Chapter 21: Chapter 21

Two days have gone by and the day I've been nervous about is finally here. Today, I'm going out with Ousman. We're going to see a movie titled Little Women which I chose. A text comes in from him saying he is waiting for me at the junction. With a smile, I hop off the bed, put on my favourite pair of boots and walk out of the room.

Downstairs, I tell Jason and his friend, Peter who had come with the train of boys the other day, that I'm going somewhere with a friend but they ignore me and focus on the stupid game they're playing. Nes went out earlier to see one of her numerous friends. I glance at my wristwatch… 4pm. Hopefully, mum won't decide to come home early. She has been spending a lot of extra hours at work these days. Dad only came back for a few days before returning to the states to stay with Lex.

Even though I seem to be Nes' strength giver in this case, my fear is increasing by the day. Dad, when he returned, had assured everyone that he is better now but secretly confided in me about his fear that Alex won't get any better.

He had told me that he feared that the operation may have triggered something that wasn't good. I have no idea how the operation could have affected his emotional stability but it was a brain surgery! It could have affected anything at all.

Pushing the frightening thoughts out of my mind, I plaster a smile on my face and trudge down the sidewalk towards the junction but not without throwing a glance at the Lawrence's house. I don't know what I was expecting to see.

"Hey there, lady in black." Ousman eyes my outfit with a bright smile making me flush in slight embarrassment. I’m wearing a pair of black high waist skinny jeans topped with a crop top and black boots. The only distortion in the outfit is the pink boyfriend jacket and pink bag.

"The pink says a different thing if you ask me," I say with a smile. "And you don't look bad yourself," I compliment, also eyeing his outfit. He looks much different when he's not wearing his uniform. He’s all gussied up in a loose red T-shirt with the words GOOD BOYS printed boldly in white in front of it and a pair of ripped jean trousers.

"Why, thank you." He rises to his full height and that's when I see our... ride? My eyes widen at the sight of the black power bike parked in front of me.

‘Shoot, I'm gonna die!’

"Uh..." I begin to stammer. He passes me an amused look as he climbs onto my death ride.

"Oh come on, it's going to be a fun ride! You're always driven to school in a car. Don't you get bored?" He tries to cajole me into feeling better and safer. It's doing little to absolutely nothing to help matters.

I blink at him. "You have a car?" His expression gives me the answer I need. ‘Oh my gosh, why would he want to kill me with this ride when he has a car? Not cool.’

I hesitantly climb onto the back and pull the helmet over my head. Fear grips me harder when the engines roar to life and it expresses itself more by my grip around his torso tightening.

"If I choke to death on this ride, trust me your case will be worse cause you'll end up drowning in the ocean when the bike falls of the bridge." It's when he completes the statement that the true implication dawns on me. I loosen the death grip I had on him and we both laugh.

The ride, I must admit, didn't turn out as deadly as I thought. I actually liked it. The way the air brushed against my face and made my hair fly, the way the surroundings zapped past us... Awesome!

I laughed like a crazy girl throughout the ride and Ousman just kept shaking his head in amusement.

"That was awesome!" I had said when we got off at the parking area of the film house cinema and he gave me the 'told you so' look.

We settle down with a bottle of coke each and popcorn. The look of excitement never leaves my face as the movie begins. Not just excitement that I'm seeing a movie, but excitement that I'm seeing it with the one guy that many girls want to go out with.

‘Totally not a baby.’ I smile as I look at him and he smirks in return. I find myself feeling inclined to look around and I do just that but stop when my eyes land on someone all too familiar to not recognize in this dimly lit room.

‘Is that... Nes?’

My eyes quickly scan the people on both her sides and to my surprise, no one looks like Eno or even a girl of her age. The boy by her left catches my attention. The way he's sitting is a little familiar. My eyes go wide.

‘Is that Jasper? What would Nes be doing with Jasper?!’

My insides clench in anger and... jealousy? No, it can't be. I'm just super upset that Jasper would be despicable enough to go out with even my sister. I'll never let him play her the way he plays other girls. Ever!

But I'm hit with a bigger surprise when the boy excuses himself. It's not Jasper. This boy is younger. Probably age mates with Nes herself.

‘Well, it gets even creepier now. Who the heck is this? And why has Nes never mentioned him?’

Something clicks. The day we were looking through West Wags! Melody told me that Nes joined the communications department.

‘What kind of a sister am I to have forgotten?!’

And she was paired with some boy... Ethereal? Shoot, it was Eti-something.

‘Etim! Yeah, that's it. Is this him? Oh. My. Gosh.’

