Chapter twelve

Simone.

Brrng!!!

Why is my alarm going off on a Saturday?

I turned and tried to turn it off but instead it fell off the table and landed on the ground,making a loud crashing sound.

I grumbled and sat down on the bed and I tried to rid sleep from my body.

I took my phone and checked the time.

7:05.

What was I thinking yesterday that had made me set an alarm on a Saturday?

"Simone,open this door. We heard a crash."I heard my mom's voice behind the door and she sounded worried. Typical mom.

"I am fine mom. It's just my alarm clock."

"Are you sure,honey?Are you sure you feel up for that tutoring assignment that Principal John gave you?"

Ohhhhhh!

I knew that I had forgotten something.

I really didn't want to go but if I didn't do as the principal asked he'd tell my parents about the fight and that would be a disaster.

"No it's fine,mom. There is no problem."

"OK."

I waited till I heard her receding footsteps before I flopped back on the bed and grumbled to myself as I willed myself to stand up and go prepare for school....on a Saturday.

**

The only good thing about today was that I was allowed to wear a mufti. I don't think I would be comfortable wearing a itchy uniform on the day that I am supposed to be resting.

I grumbled again in annoyance to myself as the school started to come to my view. My driver was silent and that irritated me even more.

Finally we got the front of the school and the car stopped. I got down and told the driver through the window"You'll come pick me up in four and a half hours."

He nodded and sped up and I wanted to call him back because all I wanted was to sleep.

I knocked on the school gate and Sanusi,the Hausa gateman open the school gate for me.

"How you dey?Wetin all of una dey do for school?"

I raised my brow and said"I am guessing the student that I am tutoring is already in school."

He laughed a little,in confusion saying"Abeg,I no fit hear wetin you dey talk. Dey go!"

I hissed and walked past him and I droned out his useless banter about mannerless kids these days.

I hurried upstairs to my class and I saw the outline of a really tall person through the class window before I entered

I entered the class and I saw Omotayo instead of a small jss1 student.

"What are you doing here?"I blurted out.

He stared at me for a while before saying"I should be asking you the same question!"

I sighed as I ignored his rude tone yet again and said"I am tutoring someone."

He rubbed his forehead as if my voice was giving him an head ache"Well I am going to be tutored! So I guess we are stuck together for the rest of my shitty Saturday."

I sat awkwardly besides him and said"So today I will teaching you the lion and the jewel. What don't you understand in the book?"

He sighed and shrugged"I guess everything. Wole Soyinka is a complex writer."

I smiled and said"That's what makes him so popular."

He made a "hmm" sound and his whole countenance screamed distant. He seemed to be angered by something I had said. One could never be sure with him.

"The main characters of the book are Sidi,Sadiku,Baroka and Lakunle."

"I know who the main characters are!"He snapped"I am not that dumb."

"Oh yeah?"I retorted because I was starting to get frustrated to his attitude with me"Why do you need a tutor if you are not dumb?Besides the way you didn't understand a simple formula told me that you are nothing but dumb!"

His eyes narrowed into slits and his face burnt red in anger. He stared at me for a while and said"I may be dumb but at least I don't bully people without guilty conscience."

He stayed silent for a while as if he wanted his words to sink in and then he said"Just tutor me. By next week I will get a new teacher."

I opened my mouth but words refused to come out. How did he know about my silly acts?

He dragged his chair farther away from me and I said"where are you going to?"

He didn't say a word for a while and said"I don't want to sit anywhere close to you. You are toxic and disgusting...as I have said before."

I kept silent because I did not have anything to say because I knew that I am wrong and always will be as long as I am in the popular group.... For the first time in forever I suddenly wished that I wasn't in that God forsaken group.

**

"Honey,how was the tutor gig?"My mom asked during lunch. I was completely silent since I came home and I was hell bent on keeping it that way. But of course my mom would hear none of it...

"It was okay."

My mom sighed and had a far away look on her face and braced myself for what I knew was coming.

"I still remember,"She started"my secondary school days. I bonded with your dad through one of our tutoring nonsense. We organized it ourselves and my...."

My ringtone interrupted my mom and I almost jumped for joy. My parents relationship were cute and all but that doesn't mean that I wanted to hear about it.

"Excuse me."I told my mom and she waved me off with her manicured hands.

When I got to my room,I checked who it was and my stomach dropped.

Nonso.

I would almost give anything to return to the dining room to my mom..

It was true that I didn't even like Nonso romantically and that I had only begun to date him because I wanted to fit in with the rest of the popular group but I also didn't want to break him and I knew that this break up will destroy him but it also had to be done.

"Hello?"I said as I picked up the phone.

"Hi honey. I've missed you."He said and my heart ached the more.

"I have something to tell you."My voice was breaking now and I hated myself for being weak.

"Really?"I could hear the smile in his voice and I knew that in a minute it wouldn't be there anymore."You can't even say that you miss me too. Simone you have to be more.."

"I am breaking up with you!"I cut him off a little harsher than I had expected.

"What?"His voice came out as a whisper.

"I am breaking up with you."I repeated and I didn't hear anything for like two minutes and I had to be check my phone to be sure that he had not hang up on me.

"Why?"He was sobbing quietly and I replied"Things aren't working out between us."

Silence came again and this time it lasted for five minutes and he said finally"Okay."

Okay?

I had not been expecting that...

I had been expecting a whole lot of emotions but he had just said Okay?

"Okay."I said too,a little bit confused.

Did our relationship mean nothing to him?As much as I wanted to stop without any drama I was disappointed by his lack of enthusiasm.

"But know this,"He quipped up and I was a bit surprised that I had not hung up already.

"I will destroy you."

Those four words sent a chill down my spine and I was about to give back a comment but I heard the 'click' sound.

I had lost my appetite so there would be no need to waste my time to go downstairs. I laid back on my bed and tried to decipher what Nonso meant by what he just said.

My phone rang again and I prepared myself for what I would tell Nonso...but to my disappointment it was Caitlin.

"Hi Caitlin."

"How is the assignment going?"She didn't even return my greeting. Rude!

"Its going slow but that's because that Omotayo guy hates me!"

She sighed and said"No excuses!I was not joking when I said I would kick you out of The populars and your life would be destroyed in an instant."

I sighed too and replied"I will try."

"Don't try...do!"

She hanged up with the threat hanging..

And I knew that I had all to gain Omotayo's trust by all means.