˗ˏˋ༻ʚRomeo's Povɞ༺ˎˊ˗

I looked out the window and saw students race towards the school gate. The alarm had gone off a few seconds ago, indicating the end of the school's period. The invigilator was the reason no one left class. He was busy collecting my classmates' CAT booklets.

I reached for my school bag once the teacher had finished collecting the booklet and exited the classroom. I didn't hurry out like the rest of my classmates. It had nothing to do with my steeze; I just didn't see any reason to rush out. 

"Romeo, I need to talk to you." Being surprised was an understatement, but I wasn't one to show off my reaction just because of casual talk. I turned to face Kim, and it seemed I wasn't the only one surprised. Delphine was too, based on the reaction she'd thrown on her seat partner. 

I slung my schoolbag over my shoulder, indicating that I was not interested in whatever chat she had planned for me.

"Romeo, Romeo!" Her remarks followed me out of the classroom. Knowing how popular I was among my peers, I waved to a couple of guys who approached me. Given my long stride, I was able to quickly exit the school building and out the school gate.

"Romeo!" I heard panting and wasn't surprised because I knew she must have been trying to catch up with me. Kim stood in front of me, her mouth slightly opened as she attempted to catch her breath. "Why didn't you stop? I knew you heard me when I called."

I scoffed at her accusatory tone and opted to concentrate on the road instead. There was a bike approaching me, but the back seat was already taken by someone. "I heard, just chose not to listen."

Kim's frown grew as she got closer to me. Dangerously near, if I may add, which was unusual given that Kim was not in any way dangerous. My lips curled into a faint smile as I considered our height disparity. She was short compared to me. No, short wasn't the right word to describe a cute creature; portable was. She was portable. 

"What is your problem?!" She snapped, trying to look scary. 

"Do I have one?" 

"You have plenty!" She wasn't giving up with her yelling, which earned a chuckle from me. 

"What do you want, Juliet?" 

I saw her react to the nickname I gave her, which elicited another tiny smile from me. "If you've got a problem with me, why don't you speak to me directly? Why must you go about transferring aggression to Delphine?"

My brows creased. "What are you talking about?" 

"My debate club!" She exclaimed without hesitation while poking at her chest at every word. "Sweet Delphine is trying to help."

"Sweet?"

"Yes, sweet!" Could she discuss without yelling? I knew she was upset, but it was difficult to take her seriously given how cute she was. "You don't like me, and I'm fine with that because the feeling is mutual." I grimaced at her remarks, "But it doesn't mean you have to trash everything I love and be nasty to others who are trying to help me. You should apologise to Delphine!" 

Finally succeeded in flapping down a bike, I prepared to climb on it.

"I'm not done here, Romeo." Kim grabbed my right hand in an attempt to stop me. I gazed down at her soft fingers wrapped around my wrist. It was amusing that she thought her strength would have any effect on me.

"You dey go?" Kim and I turned to the bike man, who was already losing his patience. 

"Let go, Kim." As much as I found every action of hers cute, I had other matters to focus on. 

"Una dey go?!" The man asked again with an angrier tone. I looked down at Kim and noticed the contemplative look she had on and before my brain could figure out what she was doing; Kim swung her legs and got on the bike. 

"Kim," I sighed; she was acting like a spoilt brat at this point. "Do you want to get hurt? Get down."

"No. Until you are ready to talk, I won't get down from this monstrous devil thingy."

Sighing, I looked around. Some students had stopped to watch the drama, which was even more frustrating. Kim was causing a scene, and I felt bad for the driver the most.

"Auntie, come off my bike; you dey mad!" 

"Don't insult her," I said to the bike man, my tone colder than intended. I knew he was just as frustrated, but he had no right to disrespect her. Nobody does. I turned to Kim and asked. "You are not getting down?"

"No, and I'm going to pay the driver for sure for wasting his time. I know he needs the money." Frowning at her final sentence, I swung my legs and mounted the bike. My actions, of course, astonished Kim, who opened her mouth in quest of words.

"W-what are you doing?!" I could feel the fear envelop her. "Romeo—" 

"You seem to love Okada so much," I answered. 

