Chapter 7: Chapter 7

"Let's act The Tempest!" someone yells from behind the auditorium, causing me and Alice to stop whispering and look in his direction.

Because of the upcoming drama, we are excused from the regular one-hour sport activities after school. We have only twenty minutes left now, however because everyone turned up late and we wasted more minutes with our rowdiness. The president wasn't late, though. He seems to be the punctual type.

"What's it about?" another asks. All eyes on him.

"What? You don't know the book?" a third person asks. We look at him.

"I do. But I haven't read it," the second replies. Everyone turns to him again like there is some kind of remote controlling us.

"Fine, ask fat Joe over there," the third says. A few people snigger and once again, we look at the chubby guy who brought the idea.

"Hey! I haven't even seen the book before. Only heard of it. You tell us, bald Joe," he shoots at the bald boy who called him fat Joe.

The laughter is a little louder but the audience stifles it quickly as we are all afraid of Akin. Well, except for people like Joseph aka bald Joe.

"Well, at least I've read it, you chubby chicken." Loud laughter erupts but dies down immediately as Joe sends us death glares. What is going on today?

Finally, Ousman clears his throat, gaining everyone's attention. He has been sitting on stage, arms folded, legs crossed, listening to the boys bicker. Bossy. He's been the only one whose head isn't under remote control.

"Akin, what is the storyline of the Tempest?" he questions, sporting his signature straight face. I force myself to not turn my head like the rest. Instead, I keep looking at the president.

As if sensing my stare, his eyes flit to mine. Crap! My head snaps in Akin's direction. What was I thinking gawking at him?

"Um, well… I really can't tell," he admits in stutters.

"We're acting Melanie," Ousman states in a tone of finality.

"What?" I whisper.

"Don't worry, you'll know soon," Alice whispers back.

"And that's it for today. We would have started preparations now but due to the lateness," he stresses lateness, looking at us closely. "we'll start tomorrow. No late coming." And with that, he dismisses us.

"Look, I don't know about you guys, but I'm not going home now," Lima announces as we walk out of the auditorium.

We give her questioning looks and she explains, "I'm going to finish that assignment at Bee's house."

"You know what? I think that's a good idea. We should all go," Melody chips in.

"Are you only saying that because you want a chance to steal candy from my house? And eat all of my mum's pancakes?" I ask with a catatonic expression.

Melody doesn't need an excuse to come to my house. Mum loves her and she's always welcome, even though she's always attempting to empty the kitchen.

"Whaa-" she begins to drawl out with a sheepish smile but I cut her off.

"And let's not forget the local soup," I add. Mum's great at making Nigerian dishes. We always had them in Texas. Though she can't pronounce the words properly, she's a grandmaster when it comes to the food.

Melody looks like a deer caught in the headlights. "Okay, let's just go call our parents," she breathes out.

"Your parents are back?" Lima asks.

"My mum. But I'm sure she's in the office," Melody replies weakly.

Her parents hardly have time for her. Always working extra hard even though they are stinking rich. Her brother is studying outside the country, making her the only one at home all the time.

"Well, you know I don't have to call anyone. So go on. We'll wait for you at the lot," Lima says, waving them off. Her parents are also very rich and, though nobody in the family bothers too much about the other, they are quite close. They believe it's a free world.

A few seconds later, her phone beeps. She's never going to obey the law, is she? Taking it out of her bag, she laughs at whatever message came in and turns away from me but not before I catch sight of three words: love you…N.C.

I smile, seeing how happy she looks. But wait.

My smile drops into a frown. Her boyfriend's name is Ayo Bolanle, right? That'd be A.B not N.C.

But I know that name. N.C…N.C. Then it hits me. N.C, Nonso Chris. The tall fair guy in the other class.

Someone clears his throat behind me, dragging me out of my thoughts. My frown deepens when I see it's Ousman.

"Hi," he says with a slight smile. I sneak glances around myself to be sure he's referring to me.

Maybe he's about to ask me why I was staring at him. Why, Belle, why?

"Hi," I reply, trying not to sound nervous.

"Ousman," he introduces, stretching his arm for a handshake. I force a smile and extend my hand to take his.

"Belle."

"Isabella," he mutters. "nice name. I saw you in the auditorium." Obviously.

"How'd you know the full- never mind. Yes, I was in the auditorium."

