Chapter eight ~ Calm storms

Everyday is a new learning curve 

as you steer through life

"Toby! Christ! I've been running after you and calling your name. Why were you even looking for queen witch sef and what's up with the 𝒕𝒆𝒒𝒖𝒊𝒍𝒂 up and down? Infact, why is she pacing up and down in our secret hideout and the heck is she smoking again?"

Sarah rambled out the questions through hitched breath. Looking at the slender girl who paced the empty classroom behind toby but an earshot away though. Speaking of the girl pacing about, he had remembered calling her out in excitement. An excitement which he had no idea of its reason and then he called her tequila which sprang up more rumors than whatever the heck happened back in that class before his arrival.

𝑻𝒆𝒒𝒖𝒊𝒍𝒂 was a nickname which he had specifically given her and asides the reason of not knowing her real name, he had nicknamed her that cause of his own personal reasons which maybe he wasn't ready to share with the world. At least, not yet. 

Anyways, here she was pacing about and puffing out curly smokes into the air, besides, that was the second stick to cigarettes which she had puffed out under the short time they've been in the classroom together.

Not talking or anything. She had followed him to the classroom but hadn't bothered to say an alphabet to him, instead she took it out on the curly smokes dissipating into thin air.

"Mr. I was talking to you! " Sarah called out, snapping her index finger together with her thumb. A look of curiosity, disapproval and confusion all clouded her expression.

Toby sighed. He forgot for minute that he had the over inquisitive sarah who wouldn't rest until she atleast got a reasonable reply. What was her question again? Oh! She actually asked more than one but somehow, he had been too caught up with his thoughts that he lost the questions to the air.

"Pardon?" He asked Sarah who rolled her eyes in exasperation.

"Did you know the witch already? " Sarah asked, gesturing subtly at Yara which made toby throw a brief glance at her. She seemed calm. Like she was actually relieved of having to come out of the class.

"Yes." he answered.

Sarah's eyes flew open in surprise.

"When? How? Where? "

" Few days ago when mum and I went for a soiree which was held at her house," he shrugged.

"Wow! You didn't say a thing though."

"I basically didn't think you'll know her."

She snorted, "well who wouldn't know her? She's the queen witch after all."

He shook his head at her, watching her bring out a long sheet of paper from a blue file which he didn't even notice she carried along with her.

" I just got it here. Don't think I always had it with me." she spoke up as if reading his thoughts. He chuckled.

"Thanks to you, I was starting to think I was going blind."

She laughed in reply, stretching out the paper to him.

"What's this?"

"Bluebell's special services. She would have to pick one though. Principal Meyers wanted me to make sure she's involved. But, dang! Queen witch is scary and I find it almost impossible to approach her so since you're already here, you could help."

He scanned it through. Bluebell's high had four special services which was required of every student to participate.

1> Bluebell's press - they handled every information going on in the school

2> The socials - they represented the school in all competitions which required entertainment

3> Book blazers - they were those called the bookworms and nerds

4> Sports knight - as the name implied, it related to anything sports 

5> Volunteer service agents - they were those in charge of helping to give talks and hold seminars on contemporary juvenile issues.

He had landed himself in the VSA and to him, it wasn't just about doing it because it was a requirement which must be done as a Bluebell student but, it was something more personal to him. It helped him see the world in a different light. Fat lot of good changes it brought to remote communities and the satisfaction of having to see people smile made him happy.

Anyway, back to Sarah, he flashed her a quick smile whilst nodding.

"Alright. No p. "

She smiled, throwing him a goodbye kiss but not before giving him a sign that she was praying for him being stuck with the witch. He laughed at that. 

Sarah was weird.

Turning back to the slender girl now, she had quit smoking and right now had her attention facing the window which spread out it's glassy frame to the sky. He took a deep breath, walking over to her.

" Hey! "

She didn't turn around and that didn't stop him from continuing.

"I'm sorry I kept you waiting."

"𝑇𝑒𝑞𝑢𝑖𝑙𝑎." she mused. 

"I'm sorry about calling you that." he apologized on impulse.