"Ha ha, very funny." I heard her swallow, her sarcastic tone slowly losing its touch. "I haven't been on a bike before!" 

"There's a first time for everything," I leaned forward and informed the bike man of my destination, oblivious to the fact that Kim was squashed between him and myself. When the bike man learnt of my destination, he started the bike and took off. 

"This is not funny!" Kim yelled as she held tightly to the bike man's shoulder. 

"I thought you said it was." 

"Romeo!" Not helping myself, I chuckled loudly as I watched her try to stay calm on the moving bike. "How is this even safe?" 

Watching Kim fight to control her terror was amusing, but it was not worth her agony. I slowly wrapped my arms around her waist, catching her off guard. Kim gasped in air and quickly turned to face me.

"Turn like that and you'll push both of us off this bike."

"What are you doing?" She asked instead, referring to my hands around her waist. 

Looking ahead, I answered. "I need to ride to my destination in peace; you are depriving me of that."

"Romeo—"

"Just let me do me, Juliet." When my eyes met hers, she quickly averted her look. Kim slowly rotated her upper body and stared ahead, knowing she couldn't say anything else. Though she appeared cool, I could tell her body was tense for the remainder of the ride.

˗ˏˋ༻ʚ♡︎ɞ༺ˎˊ˗

The bike came to a stop in front of the hospital, which had a large signboard with its name on it. When I got off the bike, I expected Kim to follow suit, but she didn't. She was transfixed in her seat.

"Are you okay?" I tilted my head, watching her frozen, terrified figure. "Are you getting down, or do you want me to carry you—" 

"No, please," she swiftly interrupted me. I saw her battle her way off the bike. It may have been a comical sight if it hadn't been for the fact that I didn't want her here. She turned to the bike man. "How much is your money?"

"You don't have to; I'll pay him."

"I wasted his time," she stated, pulling her backpack to her tummy. "Besides, you both need the money."

My jaw stiffened at her last words, causing me to pull out some naira notes from my pocket.

"I told you I'll pay!" She exclaimed as the driver hit the road. 

"You need the money," I said coldly as I walked towards the gate. What was it with rich people not watching their tongues when addressing other humans? Kim struggled to catch up with me so we could get to the hospital building together. 

"What are you doing at a hospital, by the way?" I ignored her and got into the building. "Romeo, I'm talking to you. If you don't know, hospitals make me sick."

"I never asked you to be here," Kim glared at me; that was if I could call that look a glare. 

"Maybe if you'd listened to me at school, I wouldn't be here."

I pressed a button on the lift and waited for the doors to open. Kim and I entered, but I said nothing in response to her last sentence. We soon arrived at our destination, and the doors opened, showing the waiting room.

"Romeo," I approached Abigail, who greeted me pleasantly. "This is the second time you're bringing someone here," she taunted, sliding the notepad for me to fill out. "She's also very pretty."

I returned my focus to the nurse after gazing at Kim, who appeared to be bewildered. "Don't be nosy."

I wrapped my fingers around Kim's wrist, catching her by surprise as I took her out of the waiting area and into the lobby connecting the other wards.

"What are we doing at the hospital?" Her curiosity did not seem to lessen when we entered the children's unit. "No matter how big and fancy this hospital is, the fact remains that I don't like it here."

Kim kept talking, and I didn't have it in me to stop her. The only problem was that she kept attracting looks our way; looks, I could tell, were getting her on the edge. 

"The way they keep staring at me."

"You are pretty; what do you want them to do?" Kim turned to me, her lips parting slightly. I couldn't say anything else as we neared the shrouded curtain.

I stretched my hands and grabbed the fabric before slowly pushing the curtain. Grace appeared paler than ever, with wires attached to her. Unlike last time I'd visited with Delphine, she wasn't asleep but was caught yawning. 

"Who's—?" 

"Romeo. . . ." Grace called weakly, interrupting Kim's interrogations. Her eyes dropped from my face, forcing me to follow her stare and observe what she was looking at. Clearing my throat, I let go of Kim's wrist and sat on the bed.

"How are you?" I questioned, eyeing the new wires they had attached to my sister. 