"I've only seen you once. In the club meeting, that is." He still has this weird smirk on his face. Like he knows what he's playing at.

Belle, I say be careful with this guy.

"Yeah, I didn't attend the last one," I reply, sheepishly. Me and Alice skipped the last meeting because, unlike Lima and Mel, we are not so interested in drama.

"And why is-" he is cut short by Lima.

"Ousman," she says in surprise. She had been too engrossed in that suspicious chat to notice his presence.

"Halima," he greets and turns back to me. I mentally laugh at his behaviour.

"What are you doing here?" she asks, obviously trying to gain his attention.

Really? Isn't it obvious? Plus, I think this girl flirts with too many boys for her own good.

With a knowing look, he turns to face her. "Just thought I'd say hi to your friend whom you've never cared to introduce to me. And you obviously abandoned her."

I knew I'd seen that kind of smirk before!

I had read in a book about how Da Vinci's Mona Lisa's slight smile signified her knowledge of people's foolishness. Good thinking, Belle.

They both turn to look at me. Yup, I always have to snigger when other people are talking.

"Bee, we should go. Al and Mel should be waiting at the parking lot now," Lima says, practically dragging me along.

"But―" I start but stop, turning to look in his direction. His eyes are a little narrowed in confusion.

"I'll call you. There's stuff I need," she calls over her shoulder. I look at her in astonishment but she does not notice.

"Oh, they are not here yet," Lima observes as we reach the lot. Nes is already in the car, operating the iPad we left in it this morning.

"Thanks for that smart observation, Lima," I start, my tone dripping with sarcasm. "But your head didn't think this up earlier because they'll have to pass by the auditorium, where we were standing, to get here." I point out, folding my hands.

"Good day, Mr. Joseph," she greets, ignoring the topic.

"Err, Halima, right?" he asks.

"Yeah."

He nods with a smile and turns to me. "Issy, how are you?"

I face palm, remembering my manners and turn towards him, giving him a look he's used to. He shrugs, saying, "You know I won't stop calling you that."

While other people shorten my name from the Bella area, Mr. Joseph insists on doing it from the start. He even taught me how to spell it.

"Good day, Mr. Joseph," I greet.

"We're waiting for the other two. We need to do an assignment together," I explain and he nods.

Turning, I see Lima staring at me. I try to force a smile but I know it doesn't come out well. The girl can be fun, but I feel we're not that attracted to each other.

"Why did you come to Nigeria?" she asks out of the blue.

I stare at her, contemplating whether or not I want to answer that. "My dad decided to come and settle in his home country," I tell her.

"And you don't miss Texas?" she grills in her clear accent.

I notice Alice and Melody walking towards us. Melody, as usual, has a grin on her face. Thank God.

"I do," I reply, trying my best to look okay.

"But you don't act like you do," she fires, not willing to back down. We lock gazes.

Straightening up, I decide I've had enough of the questions. I don't owe her any explanation, anyway.

"Is it because I am making so many friends already? Is because of the fact that-"

"Hey! We're back," Alice says a little loudly, probably sensing the tension. Melody, on the other hand, is too happy to notice as she walks towards Nes' side of the car to talk to her. They liked each other the moment they met. Nobody can resist liking Melody.

"Yeah, welcome back from your conference meeting," Lima states, walking towards the car.

What kind of a spoilt brat is she? She doesn't even know how to hide her feelings.

"Sorry, Melody had to do a full date's worth of explanation," Alice clarifies.

Having heard her, Melody scowls and defends herself, saying, "The line was cracking!" I chuckle, feeling calm again and we all get into the car.

***

"Melody, I repeat, if you eat all of those pancakes, I'll fry you as a replacement," mum warns for the third time.

Melody's eyes widen and she finally drops the plate. I chuckle as I walk into the kitchen. It's 4pm and Alice and Halima are gone. Melody, however, never leaves early.

"Has anyone ever told you that you eat like a pregnant woman? I'm surprised you're not as fat a man-sized doughnut yet" I tease, settling down on a stool and grabbing the fork from her hand to eat some.

Pouting, she says, "no one has. And that's because I don't."

I look at her sceptically and shrug, taking another bite of the pancake. She dabs her mouth with a napkin, throws it in my face and runs out claiming that she never used it. I just sit there, confused.