"That's not the first time I'm being nicknamed. No need to apologize." 

He arched his brows, "woah okay." he said, pulling one of the chairs in the classroom closer.

"So aren't you going to ask why I called you that?"

"Probably because you thought I was eccentric after I pulled out a shot of tequila from my purse, that night. " she replied.

His eyes widened in disbelief and amusement, "No! Why would you think that?"

That was one reason though.

"Cause everyone gives weird reasons of why they nickname me. It's just logical to think it's the same all over. " she replied, finally resting her gaze on his.

Big black hazel pairs buried their gaze into him. He stared back at her. A wave of calm storms floating in the intensity of her gaze as though they were reading the depths of the ocean in his eyes.

A loud commanding tone quickly broke the stare, it was the tone of Sir Godwin. The school's dean, shouting at some juniors to get into their classes. Toby coughed nervously, giving her the paper from the blue file.

"Here! Bluebell's special services. Principal Meyers must have told you about it."

She threw a glance at the paper, "I'm not interested."

"Still, you should have a look before tossing it aside, it's helpful." he prodded.

She dragged her breath, taking another stick of cigarettes and lighting it up and once again to take a deep lungful before puffing it out to the air. By now, toby had lost count of how many cigarettes she has had within the short time here.

"You make it sound like it's doing the world a favor." 

"Cause it's actually something like that."

"No!" She cut in, "the world wouldn't need favors from people who think they're pitiful and act like superheros just because they think they're better."

"But this isn't about being superheroes and acting like we're better than everyone else. We're all weak anyway and the best way I learnt to stay afloat is, us relying on ourselves. That way, we're stronger." he stated, like he needed that fact to sink into her skull.

She took a long drag of the cigarettes in silence, staring at the boy with the coffee black eyes. pondering on what he just said. They were easy words. What anyone could call smooth talks but they didn't sound like that to her.

Was she weak? It was something she was going to ask herself over and over again. But then, there was something about the guy. What was his name again?

Toby.

Right. He sounded like he could see something different which she never could see. Like he could see a whole new world which looked beautiful. Something she'd never notice. Maybe she'll never even notice. The first time she saw him when he talked about beautiful clowns and even though she still believed his ideas were delusional a tiny part of her wished she could accept being that delusional even though it was just for a second.

Still, to her, it was better to hug her beliefs which had always been a comfort to her than accept a whole new ideology. No! That scared the fuck out of her. Besides, she had just realized something about his life view.

"Only people who think living is hard say the type of things you say." she muttered to which he heard anyway

"What?!"

Dumbstruck. It had hit him hard. She raised up her face his, crushing the butts of her cigarettes against an abandoned locker.

" I'm just saying that the first day you met me, you said I should smile cause it's healthy...it sounded so much like just a casual thing to say to someone like me...and maybe I'm over thinking this but right now, it sounds more like you're telling yourself that. "

she paused, still maintaining her eye contact with him.

"Am I right?" She asked. Looking dead at him into his eyes as if daring him to counter what she just said.

Truth is, she was right. Everything he said to her the first time they met all sounded like he needed to tell himself that. But right now, he wished she would stop staring at him like she could see through his soul. He was good at putting up the facade of the happy-go-fellow which could easily convince anyone in an effortless manner, that he was this happy lad.

Anyone. Except the girl standing right in front of him, boring her big black beautiful eyes into his like a calm storm which could easily wash those facade and outrightly see through his fear. In his cloud of thoughts, it made him ask and re-ask himself if she really even saw through him like a fucking glass. This was the third time he had talked with her. He never really fancied why people called her the queen witch but right now, he got a grasp of why.

She averted her gaze from his, letting it drop on his arms which he didn't even realize gripped his fist so hard. A small smile plastered on her face as she looked at him again.

"You don't need to answer that question though. It was just me over thinking aloud." she said, whirling around to walk out of the class, when he held her wrist back. Firmly yet gently. He swallowed hard, not looking at her though.

" Can I confess something to you?"

She arched her brows, not saying anything to that. Still he continued,

" Truth is, I'm no realist. But i still believe in what I said about healthy living. "

She tsked, "well, aren't you the lucky one ?"