"Uncomfortable . . ." she trailed, coughing in the process. "When can I leave?" 

Gulping, I tried looking elsewhere only to meet Kim's gaze. Turning to Grace, I responded. "Soon."

What was I to say? Nothing. The best I could do was to give her a little hope while I raised money for her surgery. 

"Who's she?" Grace weakly asked, slowly lifting a finger and pointing at Kim. Turning, I witnessed Kim quickly wiping a tear that had escaped her eyes. 

"A classmate," I answered. "She came to say hi."

Kim was surprised at my statement but decided to play along. "I'm Kim—" 

"But I call her Juliet," given what had happened, that was the biggest joke I'd told today. It did the trick, calming Kim as she got closer.

"How can I tell your brother that my name is Kim, not Juliet?" She asked, feigning annoyance, which earned a watery laugh from my sister.

"What's your name?" Kim gulped, moving further before getting a hold of my sister's pale hands. 

"Grace," she responded quietly. Her voice felt lighter than on other days. Perhaps she was pleased to see a visitor other than me or my father. "But y-you . . . you can call me Gracie."

˗ˏˋ༻ʚ♡︎ɞ༺ˎˊ˗

I was seated on the pavement outside the hospital because Kim threatened . . . said she felt like throwing up. We hadn't said a word after we'd left once Grace had fallen asleep. Naturally, I would have waited at reception following my visit, but given Kim's distaste for hospitals, I had to stay out here in an uncomfortable silence.

"Your sister . . ." As she attempted to break the silence, I glanced ahead without reacting. A pity party was the last thing I wanted. "What's wrong with her?" 

I remained quiet as I held the bottle of Coke I'd gotten for us both. "It's fine if it's a difficult thing to say; I just . . . "

Sighing, I placed the bottle on the ground. Knowing Kim, she wouldn't stop talking. "Leukaemia."

"Huh?" 

"You asked, I answered." I watched her furrow her brows slightly with the edge of her lips pointing downwards. If we were in a different situation, I would've acknowledged how cute she was. 

"What type?" 

I was a little bit surprised she wanted me to go into details. "Myeloid leukaemia."

Her confusing expression deepened. I'd expected her to ask for more details, but her next words shocked me. "I'm sorry."

"What?"

"I'm—" 

"I heard you the first time," I deadpanned. "Why are you apologising?" 

"Just because you can't apologise doesn't mean I can't as well."

"Why are you apologising?" I repeated, my voice growing cold. 

Kim cleared her throat and lost eye contact with me. She gazed down at the chilly bottle of Coke in her hands, as if she were considering her next words. "Isn't it obvious?" 

"No, it isn't."

Kim gave me an annoyed look, but it didn't bother me. "This looks like your private time, Romeo, and I'm invading it."

"Oh. . . ."

"Oh?" Kim placed her bottle on the pavement. "It's all your fault, you know? If only you had spoken to me at school, I wouldn't be here."

"You just chose to be nosy." 

"I'm not—" Kim turned to face me and inadvertently moved closer to me.

"You're not?" I raised an eyebrow. Kim instantly returned to her former position, having been aware of our proximity earlier than expected.

"Never mind," she muttered, frantically getting a hold of her phone. "Where's this Uber?" 

As if on cue, a silky black car pulled over in front of us, and the passenger window went down. "Miss Kim?" 

"Me!" She raised her hand and smiled broadly at the driver. She got up and went to the car; after getting in, she slammed the door tightly, and the driver drove away without a goodbye from Kim. 

What did I expect? For her to cuddle and pat my head as we say our goodbyes? It was a miracle we were able to discuss without fighting.

I'm sorry. 

As I glanced at the deserted road, I grimaced, recalling what she had said just a few minutes before.

"Don't apologise next time . . . " I mumbled, sitting back on the pavement, near to her Coke, which she had either forgotten or chosen not to drink. ". . . when you know you did nothing wrong."

˗ˏˋ༻ʚ♡︎ɞ༺ˎˊ˗

That's it for today's chapter.

We've gotten Romeo's POV, let's hear your thoughts on it.

It's the season once again.... Not a promise, but keep your fingers crossed for an update on the 25th✨