"Unbelievable," I mutter to myself. I watch as she jumps on the couch, pushing Lex's legs off of it. He grumbles about it but gets up and sits beside her.

Within a few seconds, he starts smiling at her but she tries to keep a straight face. My phone rings and I hastily check the caller ID; Luke.

"Hello?" I say a little excited. Luke and I don't know much about each other, but he's fun to talk to. I knew that since the day we met. Unlike Jasper who does nothing but annoy me.

"Hey, how are you, my girl?" he asks, putting on a matured voice.

"I am doing well, sir," I reply in an equally mature tone.

Immediately, Nes comes into view. She runs towards me with wide eyes, curiosity burning brightly in them. Now she's going to ask if I'm dating an older man.

I roll my eyes at the thought.

Luke laughs on the other end and I join him. Out of the blue, Nes joins in, though hers is awkward. My brows furrow in confusion and she widens her eyes, mouthing whatever.

"Is that Nes?" he asks.

"Who else? She never stops stalking me," I complain and Nes' jaw drops.

"She's fun," he says in amusement. Everybody loves her!

Eyeing her, I don't reply so that she doesn't start to use it against me.

"Hey, could you come out? We're just next door yet we're talking over the phone," he says.

"Yeah, sure," I respond, getting up from the stool and heading for the door.

"I'm gonna tell mum you're seeing an older man!" Nes suddenly yells from behind me, stopping me in my tracks.

What?! I never thought she'd actually say that.

I whirl around just to see Lex and Melody staring, wide eyed at me. The look on Lex's face shows that he's about to spit something terrible out. I hurriedly shout a 'no' and he inhales sharply, obviously ready to fire something else. Nes is just standing there, chin jutted out, waiting to know who it is.

"Don't give me that look. It's Luke!" I exclaim.

Lex throws his hands in the air in irritation. "We know the proper pronunciation of look. Who's the man?!" he yells.

I mentally face palm myself. What a family. Nes starts laughing hysterically and Melody joins.

"Bella? What's going on?"

My eyes widen as I realise that Luke is still on the line. Sweet cheese, he heard everything!

"N-nothing. I'll meet you outside," I stammer and cut the call quickly, only to see Lex throwing a pillow away from his lap and standing up abruptly.

"Oh, he's outside. I'll go say hi," he vociferates.

"Lex, calm down! His name is Luke," I explain, pushing him back.

"Well, who's Luke?"

"Jasper's brother. The one in Lagos university."

His brows furrow in thought before understanding sets in. With a blank face, he turns towards Nes who's still recovering from the laughter.

Shaking his head, he walks back to the couch where Melody starts patting his back to make him feel better. I smile at the thought of him wanting to protect me before excusing myself.

"Hey," I say, walking to meet Luke in front of our house. He smiles in return.

"Want to go for a walk?" he asks tilting his head in the direction of the road.

"Yeah."

We walk side by side in silence for a few minutes before I awkwardly clear my throat.

"Um, about what you heard on the phone…" I trail off. Looking at me, he laughs.

"Actually, it was a little funny. Nes seems to have a way of getting information out of you," he comments.

I chuckle, "all the time."

"How old is she. Or rather, are they?" he asks.

"They'll be sixteen by December," I reply. "Why did you ask?"

"Nothing, really. When I first saw you that night, I thought you and Nes were twins. There were only slight differences," he expounds.

The explanation surprises me. "Why didn't you say this before?" I inquire.

Shrugging, his eyes casually trail a passing vehicle. "I picked up a few clues and concluded you are not twins."

"Smart guy," I tease with a grin. Sighing, I go further, "our mum was very lucky to have had them without causing problems to me or them."

"Why, what happened?"

"She conceived a little too early after she had me," I convey.

"Oh," he nods in understanding and a comfortable silence ensues.

"Where's Jasper?" I suddenly ask. Who's talking? Cause that's not me.

Luke looks at me in mild surprise. I, myself am confused as to why I asked that in the first place.

"What offence has he committed?"

I laugh at the question. "No, hasn't committed anything."

"Good, cause I thought the only reason you'll ask after him is if the police is involved," he explains away and a fresh round of laughter rushes out of my mouth. Do I hate him that much?

"Anyway, he went somewhere. Somewhere I don’t know." I nod.

I feel he wishes to know his brother's whereabouts. So far, Jasper has come off as one who doesn't give people a chance to know much about him. And it appears his family is not exempted.