"What do you know about me?" He retorted. His tone sounded so edgy. A frown fixed on his expression as he glared at her.

"Nothing you know about me either." She snapped. For a second, the air seemed abit anxious at the duo.

Toby breathed a sigh, tearing his gaze off her while releasing his firm grip off her wrist, "I'm sorry..." he said quietly.

She hummed a reply, before walking out of the class. The shrill cry of the bell cried at a distance, signalling time for lunch. A small knock, tapped at the door.

He knew who it was even without turning to look at the person.

"Hey boy! Let's go and have lunch." Sarah chirped in which caused him to scowl playfully at her but still walking together with her to the cafeteria.

••••

Yara walked through the hive of students either carrying their food tray or just busy scowling at the food. She didn't mind school food though, it didn't taste awful to her. She scanned around the cafeteria in search of empty tables. Well, there were alot of empty tables but none of those tables interested her.

She could as well sit with the devil and eat a whole bowl of poison than eat on the same table with those foolish classmates of hers who called her ugly names behind.

Finally, she found one. There was Seun eating in a large table. Alone. With his books beside him and his face boring into the spaghetti which he was eating.

She padded her way towards him, dropping her tray of food on the table.

"Hey!" She greeted. He raised his face to look at her.

"Hey. Yara! What are you doing here?" He asked dully 

She threw him a stink eye, "eating obviously "

"I mean...why are you sitting...." 

.

"To eat." She retorted.

He sighed, mumbling about how she succeeded in not giving him a direct answer. She huffed.

"Do you really have to eat with your books?"

"There was no one who was going to sit with me anyway."

She titled her head to the side, lifting her shoulders into a light shrug.

"Well..I'm sitting with you."

"That's why I'm surprised though. People only like to sit with me when they want me doing their assignments." he said quietly, earning him a smack on his head.

"Ouch! "

"That's right. I have my own brain you idiot. Besides, we're seatmates in class..."

A happy smile stretched on his face, "yeah...I forgot. I had a tyrant for a seatmates."

She rolled her eyes, her lips stretching slightly to the side, "for a quiet nerd...you are douche."

Seun didn't say a thing, instead he gawked at the door of the cafeteria, with his mouth hung slightly open. Yara trailed his gaze which landed on April and Zaria shashaying into the cafeteria. Behind them, was george who had carried his tray of foid with one hand and the other hand had stocked itself into his pant pockets. She riveted her gaze back at Seun.

"Do you have a thing for April Waje?"

"What?! No! " he replied almost immediately. She eyed him suspiciously

"Well, that's good. So you have a thing for George?" Seun faked a gag which made her chuckle.

"What? No....I mean...no...I'm straight. " he stuttered. He looked so flushed up.

Yara shook her head, digging her fork into the spag, just when another figure showed up at their table.

"Hey Yara! " she raised her face to meet with George who stood by their table. A flicker of confusion etched on her expression.

"Hi, George."

"Can I sit?" He asked. She glanced at Seun who shrugged in reply then back at George.

"Sure. Sit."

George muttered a thank you while pulling settling his tray of food on the table and acknowledging Seun with a nod.

"Umm, about earlier today.. in the music room, " George began, twirling his spaghetti in his fork.

"Hey guys!" Another voice cut in. This time a chripy and lively tone. George suppressed a groan, as the trio stared up at the owner of the voice who pulled a reluctant toby along.

"Hey Sarah, Toby! " Seun greeted alongside and George.

"Hey" toby replied in a monotone

"Can we sit?"

"Sure."

"Thanks." Sarah replied with a huge Cheshire cat grin which only made toby groan aloud. That minute, Yara had her chair pulled back. She stood up briskly, with an impassive expression, throwing her leftovers in a trash can before exiting the cafeteria and leaving the rest of them to stare at her in confusion.

"Why did she leave?" Sarah asked. It was rhetorical but still Seun replied.

"Dunno."

She huffed, "Aiish....she's so weird."

Toby sighed, taking a twirl of spaghetti and forcing it into Sarah's which earned him a smack on his head.