Mr Ajayi walked into the classroom with a tablet in his hand and the students stared at him surprisedly because he wasn't the teacher on duty for evening prep. When he saw their expressions, he said, "Your Miss Toke is very busy at the moment so she asked me to fill in for her today."

He sat on the teachers' desk at the front of the class and started playing games on his tablet. He got irritated when he saw that they were still staring at him. "Well, get something doing. Must I tell you everything," he said and shook his head, continuing his gaming session.

The students hurriedly scrambled for their books and pens to engage themselves with studying or doing assignments. Ella walked to Mitchel's desk with her chair and smiled at him. For a moment he was confused and stared back at her before he realized why she was there.

"Oh, I forgot, my bad. I wanted to use this time to do my English assignment," he said before he moved a little so they could share his desk. Barely a minute later, when he was about to start tutoring her, Mr Ajayi interrupted them. "What are you two doing?" He asked.

"I'm tutoring her," Mitchel replied.

"What are you tutoring her?"

"Maths."

"Maths." Mr Ajayi scoffed. "Now, Ella, go back to your seat and start doing the assignment I gave you, and you too, Mitchel. In fact, everyone get out your dictionary and do your assignment," he ordered.

Everyone started murmuring as they had other things they planned to do but did as they were told. When Ella passed Jazz on her way back to her seat, Jazz smiled at her so brightly that it almost looked genuine. Ella just sneered in return and slumped into her chair.

"I know that this assignment sucks, but it almost seemed as if she hated you more than the assignment," Abu commented.

Jazz shrugged. "That's her problem."

"Abu, stop distracting Jazz and face your work," Mr Ajayi said. "If you want to work in pairs and groups then you can do so, but don't make any noise while at it," he added with a sigh and the students were excited about the chance to sit with their friends.

Kelechi and Ronke sat together at Kelechi's desk while Mitchel took his chair to Jazz's seat. "Mind if I join you?" He asked and she nodded.

"You have chanced me, I wanted to sit with her," Abu protested.

"Who stopped you? You were sitting right beside her," Princess deadpanned. "You can come sit with me if you want to pair with someone," she offered.

"No thank you," Abu said and opened his dictionary so quickly that it almost tore. Princess huffed.

Ella was busy boring holes into Jazz's back and Jazz was aware that Ella was glaring at her but she didn't care as she made an exaggerated show of interest in the assignment she was doing with Mitchel, sometimes flipping her hair to anger Ella the more.

The students used the evening prep to do the English assignment given to them and some of them decided to utilize the time they had left by studying while some decided to do their other assignments.

* * *

During the rest of the week, Jazz and Mitchel spent a considerable amount of time together. If they weren't studying for their upcoming tests, they were rehearsing for their upcoming play. Jazz was fascinated by his all-round knowledge and enthusiasm towards everything he did, from his extra school activities to his academics.

"He's actually pretty cool, no wonder Ella is so crazy about him," she thought.

Jazz didn't even realize when she started growing fond of him and did nearly everything with him. Whenever they were not together, she would always reminisce out loud to Kelechi and Ronke about the fun things they did together.

"So, you and Mitchel huh," Ronke said and wriggled her brows at Jazz when they were in their room.

"What?"

"You and Mitchel huh," Ronke repeated.

"I don't think I follow."

"She means to say, so you and Mitchel are now a thing huh," Kelechi clarified.

"Of course not. We are not a thing, this is all just a charade to make Ella jealous and you know it," Jazz stated.

"That is what you keep telling us, but what we see is different. It seems as if you genuinely like Mitchel," Ronke said.

"What makes you think that?"

"Everything, from the way you behave when you're around him to the way you talk about him when he's not around."

"That's all part of my plan. See, it's working."

"How long are you going to keep this up?"

"As long as I need to, until Ella realizes that she doesn't stand a chance against me and that I'm not to be messed with."

"So you're sure you don't have any feelings for Mitchel, not even a little bit?"

"I'm absolutely sure," Jazz replied, not really sure if she was lying to them or to herself.

* * *

"Hey dad," Jazz said when Mrs Kayode handed her the phone.

"Hey dear, it's been a while since we talked and I'm really sorry about that. Your mother and I have been quite busy lately," Michael said.

Jazz sighed. "I understand," she said.

"Thanks sweetie. So, how is my little monster truck doing?" He asked cheerily.

"Dad," Jazz whined and glanced at the matron. "That name ended along with my middle school years."

"Okay, fine, fine, I'm sorry." He chuckled before asking again, "How's my beautiful, smart and sassy princess doing?"

"Other than the fact that she hates her current school and wishes to go back home though her lovely parents would never grant her that wish and she's being drowned with a lot of boring school work but puts up with everything with a smile on her face and a cheerful spirit, she's good," Jazz replied with a deadpan look on her face. Mrs Kayode stared at her wondering why she hated the school so much.

Her dad laughed heartily at her response. "Your sense of humour has improved but you're not getting off the hook so easily, sweetie. We made a deal remember? You stay an entire term without getting in trouble or getting expelled and you can come back home."

"Whatever."

"Your principal told me you had your first CA tests this week, how was it?"

"It was okay, nothing I found too challenging."

"That's my girl! I have to say, you got that one from me," he said with a chuckled. "Alright sweetie, I'm gonna give the phone to your mother now, she's been dying to talk to you. Be a good girl and know that we love you and are willing to do anything for you."

Jazz's face lit up. "Does that mean—"

Her dad cut her off. "No, no Jazz. It doesn't mean what you think it means. Now, don't go—"

Darlene snatched the phone from her husband. "Jazz," she called sweetly and Jazz smiled.

"Hey mom."

"Oh my god honey, I've missed you so much!"

"I've missed you too mom."

"Are you okay? Do you need anything? Tell us and we'll give it you right away."

"Yes mom, I need something, urgently."

"What is it honey?"

"I need to go back home if I want to have a stable mental state in the next two and a half months."

Her mom laughed heartily at her response. "Of course you can come back home honey, but only after you have completed the term as your father demanded."

"Then there's nothing else to talk about," Jazz said with a huff.

"Now that I got to hear my baby's voice I feel at peace knowing she's okay and isn't lacking anything. We'll talk to you some other time honey, till then, please be of good behaviour and don't cause any trouble. Bye, we love you so much!" Her mom said.

"I love you too," Jazz mumbled before her mom ended the call and she gave Mrs Kayode back her phone.

"Are you sure you're okay Jazz? Is there something that's bothering you? You can talk to me, I'll take care of it." The warmth in Mrs Kayode's voice reminded Jazz of her mom and how she was always so concerned about her.

"It's nothing serious, I was just really missing my parents," Jazz said curtly and left to avoid more questions.

Later that day, Jazz called her best friend Aimee and filled her in on everything that had been happening since the last time they talked. She told her about her ongoing rivalry with Ella and their fight over Mitchel.

"Do you like him though?" Aimee asked.

"Ugh, I do not," Jazz replied.

"Then why are you talking about him so fondly? You make it seem like you're in a relationship."

"You know what, I think we're done talking about this, let's talk about something else," Jazz said and Aimee sighed, knowing that that was the end of their discussing that topic. She went ahead to fill Jazz in on what had been happening after she left.

Jazz half listened to Aimee and half thought about her relationship with Mitchel. Everyone for some reason seemed to think she liked him. Was she really just trying to be with him because she wanted to make Ella jealous or because she wanted something else? She wasn't sure herself.

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Hey there! Thanks for stopping by and dropping a vote and a comment or two. It means a lot to me that you did 💗

I hope you enjoyed this chapter and were not bored by it?

See you next time!

Love,
Kemas ❤