though. 

Tamuno a guy, using strawberry scented perfume.  He didn't care at all. 

"You and this your strawberries ehn!" I said teasing him. 

And we both laughed.  We talked a little more then we went inside the refectory together and soon we were telling the boys goodnight as it was time to go our hostels. 

"Steph!" I turned to see Tamuno running towards me. 

"Thanks for tonight." He said. 

"No problem. Thank you too for tonight." I replied and he smiled. 

"Tamuno ohhhh!!!!!  Woman no go kill you!" (Tamuno, you won't die in the hands of a woman.) 

I looked behind him and I saw Chibundu calling him. 

I just shook my head, chuckling and he rolled his eyes, ignoring them. 

"Well goodnight." He said. 

"Goodnight." I told him and  I definitely wasn't expecting what he did next. 

He pecked me on the cheek! 

I was surprised because I wasn't expecting that at all and I was blushing like an idiot with my mouth slightly open in shock. 

With that he ran off, leaving me totally speechless. 

I composed myself and joined the Bianca and co. 

"I saw that." Sarah said climbing the stairs. 

"We all saw that." Bianca added. 

"Saw what?" I asked feigning pretense. 

"He pecked you, didn't he?" Yuadoo asked closing the hostel door. 

I lowered my head so they wouldn't notice how hard I was blushing. 

"Yeah and so?" I replied casually. 

"This boy totally likes you." Sarah said as we got to our room. 

"He doesn't. He doesn't like me." I defended. 

I really sounded stupid. 

Yuadoo just looked at me like I was stupid. 

"Then why else do think he pecked you?" 

I just shrugged. 

"I don't know. But he definitely doesn't like me." I said. 

I'm definitely stupid. 

"What am I hearing here?" Joan asked from her bed. 

"Who is pecking who and who is liking who?" 

I walked to my bed and sat down on it. 

"Tamuno pecked Stephanie this night and she's being stupid saying "he doesn't like me, he doesn't like me." Bianca said mimicking me in a really over high pitched voice. 

I don't sound like that! 

Joan began to laugh. 

"Why are you laughing now?" I asked her. 

"She absolutely has no idea." Joan said, still laughing. 

I just rolled my eyes. 

"Please can you guys stop making me the topic of this night?" I asked getting annoyed. 

I don't know what was funny in what I just said because they all started laughing. 

What kind of friends do I have for God's sake? 

I brought out my novel and started reading hoping that I wouldn't pay attention to what they were saying. 

"Ehen! Joan, If you what happened this night in the refectory ehn!" Sarah said with so much enthusiasm. 

I put my book down and listened to what she was saying because I wasn't in the refectory too. 

"You know Prudence in ss1?"

"Mm."

"She came to give Bianca something on our table and you need to see the way Chibundu  Justice was checking her out!  Like she was piping hot food!" Sarah and her exaggerating. 

This boy knows that he still has a girlfriend!

The boy is crazy. 

"Are you serious?" Joan asked surprised. 

"Hmmm.  The thing shock me oh!  Do you now know the worse part, when Bianca told reminded him that he has a girlfriend you need to see the way he irritated.  He was talking as if Aisha is trash." (I was shocked.) 

Ok now I was over surprised. 

"He went as far as saying that she's boring, and that she wasn't giving him what he wanted, like all these kissing and stuff.  Me I didn't just know what to do again. I was just looking at the boy." Sarah said. 

Ah! 

How would Chibundu be saying words like this about Aisha? 

It really disturbed me. 

"Which kind boy is that one sef?" I asked clearly annoyed. 

"My sister, if you ask me, na who I go aaaask??"  Sarah replied me with a line from Omawunmi's song. (If you ask me, who else would I ask?) 

If Aisha heard this she'll totally be furious. 

She's quiet, but you would never want to get on her bad side and she could literally send you to your death with her mouth. 

She almost got suspended because of that. 

She insulted a junior who broke her glasses, and she was very angry because without them shewas like a blind person. 

Then she insulted the junior in front of all her classmates. The girl was totally humiliated.  She was crying all through that day till she went home. 

The next day girl's parents came to the school to meet the Principal. They said their child was crying when she got home and didn't eat, they asked her what the problem was and she said a senior insulted her. 

When our Principal saw that it was Aisha he was surprised because she wasn't the type that talked.  Sha he only gave her punishment because of her clean record in school. 

She insulted another student again, but  this time the student left the school.  Thankfully our Principal never knew.  What he only knew was that the student said she doesn't want to attend this school anymore. 

And her silence was another thing. 

She was really good at giving the silent treatment. 

Even if she's the one that offends you, you yourself will beg her personally because the way she will snub you ehn! 

Only Bianca, Yuadoo and Joan know how to handle that her character. 

Bianca would give it back to her straight away!  Yuadoo, will only laugh and act like she doesn't give a two about her anger.  Joan will still  go and talk to her even in the silent treatment, she will even go as far as teasing her and surprisingly, she'll get over that her anger. 

Chibundu definitely doesn't know what he's signing up for. 

We talked a little while before retiring to our beds to get a proper night rest.