"Why'd you come back?" I ask, realising we haven't talked about that.

"Well, the workers did a terrible job, so we had to leave again," he says.

We walk for a few more minutes then decide it's time to go home.

As we continue to talk and laugh, a loud honk from behind startles me. Turning around to see who the freak is, my expression changes from shocked to sour. Luke rolls his eyes and walks towards the black Audi.

"Did you have to scare everyone?" he asks, leaning on the car's window seal as Jasper whines down the glass. The only weirdo who would annoy innocent pedestrians!

Pulling his shades down a bit, he analyses me with an uninterested expression.

"You should be thanking me for not wanting to let you die from trekking short distances," he taunts. I scowl at him. Luke tilts his head back and laughs at the both of us.

"You two," he comments, shaking his head and moving towards the opposite door. Noticing my unwillingness to move, he stops. "Come on. Let's go."

"No, I'm not entering that car with that annoying brat," I state firmly.

Jasper chortles; the action, deepening his resemblance to Luke.

"This is interesting," he mutters in amusement.

"Bella, don't worry, I'll make sure he doesn't talk to you in the car. Just come on," Luke coaxes.

"We came out for a walk. Why are we suddenly hitching a ride home?" I ask adamantly.

"Okay, time's up for this I-understand-you-so-much talk between you two. I'll handle this," Jasper states, coming out of the car towards me. I take a step back.

"Jasper?" Luke and I say at the same time.

Stopping directly in front of me, he warns, "look here, Audrey. It's either you get into the car or this is gonna look a lot like kidnapping."

Pft. Is that the best Jasper has got today?

I scoff. "Really? Keep bluffing," I say confidently.

His expression changes to one of challenge. "You think I can't force you into the car?"

There's this scary determination in his eyes but I'm not backing out. I nod sharply but before I know what is happening, he sweeps me off my feet. Literally lifts me up. Seriously, if anyone hears of this, they'd think it's some romantic moment but my life has always taken a unique turn because Jasper just successfully changed my mind about wanting my husband to sweep me off my feet! In the literal sense, that is.

"Jasper! Put me down! Argh!" All my screaming falls on deaf ears as he walks to the passenger door with ease.

"A little help here, Lu," he nods in his brother's direction and he comes over to open the door, laughing and saying something about Nes' reaction when she hears this.

I'm shouting at Luke to talk to him and at the same time, clutching tightly to his shirt for dear life. I dare not throw my legs around because if he lets go, I'm gonna die of butt pain.

Once the door is open wide enough, he places me inside and closes it sharply. I can't even think of opening the door as I'm still panicking. In a few seconds, he's driving and laughing with Luke.

I suddenly lunge forward and grab his ear, pulling it hard.

"Ow, ow, ow, owww," he ululates grabbing my hand with one of his.

"I'm driving! We don't have to die of a car accident, you know," he grates out and I let go, falling back into the chair.

"If Nes hears of this, someone is going to die," I threaten.

He looks at me through the rear-view mirror and I think I catch a glimpse of hurt in his eyes.

Don't tell me Jasper is hurt because I pulled his ear.

He averts his gaze and focuses on the road. The silence that ensues is an uncomfortable one, especially for me as Luke keeps sending Jasper concerned looks.

Jasper, however ignores them all.

He's the only one who appears to be at peace.

I practically run out of the car the moment we arrive because for no known reason, the uncomfortable feeling I was having suddenly changed to guilt and it was killing me. I mumble a quick bye and hurry towards the house.

At the door, I can already hear Melody's laughter and Nes talking. I walk in and Nes rushes to me asking if anything happened. Trust me, they are not asking if I was beaten or robbed. Nope, they don't care. They want to know if he asked me out.

"Nothing happened," I say, earning a frown from both of them. Shaking my head, I walk towards the couch and plop down on it. I know they want to ask more questions so I send them a pleading look and they let it go.

Nes says something about how she prefers Gucci to Versace and an argument breaks out. Thirty minutes later, I excuse myself to go to the bathroom, leaving my sister and friend to continue gabbling.

I pull out my phone and start typing a message to Luke but end up deleting it and throwing the phone on my bed.

After washing my hands and leaving the bathroom, I land on my bed and go over the seemingly unnecessary question that has been bugging me.

Is there something going on with Jasper?