A voice yanks me back to reality. I look at my date in shock.

‘She did the exact same thing you did, Bee. Lie to go out with a guy.’ The voice in my head accuses and I feel the cold fingers of guilt clutching me.

"Are you okay?" Ousman whispers and I quickly gather myself before nodding.

"Sure," I whisper back, trying to sound indifferent.

"If you're not enjoying the movie, we can leave."

"No," I reply quickly and plaster a genuine smile on my face. He nods before looking back at the screen. Casting one last glance at Nes and her date, I decide not to make this outing awkward for Ousman by focusing on the movie playing in front of me.

***

I lied.

I could never concentrate on a movie when my sister was sitting a few rows in front of me with some boy I don't even know. I could never concentrate when I had questions to ask her.

"Sure you were okay back there?" Ousman asks a few minutes after we step out of the large room. ‘Of course he noticed my uneasiness.’

"Uh, yeah." The reply earns me a sceptical look and I let out a sigh of surrender.

"I saw Nes with a boy I don't even know well. I don't know if he's trust worthy. And why would she not tell me about it? Nes would never be shy to tell me that she's going out with someone... Yes, she refuses to admit that she likes Fletcher but that doesn't―" I stop, realising that I've been blabbing. My mouth opens itself and closes again.

"I'm sorry, but don't worry about it."

He shakes his head at me. "I get it. Although I'm the last child, I can imagine how you feel when your younger sibling doesn't seem to trust you." I smile, grateful that he patiently listened to me prattle about my sister when I am supposed to be focusing on why we're here.

"Thank you."

"For..."

"Patience." He smiles and I smile back. Just then, we see Nes and what's his name again? Yeah, Etim, walk out of the room. I unconsciously push Ousman so we can get out of their view and he follows patiently. We watch them pass, looking all smiley and lovey dovey.

‘Uhh... I'm not sure I like the sight of this.’

They stop walking as the boy adjusts something on her top.

‘Get your hand off my―’

I feel a hand grab me and pull me back and I discover I was actually moving towards the duo. I look at Ousman and he shakes his head. I decide to face him instead of watching what those two are doing.

I look around us. We're perfectly hidden out of sight in a poorly lit corner.

‘How's this part of a public place? What's it meant for?’

"Looking for something?" he asks, pulling my attention. I must say, we are quite close―maybe a little too close. Looking up at him, I suddenly don't know the answer to the simple question he just asked. I blink repeatedly in confusion.

"Um, I was just asking a question that's all." I nod.

‘Bella, what's wrong with you?’

"Isabella?"

"Yes?"

"Will you love to do this again? I mean, go out with me?" He's smiling a little now. I nod, smiling too.

"Did I mention that I love your hair?" he asks, looking at my hair. I simply made two messy cornrows before leaving home.

I laugh, blushing profusely.

"Yeah, the braids are nicely done. Did you make them yourself?"

"Yeah. Messy job," I chuckle. The tension is making me sound stupid. But he looks surprisingly calm and collected.

He takes in a breath and let's it out slowly. "Uh, Isabella?"

"Yeah?"

"How'd you do it?" he asks, confusing me.

"How'd I do what?"

He shrugs. "I don't really make friends with girls but..." He shrugs again before scoffing. "I saw the look on your face the first time I spoke to you. You probably heard about me already," he tells me, making me grin.

"And you turned out to be much nicer than what I heard." He bobs his head in agreement. Silence envelopes us. I gulp when I espy him stepping closer.

Oh gosh... I'm fighting hard to keep my heartbeat in check but it's not working. My rib cage might just crumble under the force.

Once he's close enough, he tilts his head to the side, pressing his lips lightly on my cheek.

"You look beautiful when you're nervous," he whispers in my ear.

‘GOD! Does every guy have to see through me?!’

I let out an embarrassed laugh and he draws back, giving me a toothy grin.

"They're gone. Let's go," he points out, looking behind me. I bob my head in agreement and we turn to leave the place.

Forty five minutes later...

I step into the house smiling. Ousman just dropped me off after we got cotton candy from pink bubble. Memories of the whole outing make me grin to myself.

‘Lima says I'm too lame to say yes to him but she's wrong. I just got myself a boyfriend, Limmy...’

"You're late," Nes states, raising both brows at me.

"Is mum home?" I ask.

"Nope, but she just called and said she won't be home till maybe 10pm," Nes informs and my lips form an o. ‘But why does mum stay out so late these days?’

Nes shrugs, a sad look marring her features. "Maybe we should talk to her?" She looks up at me and upon seeing my expression, rolls her eyes.

"Yes, you said that out loud." I nod, pursing my lips as I flop down on the couch opposite her.

I am about to say something when my ringtone cuts through the air. It's an unknown number.

"Hello?"

"Hey Belles," a familiar voice answers. Asides the girls in my squad, only one guy calls me Belles.

"Oh my gosh, Enoch?" I hear his familiar laughter and I laugh too. "How have you been?" I ask.

"Good. It's been a while."

"Yeah. Uh... How's Lee doing?" He stays silent for a few seconds before replying.

"Lee left. His father lost his job so they went back to Asia," he informs. I fold my legs on the couch, earning a warning look from Nes.

"That's sad. Hopefully, they're fine now," I say softly and I hear him sigh on the other end.

"Uh, I gotta go. My dad needs me. Just called to say hi."

I clear my throat. "Okay, thanks. Say hi to everyone." He hangs up.

‘That was a bit awkward.’

"Can you get your boots off mum's couch?" Nes scowls at me and I return the favour. I pull the shoes off before placing my feet back on the chair.

"So, what were we saying?" I ask, dumping my bag on another couch.

"How we want to talk to mum," Nes states. I watch her hand move to adjust her top, silently in thought.

I shrug, taking my eyes off her. "There's nothing to say about that. I want to talk about something else." She looks straight at me in wait.

"I learnt you joined the communications department." I opt for the lighter part of the topic first. I catch some kind of realisation register on her face but it fades quickly.

"Sorry, I didn't tell you. It skipped my mind." I nod slowly. There is a little tension in the air as we both know that there is more to say.

"How'd you find out?" she finally drops the question.

"Oh, West Wags told me," I state nonchalantly. She takes a deep breath.

"I thought you don't read that stuff." Somehow, her statement ticks me off.

"Yeah, and so I can't possibly know about that Etim boy," I state, giving her a pointed look.

Contrary to my expectation, she doesn't look so fazed by the fact that I am aware of her relationship with Etim.

"What, you're just going to sit there and say nothing?"

"What do you want me to say?" she asks calmly, much to my annoyance.

"What do I want you to say? How about an explanation? Can you do that?" I'm trying as much as possible to not yell.

Nes scoffs. "Explain what? That I'm simply following your footsteps?"

These words hit me like a hammer. ‘What?’

"What?" I whisper. Nes straightens up, evidently ready for a fight.

"Oh please Bee, you think I don't know that you've been going out with that K guy? You think I don't know that you've gone clubbing before and lied to mum that you were going to Ego's house?"

‘Kill me!’

I want to apologise but I find myself speaking angry words. "So what if I go out with that K guy? So what if I made one mistake by going clubbing and lying about it? You can't use my mistakes to justify your actions, Nes. Now, this Etim guy, can you even trust him?"

"Says the girl who went out with girls and a boy she doesn't even know well." Her words leave me dumbfounded. But she's right. I went out with people whom I couldn't even trust and now my relationship with them is just a forgotten story.

"Okay, you're right... How'd you know all these anyway?" I ask. She looks away while responding.

"Westers frequent Ballerz club. Etim has gone there before."

My brows knit together. "Wait, how long has this been going on?" I question, making her frown. "Tell me, Nes."

"A month plus," she states with a shrug. Thick silence blankets us as we both look anywhere but each other.

"I thought you and Fletcher had something coming," I say lowly. She scoffs.

"Isn't it obvious the guy is not into me? He has different girls fawning for his attention. I'm no more than a mere friend," she states sullenly.

"Oh come on Nes, I see how that boy looks at you. He likes you!" I say a little louder than intended.

"Girls, what's going on?" It's Jason. He has concern written all over his face as he stares at each of us in the face. I sigh, not wanting to explain anything to him.

"Look Nes, if it's because of the fight you―" She cuts me off sharply, standing up.

"Yes! It's because of the fight I had in his presence, Bee. He's going to be embarrassed to have a girlfriend with temper issues alright?" Nes is practically shouting now. I'm startled at the outburst but bite the inside of my cheek and keep cool, making sure I remain rooted to my chair. At least, I know what her problem is.

"Agnes!" Jason scolds, earning a glare from her.

"Don't Agnes me! You weren't invited here, were you? So why not creep back into the lonely shell you're always hiding in and stop acting like my older brother because you're not okay? You're just this guy who was born on the same day as Alex and I but is hardly related to us," she screams the last part before storming off.

I look at Jason. The hurt is evident on his face, reminding me of the day at the hospital. He avoids my gaze.

"Jason―"

"She's right."